"As, Dr. Bill Lipsky noted in his 2022 remembrance for the San Francisco Bay Times, Campbell had been diagnosed with Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) the previous October, becoming just the 16th person in the city to be diagnosed with the rare form of skin cancer that was suddenly popping up among young men. During those early days of the epidemic, before doctors identified HIV and AIDS, patients like Campbell were described as having "gay cancer.""
"According to Lipsky, following his diagnosis, Campbell parlayed his experience as a nurse specializing in gay health issues into raising awareness about the so-called "gay cancer." "I've become so active in publicizing KS and the other gay illnesses to friends and media that I've taken to referring to myself sardonically as the 'Kaposi's Sarcoma Poster Boy,'" Campbell wrote in that first Sentinel column, titled "I Will Survive.""
Zelda Rubenstein appeared in an AIDS-prevention poster campaign promoting safer sex. In the early 1980s AIDS devastated the U.S. gay community and public figures largely avoided the cause. Bobbi Campbell, a San Francisco nurse and gay rights activist, was diagnosed with Kaposi's sarcoma and became one of the first publicly identified patients connected to the emerging epidemic. Campbell used his medical background to raise awareness, described his condition openly, and created a poster featuring his own lesions while providing contact information for resources. Campbell labeled himself the "Kaposi's Sarcoma Poster Boy" and wrote a column titled "I Will Survive."
Read at LGBTQ Nation
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