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In 1998, the Supreme Court ruled that HIV/AIDS fell under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The decision protected people with AIDS in their workplaces; until then, testing positive for HIV might mean losing one’s job and health insurance. A group of concerned mental health and medical professionals in San Francisco formed the AIDS Health Project (AHP) to support a growing community of people who needed emotional and psychological support as well as medical treatment. The AHP provided crucial, groundbreaking support in getting people tested: the organization offered the first large-scale testing programs along with resources to help people manage either a positive or negative result. This campaign used frank, simply put descriptions of the multiple costs of not knowing one’s HIV status, stressing the financial, personal, and family consequences of remaining ignorant.

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