Witness

When Mary Fisher was diagnosed with HIV in 1991 she did not represent the typical stereotype of someone HIV-positive. She was white, heterosexual and contracted the disease in marriage. She used her platform at the Republican National Convention in Texas in 1992 to try and change people's treatment of those carrying the Aids virus. The speech was broadcast live to millions of people via the major US TV outlets. She argued that she did not want her sons, aged four and two, to face stigma from the "whisper of Aids" once she had died. It is ranked as one of the most important speeches in the US in the 20th Century. Mary Fisher recalls the moment she delivered the speech to Josephine McDermott.Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries