Voting Station

Joey DiPaolo

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Advocate

The Resume

    (September 5, 1979- )
    Born in New York City, New York
    Resided in Brooklyn, New York
    Was diagnosed with HIV (June 21, 1988)
    Advocated for HIV/AIDS education and research along with HIV/AIDS patient discrimination awareness
    Subject of the HBO special 'Blood Brothers, The Joey DiPaolo Story' starring Adam LaVorgna

Why he might be annoying:

    He contracted HIV through a blood transfusion during surgery to correct a congenital heart defect (May 23, 1984).
    He was told he had one year to live when he was diagnosed, and in 1990 he became so ill that at one point he was given two days to live.
    His family followed his doctors' advice to keep his HIV status a secret for protection from discrimination regarding HIV/AIDS.
    The stress of hiding his condition from others led to his decision to publicly announce his HIV status.
    On his second day of sixth grade, some students' parents gathered at Joey's middle school to protest his attendance there after his HIV story had been featured in Newsday magazine the previous day (1990).
    His family filed one lawsuit to allow him to attend his school, and later another lawsuit against the center from which the blood with which he was contaminated came from.
    After high school he abandoned plans to become a phlebotomist due to the training school's pressure for him to use extreme precaution methods, and he believed that some of the school's teachers may have resigned to avoid having to train him.
    At one point, he took over twenty pills and two liquid drugs each day to combat his HIV symptoms.

Why he might not be annoying:

    At age nine, he appeared in an educational children's video about AIDS, his topic being infected children who were bullied by others.
    Shortly before he publicly disclosed his HIV status, he met Lawrence Taylor at an AIDS benefit gala.
    His experiences with discrimination made him more vocal about advocacy for his and other HIV/AIDS patients' rights.
    Many people who had disassociated with him and his family after his diagnosis was public later resumed their relationships with Joey.
    He legally won the right to attend his middle school and later won his lawsuit against the blood center.
    Among his many advocacy awards and accomplishments was his foundation of the Joey DiPaolo AIDS Foundation in Staten Island (1996) which included Camp TLC in Port Jervis, New York for adolesent HIV/AIDS patients.
    Public figures that he met during his advocacy included Bill Clinton, Coretta Scott King, and Kofi Annan.
    His strict health and medication regimen kept the HIV levels in his body at a low level.

Credit: Pr31wnb


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 943 Votes: 69.88% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 623 Votes: 59.23% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 29 Votes: 48.28% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 32 Votes: 21.88% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 21 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 16 Votes: 56.25% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 18 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 26 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 27 Votes: 40.74% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 50 Votes: 40.0% Annoying