First of all, the speaker is Mary Fisher, someone who is HIV positive. Since she is HIV positive, she can speak on the effects of HIV on a very personal and emotional level. She uses her unfortunate circumstances as a platform to spread awareness. “I would have never asked to be HIV positive, but I believe that in all things there is a purpose; and I stand before you and this nation gladly” (Fisher). Fisher also does not fit the stereotype of HIV and AIDS victims. She is a white, mother of two, and this highlights that AIDS is an epidemic that no one is safe from. “Though I am white and a mother, I am one with a black infant struggling with tubes in a Philadelphia hospital. Though I am female and contracted this disease in marriage and enjoy the warm support of my family, I am one with the lonely gay man sheltering a flickering candle from the cold wind of his family’s rejection” (Fisher). Fisher earned the opportunity to deliver her message by speaking out about the issue of HIV and AIDS at platform hearings. “Less than three months ago at platform hearings in Salt Lake City, I asked the Republican Party to lift the shroud of silence which has been draped over the issue of HIV and AIDS” (Fisher). By being outspoken about HIV and AIDS, she got the opportunity to speak to an important event.
Secondly, Fisher is speaking due to the HIV and AIDS epidemic affecting America. “Largely unknown, a decade ago, AIDS is the third leading killer of young adult Americans today” (Fisher).