Therese Stouffer Stouffer1

Professor Cyphers

English Comp. 1

21 June 2019

Mary Fisher and Her fight

“If you believe you are safe, you are at risk”. This is a very famous quote from Mary

Fisher a speaker for the AIDS community. In 1992 Mary went to the Republican National

Convention Address to deliver her speech “A Whisper of AIDS”. In her speech, she tells how

people view the words “Aids” and “HIV”, and why they are wrong for thinking such things.

Mary isn’t just an empowered woman speaking out for the AIDS community, she is an

ambassador for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Along with these

great accomplishments Mary was on the leadership council of the Global Coalition on Women

and AIDS. Lastly, Mary runs an organization called Mary Fisher CARE (Clinical AIDS

Research and Education) Fund.

Fisher’s speech appeals to all parties, she helps illuminate how AIDS/HIV affects

everyday households. The main point of her speech is that you don’t need to be gay, a

hemophiliac, or a drug user to get this horrible disease. “ It does not care whether you are

Democrat or Republican; it does not ask whether you are black or white, male or female, gay or

straight, young or old.” In this statement, she shows that no matter what religion, sexuality, race,

or age AIDS/HIV affects everyone no matter what.

Fisher’s own personal experience with AIDS/HIV gives her an understanding that a

person without HIV wouldn’t understand. She appeals to the pathos by sharing her feelings and

her life with her kids and how it will be so different without her kids. Fisher adds emotion that

really gives her speech a deeper quality to it. “To my children, I make this pledge: I will not give

in... and you, my child, give me a reason to say to America, "You are at risk." And I will not rest,
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Max, until I have done all I can to make your world safe.” She shows people that there is so

much more than just your death to this disease. Fisher shows the people that even though she is

gone her kids will have to live on knowing their mother died of a disease that is so frowned upon

that people hide it until death. She then states “I will seek a place where intimacy is not the

prelude to suffering. I will not hurry to leave you, my children, but when I go, I pray that you

will not suffer shame on my account.” Lastly, on this account, Fisher acknowledges the fact she

can’t fix the world in one speech, but she will try her best to find a world where people don’t

have to be ashamed of this disease.

After all of this devastation put on Fisher she doesn’t just rely on her emotions and

tragedy to pull through in her speech she uses cold hard facts. These facts help to show that she

isn’t just a sad mom trying to get attention, it shows that she is a mother who knows exactly what

she is talking about. Fisher including facts in her speech help to appeal to the logos. All good

essays aren’t just based on emotions they have to have factual evidence in order to prove them

right. “Two hundred thousand Americans are dead or dying. A million more are infected.

Worldwide, forty million, sixty million, or a hundred million infections will be counted in the

coming few years.” All of this helps to create a better essay.

After reviewing all of these facts and all of the experience she has she is very well versed

in this topic. Fisher understands all concepts to the AIDS/HIV epidemic and she helps people to

understand this. In the end, I feel that everyone should see all sides of the epidemic.