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A Positive Outlook - There are over 30 million people in the world living with the HIV virus, and celebrities such as Magic Johnson, Pedro Zamora and Eazy-E have used their celebrity status to raise awareness and de-stigmatize the disease by bringing the topic into the mainstream. In honor of World AIDS Day, we look back at past celebrities who have lived with HIV/AIDS.(Photos from left: Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images, Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Sports Illustrated)

Photo By Photos from left: Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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Magic Johnson - The all-star NBA player and entrepreneur famously announced his positive HIV status during a press conference right before the 1991-1992 NBA Season. He found out after a routine physical and claimed that he was unaware of how he contracted the virus, though hr later admitted that he had multiple extramarital affairs during his basketball career. Since his diagnosis, he has been an avid HIV activist and even created the Magic Johnson Foundation to help combat the disease. (Photo: Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

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Arthur Ashe - American tennis icon and three-time Grand Slam winner Arthur Ashe contracted HIV from a blood transfusion. He later died from AIDS-related pneumonia in 1993. (Photo: John Minihan/Express/Getty Images)

Photo By Photo: John Minihan/Express/Getty Images

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Gil Scott-Heron - Americna poet, jazz musician, and spoken word performer Gil Scott-Heron revealed in 2008 that he was HIV positive to everyone's surprise. He lost his battle with the disease in 2001. (Photo: Anthony Barboza/Getty Images)

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Glenn Burke - Major League Baseball star Glenn Burke made history, becoming the first professional baseball player to publicly come out of the closet. He, unfortunately, passed away of AIDS-related causes in 1995. He was 43. (Photo: Mark Hundley/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

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Howard Rollins - Actor Howard Rollins was most known for his role in Ragtime. The actor, unfortunately, died in 1996 from lymphoma. He was HIV positive at the time of his death. He was 46. (Photo: Robin Platzer/Images/Getty Images)

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Gene Anthony Ray - Gene Anthony Ray was a well-known actor and dancer, hailing from Harlem, New York. After he died of a stroke at the age of 41 in 2003, his mother revealed that he was HIV positive. (Photo: Globe Photos Inc/REX/Shutterstock)

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Kevin Peter Hall - Kevin Peter Hall, who became well-known for playing the title character in Predator, contracted HIV from a blood transfusion. He died from AID-relate pneumonia in 1991 at the age of 36. (Photo: Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage)

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Charlie Sheen - This former bad boy, whose name is practically synonymous with a sex-and-drugs lifestyle, came out as HIV-positive in 2015 (Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

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Jermaine Stewart  - The American R&B Singer, best known for his hit “We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off,” died of AIDS-related liver cancer at the age of 39. With the help of Boy George and Mickey Craig, Jermaine was able to score two Billboard hits in 1984 and 1986. Before his death in 1997, there were rumors of Stewart releasing a book about all his sexual encounters with famous African-American men, but nothing came of it.(Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

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Alvin Ailey  - The choreographer and activist is accredited for popularizing modern dance, but lost his battle with AIDS at the age of 58. He asked the doctor to keep it a secret for his mother to spare her from the social stigma of the disease. In 2014, President Obama selected Ailey as the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  (Photo: Keystone/Getty Images)

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Fela Kuti - The Nigerian musician and human rights activist died in 1997 due to Kaposi’s sarcoma, a complication of AIDS. There had been rumors of him refusing treatment for a disease, but no one knew that he suffered from AIDS. More than a million people attended Fela’s funeral.  (Photo: Landov)

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Max Robinson  - Robinson became the first African-American news anchor and journalist in the United States to die of AIDS in 1988. Like many at the time, he failed to disclose his diagnosis after finding out he had AIDS when he was hospitalized for pneumonia. (Photo: Bettmann/CORBIS)

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Willi Donnell Smith   - The fashion designer was regarded as one of the most successful African-Americans in the industry (he even designed the wedding dress for the Spider-Man comic strip in 1987). Smith died in 1987 during a trip to India, where he contracted shigella and pneumonia, and did not know he had AIDS at the time of his death.(Photo: Bettmann/CORBIS)

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Pedro Zamora - In 1993, The Real World: San Francisco star brought HIV awareness to the MTV generation. Zamora shared his story on the show: at the age of 17 he tested positive for HIV and immediately dedicated his life to raise awareness in the community. Sadly, while the show was airing, Zamora became very ill and was hospitalized for months. He lost his battle with the disease hours after the last episode of the show aired. He was only 22 years old.(Photo: MTV)

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Gia  - The fashion model is known for being one of the first famous women to die from AIDS. In the '70s and '80s she modeled for the world’s top designers and is considered to be the first true supermodel. Soon after becoming addicted to heroin, she contracted HIV and passed away at the age of 26. In 1998, Angelina Jolie portrayed Gia in an award-winning HBO biopic.(Photo: Andrea Blanch/Getty Images)

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Sylvester  - Sylvester James, the “Queen of Disco," was known for his drag performances in the '70s and the anthem record “You Make me Feel (Mighty Real).” The disco singer died of AIDS complications in 1988 at the age of 41. His achievements in music earned his spot in the Dance Music Hall of Fame in 2005.(Photo: Echoes/Redferns)

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Eazy-E - The N.W.A rapper found out he had contracted the fatal disease in 1995 after he went to the doctor thinking he had asthma. After sharing the news with his former N.W.A bandmates, he also wrote a message to his fans: “I just feel that I've got thousands and thousands of young fans that have to learn about what's real when it comes to AIDS," he wrote. "Like the others before me, I would like to turn my own problem into something good that will reach out to all my homeboys and their kin. Because I want to save their a***s before it's too late." Eazy died just one month after being diagnosed.(Photo: Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

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Rock Hudson  - The handsome actor is known as one of the first celebrities to die from an AIDS-related illness. He was able to hide his diagnosis for over a year until 1985, when his health issues became apparent in his performances. He believed that he contracted the disease from blood transfusions he received during his heart bypass procedure in 1981. After undergoing several treatments, he lost the battle to AIDS in October 1985. His death led to a massive funding for HIV research.  (Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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Liberace  - Once the highest-paid entertainer in the world, Liberace was the second major celebrity to lose his battle with the disease. The flamboyant performer repeatedly threatened to sue publications claiming he was gay and denied reports he had contracted HIV right up until his death in 1987. The 67-year-old's autopsy revealed that he did, in fact, die of an AIDS-related illness.(Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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Ongina   - The RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 1 star revealed his fight with HIV after winning the “Mac Viva Glam” challenge episode. Ongina, whose real name is Ryan Ong Palao, celebrated his win by revealing his secret: “I just want to say, I've always been so afraid to say it, that I've been living with HIV for the last two years of my life and...it means so much to me,” he said. Ongina currently hosts a series on LOGO called HIV and Me, which features individuals who live with HIV.  (Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)

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Greg Louganis - The Olympic diver has been an HIV awareness advocate since his diagnosis back in 1988. The athlete caused controversy for failing to disclose his diagnosis right before the Olympics, and he had good reason to hide it: when he finally announced the news, all but one of his sponsors pulled their support. In 2013, Louganis was one of the first people to be inducted into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame. He is currently happily married to his partner Johnny Chaillot.  (Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)