# How Magic Johnson really got AIDS virus? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 15, 2012, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-magic-johnson-really-got-aids-virus/612908 "2012-02-15T06:46:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pablo\_O\_Malley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f19dbf/32.png) [@Pablo\_O\_Malley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pablo_O_Malley)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-magic-johnson-really-got-aids-virus/612908/1 "2012-02-15T06:46:36Z")
it was recently the 20th anniversary of magic johnson’s revelation he has the aids virus looking back with perspective, does anyone still beleive he got it from sex with a woman? 98% of cases come from gay sex, 1% is from blood transfusions or dirty needles and 1% is from heterosexual sex i beleive its certain now magic is bisexual, got it from gay sex and didn’t want to admit it because of shame associated with buttsex…whats yer verdict??? ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-magic-johnson-really-got-aids-virus/612908/2 "2012-02-15T07:02:30Z")
> [@Pablo\_O\_Malley](#): > > 98% of cases come from gay sex, 1% is from blood transfusions or dirty needles and 1% is from heterosexual sex Where’d you get your data? [From the CDC](http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/factsheets/us.htm): > [@](#): > > CDC estimates that [men having sex with men] […] accounted for 61% of all new HIV infections in 2009. > > Heterosexuals accounted for 27% of estimated new HIV infections in 2009 and 28% of people living with HIV infection in 2008. > > Injection drug users represented 9% of new HIV infections in 2009 and 17% of those living with HIV in 2008. > > HIV infections among women are primarily attributed to heterosexual contact or injection drug use. Women accounted for 23% of estimated new HIV infections in 2009 and 25% of those living with HIV infection in 2008. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-magic-johnson-really-got-aids-virus/612908/3 "2012-02-15T07:16:22Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > Where’d you get your data? > > [From the CDC](http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/factsheets/us.htm): I’m not sure where Pablo O’Malley is getting his questionable WAG numbers, but it is true that the chances of an American man getting AIDS from sexual intercourse with a heterosexual American woman is an extremely rare occurrence. I think the oft quoted statement is that a US heterosexual male has a a higher risk of drowning in the bathtub than getting AIDs that way. As to Magic’s chances of it being gay sex as the disease vector who cares, the important thing is that he’s alive. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-magic-johnson-really-got-aids-virus/612908/4 "2012-02-15T07:22:17Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > Where’d you get your data? > > [From the CDC](http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/factsheets/us.htm): So it appears that for men ~4% of cases are from heterosexual sex. If we assume IV drug users are 50% male, then ~5% of of cases are from IV drug use. So that leaves ~91% from male-male sex. So the original claim of “98% of cases come from gay sex, 1% is from blood transfusions or dirty needles and 1% is from heterosexual sex” is slightly exaggerated, but not grossly so. That’s assuming he was only referring to male infections. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-magic-johnson-really-got-aids-virus/612908/5 "2012-02-15T08:30:26Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > So it appears that for men ~4% of cases are from heterosexual sex. If we assume IV drug users are 50% male, then ~5% of of cases are from IV drug use. So that leaves ~91% from male-male sex. Consider also that the statistics are from 2008 and 2009. The proportion of male–male sex infections may well have been much higher when Johnson contracted HIV (which was at latest 1991). ---
**Author:** ![Khristy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/57b2e6/32.png) [@Khristy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khristy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-magic-johnson-really-got-aids-virus/612908/6 "2012-02-15T10:36:50Z")
> [@Pablo\_O\_Malley](#): > > it was recently the 20th anniversary of magic johnson’s revelation he has the aids virus > > looking back with perspective, does anyone still beleive he got it from sex with a woman? 98% of cases come from gay sex, 1% is from blood transfusions or dirty needles and 1% is from heterosexual sex > > i beleive its certain now magic is bisexual, got it from gay sex and didn’t want to admit it because of shame associated with buttsex…whats yer verdict??? Are you saying he got it from someone else’s magic johnson? ---
**Author:** ![polar\_bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@polar\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/polar_bear)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-magic-johnson-really-got-aids-virus/612908/7 "2012-02-15T11:13:19Z")
As far as I know the chance for a man of contracting HIV through heterosexual sex is very small. Since there are more heterosexual men than gay men, that doesn’t automatically mean heterosexual men make up a similarly low percentage of all people carrying HIV. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-magic-johnson-really-got-aids-virus/612908/8 "2012-02-15T11:22:03Z")
> [@Pablo\_O\_Malley](#): > > whats yer verdict??? Hung jury? ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-magic-johnson-really-got-aids-virus/612908/9 "2012-02-15T11:29:24Z")
Umm, you people do know that heterosexual men sometimes have \*anal \*sex with women, right? Just checkin… ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-magic-johnson-really-got-aids-virus/612908/10 "2012-02-15T11:34:52Z")
I believe it’s pretty likely that Magic Johnson got HIV from a man during sex. Whether or not that was “gay sex” is opening up a whole 'nother can of words. ( **voltaire** …still not likely. Men hardly ever contract HIV from anal sex with women. Can’t say never, but it’s being a bottom that accounts for the vast majority of new HIV infections. There just isn’t much of an infection opportunity on a penis with intact skin. Now, add a herpes lesion or bad scratch to the picture and you have a better shot.) ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-magic-johnson-really-got-aids-virus/612908/11 "2012-02-15T11:59:13Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Now, add a herpes lesion or bad scratch to the picture and you have a better shot.) Which, being the horndog that Magic was reputed to be, is not that unlikely. But yeah, even if he did contract AIDS through anal sex with a man, so what? Why do you care? (Asking the OP, not you) ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-magic-johnson-really-got-aids-virus/612908/12 "2012-02-15T12:03:37Z")
Well, speaking for myself I think it’s culturally kind of interesting – are there _any_ black celebrities who are out of the closet? ---
**Author:** ![Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hero_From_Sector_7G)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-magic-johnson-really-got-aids-virus/612908/13 "2012-02-15T12:45:14Z")
R. Kelly had a very famous and emotional public coming out of the closet. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/y8IVlfyIc8g/hqdefault.jpg "R.Kelly- Trapped in the closet") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8IVlfyIc8g) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-magic-johnson-really-got-aids-virus/612908/14 "2012-02-15T12:46:52Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Well, speaking for myself I think it’s culturally kind of interesting – are there _any_ black celebrities who are out of the closet? Depends on your definition of celebrity. CNN news anchor Don Lemon [came out last year.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/16/don-lemon-comes-out-cnn-anchor-gay_n_862308.html) ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-magic-johnson-really-got-aids-virus/612908/15 "2012-02-15T13:06:23Z")
Pure speculation, but FWIW I use this when I give my annual bloodborne pathogen training at my workplace: MJ, as a basketball star, had access to a significantly larger pool of women than the average male. This would increase his chances above the norm for F-M Het transmission. Also, if he had the psychological compulsion to meet that challenge, he may have experienced chafing and had open sores on his gentials that allowed infection. Plenty of young guys rub themselves raw. If one in several million of them has the opportunity to be rubbed raw by several different women every day; hundreds of women over hundreds of days, the statistical averages go out the window. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-magic-johnson-really-got-aids-virus/612908/16 "2012-02-15T13:27:24Z")
The OP’s figures on heterosexual men getting AIDS from women may be pretty close. Trying to find a Playboy article they did 20 years ago on the chances of Johnson getting it from a woman, I found a statement by the Playboy Advisor in February 1992 that fewer than 2% of cases in the US are men getting it from women (2695 out of 173,974). If that is an accurate source but pre-Cecil that is what we used. ---
**Author:** ![wedgehed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8edcca/32.png) [@wedgehed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wedgehed)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-magic-johnson-really-got-aids-virus/612908/17 "2012-02-15T13:30:12Z")
> [@Khristy](#): > > Are you saying he got it from someone else’s magic johnson? > [@Peanuthead](#): > > Hung jury? Dribbling in the paint? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-magic-johnson-really-got-aids-virus/612908/18 "2012-02-15T13:33:56Z")
> [@polar\_bear](#): > > As far as I know the chance for a man of contracting HIV through heterosexual sex is very small. On the other hand, some sports stars have a VERY high number of sexual partners. If you have hundreds of heterosexual pairings your odds of picking up an STD are significantly higher than if you have only a few. Just because something is rare does not mean it is impossible. Other than having a virus associated with gay sex, are there any other indications that Magic has ever had sex with another man? ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-magic-johnson-really-got-aids-virus/612908/19 "2012-02-15T13:47:32Z")
It seems the OP is falling into the [prosecutor’s fallacy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosecutor%27s_fallacy). The fact that only several percent of HIV infections are caused by heterosexual sex doesn’t mean that a specific individual with HIV has a 98% chance of having acquired it by homosexual sex. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-magic-johnson-really-got-aids-virus/612908/20 "2012-02-15T14:48:43Z")
Plus one statistic I recall was that uncircumcised men have 5 times the odds of catching AIDS than circumcised men… which brings up the next obvious question. There’s a whole continent full of people where AIDS is endemic and spread mainly by heterosexual contact. Some countries in central Africa have infection rates over 20%. Plus, I wonder if the type of groupies who have sex with celebrity basketball stars are also the same sort of women who are more likely than the general population to indulge in intravenous drugs? I would guess that if you wanted to find a situation was much much more risky for catching heterosexually transmitted AIDS than the stats for the general population, MJ’s is one. “…but how I caught it, found it or came by it, what stuff tis made of, I am to know…” -Antonio, \*Merchant of Venice \* [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-magic-johnson-really-got-aids-virus/612908.md?page=2)