Announcement Hailed as a Way to Teach Public : Taboos: Activists praise Johnson for his courage. They say he can help shatter myths about HIV, AIDS.

When basketball superstar Earvin (Magic) Johnson announced Thursday that he has contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, he became a hero to a new set of fans--the community of activists and medical professionals working to stem the epidemic.

Johnson’s disclosure and declaration that he will join the public crusade against the spread of HIV were hailed as acts of courage in an era when many people still shy away from candid discussion of a virus that is believed to infect 1 in every 250 Americans.

The stunning announcement by the popular Los Angeles Laker star was felt at playgrounds, health clinics and the offices of activists and government figures in Washington, D.C. The reactions were immediate, heartfelt--and sometimes misinformed.

“It’s like someone telling you that your brother has it,” said Michael Champ, 27, during a break from a pickup basketball game at the Sepulveda Recreation Center. “They said that in a few years everybody would know someone who has AIDS. Now everybody knows someone.”

Johnson, in fact, emphasized that, although he has human immunodeficiency virus, he has not developed AIDS, as some early news reports said. But such confusion, activists say, illustrates the potential education value of the disclosure by one of the most famous athletes of his era, considered a role model for youth.

“Magic is to be commended for coming forward, and not hiding and not lying,” said Urvashi Vaid, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in Washington, which has lobbied on AIDS issues since 1983. “Just as Rock Hudson’s diagnosis and death did a tremendous amount to educate the public, this news . . . will do a tremendous amount to shatter some myths.”

Within minutes of the first news reports, Johnson’s condition became a chief topic of conversation on high school and college campuses.

The revelation had a jarring impact, stirring fears and prompting many people to take action. Some parents were saying they couldn’t postpone safe-sex lectures any longer. Others were frightened anew with the possibility that they themselves may be infected.

“Our phones are ringing off the hook by people who want to get tested. I can’t believe this,” Pearl Jemison-Smith, chair of the AIDS Coalition to Identify Orange County Needs, said after Johnson’s 3 p.m. press conference, televised live by several TV stations. “I don’t know how many lives that he may save with this (announcement), but it could be many. I think people are now convinced that they can too get this disease without being gay.”

Johnson can play a key role in promoting HIV awareness among youth and within minority communities, two groups in which the incidence of HIV has shown a dramatic increase, said Reggie Williams, executive director of the National Task Force on AIDS Prevention.

“Magic is a role model and an icon, particularly to youth. Of all colors,” Williams said.

Johnson’s announcement comes at a time when activists are seeking more funding for AIDS research, health care and public education programs. Williams’ group recently saw its federal appropriation cut 43%.

Activists said they hope Johnson would help lobby for more money.

“Magic said he was going to be an advocate and that may be part of the role, and in order to do education, you need money and that will be up to the government,” Jemison-Smith said. “Poor old Dr. (C. Everett) Koop couldn’t do it. Maybe Magic can.”

As of Sept. 30, 1991, the Centers for Disease Control reported that more than 1 million people are infected with HIV. The CDC said 195,718 cases of AIDS have been reported, including 126,159 deaths.

HIV is a blood-borne virus that is most commonly transmitted by unprotected homosexual and heterosexual sex, and through use of contaminated needles by drug users.

The educational value of the announcement was seen at once, with several television news broadcasts devoting extended reports to HIV and AIDS. But neither Johnson nor his doctor disclosed or offered speculation about how he contracted the virus--a fact that disappointed some activists.

“I want young people to realize that they have to practice safe sex,” Johnson said. “You know, sometimes you are a little naive about it and you think it can never happen to you. You only thought it could only happen to other people. . . .

“I am going to be a spokesman for this HIV virus, because I want them to understand safe sex is the way to go. I think sometimes we think, well, only gay people can get it, it’s not going to happen to me. And here I am saying it can happen to anybody, even me, Magic Johnson.”

Dr. Aaron Aronow, medical director of the HIV Health Care Center in West Hollywood, interpreted Johnson’s statements as implying that he had contracted the virus from unprotected heterosexual sex.

Johnson’s disclosure, Aronow said, shows that AIDS “is not a disease of lifestyle. It’s a disease of people--a virus than can infect anyone.”

Brad Laughlin, who watched Johnson’s press conference on TV at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center in Hollywood, said he hoped Johnson is more forthcoming in the future about how he contracted the virus.

“Granted, it’s his personal position. It’s brave of him to do this. It would be even more powerful if he’d come out and say it--whatever it is,” Laughlin said. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

But the reaction at Inglewood High School, not far from where Johnson routinely performed heroics at the Forum, showed that much of the stigma associated with HIV is still prevalent, as is ignorance about how the virus is transmitted.

One student there said he was one of Johnson’s biggest fans. Now his feelings have changed. “I would still go up to him and say, ‘Good game,’ ” he said. “But I wouldn’t shake his hand.”

Freeman Smith, a member of the school’s basketball team, disagreed strongly. “He got me to care more about people,” Smith said. “If he was here, I’d shake his hand, I’d give him a hug. I like Magic no matter what.”

Another myth that Johnson could destroy is that contracting HIV is tantamount to an immediate death sentence, activists said. Johnson himself emphasized that he expects to live a long time and pursue his dream of owning an NBA franchise.

“It’s another challenge, another chapter in your life,” Johnson said. “It’s like your back is against the wall. And I think that you have to come out swinging, and I’m swinging.

“I’m going to go on. I’m going to beat it and I’m going to have fun.”

Williams said he understands how Johnson felt.

“I’m infected and I know what it’s like to live with HIV,” he said. “My message to Magic would be that there is in fact life after HIV.

“He is fortunate to be living at a time when a whole range of well-founded treatments are available for HIV, helping people live a longer and better quality of life.”

Times staff writers Dean Murphy and David Reyes contributed to this story.