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Oprah Winfrey paid a heartfelt tribute to her late brother Jeffrey Lee … marking 35 years since he passed away from AIDS during the height of the country’s HIV epidemic.
In a clip shared to Oprah Daily’s IG Tuesday in honor of Pride Month, Oprah revealed Jeffrey passed away at just 29 in 1989 — a time she described as an “extremely cruel place, not just for people suffering from AIDS, but also for LGBTQ people in general.”
Oprah poignantly reflected if her brother had lived, he’d be amazed at how much the world has changed — especially with Pride Month and the progress in legalizing gay marriage.
She also wondered how different his life might’ve been now — especially in “a world that saw and appreciated him for who he was rather than attempting to shame him for his sexuality.”
Oprah doubled down on her belief everyone deserves to love who they want and hoped folks are out there living their truth with tons of support.
She captioned the clip, “I wish for you the continued freedom to rise to your truest, highest expression of yourself as a human being.”- @oprah 🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈 #PrideMonth.”
Oprah last spoke about her brother in March … giving him a shoutout at the 35th GLAAD Media Awards while snagging the Vanguard Award for championing LGBTQ+ rights.
In her speech, Oprah said that Jeffrey was the secret sauce behind “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” To her, it was all about people sharing their tales and having the freedom to be true to themselves — just like Jeffrey would’ve wanted.