Oprah Winfrey pays heartfelt tribute to brother who died from AIDS

Oprah Winfrey just paid a heartfelt tribute to her brother, Jeffrey Lee, who passed away due to AIDS.

On Tuesday, The Oprah Winfrey Show host shared a message on her update page, Oprah Daily in honor of Pride Month and remembering Lee, who died at the age of 29, during the HIV epidemic in the United States.

"It was 35 years ago that my younger brother Jeffrey Lee died from AIDS,” Winfrey noted.

She continued, “He was 29 years old. The year was 1989 and the world was an extremely cruel place, not just for people suffering from AIDS, but also for LGBTQ people in general.”

“I often think if he’d lived he’d be so amazed at how much the world has changed, that there actually is gay marriage and a Pride Month,” the 70-year-old media personality added.

“How different his life might have been had be lived in these times. In a world that saw and appreciated him for who he was rather than attempting to shame him for his sexuality,” she added.

“I wish for you the continued freedom to rise to your truest highest expression of yourself as a human being,” Oprah Winfrey captioned the message.