AIDS was originally going to be called GRID, which is an acronym standing for Gay Related Immune Deficiency. But the name was changed, so as not to foster a stereotype of this disease process being associated with homosexual men.
Back then, I had a hobby following societal responses to diseases (got interested in anthropology class). It was called GRID for a short while but it quickly spread from homosexuals to IV drug users (also immune compromised). They generalized the name after that but I do think they did it partly to take heat off homosexuals.