OUR BEST and BRIGHTEST ACTIVIST: health.

Elizabeth Taylor 

When Rock Hudson died in 1985 and diva Elizabeth Taylor became an activist against AIDS, the media spotlight followed, Since then, as founder of both the American Foundation for AIDS Research and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, Taylor has spent the past 15 years spurring the arts and entertainment industry--and the public--into action, "Celebrity is not something that comes without responsibility," Taylor says, "If I can help further a worthwhile cause simply by lending my voice, I feel it is my place to do so, I try to inspire passion in others and to help educate, which is so badly needed, We must talk about AIDS and take it more seriously, We are in deep trouble and don't realize the full extent."

Kenneth Mayer

Kenneth Mayer was one of the first physicians in Boston to see patients with HIV. Now, with more than 200 research articles to his name, he serves as a professor of medicine and community health at Brown University, director of the Brown University AIDS Program, medical research director at Fenway Community Health Center, and principal investigator for the New England site of the HIV Network for Prevention Trials, which supports an HIV Vaccine Preparedness Study and other research and trials. "My passion is social justice," Mayer says, "and I don't need to go far to understand my current motivation. My office is filled with photos of people who were important to me but who are no longer here."

Teresa Cuadra and Suzanne Newman

Their goal is to improve Latina lesbians' health. And with their video series "Nuestra Salud" ("Our Health"), Teresa Cuadra and Suzanne Newman are well on their way. Cuadra, a cofounder of New York City's Gay Women's Focus, and Newman, a lesbian activist and video producer-director, recently completed the series, which includes segments on HIV and safe sex, gynecology and preventive care, breast exams and breast cancer, and domestic violence. Segments on substance abuse and mental health will soon follow. "`Nuestra Salud' was a dream of mine for several years," Cuadra says. Adds Newman: "This is a community that is ready to be seen and heard."

Henry Ng

On leave from medical school at Michigan State University, Henry Ng helped promote diversity in medicine as the American Medical Student Association's member initiatives director. His work included developing a medical student bill of rights that addresses sexual orientation; advocating for diversity in medical education, health policy, and public health', and creating a Violence Intervention and Prevention Internship, which led to the production of a hate-crimes primer as a reaction, in part, to Matthew Shepard's murder. Ng has returned to school, and he says he will continue to work to improve the medical profession for gay and lesbian patients and providers.

Sharon Stone

Sharon Stone, loved by lesbians and gay men alike for the bad-girl roles she plays in film, has given back many times over to these fans through her efforts in the fight against AIDS, Appointed chairwoman of AmFAR's Campaign for AIDS Research in 1995, Stone has spent the past four years traveling nationally and internationally to raise funds for the study of HIV, In the past year she has hosted events such as AmFAR's "Cinema Against AIDS" in Cannes, France, which raised more than $1 million, and an intimate Dallas benefit called "Two by Two for AIDS and Art," where, serving as cochair and auctioneer, she helped raise more than $780,000.

Donna Futterman

Director of the Adolescent AIDS Program at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City and coauthor of the book Lesbian and Gay Youth: Care and Counseling, Donna Futterman has helped shape the field of adolescent health, This summer she will launch the first-ever Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Health Resource Center, which will train health care providers and youth and initiate a national campaign to promote HIV testing to young people at risk, "I really love teenagers," Futterman says, "Doing work with young people gives me the opportunity to tap into their spirit of optimism, engagement, and hopefulness for the future."

John Paul DeJoria 

John Paul DeJoria isn't your typical gay activist, For one thing, he's straight, But the CEO of John Paul Mitchell Systems is dedicated to the care and treatment of HIV-positive members of the cosmetics industry, many of whom are gay, Active in the AIDS Relief Fund for Beauty Professionals, DeJoria has helped the organization provide hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants for food, rent, and medical care to people in the industry with HIV.

Elton John

The Elton John AIDS Foundation, established in 1992, has distributed more than $12 million in grants in North America and $5 million internationally for HIV/AIDS education, prevention, and assistance programs, John's creative spirit is alive at the foundation: Funds are raised through benefits such as the seventh annual Oscar night party sponsored by InStyle magazine and a line of merchandise--including crystal cherubs, eyeglasses, home fragrances, and candles--allowing people to buy gifts for themselves and, as John has, help others in the process.

A. CORNELIUS BAKER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PEOPLE WITH AIDS 

As a black man born in America, my life has been a long march away from second-class citizen. I cannot imagine being quiet to injustice as one's people are walked over, tossed out, and left tied to a tree in the night to die. What we term "activism" is really just a strong will to survive and a high respect for our lives.

During the past two decades of fighting AIDS, gay and lesbian people have been activist in simple ways full of immerse beauty: by coming out, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, giving comfort to the sick, fighting against discrimination, and burying our dead with dignity and grace. In the 21st century, as we push forward to end the constant threat of HIV and for equality with heterosexuals, our activism will depend largely on the many tools of democratic society, including voting (and being elected), the use of the media and the arts to convey our vision, and money to build institutions that serve the interest of our people.

It has become common to think that the need for angry protest is over and that all we have to do is be good citizens and write a check to be invited "equally" into the party. We cannot afford to mistake the veneer of acceptance for progress. In many places coming out is still a matter of great sacrifice and personal commitment. What we will need most in the coming years is strength, clarity of propose of resoluteness in meeting our goal of equality, and a willingness to die for our conviction.

But freedom is not an easy thing to get, as Rosa Parks and our nation's gay and lesbian soldiers can tell you.

I, for one, will hold my head up and speak truth to power until my last day.

David Ho

The fame that followed David Ho's selection as Time magazine's Man of the Year in 1996 has not steered Ho from his primary focus: finding a cure for AIDS. As director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York City, Ho has never flinched from carrying the weight of AIDS research expectations on his shoulders. "My enthusiasm is as high as ever," Ho told The Advocate in 1998. "I think it's really fueled by the fact that we've learned so much. There's also a faith that ultimately this knowledge will translate into something practical we can use to fight the virus.

Michael Petrelis

Michael Petrelis has no qualms about taking on anyone he thinks isn't doing what's best for gay men and people with HIV, From his AIDS Service Provider Accountability Project--which put nonprofits' 990 tax forms on the Internet--and his work with Republican congressman Tom Coburn to push for an audit of federal AIDS programs to his recent effort to reopen San Francisco's bathhouses through a ballot initiative, Petrelis has been no stranger to controversy. The common thread to all these causes? "My skepticism," Petrelis says, "I believe very little of what the AIDS bureaucrats say."

Susan Love

When one thinks of breast cancer, one thinks of Dr, Susan Love. Love's work has helped create the breast cancer prevention movement, In recognition of this, President Clinton appointed the openly lesbian Love to the National Cancer Advisory Board in December 1998. Now, as medical director of the Santa Barbara Breast Cancer Institute, she is researching ways to detect pre-cancerous changes in the breast. "My goal is to eradicate breast cancer in my lifetime," she says, "Too many women have died, I don't want my daughter to be a grown up in a world where breast cancer is still a problem."

R. Scott Hitt

When the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS passed a vote of no confidence in 1998 on Clinton's HIV prevention efforts, the potential for fallout was clear. But as openly gay chairman of the council, HIV specialist R. Scott Hitt has no doubt that the council did the right thing. "We don't have to toe the line, and we certainly haven't," he said, "We may have burned some bridges, but in the long run we've gained much more respect."