Elizabeth Taylor: Early AIDS Hero

Good As You posts the above 1985 news clipping as a reminder that Elizabeth Taylor was among the first and most vocal celebrities to demand funding for AIDS research, a move she made at great risk to her career, considering the tenor of those dark, dark days. Taylor went on to cofound the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) and her own Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, which raised over $50M in its first ten years.

This morning the Human Rights Campaign acknowledges Taylor's tireless campaign against HIV/AIDS: "We are deeply saddened by the death Elizabeth Taylor. Ms. Taylor was a true ally to the LGBT community. She was one of the first public voices to speak up about the AIDS crisis while many others stayed silent in the 1980s and she helped raise millions of dollars to fight the disease. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family, and to all those whose lives have been positively impacted by the life and work of Elizabeth Taylor."