POZ magazine, the award-winning print and online brand for people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, today announced the annual “POZ 100” list. Launched in 2010, the POZ 100 highlights individuals working to combat HIV/AIDS chosen from nominations by readers. The list has highlighted groups such as long-term survivors, youth, women and transgender people.

Our 2021 list focuses on Black advocates from across the United States, both living with HIV and HIV negative. HIV disproportionately affects African Americans. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black people account for 42% of all new HIV diagnoses, although they make up only 13% of the U.S. population. If current trends do not change, it is estimated that one in two gay Black men will test HIV positive in their lifetime.

“Although COVID-19 made us pause our annual POZ 100 list in 2020, we are excited to relaunch it,” said Oriol Gutierrez, POZ’s editor-in-chief. “We strove to create a varied list that includes everyone from everyday folks to celebrities,” Gutierrez continued.

Honorees from this year’s list, in alphabetical order, include: rapper, performance artist, poet and activist Mykki Blanco; drag superstar Trinity K. Bonet; Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Jericho Brown; Steven Canals, cocreator of Pose; trans actress and activist Laverne Cox; Broadway legend André De Shields; Emmy-winning activist and author Rae Lewis Thornton; rapper and activist Lil Nas X; playwright, poet and filmmaker Donja R. Love; Harold Phillips, director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy; and actor, singer and activist Billy Porter.

Go to poz.com/100 to see this year’s full list.

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POZ is an award-winning print and online brand for people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. Offering unparalleled editorial excellence since 1994, POZ and POZ.com are identified by our readers as their most trusted sources of information about the disease.

 

POZ is published by Smart + Strong, which produces health-focused magazines and websites that empower and inspire. Our additional award-winning brands include Real Health magazine and RealHealthMag.com; Hep magazine and HepMag.com; and Cancer Health magazine and CancerHealth.com.