The December 2019 issue of POZ celebrated 100 transgender, gender-nonconforming and nonbinary (TGNCNB) advocates who are combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic and promoting trans visibility in myriad ways. Some honorees work for AIDS organizations administering HIV tests and connecting people with the virus to care; others fight HIV through political action, journalism or the arts. Some are millennials relatively new to advocacy; others have been speaking up for decades. Some are living with the virus, and others are not. 

What these 100 heroes have in common is the conviction to fight for better access to health care as well as housing and employment opportunities in the face of stigma and prejudice. 

At a time when 14% of all trans women and 44% of Black trans women are HIV positive and data on HIV among trans men is lacking, there is a lot of work left to do. The good news is, TGNCNB people are increasingly being recognized for providing us with a blueprint for how that work is to be done, and for that, folks have been expressing their gratitude on social media.