In Tens: 10 Allies We're Grateful For

[ 10 ]Jonathan Larson The Tony- and Pulitzer Prize'winning playwright was the composer of the much-beloved rock opera Rent, which told the story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive and create in New York City in the shadow of AIDS. He died of an aortic aneurysm in 1996.

[ 7 ] (tie)Sharon Stone, Judith Light, Kathy Griffin Each has spent years dedicating their free time to speaking up for HIV-related causes and hosting fund-raising events.

[ 6 ]Diana, Princess of Wales The princess went out of her way to embrace HIV-positive children on her missions to various countries to publicize the message that fears about the virus being spread through casual contact were irrational. She died in a car crash in 1997.

[ 5 ]Nelson Mandela The former South African president has committed himself to raising awareness about HIV in his home country and abroad. In 2003, two years before losing a son to AIDS, he formed the 46664 foundation to raise funds to fight the virus.

[ 4 ]R. Scott Hitt, MD An HIV specialist, he relentlessly advocated for treatment and research as chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS in the 1990s. 'We're going to hold the Administration's feet to the fire to make sure the steps they take accomplish the goals they set,' he said. He died of colon cancer in 2007.

[ 2 ] (tie)Elizabeth Taylor, Mathilde Krim Both women have had an overlapping commitment to fighting HIV, particularly in their work that helped to launch amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research. Taylor'active since the death of longtime friend Rock Hudson and the discovery that her daughter-in-law Aileen Getty is HIV-positive'also later set up her own AIDS foundation.

[ 1 ]Martin Delaney Known as the 'first AIDS treatment activist,' he founded Project Inform in 1985 and laid the groundwork that has allowed expedited approvals for experimental treatments to reach critically ill HIVers faster.