Editor's Letter: Pauley Perrette's Kind Spirit

By day Pauley Perrette plays spirited forensic specialist Abby on NCIS, America's most watched TV series. But in her spare time she's an HIV activist who works through her church, Hollywood United Methodist, to change the lives of people with HIV—something she thinks everyone should do. "I’m really grateful that I stuck with God and got away from the bigots," she says of her less progressive childhood church. "I know that each and every single person out there from the bigots to the LGBT community is a child of God." Indeed.

Perrette is just one of the many people in this issue who is making a difference in the lives of HIVers. Hip-hop stars in Texas, a nun in Cameroon, a group of teens in D.C., reality stars in Hollywood, scientists at the AIDS conference, even the man in the White House—they've all done something fabulous recently that will reduce stigma, fight complacency, increase visibility, and help people with HIV live longer, healthier, happier lives. I'm in awe. I hope you are too.

Diane Anderson-Minshall
Editor in Chief