Click here to read a digital edition of this article.
Introduction | A-C | D-H | J-L | M | O-R | S-T | V-X
Monique Mackey
New York, NY
Monique Mackey
Monique is a senior community health outreach worker specializing in transgender services at New York’s Amida Care. Born with HIV, she advocates for the rights of all trans and nonbinary people in the health care field. A former drug user and sex worker, she uses her life experiences to encourage younger members of the trans community to follow their dreams. Monique is also a graduate of Amida Care’s Workforce Initiative Network and the AIDS Service Center of New York City’s Peer Training Institute’s collaborative program.
Jeffrey Marsh
New York, NY
Jeffrey MarshAngela Cappetta
Jeffrey is a writer, actor, artist, activist and social media personality best known for making inspirational viral videos on Vine. Their videos have garnered over a quarter of a billion views, prompting CBS to describe them as “the internet’s most beloved anti-bully.” Their posts on Twitter and Facebook are messages full of hope and positivity. Jeffrey is an antidote to the hatred often directed at the HIV and LGBT communities. A frequent writer for Time and Oprah.com, they are also the author of How to Be You, a best seller that is part memoir, part self-help workbook.
Jevon Martin
Bronx, NY
Jevon Martin
Jevon is a New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority conductor, model, actor, motivational speaker, producer, peer educator, HIV test counselor, volunteer and resounding voice in the community who has also served as a house father in New York City’s ballroom community. Jevon is the founder and CEO of Princess Janae Place, which provides GED training and teaches financial literacy and offers referrals to housing, legal, medical and recreational services for homeless trans people and the LGBTQIA community. He is a founding member of the first trans man fraternity, Theta Beta Chi. Jevon has received many accolades for his work, including the 2017 Circle of Life Person of Trans Experience Award, the 2015 Transman of the Year Award, the 2016 Octavia St. Laurent Trans Activist Award, the 2014 Marsha P. Johnson Award and the 2018 Pioneer Cris Award. He is also Mr. Trans New York 2020.
Gia Martinez
Falls Church, VA
Gia Martinez
Gia is a trans coordinator and health educator at NovaSalud, a nonprofit that provides HIV testing and prevention education programs in Northern Virginia, where she also leads the TSISTA (Transgender Sisters Informing Sisters About Topics on AIDS) program. She has extensive experience working with Latina transgender women and is highly skilled at facilitating group interventions with them. She received a community leadership award in 2014 for her advocacy for transgender Latina equality. She also serves on the Community HIV Planning Group for the Virginia Department of Health, which guides prevention and care services and is a trans navigator for PEP and PrEP.
Morgan Mayfaire
Miami, FL
Morgan Mayfaire
Morgan has a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy and a doctorate in clinical psychology. Dedicated to the fight to end HIV, he works within his South Florida trans community to offer testing and prevention resources. He serves as the transgender at-large alternate for the Florida Comprehensive Planning Network and is an active member of the South Florida AIDS Network and the Latinos en Accion Advisory Group. A proud Latinx trans man, Morgan uses his visibility and platform to advocate for more resources and culturally sensitive care. He serves as executive director of TransSOCIAL and co-facilitates the group’s TLGBQ+ cultural sensitivity training.
Jesse Medina
Los Angeles, CA
Jesse Medina
A proud Afro-Latino man, Jesse has dedicated most of his adult life to service. An Army veteran who has openly opposed the U.S. government’s ban on trans people serving in the military, Jesse is a frontline provider and advocate for the TGNCNB community. As a case manager and service navigator for APAIT, a division of Special Service for Groups, Jesse catered to the medical needs of underserved people living with HIV, with a special focus on trans individuals. Currently, Jesse is the linkage and retention coordinator at the Trans Wellness Center, part of the Los Angeles LGBT Center, where he also facilitates groups and has been instrumental in organizing life skills events for trans individuals.
Marissa Miller
Washington, DC
Marissa MillerJonathan TImmes
Marissa is a long-term survivor with decades of experience as an HIV activist and advocate. She has worked with such organizations as Howard Brown Health, AIDS United, Positively Trans and the Transgender Law Center to end the epidemic and champion equality for the trans community. As the program coordinator at NMAC, she was the organization’s first transgender staffer. This year, Marissa was the national organizing director of the first-ever National Trans Visibility March on Washington, DC (see Spotlight). She’s currently the CEO of Transsolutions, a global resource center that provides safety and universal health access for TGNCNB communities. (Click here to read the POZ Q&A with Marissa.)
Dharma Mirza
Corvallis, OR
Dharma Mirza
Dharma is one of central Oregon’s most outspoken artists, activists and educators. She works hard to promote safe sex in rural LGBTQ+ communities and is a passionate advocate for sex workers, people of color and communities disproportionately affected by substance use. Dharma is currently a student at Oregon State University, where she is majoring in public health and minoring in queer studies and statistics. She’s also on the board of Valley AIDS Information Network (VAIN) and serves as the LGBTQ+ programming and services liaison. Through her work with the organization, Dharma hosts rapid-HIV-testing events, advocates for the implementation of needle-exchange programs and works with public and private health care providers to offer a voice for individuals on the margins of society. Dharma is also the founder of Haus of Dharma, a drag family and performance art troupe committed to bringing queer/trans art to the Corvallis region.
Janet Mock
New York, NY; Los Angeles, CA
Janet Mock
The title of her 2014 best-selling memoir, Janet: Redefining Realness, says it all. A native of Honolulu, she earned a master’s in journalism from New York University. In a breakout 2011 article for Marie Claire, she wrote about growing up trans, and she hasn’t left the spotlight since, appearing in front of and behind the camera. She’s a writer, director and producer—best known for the FX series Pose—who uses storytelling as a powerful tool for advocacy. In June, she announced a partnership with Netflix. She tweeted: “So proud to join the ranks of digital content moguls as the first trans woman to call her own creative shots at a major content company.”
Indya Moore
Bronx, NY
Indya Moore
Fashion can be activism—just ask Indya. When the nonbinary model turned actress received an honor at the Fashion Media Awards in September, they wore stunning keepsake earrings comprising portraits of the 16 Black trans women murdered this year in the United States. Indya carried the portrait of a 17th trans woman, who was killed days before the awards, in a frame during the event. (The number has since increased to 18.) While growing up in the Bronx, Indya was shuffled between foster and group homes, abused and sex trafficked. At one point, she even contemplated suicide. But in a plot that mirrors her role as Angel on the FX series Pose, Indya persevered. Today, they give voice and visibility to marginalized communities—and look damned good doing it.
Bobbee Trans Mooremon
San Francisco, CA
Bobbee Trans Mooremon
A disabled trans femme diagnosed with HIV in 2012, Bobbee has been an LGBTQ activist for more than a decade. For eight years, she worked to create spaces to educate the Mormon community about LGBTQ life. She fought for marriage equality through direct action and civil disobedience, protested for the end of the military’s antigay “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and stood up for a trans-inclusive federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). She fundraises for HIV services and is a five-year volunteer roadie for the AIDS/Life Cycle. She’s also the creator of the trans leather pride flag.
Socorro “Cori” Moreland
Oakland, CA
Socorro “Cori” Moreland
Cori has been involved in LGBT advocacy for over a decade. He currently leads the Bay Area chapter of Black Transmen, an organization with roots in Dallas, and created the website Brotherhood510, which empowers trans-masculine people of color to access community resources and connect with one another via social media and through creative outlets. In 2017, he served as a fellow in the Human Rights Campaign HIV 360 Fellowship Program. Cori works as a transgender services coordinator for the AIDS Project of the East Bay and is a member of NMAC’s African-American constituent advisory panel.
Lailani Muniz
Bronx, NY
Lailani Muniz
For the past several years, Lailani, a lifelong activist and 2017’s Miss Black Trans New York, has made promoting U=U the focus of her advocacy. As an HIV-positive trans woman married to an HIV-negative partner, Lailani uses her own experience to help educate others about the effectiveness of viral suppression as an HIV prevention method. Lailani serves on the HIV Planning Board for the state of New York and as a spokesmodel for the HIV health care provider Amida Care as well as the “HIV Stops With Me” campaign. In 2017, she worked with GMHC to create the awareness program #transparenting to draw attention to the unique challenges faced by trans parents. Lailani is also COO of the New York Transgender Bodybuilding Federation, run by her trans fiancé and fellow POZ 100 honoree, Sabastian Roy.
Introduction | A-C | D-H | J-L | M | O-R | S-T | V-X
To read the 2018 POZ 100, click here.
To read the 2017 POZ 100, click here.
To read the 2016 POZ 100, click here.
To read the 2015 POZ 100, click here.
To read the 2014 POZ 100, click here.
To read the 2013 POZ 100, click here.
To read the 2012 POZ 100, click here.
To read the 2011 POZ 100, click here.
To read the 2010 POZ 100, click here.
Comments
Comments