February/March

Cover: Thom Collins, an HIV-positive model and dancer, talks about AIDS on the gay party circuit. ­Inside: A look at how AIDS groups overcome fundraising challenges; a giving guide to AIDS service organizations; true horror stories from AIDS fundraising galas. Plus: Wilson Cruz of My So-Called Life on coming out in the era of AIDS.

POZ cover story on model and dancer Thom Collins

April/May

Cover: Larry Kramer (“the father of AIDS activism”) makes his first cover appearance with an interview by pundit Andrew Sullivan. ­Inside: An excerpt from Breaking the Surface, a new memoir by Olympic medalist Greg Louganis; do you know what’s in the water you’re drinking? Plus: ABC News anchor Peter Jennings discusses his HIV-related journalism.

Greg Louganis

June/July

Cover: Lamar “Kidfire” Parks, an HIV-positive boxer and formerly the world’s No. 1 middleweight contender, talks about how the virus ended his career. ­Inside: HIV prevention activism moves to the forefront as safer sex is scrutinized. Plus: Biotechnology companies pioneer new high-stakes HIV research; HIV-positive photographer John Dugdale on losing his sight to cytomegalovirus, or CMV.

The photography of John Dugdale

August/September

Cover: Actress-lawyer-activist Ilka Tanya Payán is a fighter with no fear. ­Inside: Spotlighting the needs of HIV-positive women that are not being addressed; why pregnancy is the one thing that makes policymakers interested in the lives of women with HIV. Plus: Keeping pets and their HIV-positive owners together.

October/November

Cover: Public-interest lawyer Tom Stoddard fights AIDS discrimination loudly and his HIV quietly. ­Inside: The treatment known as IL-2 highlights the AIDS research turf war between virologists and immunologists; does Broadway really care about AIDS? Plus: Political organizer and activist Rae Lewis-Thornton educates the Black community about HIV.

December/January 1996

Cover: Henry Nicols—Cooperstown’s most famous Eagle Scout—is all grown up with many places to go. ­Inside: A retrospective of the sublime, the ridiculous and the heroic events of the past year; Tinseltown’s script about AIDS is good, but the picture is not always pretty. Plus: The newest AIDS treatment is not a drug.

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