AIDS Activists Mourn Loss of Hollywood Champion

Leading AIDS activists and organizations joined movie fans in mourning the death of Elizabeth Taylor, who in her later years was as identified with the AIDS battle as she was with Hollywood glamour, CNN says.

Ms. Taylor, who died Wednesday at age 79, was one of the first high-profile public figures to champion the issue, establishing the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation and helping raise millions of dollars to fight the disease over nearly three decades of activism.

The American Foundation for AIDS Research called Ms. Taylor “one of the most inspirational figures” on the AIDS front, starting in the early 1980s, when the disease was a still-mysterious condition associated almost exclusively with gay men.

“She was among the first to speak out on behalf of people living with HIV when others reacted with fear and often outright hostility,” the organization said in a statement.