Mary Fisher

Who is Mary Fisher?

Mary Fisher is an American political activist, artist and author. After contracting HIV from her second husband, she has become an outspoken HIV/AIDS activist for the prevention, education and for the compassionate treatment of people with HIV and AIDS. She is particularly noted for speeches before two Republican Conventions: Houston in 1992 and San Diego in 1996. The 1992 speech has been hailed as "one of the best American speeches of the 20th Century."

She is founder of a non-profit organization to fund HIV/AIDS research and education, the Mary Fisher Clinical AIDS Research and Education Fund. Since May 2006, she has been a global emissary for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.