Twenty years after delivering what is now considered one of the best speeches of the 20th century, Mary Fisher continues her work as an HIV/AIDS activist, The New York Times reports. When she took the stage at the Republican National Convention in 1992, Fisher delivered a 13-minute prime-time speech disclosing her HIV-positive status to millions of people. It was the first time the Republican Party had openly dealt with the issue. Known as “The Speech” by her friends and family, it was deemed worthy for inclusion in the book Words of a Century: The Top 100 American Speeches, 1900–1999 by 137 scholars. AIDS Is Messenger: A Self Portrait, her sixth book on AIDS and her second memoir, is scheduled to be published next month.

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