Tez Anderson
Public Speaker, Founder, and Writer in San Francisco, California
Tez Anderson is an award-winning, nationally recognized HIV Long-Term Survivor activist, writer, and speaker who has been living with HIV since 1983. He focuses on HIV Long-Term Survivors aging with HIV. He is the founder of Let's Kick ASS—AIDS Survivor Syndrome (2013), the first and largest group worldwide dedicated to improving the lives of HIV long-term survivors and older adults aging with HIV.
Anderson coined the term "AIDS Survivor Syndrome (ASS)” to describe the psychological state resulting from living through the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In 2014, he established HIV Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day (HLTSAD) to bring attention to those living longest with HIV, who often felt forgotten and invisible as they aged.
Anderson's activism began in the early 1980s as a gay rights advocate in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. He has been open about his HIV-positive status since 1990 when he disclosed it in People magazine. His influence extends to the entertainment industry, where he co-wrote and served as Executive Producer on the 2006 feature film "The Night Listener" and was a Creative Consultant for the groundbreaking "Tales of the City" miniseries (1994).
For more information about Tez Anderson's work and initiatives, visit LetsKickASS.hiv and HLTSAD.org.