At the height of the AIDS epidemic in the mid-1980s, John Laird joined with five other gay men to launch the Santa Cruz AIDS Project in order to support people living in the seaside city who were becoming HIV-positive.
Laird also helped to address the health crisis from inside City Hall. He served on the Santa Cruz City Council, including two stints as the city's mayor, during most of that decade.
After being termed out of office in 1990, Laird was hired as executive director of the AIDS agency, a position he held through 1993.
Nearly three decades later, now serving in California's state Senate, Laird is authoring a bill aimed at improving the social services HIV-positive seniors can access.