Bruce Voeller

Bruce Raymond Voeller (May 12, 1934 – February 13, 1994) was a biologist and researcher, primarily in the field of AIDS, and gay rights activist. In 1973 he co-founded the National Gay Task Force. In 1977, the now renamed National LGBTQ Task Force held the first-ever meeting at the White House with President Jimmy Carter marking the first time openly gay and lesbian leaders were welcomed there, and the first official discussion of gay and lesbian rights in the White House. Within the first few years of the AIDS pandemic Voeller coined the term acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) which we use to this day.