Belinda Mason was a proud native of Eastern Kentucky. In her all too brief 32 years she was a reporter for two weekly papers-- in Hartford, KY., and in Pikeville, Ky. She was a gifted short story writer, a self-proclaimed "occasional performer of country music and reliable Tupperware party guest", a wife, a mother, and an AIDS activist. She earned her bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Kentucky in 1980. Mason worked with Appalshop's Roadside Theater, in Whitesburg Kentucky, as a playwright beginning in 1985, and in 1986 her story "A Lesson in Motion" was published in the well-regarded . In 1987 she was awarded an Al Smith Fellowship for writing from the Kentucky Arts Council. That same year, her story "A Christmas Lesson" was published in .

In January of 1987 she was infected with HIV. She went public with her status in 1988 and became an advocate for AIDS prevention, education, treatment and human rights. In July of that year, she became the first person with AIDS to be appointed to the National Commission on AIDS. She was quite critical of President Bush at the time, contending that his stance on AIDS was more about morality rather than a concern for public health.

With Ron Jerrell, Mason co-founded the Kentuckiana People with AIDS Coalition (KIPWAC) in the late 1980's. She was elected president of the National Association of People with AIDS in 1989. She lost her own battle with AIDS on September 9, 1991.