World AIDS Day is held on 1 December each year. It raises awareness across the world and in the community about the issues surrounding HIV and AIDS. It is a day for people to show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died.
The AIDS Memorial Quilt, which was first displayed on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.,in 1987, during the National March for Lesbian and Gay Rights. It covered a space larger than a football field and included 1,920 panels, commemorating people who had died of the disease. Six teams of eight volunteers ceremonially unfolded the Quilt sections at sunrise as celebrities, politicians, families, lovers and friends read aloud the 1,920 names of the people represented in the Quilt. The reading of names is now a tradition followed at nearly every Quilt display.
The quilt has continuously grown since 1987 and today is an epic 54 ton tapestry that includes nearly 50 000 panels dedicated to more than 105000 individuals. It is considered one of the largest community arts projects in history and serves as a symbol of the AIDS pandemic, a living memorial to a generation lost to AIDS, and an important HIV prevention education tool.
You can now explore the Quilt online and search for the name of a friend or loved one who may have their name sewn into the Quilt, it has nearly 110,000 names sewn into its panels. More than 700,000 lives have been lost to AIDS in the USA, with more than 1.1 million living with HIV since the first cases were reported 40 years ago. Worldwide since the beginning of the epidemic over 79.3 million people have been infected with the virus and 36.3 million have died.
To view the Quilt online visit: https://www.aidsmemorial.org/quilt
Events:
Brisbane QuIHN at Bowen Hills are hosting a BBQ to commemorate the day held at 12pm in the carpark.
The Gold Coast World AIDS Day Memorial & Candlelight Vigil is a family friendly event to remember those lost to HIV/AIDS, show our solidarity of people living with HIV around the world and re-commit ourselves to challenging HIV stigma and discrimination. This will be a COVID-safe event, open and free to all & bookings not required. Gold Coast Rainbow Communities will be providing a free BBQ for attendees.
6:30pm
Address: QLD, Benowa, Gold Coast Regional Botanical Gardens, 230 Ashmore Rd
How you can be an HIV ally!
- Create a safe space for disclosure
- Take PrEP or use condoms
- Consider what you say and how you say things to not cause hurt from stigmatising language
- Know your status
- Know that undetectable = untransmittable
- Call our HIV stigma!