Each year, friends and family members who have lost people to AIDS come together to commemorate their loved ones at the Sydney AIDS Candlelight Memorial at Eternity Playhouse in Darlinghurst.
This year it will be held on May 21 in coordination with the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+). The GNP+ organise an International effort in honour of those lost with candlelight vigils on the 3rd Sunday of May. Their intention for these memorials is to create an 鈥渋mportant platform for global solidarity, breaking down barriers of stigma and discrimination, and giving hope to new generations.鈥� They have been held across the globe every year since 1983.
The Sydney event is co-hosted each year by ACON, Australia鈥檚 leading organisation in HIV response and community health for diverse sexuality and gender identities since 1985. They partner with Positive Life NSW, a non-profit community organisation whose mission statement is to advocate for changing systems and practices that are prejudiced against those living with HIV.
Nothing About Us Without Us
The team behind Positive Life initially came together in 1988 as a community of advocates concerned with the immediate needs of those diagnosed with AIDS under the name People Living with AIDS NSW. The organisation has now worked together for over 30 years, mobilising their actions on numerous political, social and medical fronts to overcome stigma and educate the wider community on HIV transmission. The volunteer-based organisation is comprised of members from diverse walks of life, including the LGBTQ+ community, and recognised the importance of, 鈥減eople living with HIV to be at the centre of the activity, demanding our place at the table:聽nothing about us, without us.鈥�
Last year鈥檚 memorial speakers included Professor Basil Donovan, program head at the Kirby Institutes sexual health program and frontline advocate when the AIDS Pandemic first broke out in Australia in the 1980s.
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