The AIDS Monument

It's important that people with HIV be allowed to follow their dreams, including serving their country through military service. Some of the bravest, strongest, and smartest people I have ever met live with HIV, and our armed forces deserve to benefit fully from their resiliency and commitment to service, rather than being held back by outdated and prejudicial policies. There is not a job in the world that a person living with HIV can’t do. I hope that this case helps to reset expectations about what is possible for people living with HIV. - Plaintiff Kevin Deese

"We’re hoping to create a somewhat realistic sunflower garden, said Keith Doles, who designed the mural. The concept is a memorial for people who have passed away from HIV/AIDS. I’ve had some relatives of mine pass away from HIV, so this is special to me.

"To help those who might be seeking information and are rightfully skeptical of random Google search results, TheBody asked David Malebranche, M.D., an internal medicine physician and HIV/sexual health expert, to speak to concerns and questions many people reading this might have."

The piece, titled URGE AND URGE AND URGE, consists of condoms in a handblown recycled-glass pharmacy jar. The condom wrappers feature some of Holzer’s signature phrases, such as PROTECT ME FROM WHAT I WANT, EXPIRING FOR LOVE IS BEAUTIFUL BUT STUPID, and MEN DON’T PROTECT YOU ANYMORE, as well as excerpts from Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself’

[T]he most stark similarity between the two is the ways in which they disproportionately affect marginalized people, particularly people of colourall the while invoking language of solidarity to mask it.

We have reached a juncture when the end of the domestic HIV epidemic is in sight, but we cannot move forward if we leave women behind. -Dázon Dixon Diallo founder of SisterLove Inc., the oldest women-centered HIV and sexual and reproductive justice advocacy organization in the southeastern United States.

In the upcoming episode of POZ at Home, Oriol R. Gutierrez will have a conversation with FAM Board Member - Sherri Lewis about the challenges of growing older while living with HIV! The episode will live stream September 17 at 4PM PST. Register today https://www.poz.com/article/poz-home-hiv-aging

CONGRATULATIONS to David Mixner, a member of FAM's advisory council! The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund on September 15th is holding a VIRTUAL NATIONAL TRIBUTE TO David Mixner - founding member and first co-chair of The Victory Fund. The tribute will air around the globe and will raise funds for LGBTQ+ candidates for years to come. Congressman Sean Maloney will be joining the evening with several major surprises guests that will be announced later. Any help you can give goes a... long way to support LGBTQ+ candidates running in 2020! Click here to order your tickets TODAY: https://victoryfund.org/event/mixner/

If you’re not looking for women, you’re not going to find them, if you’re not acknowledging women’s experiences with HIV/AIDS, you’re not going to find us. And by virtue of those two things not happening, women from the beginning of the epidemic didn’t know they were at risk and didn’t know they were sick. Social safety nets weren’t available to them as a result of not being included.

To talk to them is to quickly learn that, for them, the height of the AIDS crisis was not so long ago at all, that the grief remains, and that the current pandemic brings back vivid memories of seeing close friends and loved ones mowed down by a mysterious killer, of checking the obituaries each morning to see who had been taken from them now.

Even if the name Howard Ashman doesn’t ring a bell, you certainly know his songs. An Academy Awardwinning lyricist, Ashman wrote beloved tunes for the modern Disney classics The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin as well as the quirky musical-turned-movie Little Shop of Horrors. What’s more, he accomplished all this before dying of AIDS-related illness at age 40 in 1991.

The HIV epidemic won’t end until we tackle the effects of stigma, despite making significant progress towards ending the epidemic, a majority of the public feels uncomfortable, uninformed, and concerned about HIV and people living with it." -GLAAD said in a statement announcing the findings.

We know the world is experiencing upheaval and distress in many forms, and we know this is a tough time for many. Though it seems the world has come to a standstill at times, there is still progress being made. The same is true for us at STORIES: The AIDS Monument. The journey has been long, but we're excited to announce we are officially in the construction phase for the physical monument in West Hollywood Park. Please enjoy this short video of where we've been, where we are now, and what's ahead. We share this with you as a thank you for all you've done, and an invitation to continue and reinvigorate with the STORIES yet to come.

The Quilt has become a powerful educator and symbol for social justice. My hope is that through continued storytelling and making the panels available online, that more people will be drawn to its stories, its history and that we can continue to change hearts and minds.