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DID YOU KNOW?
Global LGBTQ HIV/AIDS Activists
The HIV/AIDS crisis has been a primary issue for the LGBTQ community from the late twentieth century to today. While it is a challenging one on many fronts, it has been embraced by the LGBTQ community as an important and defining part of its history that led to further refinements and sophistication of its collective activism.
The momentum forward in LGBTQ activism would face a major stumbling block in the 1980s: the emergence of an unusual and hitherto unknown aggressive form of cancer detected particularly in the gay community. By September 1982, the CDC had adopted the name Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) as a label for this cancerous disease for which the patients all appeared to have no likelihood of resistance.
The fear amongst health workers (and other organizations such as police, firefighters, and funeral homes) to admit and properly treat victims of the disease led LGBTQ community activists to establish stand-alone AIDS clinics and chronic disease treatment centres around the world. The first of such was in 1982 when the Bailey-Boushay House in Seattle, Washington opened. Other countries followed suit, such as Australia with St. Vincent’s (1983), England with London Lighthouse (1986), Canada with Casey House (1988), and Scotland with Waverly Care (1989).
By the end of 1985, there were 20,303 cases worldwide reported to the World Health Organization. This grew to 71,750 cases by the end of 1987. At this stage, AIDS had become identified as a ‘gay disease’ and homophobia escalated. Thus began a series of more publicly visible actions by the LGBTQ community around the disease. AIDS activist Cleve Jones in the United States began the high-profile AIDS Memorial Quilt in 1986 wherein each panel of a quilt would memorialize an individual lost to AIDS. Some New York activists (led by Larry Kramer) in 1987 formed a new organization called ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) to employ more direct action tactics to press for concrete plans to attack the disease and counter the homophobia it was generating. Identically named, or similar, organizations were formed in Paris, London (including Terrence Higgins Trust (1982), Stonewall (1989), OutRage (1990)), and Berlin. The notion was to transition the community from its portrayal as disease ‘victims’ into activist ‘experts’.
The first International AIDS Conference was held in Montreal in 1989, being a mix of activists and scientific medical practitioners. Today, medical advances have changed the AIDS disease from a death-sentence to a chronic illness in the developed world. Great attention is paid today by many activists to HIV/AIDS within the less developed world.
We have identified prominent LGBTQ HIV/AIDS activists from Algeria, Australia, Botswana, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, China, Brazil, El Salvador, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Spain, St. Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago, United States, Venezuela, and Zambia. To read more and see the complete list CLICK HERE
Directory of past 'Did You Know?' Articles See Here
The goal of QueerBio.com is to be the definitive online biographical reference source for the international LGBTQ community. Its database lists over 15,000 contemporary and historical figures who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, two-spirit, or gender fluid (LGBTQ) and includes artists, sports figures, politicians, entertainers, business leaders, academics, activists, and more. The database is widely international in scope and is an ideal source for research and analysis with full search and sort functionality.
The mission is to inspire, educate, and motivate all generations of LGBTQ individuals and others through a collective knowledge of this international community.
Managing Editors: Mark S. Bonham, Connie Bonello, Gordon Dunbar
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To search for an individual from the database of over 15,000 biographies, simply type the name in the Search Box located in the top right hand corner of this Home Page and click on GO.
Alternatively, you can view and scroll through the entire list of biographies by viewing the All Biographies section.
To search for LGBTQ individuals with a common characteristic (examples: all Nobel Prize winners, all Writers, all Politicians, all Tony Award winners, all Olympic Gold medal winners, all individuals of a specific nationality) simply type the characteristic in the Search Box located in the top right hand corner of this Home Page and click on GO. Results of your search will be displayed alphabetically by Last Name. A second Search Box will be displayed for you to search within the database of individuals with that common characteristic.
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Bonham Centre Awards Gala
Annual Awards established in 2007 to recognize individuals or groups that have made a significant contribution to the advancement and education of human rights issues surrounding sexual education. Click here to find out more about the Bonham Centre Awards, past recipients, and present nominees.
Books Available From QueerBio.Com
A Path to Diversity: LGBTQ Participation in the Working World (Mark S. Bonham, 2017) investigates the current state of employment markets around the world for the LGBTQ community. Included is a discussion of equality in the workplace and why it is important to both the employer and employee, the wage gap, which professions are attractive to LGBTQ individuals and why, and the role of unions and government legislation. A survey of seventy five professions provides a status report for each, and seventy two biographies of influential LGBTQ professionals from around the world is included. 242 pages
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Notables: 101 Global LBGTQ People Who Changed the World (Mark S. Bonham, 2015) reveals a group of select global Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) individuals whose accomplishments in their profession changed the world in some relevant way. Included are founders of various social movements, innovators in sports, leaders in business and politics, explorers and discoverers, instigators in religious movements, thinkers in philosophy, infamous villains, creators of new academic fields of study, and risk takers in the arts, culture, and entertainment worlds. 212 pages.
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READ MORE AND PURCHASE THE U.S KINDLE COPY HERE OR THE CANADIAN KINDLE COPY HERE
Champions: Biographies of Global LGBTQ Pioneers (Mark S. Bonham, 2014) reveals a group of select artists, writers, politicians, lawyers, sports figures, activists, and religious figures from around the world who have helped shape the history of the LGBTQ community. Presented in a convenient notebook format. 114 pages.
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Order for yourself, and the books also make an ideal gift for friends and family while supporting the development of QueerBio.Com
