Difference between revisions of "Global LGBTQ HIV/AIDS Activists"

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* [[Brett Hayhoe]], PLWHA VIC (People Living with HIV/AIDS Victoria)
 
* [[Brett Hayhoe]], PLWHA VIC (People Living with HIV/AIDS Victoria)
 
* [[Michael Kirby]], UNAIDS
 
* [[Michael Kirby]], UNAIDS
* [[Peter Tanner]], activist
+
* [[Paul Tanner]], activist
 
* [[Ji Wallace]], activist
 
* [[Ji Wallace]], activist
  
'''Belgium''
+
'''Belgium'''
  
* [[Stihn Deklerck]], filmmaker
+
* [[Stijn Deklerck]], filmmaker
  
 
'''Botswana'''
 
'''Botswana'''
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* [[Suhail Abu al-Sameed]], activist
 
* [[Suhail Abu al-Sameed]], activist
 +
* [[Barry Adam]], academic
 
* [[Rick Bebout]], AIDS Committee of Toronto
 
* [[Rick Bebout]], AIDS Committee of Toronto
 
* [[Raymond Blain]], politician and activist
 
* [[Raymond Blain]], politician and activist
 
* [[Bernard Rene Courte]], activist
 
* [[Bernard Rene Courte]], activist
 
* [[Gordon Dunbar]], activist
 
* [[Gordon Dunbar]], activist
 +
* [[Richard Fung]], artist
 
* [[Christian Hui]], Canadian Positive People Network (CPPN)
 
* [[Christian Hui]], Canadian Positive People Network (CPPN)
 +
* [[Carlos Idibouo]], activist
 
* [[Ed Jackson]], AIDS Committee of Toronto
 
* [[Ed Jackson]], AIDS Committee of Toronto
 
* [[Peter Jepson-Young]], Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation
 
* [[Peter Jepson-Young]], Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation
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'''Great Britain'''
 
'''Great Britain'''
  
 +
* [[Michael Brady]], Terrence Higgins Trust
 
* [[Jonathan Cooper]], Human Dignity Trust
 
* [[Jonathan Cooper]], Human Dignity Trust
 
* [[Daniel Gerring]], activist
 
* [[Daniel Gerring]], activist
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* [[Simon Watney]], activist
 
* [[Simon Watney]], activist
  
'''Greece''
+
'''Greece'''
  
 
* [[Demetre Costas Daskalakis]], Mount Sinai Hospital NYC
 
* [[Demetre Costas Daskalakis]], Mount Sinai Hospital NYC
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* [[Franco Grillini]], ARCIGay
 
* [[Franco Grillini]], ARCIGay
 +
 +
'''Ivory Coast'''
 +
 +
* [[Carlos Idibouo]], activist
  
 
'''Jamaica'''
 
'''Jamaica'''
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* [[Enoe Uranga]], United Nations Program on AIDS
 
* [[Enoe Uranga]], United Nations Program on AIDS
  
'''Moldavia''
+
'''Moldavia'''
  
 
* [[Alexei Marcicov]], Precis Project
 
* [[Alexei Marcicov]], Precis Project
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'''Russia'''
 
'''Russia'''
  
 +
* [[Anton Krasovsky]], The Foundation in support of people who live with HIV/AIDS Center.
 
* [[Valery Solaseav]], Nunciare et Recreare, and Lasky
 
* [[Valery Solaseav]], Nunciare et Recreare, and Lasky
  
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* [[Kenita Placide]], United Strong
 
* [[Kenita Placide]], United Strong
  
'''Surinam]]
+
'''Surinam'''
  
 
* [[Kenneth Van Emden]], Surinam Men United
 
* [[Kenneth Van Emden]], Surinam Men United
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* [[David Dk Soomarie]], Community Action Resource (CARe).  
 
* [[David Dk Soomarie]], Community Action Resource (CARe).  
  
'''Ukraine''
+
'''Ukraine'''
  
* [[Zoryan Kis]], Fulcrum
+
* [[Zo­ryan Kis]], Fulcrum
  
 
'''United States'''
 
'''United States'''
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* [[Walter Armstrong]], POZ magazine
 
* [[Walter Armstrong]], POZ magazine
 
* [[Carl Bean]], activist
 
* [[Carl Bean]], activist
 +
* [[Brian Bond]], activist
 
* [[Gregg Bordowitz]], academic and documentary filmmaker
 
* [[Gregg Bordowitz]], academic and documentary filmmaker
 
* [[Malcolm Boyd]]
 
* [[Malcolm Boyd]]
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* [[John D'Amico]], Los Angeles County HIV Health Services Commission
 
* [[John D'Amico]], Los Angeles County HIV Health Services Commission
 
* [[Dennis DeLeon]], Latino Commission on AIDS
 
* [[Dennis DeLeon]], Latino Commission on AIDS
 +
* [[Siddharth Dube]], Yale University's Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS
 
* [[David Feinberg]], ACT UP
 
* [[David Feinberg]], ACT UP
 
* [[Yvette Flunder]], San Francisco Inter-religious Coalition on AIDS
 
* [[Yvette Flunder]], San Francisco Inter-religious Coalition on AIDS
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* [[Nathan Lane]], Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS
 
* [[Nathan Lane]], Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS
 
* [[Aaron Laxton]], activist
 
* [[Aaron Laxton]], activist
 +
* [[Kelsey Louie]], CEO of Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC)
 
* [[Nancy Mahon]], Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS
 
* [[Nancy Mahon]], Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS
 
* [[Al McAffrey]], politician
 
* [[Al McAffrey]], politician
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* [[Scott McPherson]], Stigma Project
 
* [[Scott McPherson]], Stigma Project
 
* [[Gregorio Millett]], amFAR
 
* [[Gregorio Millett]], amFAR
 +
* [[Toni Newman]], Black AIDS Institute
 +
* [[Patrick O'Connell]], creator of the red ribbon
 
* [[Albert Ogle]], religious activist
 
* [[Albert Ogle]], religious activist
 
* [[John Preston]], AIDS Project of Southern Maine
 
* [[John Preston]], AIDS Project of Southern Maine
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* [[Sylvester]]
 
* [[Sylvester]]
 
* [[Christopher Tepper]]
 
* [[Christopher Tepper]]
 +
* [[Tom Tunney]], City of Chicago Alderman
 
* [[Carmen Vazquez]], New York State AIDS Institute
 
* [[Carmen Vazquez]], New York State AIDS Institute
 +
* [[Andy Velez]], ACT UP
 
* [[Michael Weinstein]]
 
* [[Michael Weinstein]]
 
* [[Reggie Williams]]
 
* [[Reggie Williams]]
 +
* [[Pedro Zamora]], actor
  
 
'''Venezuela'''
 
'''Venezuela'''
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* [[LGBTQ Cancer Research and Support]]
 
* [[LGBTQ Cancer Research and Support]]
 +
* [[Transgender Activists]]
 +
* [[Intersex Activists]]
 +
* [[Bisexual Activists]]
 +
* [[Early European LGBTQ Activists]]
 +
* [[Feminist Activists Who Identify as Lesbian, Bisexual or Transgender]]
 +
* [[Animal Rights Activism and the LGBTQ Community]]
 +
* [[Stonewall Icons]]
 +
* [[Peace Activists Who Identify as LGBTQ]]
 +
* [[Climate Change and Weather Experts from the LGBTQ Community]]
 +
* [[Marriage Equality Advocates in the LGBTQ Community]]
  
 
==Further Reading/Research==
 
==Further Reading/Research==
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* https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/how-the-advent-of-aids-advanced-gay-rights/article20083869/
 
* https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/how-the-advent-of-aids-advanced-gay-rights/article20083869/
 
* https://www.huffingtonpost.com/michel-sidib/the-aids-response-owes-a-_b_1690157.html
 
* https://www.huffingtonpost.com/michel-sidib/the-aids-response-owes-a-_b_1690157.html
 +
* https://www.hivplusmag.com/treatment/2018/5/30/aids-activism-has-had-positive-effects
  
 
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Revision as of 23:35, 2 October 2021

Aidsactivism.jpg

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. Given the exponential rate of increase in reports of the disease and deaths of patients, the CDC in conjunction with the National Institutes of Health and a few LGBTQ health organizations (including New York’s Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) founded by writer and activist Larry Kramer in June) began more active and funded programs to warn LGBTQ individuals about the dangers posed to the community.

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.

The momentum for this increased activism by the LGBTQ community was driven, in part, by the death around the world by AIDS of many high profile artists, writers, entertainers, and others, such as that of actor Rock Hudson in 1985 (he bequested $250,000 to formally establish the American Foundation for Aids Research (AMFAR)). Indeed, Rock Hudson’s death marked the turning point in government funding for AIDS research. It also marked the point at which straight allies joined the movement, such as Princess Diana of Great Britain and actor Elizabeth Taylor.

At that point, the general public began to relate to AIDS patients on an emotional and personal level. Rather than narrowly identifying AIDS patients as LGBTQ, the public began to relate to the patient as a human being. Public awareness and concern for the disease skyrocketed around the world. Politicians moved the AIDS issue to the top of the agenda on health and wellness issues.

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 again 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.

The concerns have shifted to its impact on the less-developed world, notably Africa and Asia. Notable LGBTQ activist organizations have been formed in these regions to address the same issues faced by western countries in the early stages of the disease. For example, Shivananda Khan founded the Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health (APCOM) in the early 1990s to bring together governments, the United Nations organization, and civil society to address the health and social development agenda for the Asia and Pacific region on the issue of HIV-AIDS.

We have identified many individuals from around the world, both historical and contemporary, who have played or continue to play important roles in HIV/AIDS activism. Simply click on their names to read their fascinating biographies.

Algeria

Australia

Belgium

Botswana

Brazil

Cameroon

  • Joel Nana, African Men for Sexual Health and Rights (AMSHeR)

Canada

Chile

China

Brazil

El Salvador

France

Germany

Great Britain

Greece

Guyana

  • Joel Simpson, Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination in the Carribean and Guyana

India

Italy

Ivory Coast

Jamaica

  • Robert Carr, International Council of AIDS Service Organisations (ICASO)

Laos

Kenya

Mexico

Moldavia

New Zealand

Nigeria

Norway

Puerto Rico

Russia

South Africa

Spain

St. Lucia

Surinam

Trinidad & Tobago

Ukraine

United States

Venezuela

Zambia

See Also

Further Reading/Research


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