Out of the Shadows

During the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) in Washington, DC, last year, Paul Semugoma, MD, gave a passionate speech on behalf of both LGBT and HIV-positive people. Coming out as gay during the speech made it even more memorable.

Here’s POZ’s Q&A with the famous activist on the state of the epidemic, LGBT stigma in Africa and his own experiences coming out.

Poz Opinion: Where the Hell Is Our Community?

Michael Kaplan, the president and CEO of AIDS United takes LGBT leadership to task for not prioritizing HIV/AIDS:

“I’m heartbroken that HIV/AIDS has fallen off the gay radar. In fact, it hasn’t merely fallen off; it’s been politely removed! It feels like it has been set aside because it requires conversations about more difficult topics, like sex, drugs and poverty, unlike the less-complicated message of love that is the cornerstone of the marriage talking points. We’ve de-sexed ‘gay’ to win political wars about marriage and, as a result, abandoned confronting a sexually transmitted infection that is devastating our community.”

Fundraising as Activism as a Means for Survival

The codirectors of Queerocracy, a grassroots social justice group, on the need for finding nontraditional support. Often unlike more traditional modes of fundraising, creative opportunities allow for much more than extra earnings.

To read more, click here.

Before there were memes, there was LOVE, AIDS, RIOT

Visual AIDS Program Manager, Ted Kerr, considers Photoshop Activism in the age of Social Media, and Ongoing AIDS.

Remembering NAPWA

POZ Blogger, Paul Kawata remembers the visionaries who started the first national organization representing people living with AIDS:

http://blogs.poz.com/paulkawata/2013/02/remembering_napwa.html#more

Congratulations to David France, Peter Staley and the entire cast and crew for their Best Documentary Feature Oscar Nomination for How To Survive a Plague!!

A POZ Q&A with director David France:

Battling Back
David France’s new film about the history of AIDS treatment activism lit up the Sundance Film Festival—and hopes to inspire a new generation of HIV activists.

Read more: http://www.poz.com/articles/David_France_HIV_2706_22151.shtml

God’s Love We Deliver to Prepare ‘Sandy Bags’ for Clients

The Lower Manhattan offices of God’s Love We Deliver (GLWD) are still without power after Hurricane Sandy.

Read more: http://www.poz.com/articles/glwd_hurricane_sandy_1_23087.shtml