National Gay Men's HIV Awareness Day

On June 5th, 1981, reports of rare symptoms among previously healthy, young gay men were reported on both coasts of the United States, signifying the beginning of what is now a 40 year and counting journey into anger, frustration, loss, resilience, and triumph. What started as “gay man’s cancer”, “Gay-Related Immune Deficiency (GRID), was soon to be known as Human- Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the virus responsible for causing Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). 

This 40+ year fight, and it is a fight, to learn, educate, and evolve what we know about HIV/ AIDS started in 1981, by the same community that was decimated by this virus. The gay men that were witnessing firsthand the loss of their loved ones, their friends, their community, were seemingly the only ones taking up the mantle to demand research, demand visibility, and demand action from the powers that be. From this passion, we saw the surge of Act Up, the battle cry of "Silence= Death", and the perseverance of a community that resulted in the identification and understanding of HIV, the development of medications in 1995 and their evolution, and eventually our present reality: that HIV is no longer a death sentence and people living with HIV are not alone.

On this day, we honor and celebrate the power of the MSM community in the face of great adversity, and continue to work to raise awareness of the impact of HIV on the MSM community. We work to promote testing, treatment, and prevention, while  continuing to educate in order to diminish the stigma associated with HIV. Let's Stop HIV Together by remembering the past, and fighting for the future.