By Ben Thompson
Crowds gathered in Manchester’s Sackville Gardens this weekend for an emotional candle-lit vigil to commemorate World AIDS Day 2018.
This year represented a particularly significant anniversary, being the 30th iteration of the international day dedication to raising awareness. It is remarkable how much things have changed in 30 years.
Candles lit up the night, roses clutched in the hands of those present. The Manchester Lesbian and Gay Chorus were on hand to sing soulful renditions of Queen’s ‘Somebody To Love’ and Whitney Houston’s ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’.
There was a noticeable emphasis on the global scale of HIV. With 66% of the global HIV-positive population living in Sub-Saharan Africa, it was to be expected that activists wanted to have an international focus for the event.
Several people took to the microphone to talk of the situation for people with HIV in their home countries – welcoming speakers from Indonesia, Brazil, Zimbabwe and Uganda.
As the congregation walked through the Gay Village to pay their respects, everything seemed to stand still – people lined out of clubs to watch with solemn respect as the crowd passed by. Unfortunately, a group of five young men were shouting homophobic abuse. As discouraging as this way to some in attendance, most of the crowd ignored them. It was a remarkable turn-around – 30 years ago, they would have been the majority opinion in this country – now they’re the minority.
World AIDS Day is more important than ever. Eradicating HIV is within our sights – most people living with HIV now are living long lives, managing their illness with medication. People with HIV are not the pariahs they used to be. But work still needs to be done, especially on a global scale. May we never forget the importance of fighting this disease and educating ourselves and others on how to prevent it spreading.
The QuietManDave Prize returns for 2024 to celebrate 12 incredible shortlisted authors and honour prize namesake Dave Murray. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony hosted at Manchester Met’s Manchester Poetry Library on December 13. The event will celebrate the shortlisted entrants, with performances of the top three pieces in each category, and…
Featured image: Lilibelle Anthony There were no benches near the Domino’s pizza in Chorlton, and it was far too hot to bother walking to a nearby park. Out of laziness, we perched atop a rusty metal fence. The thin bar across the top wasn’t wide enough to balance on properly, but we persisted against gravity,…
Featured image: Palace Theatre Willy Russell’s multi-award winning smash hit musical, Blood Brothers, has just closed its doors in Manchester, with Joe Sleight and Josh Capper taking on the roles of Eddie Lyons and the intricate Mickey Johnstone. Capper inherits the role from the long-standing Sean Jones who, before retiring from the role in November,…
Featured image and gallery: Adrianos Falkonakis Eyehategod, New Orleans sludge metal band rocks Rebellion, composed of lead singer Mike Wiliams, guitarist Jimmy Bower, bassist Gary Mader and Aaron Hill on drums. After the Abduction open the evening with vigour, confidently dominating the stage with deep growling vocals and cheeky quips from the singer, Chris Sellers….
Leave a reply