Join us to hear from a group of activists who have fought for the rights of people living with AIDS/HIV and communities affected by AIDS over the past 35 years. Panelists will talk about the early days of the struggle and more recent advocacy successes. None of this would have been possible without the voices of those whose lives have been touched by HIV: “Nothing about us without us!”. Topics include from the bath raids to persons with AIDS/HIV self-empowerment. From AIDS ACTION NOW! to People of Colour and Two-Spirit AIDS organizing. From HIV criminalization to PrEP and from Harm Reduction to the Opioid Crisis.
Saturday June 23rd. 6pm doors open with snacks and refreshments, Panel begins sharp at 6:30pm.
Innis Town Hall, 2 Sussex Avenue (at St. George). I block south of Bloor on the west side, south of the St. George subway station.
ASL interpretation, wheelchair accessible. .
Speakers are :
a welcome from Pride Grand Marshal Haran Vijayanathan (who is also the Executive Director at Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention );
Rene Boucher is an Indigenous 2 Spirit man who has been living with HIV and an HIV/AIDS for over 25 years. He continues to work in the HIV/AIDS field and is currently working to address the Opioid Crisis in Thunder Bay, Ontario;
Tim McCaskell a long time gay activist and a founding member of AIDS ACTION NOW! He is author of Queer Progress: from Homophobia to Homonationalism;
Monica Forrester Trans Two -Spirit woman from Toronto, a part of the lgbtq2sa community for 30yrs. Excutive Director of Trans Pride Toronto, working to bring awareness, inclusion and equality to all people in the Trans, non binary and sex work work communities. Currently working with Maggie’s Toronto Sex work Action Program as the Program Coordinator for the Indigenous Outreach and drop in Program;
Ron Rosenes is a Community Health Advocate and Researcher who has been living with HIV for close to 40 years. He is a co-founder of the Canadian Treatment Action Council;
Christian Hui is a queer, poz Asian settler immigrant living with HIV. He started his activist work at the Committee for Accessible AIDS Treatment (CAAT) and currently works at Asian Community AIDS Services (ACAS). Christian is a co-founder of Ontario Positive Asians (OPA+) and the Canadian Positive People Network (CPPN) and is a steering committee member of the global Undetectable=Untransmittable (U=U) Campaign;
and Zoë Dodd who has worked in Toronto for many years on issues of poverty, HIV, Hep C and drug user health in both front-line, advocacy and research roles. She is a co-coordinator of the Moss Park Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) which has been running for a almost a year, and changed drug policy and the overdose response over night. She is a member of the Toronto Overdose Prevention Society and the Toronto Harm Reduction Alliance.
Followed by discussion 
Part of Toronto Pride 2018