$2,733.40

Last year was the first time I participated in the Friends For Life Bike Rally and to say I feel lucky to have stumbled on this community is an understatement. I have never been in a place filled with such an enormous number of generous and caring people. It was very special to connect with my queer elders and equally heart wrenching to hear their stories of lost friends, planning what they thought would be the last years of their lives, and living through the AIDS crisis.

HIV has always been an extremely stigmatized illness because of the ways it is transmitted and the fact that for many years it largely affected men who had sex with other men. In the early '80s, the queer community started forming AIDS Support Organizations (ASOs) in response to the rapidly rising death toll with little action from governments or medical researchers. These community organizations provided much needed care to those affected by AIDS, but most importantly fought tirelessly for the funding governments were reluctant to spend on researching a disease largely affecting marginalized communities. In Canada, the annual death rate increased every single year from 1980 until 1996, by which people began accessing effective treatments.

Luckily, contracting HIV is no longer a death sentence, but living with it is still extremely difficult due to stigma. This affects all of us, not only those who are HIV positive. It keeps people from taking preventative treatments like PrEP and PEP; discussing their status with sexual partners; and seeking medical care. Since 1988, Trellis HIV & Community Care has been providing vital resources to reduce the spread of HIV with education, prevention, and support for people living with, at risk of, or affected by HIV/AIDS in Kingston.

In a time where the government and physicians ignored the devastation plaguing our community, we came together to care for each other as best we could. Gay men are no longer the dominant population affected by HIV, but we continue our work in hopes that nobody experiences the loss we did. This cause is very close to my heart and I hope you can join me in supporting Trellis to care for vulnerable populations and break the barriers that keep us from eradicating HIV.