June 5th: AHF to “Remember AIDS,” Mark 30 Years with Candlelight Vigil & March in W. Hollywood

March Will Begin at Matthew Shepard Memorial Triangle, End at West Hollywood Park

Event Will Be a Tribute to Those Who Have Been Lost & a Renewal of Efforts to Fight On

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hundreds of community members are expected to join AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) at a candlelight vigil and march to mark the 30^th anniversary of the discovery of HIV. The “Remember AIDS” event—which will take place on Sunday, June 5^th—will begin with a gathering at Matthew Shepard Memorial Park (on Santa Monica Blvd. at Crescent Heights) at 7:00 pm. The march itself starts at 8:00 pm. After arriving at West Hollywood Park (on San Vicente between Santa Monica Blvd. and Melrose) at around 9:00 pm, participants will view a large-screen projection of names of those who have died from HIV/AIDS (from www.aidswatch.org) since it was first discovered in 1981. At the end of the march, famed recording artist Sam Harris will sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” live during a video tribute highlighting key moments in HIV/AIDS. More information available at www.facebook.com/RememberAIDS.

What:	“Remember AIDS” Candlelight Vigil & March
	Marking the 30^th Anniversary of the Discovery of HIV
Where/Where:	SUNDAY, June 5, 2011
	March Begins at Matthew Shepard Memorial Triangle at 8:00 PM
	(Santa Monica Blvd. @ Crescent Heights Blvd, West Hollywood)
	March Ends at West Hollywood Park
	(San Vicente, between Santa Monica Blvd. and Melrose)
	Post-march event at The Abbey begins at 9:00 PM
	692 N Robertson Blvd, West Hollywood, CA
Who:	Peter Reis, Vice President, AIDS Healthcare Foundation
	Cynthia Davis, Domestic Vice Chair of AHF’s Board of Directors; Assistant Professor, Medical Sciences Institute, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
	David Cooley, Owner & Founder of The Abbey Food & Bar
	Rebekka Armstrong, Former Playboy Playmate Living with HIV
	John D’Amico, Candidate for West Hollywood City Council
	Sam Harris, Famed recording artist will sing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" live
Contacts:	Ged Kenslea, AHF Communications Director, mobile [phone]
	Lori Yeghiayan, AHF Assoc. Director of Communications, mobile [phone]

“’Remember AIDS’ is tribute to all of those who have been lost to HIV/AIDS as well as to the estimated 33 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide today. The event is also an opportunity to look ahead, as we renew efforts to increase access to HIV testing, prevention and treatment locally, nationally and globally,” said Cynthia Davis, Domestic Vice Chair of AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s Board of Directors. “Those of us in the field have fought a Herculean battle for thirty years. We have had many victories and defeats. We now know what works and what doesn't. We know that it is critical to find the people who are HIV-positive and don't know it in order to break the chain of new infections. We know that only a fraction of people living with HIV in the world are currently receiving treatment. We know that universal access to condoms and science-based sex education will reduce new infections. There is no better time, as we mark thirty years of AIDS, to recommit ourselves to saving as many of the thirty-three million lives as we can, and to ending AIDS.”

Thirty Years—Thirty Names:
AIDS Deaths Through the Years

1984

• March 30—Flight attendant Gaetan Dugas, who became known as ‘patient zero’ for the AIDS epidemic, dies at 31.

1985

• October 2—Rock Hudson dies of AIDS in Beverly Hills at 59.

1986

• October 15—Former NFL Washington Redskin tight end Jerry Smith dies of AIDS at 43.

1987

• February 4—the entertainer Liberace dies of AIDS in Palm Springs at 67.

• July 2—‘A Chorus Line’s’ seven-time Tony Award-winning director, choreographer, writer and dancer Michael Bennett dies of AIDS at 42.

1988

• August 1988—Ariel Glaser, seven year-old daughter of Elizabeth and actor Paul Michael Glaser, dies of AIDS in Santa Monica.
• December 20—Max Robinson, ABC News World News Tonight co-anchor and a founder of the National Association of Black Journalists, becomes one of the first television journalists to die of AIDS. He was 49.

1989

• August 16—Amanda Blake (Miss Kitty of Gunsmoke) died of AIDS related throat cancer.
• November 28—Writer, AIDS activist and AHF co-founder Chris Brownlie died of AIDS at his Silverlake home at 39.

1990

• April 8—Kokomo, Indiana teenager Ryan White, whose national battle over discrimination because of his HIV status gave rise to eponymous federal AIDS law known as the Ryan White CARE Act, dies of AIDS at 19.

1991

• November 11—Singer Freddie Mercury of the band Queen dies of AIDS at 44.
• September 8—Actor Brad Davis, best known for the film, ‘Midnight Express,’ dies of AIDS-related complications at 41.
• December 8—23 year-old Kimberly Bergalis, the first known case of clinical transmission of HIV, who had becoming infected during a dental procedure, dies of AIDS in Florida.

1992

• Hemophiliac Ricky Ray, the oldest of the three Florida Ray brothers, dies at age 15 of AIDS.
• April 6—Science fiction writer Issac Asimov of AIDS-related complications at age 72.
• May 12—Actor Robert Reed (Mike Brady of The Brady Bunch) dies of intestinal cancer and complications of AIDS at age 59.
• June 20—Mark Kostopoulos, one of the principal founders of ACT UP/LA, dies of AIDS at 37.
• September 12—Anthony Perkins (Norman Bates of Hitchcock's Psycho) dies in 1992 of pneumonia brought on by AIDS at age 60.

1993

• February 6—Tennis legend Arthur Ashe dies of AIDS-related pneumonia in New York at 49.
• November 20—‘Dirty Dancing’ and ‘Sister Act’ director Emile Ardolino dies of AIDS at 50.
• December 27—Singer, songwiter, composer, author and AIDS activist Michael Callen dies of AIDS at 38.

1994

• February 17—Journalist and author Randy Shilts dies of complications of AIDS at 42.
• March 21—Actor Dack Rambo (Jack Ewing of Dallas) dies of complications of AIDS at 52.
• November 3—MTV ‘Real World-San Francisco’ reality star Pedro Zamora dies of AIDS at 22.
• December 3—Elizabeth Glaser, founder of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation dies of AIDS. She was 47. (Son, Jake, born in 1984, contracted HIV from his mother in utero. Jake, is now a healthy adult who often speaks publicly on behalf of AIDS patients.)

1995

• February 10—Author, poet and activist Paul Monette dies of AIDS in Los Angeles at 49.
• March 26—Eric Lynn White, better known as rapper Eazy-E, dies of AIDS at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at 31.

1996

• July 15—Nationally known transgender AIDS activist Connie Norman dies of AIDS at AHF’s Chris Brownlie Hospice at 47.

2000

• Robert Ray, the second of three Florida Ray brothers, dies of AIDS at 22. (Randy Ray lives in Orlando, Florida, and manages his HIV through medication.)

2001

• June 1—12 year-old South African Nkosi Johnson, who made a powerful worldwide impact on public perceptions of the pandemic, dies of AIDS.
• December 22—Lance Loud dies of complications of AIDS and Hepatitis C at AHF’s Carl Bean House in Los Angeles. He was 50.

2003

• March 30—Actor Michael Jeter (‘Evening Shade’) dies of AIDS-related complications at 50.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and services to more than 163,000 individuals in 26 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific region and Eastern Europe. www.aidshealth.org.

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