About the Event

In a powerful demonstration of solidarity, the New York City AIDS Memorial is partnering with ACT UP, Callen-Lorde, Housing Works, Metro New York Health Care for All, PrEP4All, Rise and Resist, Treatment Action Group, and a broad coalition of community organizations for a candlelight vigil, rally, and march. Held at the Memorial, the June 5 event marks HIV/AIDS Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day and commemorates a solemn milestone: the 45th anniversary of the CDC’s first report on the epidemic. 

Organized as part of Seven Days in June—a decentralized, national grassroots campaign running from June 1 to June 7—this gathering shines a spotlight on how the current administration’s proposed funding cuts will impact local communities. The campaign unites advocates nationwide to ask elected officials to clarify strategies for improving healthcare affordability, sustaining biomedical research, protecting public health infrastructure, and ensuring stability for vulnerable populations, including LGBTQ+ communities and people living with HIV/AIDS.

Beginning with a diverse lineup of vital advocacy voices, including Callen-Lorde’s Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, NYC AIDS Memorial Board Member and ACT UP and Housing Works co-founder Eric Sawyer, and activist and actor Javier Muñoz (with more to be announced), and followed a candlelight vigil and march, the event serves as an essential platform for community dialogue, honoring the Memorial's history of advocacy while addressing the pressing healthcare issues of today.