Date: Mon, 29 Apr 96 23:17:59 -0800 From: Rick_Hauptman@out.org (Rick Hauptman) Subject: AIDS Candlelight March - May 19 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 29, 1996 From: Rick Hauptman, Board of Directors Mobilization Against AIDS tel USA (415) 647-0549 rick_hauptman@out.org,Internet Contact: Ben Carlson, Program Director tel. (U.S.A.) 415-863-4676 13th INTERNATIONAL AIDS CANDLELIGHT MEMORIAL AND MOBILIZATION SCHEDULED FOR MAY 19, 1996 WORLD'S LARGEST ANNUAL GRASSROOTS AIDS EVENT TO FOCUS ON THEME: "AIDS DISCRIMINATION IS A GLOBAL EPIDEMIC" The 13th International AIDS Candlelight Memorial and Mobilization will be observed worldwide on Sunday, May 19, 1996. The event, which began in San Francisco in 1983, honors the memory of those who have died of AIDS, demonstrates support for people living with HIV and AIDS, and mobilizes community-based responses to HIV/AIDS. "Our theme this year is 'AIDS Discrimination Is a Global Epidemic,'" Program Director Ben Carlson said. "Around the world, people with HIV and AIDS suffer discrimination caused by fear, ignorance, and misconceptions about the disease. In the U.S., the Congress passed a Department of Defense bill that calls for all HIV-positive service members to be discharged, regardless of their health, and denies them and their families the medical benefits available to those who receive medical discharges for other reasons. This is blatantly discriminatory." "We believe that policies that reduce the stigma of HIV, and build the self-esteem of people who are at risk for HIV or who have HIV, can create the environment of trust and cooperation necessary to change behavior and reduce HIV transmission. But discriminatory policies promote, rather than prevent, the continuing spread of HIV." Additional information about HIV/AIDS discrimination is available on the Candlelight program's new site on the World Wide Web . The International AIDS Candlelight Memorial and Mobilization is coordinated under the auspices of Mobilization Against AIDS, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization. MAA supplies event coordination kits to local groups, such as AIDS service organizations and churches, which then coordinate observances of the event. Local observances range in character from small gatherings in houses of worship to huge marches through city centers. In 1995, the event was observed in 250 cities in 47 nations, making it the world's largest annual community-based AIDS event. In some cases, participation in the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial and Mobilization marks a community's first acknowledgment that AIDS is a local issue, as well as a national and global issue. Anyone interested in organizing a local observance of the 13th International AIDS Candlelight Memorial and Mobilization may call Mobilization Against AIDS at (U.S.A.) 415-863-4676, or may register on-line through the program's Web site. -- out.org community server * (415) 554-0555 voice * (415) 554-0431 modem * * info@out.org * http://www.out.org * ****************************************************************************** * To subscribe to QUEERPLANET, send mail to: majordomo@abacus.oxy.edu * * In the mail message, enter ONLY the words: subscribe queerplanet * * To unsubscribe to QUEERPLANET, send mail to: majordomo@abacus.oxy.edu * * In the mail message, enter ONLY the words: unsubscribe queerplanet * * Words in the Subject: line are NOT processed! * ******************************************************************************