Students gathered to watch “Everyone I Know Is Sick,” on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. (Greta Kerkhoff/ CU Independent)
On Thursday, students and Boulder community members gathered on the University of Colorado Boulder’s campus to watch films and honor the 35th annual World AIDS Day. The day is generally celebrated on Dec. 1, and is dedicated to raising awareness for the immune disease, as well as mourning those who have passed due to HIV and AIDS.
“For me, [World AIDS Day] is the critical importance of people understanding that it’s not yet cured and we’ve lost a lot of people,” said Sarah Annecone, the development director of the Boulder County AIDS Project.
Each year, the day is assigned a theme. The 2023 theme, “Let Communities Lead,” aims to support communities affected by HIV and AIDS that have taken on leadership roles to treat the disease and search for a cure.
The AIDS epidemic, which primarily began in 1981, has claimed 39 million lives worldwide and has largely affected LGBTQ+ communities throughout the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While HIV and AIDS can now be prevented with drugs such as Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, there is still no cure.
In honor of World AIDS Day, CU Boulder’s Brakhage Center hosted Visual AIDS: A Day With(out) Art 2023 in collaboration with the universities LGBTQ Studies Program. The organization Visual AIDS focuses on using art to fight AIDS and commissioned five short films to be shown globally for the event.
This year’s program, titled “Everyone I Know Is Sick,” focused on exploring HIV’s intersection with other forms of illness and disability. The films explored perspectives from varying members of the diagnosed community and their experiences, including perspectives across various generations.
Raising awareness goes beyond just World AIDS Day. The Boulder County AIDS Project provides local support year-round, such as testing and educational outreach. They also offer case management, including medical, financial and legal support.
Annecone noted there are ways in which HIV and AIDS patient care can still be lacking.
“The problem is that if people don’t have access,” she said. “They don’t have access to a doctor that understands and can speak to them in a way where they’ll wanna come back: not stigmatizing.”
The organization aims to reduce this stigma and create a supportive environment.
“We’ve got really well-trained staff and prevention who are super empathetic and understanding,” Annecone said.
The organization also provides free student testing at CU Boulder’s Pride Office at the Center for Inclusion and Social Change on the first Thursday of every month from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
For students looking to get involved beyond Thursday’s event, the Boulder County AIDS Project’s Atlas program needs new volunteer members to promote HIV awareness and serve impacted communities.
Hanna Rose Shell, the director of the Brakhage Center and associate professor of critical and curatorial studies at CU Boulder, has co-organized the university’s World AIDS Day event for three years.
“It’s really interesting to be able to engage with students, and also just with perspectives that have encountered AIDS and HIV in a different moment,” she said of the event. “I love these collaborations.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Greta Kerkhoff at Greta.Kerkhoff@colorado.edu.
