May 13, 2015
HIV Equal Partners with Fenway Health, Hosts Testing Event at Machine May 30
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
HIV Equal is partnering with Fenway Health in an effort to bring the anti-stigma and testing campaign to Boston's LGBTQ Community. The event is expected to yield a huge turnout, and will be hosted at one of the premier nightlife spots, Machine (1254 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02215), on Saturday, May 30, 2015 from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
In an effort to continuously provide free, confidential HIV testing along with unique, individual portraits that support the notion that we're all equally valuable regardless of our HIV status, HIV Equal is partnering with Fenway Health, one of the largest and oldest organizations dedicated to the field of HIV. Both organizations will pull together a massive nightlife event that will draw a crowd of hundreds of participants who will either be testing for the first time or continuing to manage their health by knowing their HIV status.
"HIV Equal was created to help break down the barriers that stigma has created towards HIV testing, treatment and prevention," said Thomas Evans. "We're excited to partner with an established organization like Fenway Health to bring testing to the most at-risk communities."
The campaign has successfully tested and photographed more than a thousand participants since its October, 2013 launch in Connecticut. HIV Equal has partnered with countless AIDS Service Organizations (ASOs) across the nation to help end stigma and to bring testing to communities with rising numbers of HIV infections.
To learn more about HIV Equal, please visit www.HIVequal.org. For more information about World Health Clinicians, please visit www.worldhealthclinicians.org. To learn about Fenway Health, please visit www.fenwayhealth.org.
World Health Clinicians, Inc. (WHC) is a U.S.-based non-profit 501(c)(3) humanitarian organization founded in September 2010 by U.S. HIV/AIDS specialist Dr. Gary Blick and Executive Director Scott Gretz to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections in the developed and developing world. www.worldhealthclinicians.org
HIV Equal is an international social media campaign and online magazine that promotes HIV testing and aims to end the stigma associated with the virus. The campaign reopens the public dialogue about HIV and works to change the way people think about testing, stigma and prevention. The concept of HIV Equal was founded by World Health Clinicians and co-created by HIV/AIDS specialist Dr. Gary Blick and celebrity photographer Thomas Evans. The campaign photos include people from all walks of life who support the concept that regardless of their HIV status we are all equally valuable. www.HIVequal.org
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
