The City of West Hollywood will host the “HIV Game Change 2012 – The State of HIV/AIDS in West Hollywood” community forum on Thursday, November 15th from 7:30pm to 9:00pm in the Community Room at the West Hollywood Library.
This community dialogue will focus on the changing landscape of HIV within the Gay male community. The program will feature a short presentation followed by a discussion on the changing culture of HIV and how it will impact the lives of gay men in and around West Hollywood.
In recent years, there have been many changes in the HIV landscape and the average gay male may not have a comprehensive understanding of what these changes mean in their own lives.
Expert panelists will provide an informative overview about: Treatment as Prevention, PrEP and PEP; The Affordable Care Act (Obama Care); The Ryan White Care Act; HIV Criminalization; Harm Reduction; and HIV Stigma.
Speakers Include:
Christopher Brown – Director of Health and Mental Health Services with the LA Gay & Lesbian Center. Personally and professionally, Mr. Brown has been a longtime advocate for the LGBT communities, people living with HIV, and those affected by hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections. He has been living with HIV since 1983.
Eric Gutierrez – Health Policy Director for the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, and Board Member for Communities Advocating for Emergency AIDS Relief (CAEAR) Coalition, and was a Burton Fellow at Harvard's Divinity School and Kennedy School of Government. Eric was on the founding editorial board of OUT magazine and his journalism on LGBT and HIV/AIDS issues have twice been nominated for a Western Publishing Associations' Maggie Award and he received the Alternative Press Award for Best Cultural Coverage.
David Evans – Director of Research Advocacy for the HIV and Hepatitis C policy, advocacy and education organization, Project Inform. David is a long-time HIV activist who emerged during the early days of ACT UP movement in San Francisco.
Dr. Tony Mills – medical doctor and a long-time HIV specialist.
Terry L. Smith MPA – Associate Director of Education at AIDS Project Los Angeles. Terry is actively involved in HIV community planning having served as co-chair of the Los Angeles HIV prevention planning committee and currently as President of the Black Los Angeles HIV/AIDS Coalition.
Admission is free. Validated parking will be available in the 5-story West Hollywood Park/Library Parking Garage. TTY for the deaf and hard of hearing at (323) 848-6496.
