AIDS Candlelight Memorial services will be held across the country this Sunday, beginning with a commemorative event at Te Papa in where Michael Kirby will speak. The 2015 theme for the long-running global commemoration of those whose lives have been lost is “supporting the future”. The first service on Sunday will be held at Te Papa museum at midday, where former Australian High Court judge and long-time gay rights advocate Michael Kirby will be the keynote speaker. Te Papa curator Claire Regnault will discuss the history of the New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt. Karen Ritchie of the Cartier Bereavement Trust will be the MC, and other speakers will include MPs Grant Robertson and Kevin Hague, and contraceptives campaigner Dame Margaret Sparrow. Messages from both the Governor General and Prime Minister will be read. The service, which is being hosted by Te Papa and Body Positive Wellington, will also feature an audio recording of the late AIDS awareness campaigner Bruce Burnett Other memorial services will follow in Invercargill, Auckland, Christchurch and Hamilton. The memorials have been taking place around the world every year since 1983, led by coalition of community organisations globally, and coordinated by Global Network of People Living with HIV. “On 17th May 2015, as we honour those who have departed, let’s mobilise all people living with HIV from all walks of life to demand a sustainable AIDS response—one that funds health care, promotes human rights for all, and engages us fully and meaningfully,” says Suzette Moses-Burton from the global network. New Zealand AIDS Candlelight Memorial Services 2015: Wellington 12noon - Te Papa Te Marae, Level 4, 55 Cable St (11am-11.30am - History of the NZ AIDS Memorial Quilt Project) Invercargill 2pm - Knox Church 107 Pomona St, Georgetown Auckland 6pm - St Matthews in the City Cnr Hobson
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 14th May 2015 - 2:11pm