Wed 12 May 2010 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
A snafu which saw the first openly HIV positive chair of the NZ AIDS Foundation left off a publicly displayed list of its chairpeople, marking the organisation's 25th Anniversary, has left the Foundation red-faced. Jonathan Smith A powerpoint presentation, created to be shown at 25th Anniversary events such as the March Garden Party in Auckland and subsequently run as a loop on video screens at the Foundation's reception areas in Auckland, omitted Jonathan Smith from the list of his predecessors and successors. Its aim was "to honour and thank those who have chosen to donate their time and talent to the governance of the NZAF over the last 25 years," according to the Foundation. Smith held the most elevated position in the NZAF between February 1997 and July 1998 and his election to the chair was at the time hailed as a groundbreaking and significant move which would help cement links between HIV positive people and the Foundation. The Foundation says it corrected the problem, which it describes as "an administrative error," after it was drawn to their attention three weeks ago. It says versions of the presentation shown at its Christchurch and Wellington offices did not contain the error. Smith remains unimpressed by the omission. "It made me feel that the work I had done was not valued. It actually made me question what I had or had not achieved during that two year appointment. Surely being the first HIV+ Chair, the person that had to deal with the challenge of finding a replacement for Warren Lindberg and implementing new policy including the bi-cultural policy would be given some credit," he says. Smith notes he has received an apology from the Foundation's current Chair and the Executive Director, but says the matter has left him with "not a nice feeling." [Editor's note: The only other openly HIV-positive chair in the NZAF's 25-year history was Michael Stevens, from 2001 - 2004.]
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 12th May 2010 - 3:03pm