Led by our new CEO Jon Mallow, GMHC staff traveled all over the city for Pride Month in June, connecting with the diverse communities we serve in celebration, solidarity, and resistance.
At the NYC Pride March, a powerful contingent of staff, donors, and volunteers marched with a huge banner reading: We Won’t Stop. “When people saw our banner, they started chanting ‘We won’t stop!’ several times along the route,” said Director of Community Relations Krishna Stone. “People need inspiration and courage right now. I think that’s what folks were responding to.”
“Visibility is essential to resistance,” Stone emphasized. “Our staff showed up all over the city, talking with diverse populations – and they were received so beautifully. People were yelling out, ‘Thank you for what you do,’ at the Brooklyn Pride Twilight Parade and other marches throughout June. It was immensely uplifting.”
Resistance was also about dancing for GMHC’s Pride March float. DJ Trevor Fox spun Disco Classic anthems like “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” by Sylvester across Manhattan – sending Stone into pure rapture when he concluded his set with “Souvenirs” by Voyage. “In the midst of all the millions of people cheering and dancing, I turned around and held my heart,” she said.
Besides the NYC Pride March, GMHC staff showed out for the Queens Pride Parade (left), Brooklyn Pride Twilight Parade, and the Harlem Pride Festival.
Meanwhile, ACRIA Centers at GMHC hosted our annual HIV & Aging Conference on June 6, and our Testing Center’s team offered free HIV testing at events all month long. GMHC capped off the month with our iconic Latex Ball on June 21 – one of the most anticipated events in the House and Ball community, and the only one that is also a sexual health fair.
“It’s all connected. The communities that we experience along the parade routes and at our events – these are the people we serve,” Stone said.
“At GMHC, Pride isn’t just a moment. It’s how we operate every single day,” she said. “We are going to keep doing our work. We won’t stop marching, we won’t stop HIV testing and treatment, we won’t stop caring for our clients. We provide hot meals, mental health and substance use services, housing support, and life-affirming care — especially for those hit hardest by stigma, poverty, and discrimination. And we won’t stop.”
“We will keep moving forward. We communicated that on different levels very enthusiastically throughout the month,” Stone said.
HIV-Focused Events During Pride Month
No matter the moment, we won’t stop providing testing and care for communities at risk for HIV.
All through Pride Month, the GMHC Testing Center’s team provided free and confidential HIV testing and education at the LaGuardia Community College Wellness Fair, Judson Memorial Church, a Translatinx Network event, the Latex Ball, and the Harlem Pride Festival. For National HIV Testing Day on June 27, the team turned out to offer testing at the Walgreens Pharmacy by Hudson Yards, and a NY Knows event in Union Square.
And we won’t stop illuminating and uplifting the experiences of people aging with HIV.
For Long Term Survivor Awareness Day on June 5, GMHC was a proud sponsor of a special screening and discussion of Surviving Voices: HIV Lifetime & Long-Term Survivors, a short documentary exploring the stories, struggles, and needs of long-term HIV survivors. The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene hosted the screening, which is part of the National AIDS Memorial’s AIDS oral history series, at the LGBT Community Center in the West Village.
The following day, our annual HIV and Aging Conference attracted an engaged crowd of consumers and providers at the LGBT Community Center. The keynote speaker, health psychologist Dr. Perry Halkitis, Dean of the Rutgers School of Public Health, shared his own journey as a long-term HIV survivor. Halkitis, who’s also a GMHC alum, embraced the themes of the conference in his talk: “The co-occurring health challenges of aging with HIV: How can we help older PLWH manage their health to be vibrant, resilient, and sexy?”
To that end, the conference featured a workshop on sex toy education for older adults from queer sex educator Annie Merrill. The ACRIA Center at GMHC also debuted a timely new social media campaign, “Experience Is the New Sexy,” a sex-positive approach to sexual health for older New Yorkers living with HIV.
Visibility is resistance — and we won’t stop showing out. From parades to HIV testing fairs to our signature events, GMHC staff proclaimed our visibility during Pride Month, showing our communities that we are here for them to call on.
Mallow captured the spirit of the month for GMHC: “At my first Pride as CEO, I was deeply moved by the strength of our community,” he said. “In the crowds, I felt what has sustained us for over 40 years: joy that refuses to fade, love that refuses to let go, and an unwavering belief that everyone deserves care, support and dignity.”
“I also felt the urgency,” Mallow added. “More than a million people filled the streets for [the NYC Pride March] – not just to celebrate, but to stand together, speak out, and say: We all matter.”
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