Respect! Europe wide HIV campaign climaxes with March in central London

London, October 28th – On Saturday, October 30th, the centre of London will be packed with people from all over Europe demanding “Respect!” in a campaign linked to the 18th European AIDS Conference (EAC) ending that day.

“Our banners, flags and stickers call for respect for people living with HIV or at risk of acquiring the virus”, explains Alex Schneider, president of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Life4me.plus, and campaign organiser. “We want to build a positive attitude towards diversity for everyone who is different to the majority for whatever reason – whether this is because of their HIV status, their race and culture, gender identity or sexual orientation.”

Hundreds of HIV and human rights activists will meet at 2.30 pm in the paved areas around Parliament Square. The march will start at the corner of Great George Street and Parliament Street, heading for Trafalgar Square via Whitehall. There will be a rally in Trafalgar Square, with speeches from celebrities, leading activists and politicians.

“We want to welcome diversity rather than cultivating negative prejudices about HIV,” says Schneider. With other activists from a variety of organisations, he aims to champion the rights of all, whatever their HIV status. “As HIV activists we need to counter the negative experiences we still experience. We must end discrimination, on the basis of human rights and because stigma continues to hinder successful treatment and prevention.”

The Respect! campaign celebrates diversity using the colors of pink, white and blue, kicking off online on 13th October. Hashtags demanding respect are being shared on websites and social media platforms with real world elements, like posters on bus stops in London or flags at the EACS conference venue at ExCeL going up from 25th October in the lead up to the campaign climax on 30th October with the march and rally.

More about the campaign: https://respectmyhiv.com/

For further information, please email: contact@life4me.plus