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A Night To Remember – 40th International AIDS Candlelight Memorial

30/05/2025

The 40th International AIDS Candlelight Memorial was celebrated on Sunday, 18 May at the Positive Living Centre

More than 140 folk (including our livestream audience) came together from across the positive community, alongside family, friends, allies, clinical and social researchers and government, to reflect on this year’s theme: “Don’t Forget to Remember.”

One of the key note speakers PWV chair Stephanie Raper gave a moving speech reflecting on her time as a child. Stephanie, who was born with HIV in 1991, said she had witnessed the community come together and grieve her whole life:

“Children with HIV released balloons, lit candles, some cried, but most heroic of all, laughed. It was my childhood best friend who shouted, ‘Why is nobody dancing?’ It made me wonder why we ever stopped. It was the next year I was grieving her. At her funeral, everyone pretended that she had cancer. I miss her dance moves, I miss her laugh, I miss my

Read highlights and watch the recording of the 40th International Candlelight Memorial celebrated at the PLC, including Stephanie’s key note speech

PWV Chair Stephanie Raper Photo: Matto Lucas