News + Events

Born to survive – HIV Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day – 5 June

04/06/2025

Stephanie Raper (PWV Chair), has lived with HIV all her life. When she spoke with so much passion at the recent AIDS Candlelight Memorial in Melbourne, it was to others who have also survived, while honouring those who haven’t.

It was Dan Savage who summed up the darkest days of the AIDS crisis: “We buried our friends in the morning, we protested in the afternoon, and we danced all night. The dance kept us in the fight because it was the dance we were fighting for.”

My name is Stephanie and I survived. Having been born with HIV in 1991, I have witnessed my community come together in grief my whole life.

Stephanie’s key note speech is published as a feature article in Positive Living digital (published by NAPWHA)