Putting HIV prevention back at the centre of Brazil’s LGBTI pride
In June 2019, more than 3 million people took to the streets of São Paulo, Brazil, to celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) pride and to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, a turning point in the struggle for LGBTI rights. For gay entrepreneur Almir Nascimento, 2019 marked a return to involvement in the event’s organization after a 20-year break.
What prompted Mr Nascimiento’s pride comeback was a rising unease about the increasing number of new HIV infections in Brazil among young people, especially among young gay men and transgender women. For many years, he thought that the mobilization of the 1990s and the arrival of antiretroviral therapy would be enough to end the HIV epidemic.
“The epidemic was at its height when I first joined pride as one of the organizers in 1999 and 2000. Back then, it seemed to me that we had made significant achievements, and I thought it would be enough to stop HIV”, recalls Mr Nascimento. “But four to five years ago, I began to notice that a lot of young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people were getting infected with HIV again, and even worse they were dying of AIDS-related illnesses at a really young age. This situation motivated me to come back and support the parade organizers in promoting an open discussion about HIV and AIDS inside our community.”
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