The AIDS Community Then and Now:

An Inter-Generational Dialog

The Foundation for The AIDS Monument commemorated World AIDS Day with a panel discussion titled The AIDS Community Then and Now: An Inter-Generational Dialog.  The event was held on December 1, 2024 on the Respite Deck of the Aquatics & Recreation Center in West Hollywood Park, a venue that overlooks the future site of STORIES: The AIDS Monument.

The World AIDS Day event featured an inter-generational panel of HIV/AIDS activists and awareness advocates (Roland Palencia, Peter Cashman, Raif Derrazi, and Michael Fields) discussing how living, caregiving and advocacy in the Los Angeles area during the height of the AIDS epidemic helped those with HIV/AIDS feel a sense of community, and how that community is created or is lacking in today’s social media-dominated culture. Audience members also participated in the discussion, contributing stories of their lived experiences with HIV and AIDS.

Watch the panel discussion here.  See highlights of the event here.

The event was co-sponsored by the City of West Hollywood.

Pictured (from top left):

1. Raif Derrazi
2. Raif Derrazi, Michael Fields, and Irwin M. Rappaport
3. Roland Palencia, Peter Cashman, and W. David Hardy, M.D.
4. Bird’s eye view of event on Respite Deck
5. Peter Cashman
6. Irwin M. Rappaport, Raif Derrazi, Michael Fields, Roland Palencia, and Peter Cashman

Photos by Joshua Barash, courtesy of the City of West Hollywood