Despite failing to meet fundraising goals, a large crowd of people marched down Bank and Elgin Street and stopped traffic Sept. 15 to raise awareness and money for the fight against HIV/AIDS.
With a set goal of raising $100,000, Ottawa’s Scotiabank AIDS Walk for Life only raised $61,759 so far.
Jay Koornstra is the executive director of Bruce House, an organization that provides housing for people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, which handled the co-ordination and finances of the event.
Koornstra said he thinks the low fundraising total was due to an “under-concern for HIV and AIDS.”
For the last 40 years Koornstra has been an adamant activist for LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS causes.
Koornstra was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his efforts.
“These issues, the GLBT issues, HIV/AIDS, homelessness, were once dismissed by our government leaders,” he said during his acceptance speech. “Regrettably, this is still true in some quarters.”
“But as I accept this award, I believe this medal signifies not only a personal recognition but truly years of recognition of the very social justice and human rights issues we have all advocated for. We are no longer special interest, we are fighting for the right things,” Koornstra said.
Unlike other national AIDS Walks, Ottawa’s walk is open to any organization with an HIV/AIDS program, and the donations fund the organizations directly, said Koornstra.
Amongst the groups were the Youth Services Bureau, The Ottawa Wolves, and Planned Parenthood Ottawa.
Johnny Festarini, president of the Ottawa Wolves, a predominantly gay rugby club, said he also feels that the HIV/AIDS cause has flown under the radar recently.
“I have friends that are HIV-positive and I think [there is] a certain complacence about the disease now, because it’s become very manageable,” he said, referring to the drugs that can improve the lives of people with HIV/AIDS. “It’s not necessarily a death sentence.”
“People are still contracting HIV at a significant rate and I think that complacence is a concern because a lot of younger people think they might be immune to it or it’s not that big of an issue. So they’re not taking the necessary precautions,” he said.
Torin Sollows is a member of the Sexual Health Advisory Group [SHAG], a program led by the Youth Services Bureau that provides peer-to-peer sexual health education.
According to Sollows, the lack of concern regarding HIV/AIDS stems from how the media has been portraying the HIV/AIDS cause.
He said he believes that HIV/AIDS is being downplayed by society because of the stigma that is attached it.
He said he wants the media and other institutions to give HIV/AIDS the same attention other major illnesses are given.
“[We should] talk about the illness as a medical condition, rather than a social or personal thing. Then people might start to show the same amount of support as they do for other [illnesses],” he said, adding that more efforts should be spent de-stigmatizing the illness.
Sollows said he believes that education is the most important factor in combatting the complacence youth have regarding HIV/AIDS.
“Through doing sexual education in schools, you do meet a lot of people from really diverse backgrounds and some of those people are people who are living with HIV,” he said.
“It makes it very real for you, this is something that happens. It’s not something that happens to good people or bad people. It just happens sometimes.”
As the various teams representing organizations walked down the streets, police motorbikes were there to stop the traffic, allowing people in the march to take pictures and share stories with onlookers.
“I take comfort in thinking. . . all those people that we see walking down the street will have to take a moment out of their day to be like, ‘whoa, I wonder what that is?’ All we can hope to do is plant the seeds,” Sollows said.
