“Reading the letters made me realize who they were,” Madeleine Fugate, 14, tells PEOPLE

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Fifty years ago and four blocks away from Washington Square Park, the modern movement for gay rights caught fire. In the early hours of June 28, 1969, resistance to police brutality at the Stonewall Inn led to riots that would redefine LGBTQ Americans’ fight for civil rights.

To raise awareness of the Stonewall Riots on its 50-year anniversary, NYU has had a litany of programming that began last semester: on Thursday, this included the unveiling of nine panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt in Bobst Library.

The quilt commemorates lives lost during the AIDS crisis, among them activists, artists, writers, celebrities and NYU community members. Some squares are dedicated to individuals while others represent groups such as incarcerated women. The panels on display are a small section of the entire quilt, which consists of over 48,000 hand-made panels. 

In her opening night remarks, Tisch Arts professor and co-curator Karen Finley commented on the quilt’s historical significance. 

“[The quilt] brings up so much emotion […] the quilts are archives for so many that were lost at a time in American history when they were not given dignity or respect,” Finley said.

Finley and co-curator Marvin J. Taylor chose to highlight the quilt to help current students understand the pain experienced by previous generations of LGBTQ people.

“Students are young and don’t remember the trauma of AIDS. We would like younger people to understand that there was a time when the government didn’t care about AIDS,” Taylor said. “This battle nearly ended a whole generation, mostly due to neglect from the government. There’s still a very important role that the quilt plays; it has incredible totemic power when you see it. It’s heartbreaking and yet filled with love.”

Tisch first-year Skylar Kim was moved upon viewing the quilts in person for the first time after learning about the AIDS crisis in an LGBTQ history class.

“Actually looking at them is so touching and so special because each one was made with so much love and care,” Kim said. “You see the little pins and quotes and realize that these were real people.”

Taylor said the quilt is a monument for lost generation of LGBTQ people and a symbol of healing for those who lived through the crisis.

“These are the warriors who died for civil rights, for queer rights; [viewing The Quilt] is like visiting a military graveyard,” Taylor said. “They were venerated with art because they weren’t venerated in any other way.”

The AIDS Memorial Quilt is on display from Sept. 12 to Dec. 15 in the Mamdouha Bobst gallery, located on the ground floor atrium.

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LAHORE: Inadequate mea­sures for curtailing HIV/AIDs have brought embarrassment to Pakistan as the United Nations has put it on the list of 11 countries which have the highest prevalence of the disease — 13 per cent — in its latest report.

It is the highest ratio of HIV prevalence the country has touched during the last decade, raising concerns among global health partners.

The UNAIDS-2019 analysis revealed that the world is on track to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030, but Pakistan is among the countries where ratio of new AIDs cases saw a sharp increase. The report termed it a blow to global efforts to curtail the disease.

It stated that the average HIV incidence per 1000 people in Pakistan was 0.08 in 2010, which had risen to 0.11 last year.

The situation has aggravated despite grant of “massive funding” by international health partners to curtail HIV.

The report, which has already been communicated to Islamabad, stated that the number of people living with HIV in the country stood at 160,000 last year. The number was 120,000 in 2015 and 67,000 in 2010.

The number of people living with HIV under 14 years of age was 5,500 in 2018, 4,000 in 2015 and 1,800 in 2010, according to the report.

The ratio also witnessed an increase in the number of females aged 15 and above living with HIV. The numbers were 19,000 in 2010, 37,000 in 2015 and 48,000 last year.

The number of males aged 15 and above living with HIV stood at 110,000 last year, compared to 84,000 in 2015 and 46,000 in 2010.

The UNAIDS report also dwelt on mortality ratio because of this deadly disease as a good number of patients living with HIV remained untraced and untreated. It stated that the average annual death ratio of HIV patients was 6400 in 2018, 4700 in 2015 and 1400 in 2010.

The report put the number of fresh HIV infection cases for all age groups at 2200 for 2018, 18,000 for 2015 and 14000 for 2010.

The UNAIDS analysis recorded HIV prevalence at 3.8pc among sex workers in 2018, 3.7pc among gay men, 21pc among drug addicts and 5.5pc for transgender people.

It revealed 45pc of sex workers were aware of their HIV status, 35.1pc use condom and 0.7pc had access to an HIV prevention programme.

Forty-four per cent of gay men know their HIV status, 22.4pc use condom and 1.2pc had access to an HIV prevention porgramme.

Among drug addicts, 39.3pc were aware of their HIV status, 15.3pc use condom and 1.6pc were benefiting from any HIV prevention programme.

The situation was not satisfactory in respect of transgender people as 69.1pc know their HIV status, 24pc use condom and only 1.1pc had access to an HIV prevention programme.

According to the report, 18pc children and eight per cent women living with HIV who know their status had undergone tests and treatment last year.

The percentage of pregnant women living with HIV who have access to antiretroviral medicines was reported at 10pc last year.

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