BROOKLYN, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, is proud to once again join the LGBTQ community in celebrating the 2017 Gay Pride season through its planned participation in more than two dozen Pride events across the country. Founded in Los Angeles as AIDS Hospice Foundation in 1987 to provide a facility for terminally ill AIDS patients in California, AHF is celebrating its 30th Anniversary this year and continues to support LGBTQ equality and the expansion of health care services to treat people living with HIV/AIDS. At festivals throughout the 2017 Pride season, AHF will give away free condoms, share information on STD prevention and treatment, and provide free HIV testing.
At the Brooklyn Pride parade on Saturday, June 10, AHF staff and patients will march in the twilight parade that will be led by AHF’s Northern Region Director of Pharmacy Sales, Michael Camacho, who has been named a 2017 Grand Marshal. The parade steps off promptly at 7:30 p.m. around Lincoln Place and ends at 9th St. & 5th Avenue.
"I am deeply honored to serve as a Grand Marshal for this year's Brooklyn Pride parade,” said Camacho. “The current political atmosphere has shown that the LGBTQ community must continue to stand up for our rights and not take them for granted. Every Gay Pride march across the country this year is important to the community's visibility."
AHF is proud to support the LGBTQ community in Brooklyn through its AHF Healthcare Center, pharmacy and Out of the Closet Thrift Store, located at 475 Atlantic Avenue. In the greater New York City area, AHF Healthcare Centers are also located in Chelsea, Midtown and Jamaica, Queens.
On Sunday, June 11, AHF will also march in the Long Island Pride Parade that begins at 12:00 p.m. on Broadway at Laurelton Blvd., and proceeds East on Broadway to Long Beach Blvd.
“Our AHF staff and patients always look forward to joining with the LGBTQ community at gay pride celebrations across the country each year. Our presence at this year’s Pride is particularly meaningful for us as we mark our 30th Anniversary of providing care to people living with HIV and AIDS,” said AHF President Michael Weinstein. “After 30 years of being on the frontlines in the fight against AIDS, we remain grateful to be able to provide access to medical care and breakthrough treatments that have allowed people with HIV to live longer, healthier lives and to help prevent transmitting the virus to others. Today, we are currently providing care to over 740,000 patients around the globe and we’re working to expand our operations internationally to be able to help even more people.”
In addition to providing free HIV testing and giveaways at Pride festivals nationwide, AHF patients, volunteers and staff will also march with its signature “One Community, One Love” Pride bus wrapped with smiling faces that represent the diversity of LGBTQ individuals and families. The bus is scheduled to appear in Pride parades in U.S. cities including Brooklyn (6/10); Long Island (6/11); Washington, DC (6/10); Columbus, OH (6/16); Houston (6/24); New York City, NY (6/25); San Diego (7/15); Oakland, CA (9/10); Dallas (9/16); Atlanta, GA (10/14); and Las Vegas (10/20).
For a complete list of Pride festivals in which AHF will participate in 2017, visit www.ahfparticipate.org.
For more information on AHF Healthcare Center locations, AHF Pharmacy, and Out of the Closet Thrift Stores, visit www.hivcare.org, www.AHFpharmacy.org, and www.outofthecloset.org.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over 720,000 individuals in 36 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare and Instagram: @aidshealthcare.
