{"id":20227,"date":"2022-02-16T13:54:20","date_gmt":"2022-02-16T18:54:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/?page_id=20227"},"modified":"2022-11-09T13:54:02","modified_gmt":"2022-11-09T18:54:02","slug":"supporter-stories","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/donate\/supporter-stories\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Supporter Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"
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You can play a role in challenging wrongs, advancing rights, and transforming lives today. There are so many ways to give to the HIV Legal Network and to be part of our mission. We wanted to tell you the stories of just a few of our friends and donors who are making positive change right now!<\/p>\n

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\"David<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

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David Garmaise \u2013 Legacy Donor<\/h2>\n

David Garmaise, who passed away in 2020, was a champion for human rights, an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, and a former editor of our HIV\/AIDS Policy & Law Review<\/em>. He was also a partner, a son, a brother, an uncle, and a beloved friend to many. We are grateful that David remembered the HIV Legal Network with a generous bequest \u2014 especially at a challenging time when many non-profits are struggling.<\/p>\n

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David \u2014 known to his loved ones as \u201cDavy\u201d \u2014 was consistent, committed, and passionate, and known for his wit. Even at the end of his life, he quipped that his humor would be the \u201clast thing to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

He graduated from McGill University in 1968, where he edited the student newspaper with gusto. As a child, David was raised in a family where human rights were openly discussed; because of this, it is perhaps unsurprising that he was at the forefront of the gay liberation movement in Ottawa in the 1970s and 80s. His activism is highlighted in downtown Ottawa where his silhouetted banner flies today, naming him a Community Hero by Ottawa\u2019s Village Legacy Project.<\/p>\n

David attended every AIDS conference and was called to this work \u2014 it was not a \u201cjob\u201d for him. Known to be an outspoken activist and an incredible writer and editor, David went on to become Director of the Canadian AIDS Society in the 1990s and Managing Editor of our own HIV\/AIDS Policy & Law Review<\/em> in the early 2000s, a role he loved and held for many years.<\/p>\n

In 2005, living in Thailand with his longtime partner, Wat \u2014 his \u201csweetheart,\u201d with whom he shared a deep love \u2014 David embarked upon a 15-year career with AIDSPAN. During that time, he authored and edited thousands of articles. His colleagues say his knowledge of the Global Fund was encyclopedic, his memory intimidatingly accurate, and his perfectionism in getting the facts right unrelenting.<\/p>\n

Fondly remembered for his intellectual mind, David was a lifelong learner and a progressive thinker. He loved to discuss and debate and had an insatiable curiosity about everything in the world. His passion and determination were undeniable.<\/p>\n

David also had a quirky and fun-loving side, though he lived his life quietly and modestly. He loved reading, poetry and writing his own humorous limericks. He enjoyed music tremendously and spent time compiling videos of great musical performances, packaging them as DVD compilations for friends and family. David was honest and authentic, focused, and caring. He showed integrity, compassion, and empathy towards others and was truly loved by all who were fortunate to have known him and worked with him. He is dearly missed, today and always.<\/p>\n

David Garmaise hoped that his legacy donation would inspire others to join him in supporting the HIV Legal Network and human rights for all. It\u2019s certainly inspiring to us, and we are so very grateful for his friendship.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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\"Dr.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

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Dr. Mona Loutfy \u2013 Annual Donor<\/h2>\n

I am an infectious diseases and HIV doctor and researcher in Toronto, Canada. I have collaborated with the HIV Legal Network for more than 10 years. I am also proud to be a yearly donor.<\/p>\n

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As a doctor who has specialized in HIV for 18 years, I am passionate about sexual and reproductive rights. When I began my support to the Legal Network, my team was pioneering efforts to support people living with HIV who wanted to become parents. We came up against a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding about how HIV is transmitted \u2014 and we were seeing the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure. In response, we wrote the first ever Canadian HIV Pregnancy Planning Guidelines<\/em> in 2012 to help would-be parents to navigate this important time in life, updating them in 2018. The Legal Network was a co-author and led the section on ethics for this critical document, so I was able to witness their incredible work firsthand.<\/p>\n

Since 2013, when I co-authored a consensus statement on HIV transmission in the context of Canadian criminal law \u2014 now endorsed by many of my peers in the medical community \u2014 I\u2019ve worked alongside the Legal Network as we advocate for federal and provincial governments to fully understand the science of HIV transmission and decriminalize HIV non-disclosure. So many people living with HIV are burdened by the constant and very real threat of criminalization, and this is wrong.<\/p>\n

The HIV Legal Network inspires me each and every day. Their staff are some of the smartest, hardest working, and dedicated people I know, tirelessly fighting for the rights of people living with and affected by HIV. With grace, professionalism, and expertise, they amplify the voices of those who are often unheard in our society. The HIV Legal Network strives to make Canada a more equitable country, an example of what can be achieved when we prioritize health and human rights for all. I\u2019m proud to support their work, in Canada and around the world, and I hope you\u2019ll join me by making a gift today.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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\"Andrew<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

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Andrew Beckerman \u2013 Leadership Donor<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s incredible to realize that we\u2019ve been fighting the HIV and AIDS pandemic for more than 40 years now. I have been living with HIV since the middle of 1980 and am considered a long-term survivor \u2014 one of the lucky ones.<\/p>\n

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In the summer of 1995, while I was living with my then-partner in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the first human Crixivan trial was announced, and hope felt possible. I was among the tens of thousands of applicants for 1,400 places in that trial and received the only spot available in New Mexico. On November 1, 1995, I took my first-ever dose, which stopped the replication of my HIV. I had fewer than five T-cells and a viral load well north of one million copies. Without this incredibly good fortune, I would not be writing to you today.<\/p>\n

I discovered the HIV Legal Network as an immigrant to Canada. One June 2013 evening in Toronto, the HIV Legal Network was premiering its documentary, “Positive Women, Exposing Injustice.” The film centered the stories of four women living with HIV in Canada and asked hard-hitting questions about how criminalization affects their lives. I\u2019ll never forget the emotion I felt, sitting in that theatre, and the anger that stirred inside me. In fact, the film moved me so much that I promised to write a four-figure cheque when I returned home \u2014 a promise I kept. In 2014, I decided to extend my commitment to the critical work of the HIV Legal Network by introducing \u201cCharlie\u2019s Challenge\u201d \u2014 a program named after my late father, wherein I match every donation to the Legal Network, dollar for dollar. Charlie\u2019s Challenge has become a core part of the HIV Legal Network\u2019s annual giving campaign. For the year 2022, I committed to match up to $50,000. This amount is consistent with my enthusiasm as a former HIV Legal Network Board member and long-term financial supporter for the critical work the HIV Legal Network does on behalf of Canada’s HIV+ population as well as on behalf of HIV+ people around the world, and I am so proud to be able to contribute in this way.<\/p>\n

For almost 30 years, the HIV Legal Network has been advocating for people living with, and affected by, HIV \u2014 people like me. Their work is vital and must continue so that human rights are respected, protected, and fulfilled for everyone, today and every day.<\/p>\n

I have been living with HIV for more than 40 years. I\u2019ve witnessed governments\u2019 HIV responses stalling or even backsliding, and it frightens me. The truth is that we can end the HIV epidemic if we give it the attention and resources it urgently needs. The HIV Legal Network takes action to connect our community to decision-makers so we can get the funding and support we need, and that\u2019s why I am boosting their efforts and doubling donations to make your dollars work even harder. The HIV Legal Network truly gives me hope. And I hope you\u2019ll stand with us, too.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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\"St\u00e9phanie<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

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St\u00e9phanie Claivaz-Loranger \u2013 Monthly Donor<\/h2>\n

I first became aware of the HIV Legal Network in 2008 when I started working at COCQ-SIDA. I\u2019d just quit my job in a commercial law firm and knew very little about HIV at the time. In my new role, I started working on COCQ-SIDA\u2019s HIV criminalization advocacy work and turned to the Legal Network for their wealth of knowledge on the subject. Then, in 2010, I collaborated with the Legal Network when we jointly intervened in a case of alleged HIV non-disclosure before the Quebec Court of Appeal. That case made its way to the Supreme Court of Canada, and I stayed in close contact with the Legal Network afterward, collaborating with them regularly, during my employment at COCQ-SIDA and beyond.<\/p>\n

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What has kept me connected to the HIV Legal Network through the years has always been the depth of knowledge they have on matters relating to HIV and human rights. As a young lawyer working on advocacy, being able to access the analysis and reports that the Legal Network produced was invaluable. But the best part, by far, has been working with the staff and becoming connected to the rest of the Legal Network community, including being introduced to other partner organizations across Canada. I might not have continued to be engaged on issues of HIV and human rights over the years if it hadn\u2019t been for this community of dedicated and passionate peers I got to work alongside.<\/p>\n

It was this passion and dedication that inspired me to become a monthly donor in 2016. I sincerely hope that the Legal Network will always be around. I would love to see them and their partners achieve policy and legal changes so that Canada no longer resorts to criminal prosecutions in cases of alleged HIV criminalization. Truly, the Legal Network goes places others won\u2019t. Working alongside communities, they leave no stone unturned to make sure the rights of people living with and affected by HIV are upheld. I am proud to support them in their work, both as a collaborator and as a donor.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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You can play a role in challenging wrongs, advancing rights, and transforming lives today. There are so many ways to give to the HIV Legal Network and to be part of our mission. We wanted to tell you the stories of just a few of our friends and donors who are making positive change right … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22743,"parent":13,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20227","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20227"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23035,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20227\/revisions\/23035"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}