West Hollywood’s Long-Awaited STORIES: The AIDS Monument Opens With A Powerful Night Of Memory, Community, And Hope

After more than a decade of planning, West Hollywood came together Sunday night for the long-awaited opening of STORIES: The AIDS Monument – a powerful tribute that felt less like a ceremony and more like a reunion of a community that has survived the unimaginable. The AIDS Monument is comprised of 147 bronze pillars called “Traces” which are 13-feet tall . The surface of the “Traces” are slightly different, and just like a person, each is unique. The monument remembers those we lost, those who survived, the protests & vigils, and the caregivers. Despite a light rain, the event shifted into the Pacific Design Center’s Silver Screen Theatre, where the evening unfolded with a sense of history and shared purpose. Touching Moments ---------------- Alexandra Billings delivered one of the most striking segments of the evening, reading Vito Russo’s fiery indictment of homophobia and public indifference – words from the early epidemic that still land with unsettling precision today: “If I am dying of anything, it is from homophobia. If I am dying of anything, it is from racism. If I am dying of anything, it is from the indifference and the red tape. If I am dying of anything, I am dying from the fact that not enough rich, white, heterosexual men have gotten AIDS for anyone to give a shit.” HIV advocate Phill Wilson followed with his own survival story. Once told he had only six months to live, he is now approaching 70. He used his platform to spotlight the inequities still faced by Black and brown communities in the epidemic’s shadow. Speakers Maria Roman-Taylorson and Sherri Lewis urged attention to trans communities and women living with HIV, groups too often left out of the narrative and still facing disproportionate impact. “Too often, we fail to realize and report on the impact that HIV and AIDS has on women,” Sherri Lewis said, closing with a stark reminder: “I guess HIV isn’t just a gay disease after all.” West Hollywood’s History, Written in Real Time ---------------------------------------------- The city’s political leadership turned out in full force, including Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, and the full City Council. Vice Mayor John Heilman delivered a stark personal memory. Of an entire gay volleyball team he once played on, he was the only surviving member by the mid-90s. Other stories threaded through the night, including memories of the old West Hollywood Park pool. It was once the only venue willing to host a gay men’s swim team. Now, the monument rises directly above that very ground. A Walk Through Rain, A Moment That Felt Right --------------------------------------------- The night closed with a performance by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles , who sang *That’s What Friends Are For * with beautiful emotional weight. Then came the quiet walk to the outdoor monument. The rainfall was soft, almost cinematic. If there wasn’t a rainbow overhead, the moment still would have felt like exactly what the opening of STORIES: The AIDS Monument needed. 📍647 N San Vicente Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069 Source: https://secretlosangeles.com/weho-stories-the-aids-monument-opens/