Events in Los Angeles County on Monday to mark World AIDS Day will include an evening of reflection in Lincoln Heights, a gathering in West Hollywood and a commemorative event aimed at the Latino community in East Hollywood.
The 32nd annual Noche de las Memorias in Lincoln Park will run from 6:30 to 8 p.m and include family testimonials, music, prayer and the unveiling of newly inscribed names at The AIDS Monument during a candlelight ceremony.
The event will highlight “the urgent need to restore HIV testing, prevention and education services after recent federal funding cuts,” organizers said.
The first World AIDS Day gathering at STORIES: The AIDS Monument will honor lives lost to AIDS-related illnesses and uplift the voices of those living with HIV and AIDS.
The program beginning at 5:30 p.m. will feature readings by the APLA Health Writers Group.
The monument in West Hollywood Park and was unveiled Nov. 16.
A reception will take place at ONE Gallery at 626 N. Robertson Blvd. from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. showcasing the newly opened exhibit, “Herb Ritts: Allies & Icons” — portraits of artists and activists who shaped the fight against AIDS.
The Alliance for Housing & Healing, a program of APLA Health, formerly AIDS Project Los Angeles, will lay flowers Monday on the bronze plaques embedded in the sidewalk along the West Hollywood AIDS Memorial Walk on Santa Monica Boulevard.
The Memorial Walk runs from Crescent Heights Boulevard to Robertson Boulevard. It was created in 1993 to honor people who died in the AIDS pandemic. New plaques are added regularly.
A panel of the AIDS Memorial Quilt will be on display at the West Hollywood Council Chamber at 625 N. San Vicente Blvd., beginning Monday and through Dec. 15.
The 33rd UNIDOS by BIENESTAR will honor resilience, celebrate lives and seek to build a future without stigma, organizers said. It will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Ukrainian Cultural Center, 4315 Melrose Ave., with doors opening at 5:30 p.m.
Reservations can be made on Eventbrite. The event was nearing capacity Sunday night.
The event is organized by Bienestar Human Services, a community-based social services organization focusing on identifying and addressing emerging health issues faced by Latino and LGBTQ+ populations. It has centers in East Los Angeles, Hollywood, Long Beach, Pomona, San Fernando Valley, and South Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles LGBT Center and AIDS/LifeCycle will hold a rooftop reception at 6 p.m. at the center’s Anita May Rosenstein Campus Rooftop at 1118 N. McCadden Place.
World AIDS Day originated at the 1988 United Nations World Summit of Ministers of Health on Programs for AIDS Prevention. It is held annually on Dec. 1.
The theme for 2025 is “Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response,” calling for sustained political leadership, international cooperation, and human-rights-centred approaches to end AIDS by 2030.
There were an estimated 40.8 million people living with HIV at the end of 2024, 65% of whom are in Africa, according to the World Health Organization.
An estimated 630,000 people died from HIV-related causes in 2024 an estimated 1.3 million people acquired HIV.
Source: NBC Los Angeles