Mickey Parujee Akarasewi • Dec. 8, 2023
Scraps of donated clothes tied up into a red ribbon, the universal symbol of awareness and support for people living with HIV (CHUO / Mickey Parujee Akarasewi).
Advancements in scientific research has helped folks with HIV to live better, but the stigma from our society remains. This year, stigma was the main focus of the World AIDS Day, one of the very first world health days founded in 1988. This event was organized by the AIDS Committee of Ottawa and sponsored by VIIV Canada.
World AIDS Day saw a sunny sky on Parliament Hill, where wonderful speakers gathered for a speech ceremony then a Red Ribbon flag-raising. Guests were invited to tie red rags on the fence in the front of the NAC. The event continued with a quilt ceremony and open speeches by Ken Miller, the current executive director and Gary LaCasse, the former executive of Canadians AIDS society in remembrance of those who have died from HIV/AIDS.
Community participants join to hold a quilt in remembrance of their love ones died from HIV (CHUO / Mickey Parujee Akarasewi).
The incredibly photogenic host of the event, Chris Tooriram (Mickey Parujee Akarasewi/CHUO).
This year’s event was hosted by Chris Tooriram, MSM Ethno-Cultural Resource Coordinator at ACO and co-hosted by Kiki Coe, a Filipino-Canadian drag queen, costume designer, and chef who rose to prominence as a finalist on the first season of Call Me Mother.
They introduced the audience with breath-taking elegant Drag Queen Performances and fun community shows that entertained and fantasized the participant for the rest of the event. the National Arts Centre’s Peter A. Herrndorf Place.
Kiki Coe, a Filipino-Canadian drag queen, costume designer, and chef who rose to prominence as a finalist on the first season of Call Me Mother and currently competing in Canada’s Drag Race Season 4 along with Ottawa Queen Aimee Yonce, the only 2 Drag Queens representing the National Capital Region.
For more details, photos and videos of the World Aids Day 2023, visit: