Don’t forget the past, rainbow community told

Standing in front of one of the panels from the New Zealand Aids memorial quilt project are organisers of a special Dunedin Pride Night Event yesterday (from left) Burnett Foundation senior service and outreach co-ordinator Peter Ford, of Christchurch, Dunedin Pride treasurer Trak Gray, Burnett Foundation marketing and engagement specialist Blaise Clotworthy, of Auckland, and Dunedin Pride chairperson Max Wolfgram.

The New Zealand Aids memorial quilt project is a memorial to those who have died of HIV-related illnesses.

Each fabric panel, which is the size of a standard grave, was "as unique as the person it remembers and those who created it".

New Zealand Aids Foundation (now Burnett Foundation) former chairman Michael Stevens, who was diagnosed with HIV in 1988, spoke to the audience at the event and told them about living with HIV.

He said it was important for rainbow youth of today not to forget the past and where the community had come from, and remembered some of his friends who were memorialised as part of the project.

"There’s nothing wrong with being HIV positive, there’s nothing wrong with having Aids, there’s nothing wrong with us. It’s how the outside world sees us that was wrong," he said.