in memory

The number lost to AIDS is staggering. Here are 7 ways to memorialize these souls.

Updated on December 1, 2023

_{Unidentified woman viewing section of AIDS Quilt}

December 1 is World AIDS Day: a time to remember those lost to HIV and raise awareness of the issues the virus still poses. Yet there is hope: HIV is totally manageable–and preventable.

Those living with the virus and receiving treatment can expect to live a normal life span. They also cannot transmit the virus to others if they have a sustained, undetectable viral load.

World AIDS Day remains an important date on the calendar. It reminds us to never take the gains we’ve made for granted and to push forward to achieve the goal of reducing HIV transmission to zero.

In a statement accompanying Dangerous Inequalities: World AIDS Day Report 2022, Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS says, “World AIDS Day is a moment to honor over 40 million lives lost to AIDS, take stock of the AIDS response, and commit to ending AIDS.”

Here are seven AIDS memorials to remember those that have gone before.

The AIDS Memorial Instagram account

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by THE AIDS MEMORIAL (@theaidsmemorial)

If you want to read stories about those lost to AIDS, one of the best online resources is the Instagram and Facebook account, @TheAIDSMemorial). Launched in 2016, its creator wanted to share photos and information about lives he felt were being forgotten. At first, he posted photos of famous people who had died, but soon people began contacting him with photos and memorials of their own loved ones. Each story is heartbreaking. They serve testament to the love felt for these people, and how their loss impacted those still alive. There are now many hundreds of entries, with more being added every day.

National AIDS Memorial Grove – San Francisco

_{The entrance to the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park.}

The National AIDS Memorial Grove is located in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. The idea for it first came up in 1989 when the city was in the grip of the AIDS epidemic. Its aim is to provide a healing sanctuary for those impacted by HIV and the loss of loved ones. It remains a beautifully tended woodland grotto to explore and a place of quiet contemplation. As you find yourself walking beneath the fronds of giant ferns, you’ll spot the many rocks engraved with the names of those lost to AIDS.

The New York City AIDS Memorial

_{FULBERT, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons}

Over 100,000 people in New York are believed to have died of HIV-related illness since the early 1980s. The New York City AIDS Memorial, unveiled on World AIDS Day in 2016, lies at St Vincent’s Triangle in Greenwich Village – at the junction of 12th Street, Greenwich Avenue, and 7th Avenue. The location is symbolic: the nearby St Vincent’s Hospital housed the biggest AIDS ward in the country in the 1980s. The memorial, an 18-foot steel sculpture composed of multiple triangles, reaches up into the sky. There’s also a water-filled reflecting fountain and granite engraved with lines from Walt Whitman’s poem, ‘Song of Myself’.

Cathedral Church of St John the Divine in New York City

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Martha (@martha.j.x)

Several churches house chapels dedicated to remembering the lives of those lost to HIV. The first to appear the US was the National AIDS Memorial at the Cathedral Church of St John the Divine in Upper Manhattan. It was inaugurated on 9 November 1985. It consists of a Memorial Book, containing the names of some of those lost, and a memorial banner. The church also has a triptych by famed graffiti artist Keith Haring, entitled The Life of Christ. Haring himself died in 1990 at the age of 31 of HIV-related illness, and his memorial service took place at the church.

Key West AIDS Memorial

_{via keywestaidsmemorial.org}

Key West in Florida is another part of the US that lost many local residents to AIDS. It unveiled its AIDS memorial in 1997. It lies at White Street and Atlantic Boulevard, at the entrance to the White Street Pier – a particularly beautiful and serene spot. The memorial consists of several Zimbabwe granite slabs engraved with poems and the names of over a thousand people. Each World AIDS Day, it is the site of a candlelit march.

The AIDS Memorial Quilt

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Megan Holland (@miggysworld)

The idea for the AIDS Memorial Quilt originated in 1985 with the San Francisco-based LGBTQ activist, Cleve Jones. That year, he once again organized an annual march to commemorate the murder of slain councilman Harvey Milk, but he also asked people to bring names on placards of those lost to AIDS. Placed together alongside one another, they resembled a quilt.

The following year, the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt project was born, and people immediately began making quilt panels in memory of friends, lovers, or family who had died. The first exhibition of the quilt took place in October 1987 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. It featured almost 2,000 panels, growing to 6,000 by the end of a national tour in 1988.

It has continued to grow since that time and now has over 48,000 panels. Exhibitions, museums and schools often borrow panels for show, and in 2020, the quilt went online. You can now view all the panels and search for names at aidsmemorial.org.

AIDS Memorial Path in Seattle

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The AMP: AIDS Memorial Pathway (@theampmemorial)

This work of public art uses augmented reality (AR) to bring the experience to life while sharing the history of the AIDS crisis in Seattle.

AIDS Garden Chicago

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by AIDS Garden Chicago (@aidsgardenchicago)

This memorial was created near the site of the former Belmont Rocks, a popular gathering place for the LGBTQ+ community during the onset of the AIDS crisis in America. Resting on the banks of Lake Michigan, AIDS Garden Chicago opened in 2022 to honor lost friends and allies.

Don't forget to share:

Your support makes our travel guides possible

We believe that LGBTQ+ people deserve safe vacations that allow them to be their authentic selves. That's why our City Guides aren't locked behind a paywall. Can you contribute today?

Once Monthly Annually

$5 $10 $25 $50

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated