COVENTRY’s first AIDS memorial quilt has been created to remember and celebrate the lives of those in the LGBTQIA+ community who have died from the disease.
The quilt, which has been commissioned by Coventry Pride as part of the Cover Up Quilts Project, will be unveiled at St Mary’s Guildhall between 6pm and 8pm on Monday, February 19.
It will then be on display until March 16.
There will also be a zine-making workshop at the event led by the Coventry Queer Writers group.
The Coventry Quilt was designed by HIV activist and founder of the Birmingham AIDS and HIV memorial, Garry Jones.
It will be added to more than 40 other panels to help educate a wider audience on what HIV is today.
The project aims to stop myths, fears, prejudice and stigma, and inform people that those with the virus can live a long life with no risk of transmission to others.
Richard Harty, a trustee of Coventry Pride, said: “We hope this will be an important opportunity to reflect on a time when LGBTQIA+ people who contracted HIV and lost their lives were treated so shamefully leaving an indelible scar and stain on our society.
“Gay men in particular were persecuted for what is now seen as a treatable matter. This must never happen again.”
