NOEL WALSH HIV ACTIVISM

AWARD RECIPIENT

Will Kennedy

Based out of Cork City, Will Kennedy has worked tirelessly within the sphere of HIV activism since the early 2000s, though he has been an LGBTQ+ activist since the 1980s. In 1999, Kennedy made history when he became the first (and only, to his knowledge) openly gay soldier living at Cork’s Collins Barracks. In the same decade, Kennedy began devoting much of his time to LGBTQ+ activist organisations, including The Other Place LGBT Community Centre, the National LGBT Helpline, and the Gay Men’s Health Project, amongst others.

In 2007, Kennedy was diagnosed with HIV and shortly after turned his attention to HIV activist organisations, joining the team at Dublin’s Positive Now before going on to establish Cork chapters of both Positive Now and ACT UP.

When accepting this year’s Noel Walsh HIV Activism award, Kennedy took to the GALAS stage, thanking his local Cork LGBTQ+ community and ACT UP Dublin. Kennedy continued: “I really want to say that this award is not just for me – it’s for all of those living with HIV in our community. I’m 67 years of age. I’m proof that HIV does not really kill anymore. There’s a movement to end HIV transmission by 2030, and we have every tool we need to end it. PrEP, PEP, and most of all U=U – treatment as prevention.”

NOMINEES

Ann Mason

Previously the manager of GOSHH (Gender Orientation Sexual Health and HIV), Ann Mason recently retired from the position after decades of service to the LGBTQ+ community, primarily those living with HIV. During her time at GOSHH, Mason was instrumental in the development of rapid testing services, as well as building support teams for families and organisations across the Irish Mid-West.

Bill Foley

Bill Foley, who in 1985 established Gay Health Action (now the Gay Health Network), has spent much of his advocacy career working with organisations such as the Dublin AIDS Alliance and MPOWER. He also worked at the Mater Hospital’s Department of Infectious Diseases as a medical social worker supporting people with HIV. Foley is one of the longest-active volunteers in the area of HIV and AIDS. His peers say that even before the epidemic hit Ireland, he was in the vanguard of those responding to the crisis.

MPOWER Programme Volunteers

MPOWER is dedicated to reducing the transmission of HIV and STIs as well as improving the overall sexual health of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM) through the development of sex-positive, judgement-free and harm reduction-based resources, services, and supports. The MPOWER volunteers are incredible examples of what HIV activism is and has always been at its heart. The group gives not just its time but its compassion, love, dedication, joy, and care to provide rapid HIV testing in several LGBTQ+ community spaces every week.

By Ethan Moser