Watch a recap of the event:


Coinciding with its annual advocacy event in the nation’s capital, AIDSWatch honored four people with its Positive Leadership Awards. According to an AIDSWatch press release, the recipients are:

    • Mary Bowman, who is a poet and singer. She’s also profiled in the article “Based on Her True Story” in the current issue of POZ.

    • John East, who was the named defendant in the federal discrimination lawsuit that resulted in Louisiana insurance companies accepting payments from the Ryan White Program. East works for the NO/AIDS Task Force.

    • Tami Haught, who led the successful anti-HIV-criminalization efforts in Iowa; she’s a community organizer for Community HIV/Hepatitis Advocates of Iowa Network (CHAIN).

  • Scott A. Schoettes, who is the HIV project director at Lambda Legal, an HIV and LGBT advocacy group that focuses on litigation and laws.

AIDSWatch is an annual advocacy event in which HIV-positive people and their allies meet with members of Congress in Washington, DC, to educate them and advocate for relevant issues. It is presented by the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in partnership with AIDS United, the Treatment Access Expansion Project and the US People Living With HIV Caucus.

AIDSWatch takes place April 13 and 14.