Get to know Garry, Louise and Eli
This World AIDS Day we’re proud to partner with three incredible individuals.
Garry, Louise and Eli have very different experiences, but they’re united in their commitment to ensure that other people living with HIV know that they’re not alone.
Garry
Garry Jones, 63, is an artist from Birmingham who has been living with HIV since 2006. A community activist for many years, Garry is the designer of The Ribbons, the HIV and AIDS memorial statue standing proudly in Birmingham’s city centre. The statue shows two red ribbons adapted into a heart shape – a symbol which Garry first used in 2008 as part of the city’s World AIDS Day tributes. The ribbons symbolise the lives we have lost to HIV and AIDS, while celebrating those able to live with HIV today.
The idea for the statue began while Garry was watching It’s A Sin in 2021. Garry says: “I was 21 when the programme was set and it was like watching aspects of my own life. Watching it, I knew I needed to do something.”
With the support of his community, as well as vital input from charity Saving Lives UK, Garry worked with local sculptor Luke Perry to make the statue come to life. “I have to pinch myself when I walk past it,” Garry says. “I’m so proud of it.”
Like the statue, Garry sees World AIDS Day as something to celebrate as much as honour the lives we’ve lost. He says: “I’m not ashamed of who I am. I want the world to know that HIV isn’t something to fear. People on effective treatment can live a long and active life and can’t pass on the virus: Undetectable = Untransmissible.”
Garry will continue his fight against HIV prejudice and stigma, through the various education projects with Birmingham AIDS & HIV Memorial and as a Mentor with Positive Peers.
Louise
Louise Vallace, 53, is an intersectional wellness coach from London. After years of keeping her HIV status a secret, Louise has found a new life after being more open about her diagnosis. Louise says: “I used to be so frightened about what other people might think about me as someone living with HIV. After doing a lot of work on myself, I overcame the fear and I felt now was the time.”
Louise’s new found openness about living with HIV has revealed so much about herself that she has embarked upon a new path in life. In addition to her work as a wellness coach, Louise has started a podcast called Aunty Lou’s Hour, in which she speaks about health, HIV stigma, yoga and so much more. Louise says: “I started the podcast because I wanted anybody who lives in fear or shame, not just those living with HIV, to find a sense of peace and a sense of hope. I made it for the person I used to be.”
She also uses her podcast as a way to educate others on living with HIV. She says: “Everyone should know that when you’re on treatment, people living with HIV can have sex without a condom and not pass the virus on.”
Though so much has changed for people living with HIV, Louise believes that World AIDS Day is as important now as it has ever been. She says: “The story of HIV and AIDS is so significant. So many people living with HIV still struggle with their mental health and World AIDS Day is a way to let others know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Eli
Eli Fitzgerald, 24, is a Youth Support Worker from Wiltshire. In his role at charity Positively UK, Eli supports young people living with HIV to have a voice and provide a safe space where they can speak openly about HIV. Eli says: “I love being able to work with young people and young adults, watching them grow and being able to help them at whatever point of the journey they are at. Knowing that through what we do the often isolating experience of being a young person living with HIV, can feel just a little bit less isolating. Doing this is something I’m incredibly proud of.”
As a young trans man living with HIV, visibility is extremely important to Eli. He says: “When I came out as trans, there wasn’t really anyone for me to look up to. Knowing that having HIV might cause some additional barriers to my transition was frightening and lonely and very overwhelming. I’ve slowly realised that I have to be that person to look up to myself. It’s so important to me to show that you can be trans, live with HIV and you can transition and if you take your meds, you can’t pass the virus on. It can definitely still be hard, but we can thrive.”
For Eli, World AIDS Day is an opportunity for people living with HIV to unite. He says: “It gives us the opportunity to stand together and it lets people know that you’re not in this alone. For people living with HIV who maybe aren’t empowered or comfortable talking about their status, seeing the ribbon lets them know there’s others out there who care.”
Garry
Garry Jones, 63, is an artist from Birmingham who has been living with HIV since 2006. A community activist for many years, Garry is the designer of The Ribbons, the HIV and AIDS memorial statue standing proudly in Birmingham’s city centre. The statue shows two red ribbons adapted into a heart shape – a symbol which Garry first used in 2008 as part of the city’s World AIDS Day tributes. The ribbons symbolise the lives we have lost to HIV and AIDS, while celebrating those able to live with HIV today.
The idea for the statue began while Garry was watching It’s A Sin in 2021. Garry says: “I was 21 when the programme was set and it was like watching aspects of my own life. Watching it, I knew I needed to do something.”
With the support of his community, as well as vital input from charity Saving Lives UK, Garry worked with local sculptor Luke Perry to make the statue come to life. “I have to pinch myself when I walk past it,” Garry says. “I’m so proud of it.”
Like the statue, Garry sees World AIDS Day as something to celebrate as much as honour the lives we’ve lost. He says: “I’m not ashamed of who I am. I want the world to know that HIV isn’t something to fear. People on effective treatment can live a long and active life and can’t pass on the virus: Undetectable = Untransmissible.”
Garry will continue his fight against HIV prejudice and stigma, through the various education projects with Birmingham AIDS & HIV Memorial and as a Mentor with Positive Peers.
Louise
Louise Vallace, 53, is an intersectional wellness coach from London. After years of keeping her HIV status a secret, Louise has found a new life after being more open about her diagnosis. Louise says: “I used to be so frightened about what other people might think about me as someone living with HIV. After doing a lot of work on myself, I overcame the fear and I felt now was the time.”
Louise’s new found openness about living with HIV has revealed so much about herself that she has embarked upon a new path in life. In addition to her work as a wellness coach, Louise has started a podcast called Aunty Lou’s Hour, in which she speaks about health, HIV stigma, yoga and so much more. Louise says: “I started the podcast because I wanted anybody who lives in fear or shame, not just those living with HIV, to find a sense of peace and a sense of hope. I made it for the person I used to be.”
She also uses her podcast as a way to educate others on living with HIV. She says: “Everyone should know that when you’re on treatment, people living with HIV can have sex without a condom and not pass the virus on.”
Though so much has changed for people living with HIV, Louise believes that World AIDS Day is as important now as it has ever been. She says: “The story of HIV and AIDS is so significant. So many people living with HIV still struggle with their mental health and World AIDS Day is a way to let others know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Eli
Eli Fitzgerald, 24, is a Youth Support Worker from Wiltshire. In his role at charity Positively UK, Eli supports young people living with HIV to have a voice and provide a safe space where they can speak openly about HIV. Eli says: “I love being able to work with young people and young adults, watching them grow and being able to help them at whatever point of the journey they are at. Knowing that through what we do the often isolating experience of being a young person living with HIV, can feel just a little bit less isolating. Doing this is something I’m incredibly proud of.”
As a young trans man living with HIV, visibility is extremely important to Eli. He says: “When I came out as trans, there wasn’t really anyone for me to look up to. Knowing that having HIV might cause some additional barriers to my transition was frightening and lonely and very overwhelming. I’ve slowly realised that I have to be that person to look up to myself. It’s so important to me to show that you can be trans, live with HIV and you can transition and if you take your meds, you can’t pass the virus on. It can definitely still be hard, but we can thrive.”
For Eli, World AIDS Day is an opportunity for people living with HIV to unite. He says: “It gives us the opportunity to stand together and it lets people know that you’re not in this alone. For people living with HIV who maybe aren’t empowered or comfortable talking about their status, seeing the ribbon lets them know there’s others out there who care.”