by Donald Eng CTNewsJunkie
Danielle Warren remembers when events like the Advancing Connecticut Together, Inc. HIV/AIDS awareness rally at the State Capitol drew huge crowds, rather than the 75 or so people gathered on the building’s north steps Tuesday.
But there was a distinct difference back then, she said.
State Rep. MJ Shannon emphasizes a point while speaking during an HIV/AIDS awareness rally at the State Capitol in Hartford on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. Credit: Donald Eng / CTNewsJunkie
“People impacted by HIV would be here in wheelchairs, and have oxygen,” she said. “A lot of them have passed away.”
A diagnosis that would have been a death sentence a generation ago has now become a chronic disease, said state Rep. Sarah Keitt, D-Fairfield.
“We are not going back to a time when we were losing thousands of people a day,” she said.
Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz speaks at an HIV/AIDS awareness rally at the CT State Capitol in Hartford on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. Credit: Donald Eng / CTNewsJunkie
Still, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said, the numbers are sobering, although moving in the right direction.
“As of 2019, more than 10,000 people in the state are living with HIV, and 63% are over age 50,” she said. “Thanks to ongoing care and treatment, people are living longer and healthier lives.”
Though primarily an awareness rally, those at the event also expressed a resolve to persevere through the current political climate, in which federal funding for public health is under threat.
“The president wants to cut $175 million in public health funding,” said Attorney General William Tong. “That should enrage you.”
Warren agreed that the rally should also serve as a call to action.
“We cannot give in,” she said. “You can’t give up. You’ve got to keep going.”