In 1991, Columbus AIDS Task Force, which is now under Equitas Health, decided to start an AIDS Walk in Columbus to raise funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS. At that time, HIV treatments weren’t widely accessible, and getting diagnosed with HIV/AIDS was considered a death sentence.
33 years later, the Walk has raised millions of dollars and event organizers hope to add a large sum of funds this year. The event consistently has more than 1,000 people show up and support every year.
Check-in for this year’s event begins at 9 a.m., and the race begins at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 20.
Those who wish to participate can choose between a mile or a 5K course either in-person or virtually, and to be eligible to participate, runners must raise at least $50 by the end of April.
Hosting and performing at this year’s walk is RuPaul’s Drag Race finalist Jujubee. Additionally, Black Pearlz Dance Troupe will perform and food trucks will be present.
Later that night, Axis Nightclub will host an afterparty, and participants who wear their AIDS Walk Ohio t-shirts get into the party for free.
Shellee Fisher Photography
Black Pearlz Dance Troupe
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is contracted through sexual activity with an infected person or from an infected person’s blood or breast milk. It is the precursor to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), a disease that attacks your immune system until it can hardly function or even cause harm, making common illnesses such as the flu deadly.
According to the CDC, the subpopulation affected the most in the U.S. is African American gay and bisexual men, but the disease doesn’t discriminate between its victims. It has even led to the deaths of well-known figures such as Freddie Mercury, Anthony Perkins and Keith Haring, among others who suffered from AIDS-related illnesses and complications.
Thankfully, the disease is now much easier to prevent and treat due to medical advancements, but that doesn’t mean the work is done. Organizations like Equitas work to fight the stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS, make treatment accessible to those who need it, and teach the importance of safe sex.
“Looking back now, I can see how organizations like Equitas Health and the Columbus AIDS Task Force, without agencies like them to help educate, prevent, and treat HIV and AIDS, it would be a whole different game today,” says Rob Duvall, director of events at Equitas Health.
Healthcare facilities like Equitas Health can prescribe treatments and medications to keep the virus undetectable in the body. The Ohio HIV Drug Assistance Program offers assistance to those who need help finding and paying for life-saving treatment.
Since we now know HIV is usually spread through sexual activity, practicing safe sex, such as using condoms is helpful for prevention. There is even medication on the market, called pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) that can prevent someone from contracting HIV.
“Today you can live a long, happy, healthy, productive life with the right medications and the right treatment plan,” DuVall says. “It doesn’t mean what it once meant, but people should not still be contracting HIV and dying from it today in 2024.”
Shellee Fisher Photography
Equitas Health Staff
DuVall participated in his first AIDS Walk Ohio in the early ‘90s while he was a student at The Ohio State University.
“I had an uncle that passed away of AIDS in ‘91 and it just kind of rocked our family,” he says. “It was hard in 1991 to get real facts and information about HIV and AIDS, so I went and volunteered for the AIDS Walk and tried to educate myself and learn.”
DuVall says the negative stigma surrounding the illness is extremely problematic. He feels that eliminating this stigma through awareness and education is just as important as medication in helping the infected person heal.
“Nobody is excited to go home and tell their family or loved ones that they have HIV because of the stigma,” he says. “It doesn’t mean you’re a bad person if you get it, it doesn’t mean you’re not going to live a long, healthy, prosperous life. And so today, the Walk is almost a celebration of where we’ve come over the past 40 years in prevention education and treatment.”
Ultimately DuVall dreams of a world without HIV. Along with participating in the Walk, he says the easiest way to help is to spread awareness in your social circles.
“The more we talk about it, the more we share prevention treatment opportunities, the better off we’ll be as a community,” he says. “I would love to see HIV and AIDS eradicated from the planet, wouldn’t that be fantastic? Then we could put all our energy and effort into other avenues and not have to worry about another generation fighting this fight.”
Maisie Fitzmaurice is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at mfitzmaurice@cityscenemediagroup.com.
