New York, NY – GLAAD, the world's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy organization, today announced the release of a Public Service Announcement (PSA) in partnership with The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF). The PSA, produced by award-winning Martian Entertainment and airing exclusively on national LGBT cable channel Logo, was created to inspire, inform, and reignite the passion needed to beat the HIV and AIDS epidemic once and for all. This is the second PSA launched as part of an ongoing partnership following GLAAD’s release of a resource guide for journalists covering HIV and AIDS and a PSA starring a wide variety of celebrities.
"GLAAD was founded in order to combat the sensationalized media coverage surrounding the HIV and AIDS crisis in the 80s, and we have been committed to this cause ever since," said Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD President & CEO. "This campaign will help bring more awareness to HIV and AIDS and remind everyone that we have the power to end this epidemic in our lifetime."
The PSA harnesses the power and emotion of Elizabeth Taylor's speech at the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert and includes participation from Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Lane, Tituss Burgess, and Daniel Franzese. The four point out that even 20 years after that historic speech an estimated 1 in 5 gay men in major U.S. cities are living with HIV, and that today, we have the tools to make HIV history. The PSA will air on Logo beginning on Thursday, April 28th and will also be available on GLAAD's YouTube channel.
"HIV infection rates are up 133% in last decade among young gay men,” Joel Goldman, Managing Director of The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation noted. "It’s troubling that 1 in 3 gay men have never had an HIV test. We must find new ways of raising awareness in order to reach this community and inform them of the tools available to prevent new infections. We are so fortunate to have the support from Logo as well as our incredible partners at GLAAD on this PSA campaign."
In 1985, GLAAD was founded in response to the New York Post’s grossly defamatory coverage of the HIV and AIDS epidemic. Three decades later, GLAAD’s legacy of fighting injustice in the media for the LGBT community has reshaped our culture and created historic levels of acceptance.
