Reflecting on HIV Campaigns Through the Years: Panel Discussion

Nic Cheers (he/him) is a writer/advocate/activist, living with HIV since 2012. His HIV, LGBTIQ, sex work and hard reduction advocacy includes founding The Institute of Many (TIM), which quickly grew to become Australia’s largest grassroots movement for PLHIV. Whilst running TIM, Nic delivered the first national U=U campaign in Australia, as well as Turning Tina,  a controversial harm reduction campaign, and in mid-2014 he accidentally became the face of a moral panic over barebacking. Nic’s other human rights campaigning has included some of the biggest national issues in the last decade. His writing on HIV, queer politics and culture has been published internationally in books, newspapers, magazines, and online.

Angela Bailey (she/her) is a curator, photographer and creative producer whose practice actively explores and interprets our rich and diverse queer histories and culture by creating exhibitions, installations, discourse and public programs of engagement. Her experiences as a young activist participating in the fight for gay law reform in Queensland continue to inform her work with LGBTIQ+ communities. Angela has a Postgraduate Degree in Fine Art, a Masters of Art Curatorship and is currently a Fellow at Arts Centre Melbourne and Vice President of the Australian Queer Archives.

Robert (he/him) was living in the United Kingdomom during the onset of the HIV pandemic, was diagnosed in 2003, and has lived positive ever since. He retired from working in the public sector in 2019 after a very serious episode of HIV Associated Neurocognitive Disorders (HAND). He became a volunteer at Living Positive Victoria in 2021 and remains an active volunteer for LPV’s Positive Speaker’s Bureau and Positive Reflections workshop.

Beau Newham  (he/him) is a dedicated HIV-positive community leader with extensive contributions to HIV advocacy in Australia and Southeast Asia. He currently works at National Association of People with HIV Australia as their HIV testing lead and manages their public history ‘Tracing our Memories’ project. As a co-founder of the Queer Indonesia Archive, he also works to preserve LGBTIQA+ histories and HIV in Indonesia.

Emil Cañita (he/she/they) is a Naarm/Melbourne-based artist, writer, and HIV advocate. They work as a Peer Navigator and Promotion Officer at Living Positive Victoria and are the one of the co-founders of Positive Asian Network Australia, the largest and most active peer-led network for people of Asian backgrounds living with HIV in Australia. Their practice centres lived experience, intimacy, and care, and they have written and performed nationally and internationally across arts, community, and advocacy contexts.