Advocates brave the rain at 32nd Out of the Darkness vigil on World AIDS Day

Despite rainy conditions, advocates joined together on Dec. 1 to commemorate World AIDS Day at the New York City AIDS Memorial in the 32nd annual Coming Out of the Darkness event.

The gathering represented just part of a day-long slate of events at the NYC AIDS Memorial on World AIDS Day. Beginning at 10 a.m., Housing Works presented a reading of the names of New Yorkers lost to AIDS, followed by a World AIDS Day queer soup night with chefs LJ Almendras, Chala June, Alex Koones, and Levi Allen.

At 6 p.m., the Out of the Darkness candlelight vigil was held before a World AIDS Day performance with music by W.A.Mozart, text by the late Larry Kramer, and directed/conceived by Kevin Carillo.

The Out of the Darkness event was organized by Brent Nicholson Earle, Housing Works, and GMHC. Earle and Jesús Aguais of AID for AIDS served as speakers at the event.