PHOTOS – AIDS Walk Los Angeles Makes a West Hollywood Comeback

AIDS Walk Los Angeles returned to the City of West Hollywood on Sunday, October 16, 2022 at West Hollywood Park after being virtual for the past two years. The City of West Hollywood hosted the annual AIDS Walk Los Angeles event from 2001 to 2015. The theme for the 38th annual event was “Be All Over It.”

This year, the walk was approximately 2 miles, which was shorter than previous years. It began at West Hollywood Park, heading north to Santa Monica Boulevard, east to La Cienega Boulevard, then reversing direction and heading west to Doheny Drive, east to San Vicente Boulevard and south to West Hollywood Park. The event began at 9 a.m., but the actual walk did not start until well past 10 a.m.

Photos by Mike Pingel (click to enlarge).

The route ended in West Hollywood Park where there were food trucks, music to celebrate the completion of the walk and free water and light snacks were also provided.

Speakers included members of the West Hollywood City Council as well as comments from
Democratic US Representatives Adam Schiff and Maxine Waters.

“We’re over talking,” said Craig E. Thompson, the CEO of APLA Health. “We’re over people living with HIV not in care. We’re over the assault on our rights happening across the nation. We’re calling on individuals and organizations who have had enough to make a plan to ‘Be All Over It’ with us and show the world that you’ll no longer stay silent on the issues you feel passionate about.”

Photos by Paulo Murillo (click to enlarge).

AIDS Walk Los Angeles is the world’s first walk to fight HIV and AIDS and benefits APLA Health (formerly AIDS Project Los Angeles), which provides 20 different services including medical, dental, behavioral health and HIV specialty care; PrEP counseling and management (APLA Health PrEP stands for preexposure prophylaxis, the administration of antiviral drugs intended to prevent HIV/AIDS.); health education and HIV prevention; and screening and treatment for diseases spread through sex. 38 years ago, a group of fed-up activists, patients, advocates, and friends put their soles on the line to shake the government into action during the AIDS crisis. Since that first Walk in 1985, hundreds of thousands of walkers and their supporters have raised more than $92 million to combat HIV and AIDS. These funds are a vital lifeline that sustains APLA Health’s programs and services benefiting more than 18,000 individuals living in Los Angeles County, which continues to have the second largest number of people living with HIV in the country. For more information, please visit www.aidswalkla.org or email [email protected] or call or text (213) 201-9255.