THEY SAY CUT BACK WE SAY FIGHT BACK!
“Plague! We are in the middle of a fucking plague … what are we gonna do about it?” Larry Kramer demanded at the New York LGBT+ Centre on 10 March 1987. Hundreds gathered that day to establish ACT UP — the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power: united in anger and committed to non-violent direct action to end the AIDS crisis.
Forty years on, that urgency still reverberates.In 2025, 570,000 people died from HIV-related issues, drastically turning back progress of the last forty years and 23 million people are predicted to die by 2030 as cuts to HIV and AIDS funding put their lives at risk. The US is not alone in retreating from commitments to end AIDS. European governments including France, the UK and Sweden have also reduced their contributions.
So the answer remains the same:
THEY SAY CUT BACK WE SAY FIGHT BACK! And ACT UP until there is healthcare for all.
ACT UP has saved countless lives and shown what people power can achieve. World AIDS Day is our chance to remember the dead and fight like hell for the living. Join us for this celebration of people power, creativity and resistance, to dance, connect, and keep the flame of HIV activism alive.
POSTER DESIGNER - @omarighazal
RAINBOW TREE PERFORMERS
Taushnova Fardousi - singer, Rakibul Islam Rafa - dancer (recipient of the Best Performance Award 2026 at the Rainbow Annual Cultural Event) and Mazed Haque - professional singer with a strong online following of over 10,000 followers, and his new album is due to be released soon.
SPEAKERS
DR. CHARBEL MAYDAA
Dr. Charbel Maydaa is a leading SOGIESC advocate with more than 20 years of experience advancing LGBTIQ rights, protection, and civic participation across South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA) and Asia. He is the Founder and General Director of MOSAIC and the founder and Regional Advocacy Lead of the Qawsuna Initiative. He also co-founded the Consortium for Intersectional Justice (CIJ), a UK-registered charity and international expert network promoting democratic governance, civic space, and business and human rights. Dr. Maydaa serves as Senior Advocacy Advisor to the Afghanistan LGBTIQ+ Organization (ALO) and is a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Lebanese American University, where his research focuses on masculinity, sexuality, migration, and displacement.
DJ’s
MICA COCA
Mica is a London based DJ hailing from Manchester. While she plays internationally, London and all its culture is the heart of their performance. Playing in venues such as The Tate, The V&A, Royal Academy of Arts, Somerset house and Dalston Superstore Mica brings the vibrations of energetic House music, elements of Chicago and New York, and mixes it with UK garage to pay homage to their influences. Music is a lifelong passion, and Mica brings that love to create safe spaces for marginalised people. She is the co-founder of QTPOC club nights such as Resisdance and Nite Dykes. The power of music brings people together and energises her to fight for common causes such as housing and LGBT rights in London. Resisdance throw fundraiser parties that raise money for grassroots campaigns and also put on free DJ workshops for women and non-binary people. Mica is recognised in the London Scene as an activist who regularly plays for iconic queer club nights in East London.
KNAYOMI
Knayohmi is a London-based DJ with a love for house music with plenty of funk and groove. Her sets blend jackin’, disco, tech, soulful and minimal house, bringing together sounds that keep people moving. Growing up in London, she was surrounded by Motown, disco, soca and calypso, all of which have shaped her musical taste and style behind the decks. Those influences come through in her sets, with a focus on rhythm, feel-good energy and keeping the dancefloor moving. She’s a resident DJ at This Is My Culture Party, joint owner of STICKYJAM music, and has just joined HOUSEWERK events. Highlights so far include playing alongside Oliver Dollar, performing at Colwyn Bay Pride and Carnival del Pueblo, and radio sets on Dalston Radio and Flex FM.
Our Hosts - THE JOINERS HEART
Welcome to our queer utopia. Your newest community-run, wheelchair accessible, LGBTQIA+ pub and performance space in Hackney. A decade after campaigners came together to fight the loss of one of London's best-loved queer venues (The Joiner’s Arms), the Joiner’s Heart re-opened this year. The opening comes against the backdrop of the continued decline of LGBTQIA+ venues across London. The capital has lost 60% of its LGBTQIA+ spaces since 2006, with closures continuing to rise. Owned by more than 2,000 community shareholders, the not-for-profit venue has been designed as an accessible, welcoming space where LGBTQIA+ people can socialise, organise, create and celebrate together.
Movement partners
GAG
GAG is a queer community for Arab men, with hundreds of members across the UK. Founded four years ago, it is a private, vouch-to-join space for friendship, peer support and cultural celebration, run by volunteers.
THE RAINBOW TREE
The Rainbow Tree is a UK based grassroots organisation dedicated to empowering LGBTQIA+ individuals of Bangladeshi and South Asian heritage.
AIDS COALITION TO UNLEASH POWER ACT UP
ACT UP London is a campaign group committed to direct action to end the HIV pandemic, along with the broader inequalities and injustices that perpetuate it. In the fifth decade of this crisis, we fight to ensure comprehensive and easily accessible treatment for all people, in all countries. This includes not only medications but also mental and social health services as well as housing and economic equality! Here in the UK, we are united with the coalition of activists fighting to keep our National Health Service free, publicly run, and fully-funded!
F*CK OFF THIS IS MY CULTURE
Since George Michael passed away on Christmas Day in 2016 our collective and our supporters have organised the most incredible party-protests to empower everyone Queer seeking sexual freedom and liberation. It began to mark the birthday of London's most famous cruiser. ‘Are you gay?’, Michael recounted asking the paparazzi who were following him into the park. ‘No? Then fuck off – this is my culture!’ His music and his attitude was revolutionary and helped millions to rethink and reshape how they saw and embraced sexuality. George also volunteered in a food bank, advocated against inequality and used his platform to challenge war and support a Free Palestine ... and so do we.
