More than 150 Illinois AIDS advocates gathered in Springfield April 12-13 for Caring for Our Communities: Illinois HIV/AIDS Lobby Days.
Following a half-day training session, Lobby Day participants were treated to a legislative reception co-sponsored by the Phoenix Center of Springfield, according to a release from the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. Local singer Doris Geer and pianist Sean Rose entertained the crowd that assembled to honor community activist George Martinez with the first Mary Dixon AIDS Advocacy Award. State representatives Patricia Bellock, Connie Howard, Sidney Mathias, Robert Pritchard, Ronald Wait, and Sen. Adeline Jay Geo-Karis joined State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka in welcoming AIDS advocates to the state’s capital.
On April 13, AIDS advocates gathered for a rally on the steps of the State Capitol. State representatives Sara Feigenholtz and Connie Howard joined state Sen. Steven Rauschenberger in addressing the crowd before red balloons were released to remember those who die of HIV/AIDS every day.
AIDS advocates spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon in the Capitol talking to lawmakers.