Latina singing star Luz Rios and actor/activist Wilson Cruz were among the special guests who celebrated the 20th anniversary of Bienestar, the Latino/a health services organization that now has six centers in Southern California. At the Sept. 26 event at Vermont Restaurant in Silver Lake, Bienestar bestowed Fuego Awards on honorees Congressmember Lucille Roybal-Allard, California Assemblymember John A. Perez, Paul Kawata, the longtime executive director of the National Minority AIDS Council, and generous corporate sponsor Gilead Sciences.
Each of the speakers effusively acknowledged the heart, insight and grassroots leadership of founder and President/CEO Oscar De La O – who both Roybal-Allard and Kawata said has become a national leader through his annual Congressional Briefing on Latinos and HIV/AIDS.
“Stigma and homophobia are the number one challenges,” De La O said, as well as Latinas getting tested late. The transgender community is at particularly high risk. He also said the recession has hit Bienestar hard. “On balance, we are short of money, but our hearts are full of passion and we will continue until HIV is eradicated.”
Facts from the California Office of AIDS, as of October 200:
-Latino representation in California has increased steadily in both the general population and among AIDS cases. Since 2005, Latinos have comprised 35 percent of the population and over 35 percent of AIDS cases diagnosed since 2000.
• As of July 31, 2008, California had 180,997 cumulative reported HIV/AIDS cases; of these, 43,510 or 24 percent of all HIV/AIDS cases were Latinos. Additionally, Latinos accounted for nearly 28 percent of all HIV cases reported by name since April 17, 2006.
• Over the past ten years, Latinos have accounted for the largest increase in the number of persons living with AIDS.
• A greater proportion of Latinos are diagnosed with HIV/AIDS at a significantly younger age compared to other racial/ethnic groups.
• Over 55 percent of Latina AIDS cases have been reported with heterosexual contact as the mode of HIV exposure, the highest among all racial/ethnic groups except Asian/Pacific Islanders.
• Nearly three-quarters of all Latino AIDS cases resided in the four California Counties
of Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Orange at the time of their AIDS diagnosis. Since March 1983, far more Latino AIDS cases have been diagnosed in Los Angeles County than any other county in California.
Bienestar has been on the front lines of protesting California budget cuts to the California Office of AIDS – which impacts LA County HIV/AIDS grants.
Oscar De La O has worked hard to enlist Latino/a celebrities to fight stigma and homophobia – which were identified as a significant problem at the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City August 2008.
Oscar was also on the Executive Committee of the No on Prop 8 campaign – though he had to drop out when his beloved sister died. But Oscar continues to participate in the repeal Prop 8 movement – here at the grassroots meeting in San Bernardino.
Here are more photos from the Bienestar anniversary event, which also featured music from Caridad Vitta and Daniel Munoz:
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