The AIDS Memorial is located in Cawthra Park behind The 519.

The AIDS Memorial is for the naming of names. The devastations of the epidemic can get lost in statistics. The Memorial, while only listing a small proportion of the people who have died, stands as a symbol of the fight against AIDS, particularly within the communities hardest hit.

The AIDS Memorial is a place for grief, healing and remembering. It counters the silencing and denial, the isolation and rejection, that so often marks the experience of People Living With HIV and AIDS.

The AIDS Candlelight Vigil, organized by volunteers each year, takes place on the Thursday before the last Sunday in June, as part of Lesbian, Gay, Bissexual, Transgendered Pride Week.

Everyone is welcome to attend the Vigil, which takes place at the Memorial. Readings and music celebrate the lives of those who are gone. When the candles are lit, names that have recently been engraved are read aloud.

On the day when the last name is listed we'll have a place to celebrate and remember everyone who has died of an AIDS related illness.

History of the AIDS Memorial

The Memorial originated in Toronto's lesbian and gay community in 1988. Michael Lynch (1944 - 1991) was a poet, journalist, professor of English at the University of Toronto, and a man who was active in groups such as Gay Fathers of Toronto and the Toronto Centre for Lesbian and Gay Studies. He founded the AIDS Memorial Committee and was a driving force behind the project until his death.

A design competition was held in 1990. In 1991 the design by Patirck Fahn was chosen and Toronto City Council endorsed the Memorial's location in Cawthra Park. Construction of the Memorial began in 1992 and completed in 1993.

The poem "Cry" by Michael Lynch is engraved on the first pillar. The Universal Remembrance Plaque, installed in June of 1995, recognizes those who are unnamed with the poem "Circles of Stone- To Those Unnamed" by Shoshanna Jey Addley.

Beginning in 1996, the AIDS Memorial Committee took action to ensure that suitable space will be available for all names. The engraving process now makes use of a smaller type face. Over the next several years, all existing type face will be standardized to ensure the integrity of the Memorial.

How do I list a name?

Names that appear on the Memorial are submitted by partners, friends and family members. You may wish to ask other friends and family members if the deceased person made his/her wishes known regarding an engraving on the Memorial. There is no geographic or other restriction. Names submitted after March 31 will be engraved in the spring of the following year.

Please contact the 519 for more information on how to include a name: 416-392-6874.