Toronto Woman To Be Honoured For AIDS Activism
Posted August 13, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Louise Binder needs her medicine every day.
But the Toronto woman doesn’t just take a pill or two, she needs five medications and 25 pills daily to keep up in her ongoing battle against HIV – a battle she’s been waging for 12 years.
“One day I was living a normal life with a good job … and the next I was dying in two years,” recalls Binder of her diagnosis.
“It was the most shocking thing that’s ever happened to me.”
And yet it was more than a year before she told many close to her about the situation for fear of being stigmatized or discriminated against.
But eventually those fears grew into strengths, and Binder came to realize not only that she wasn’t alone, but that she had the power to help others suffering from the same affliction.
From there, activism was just a small step away, and a step in the right direction.
Binder’s activist efforts – which include organizing the Women and Girls Rally and March, a show of unity for all women suffering from HIV and AIDS – have earned her several awards, including the Order of Ontario.
“My mission is that all of us will be through with stigma and discrimination, will be properly treated so that every person on this planet with this disease is safe,” she said.
Binder will be honoured at the International AIDS Conference in August, as a Canadian that’s done their part and made a difference in the fight against a disease that’s already claimed roughly 25 million lives.
