CABLE POSITIVE LAUNCHES POSITIVE VOICES SERIES WITH SEPTEMBER 12 SCREENING AND PANEL DISCUSSION

NEW YORK, NY - August 31, 2006

Cable Positive, the cable and telecommunications AIDS action organization, in partnership with POZ magazine and GMHC, will hold a panel discussion Positive Voices: The Stigma Surrounding Status—Discrimination Against People Who Are HIV Positive  September 12 featuring some of the most important voices on the subject in journalism, advocacy, and the workplace.

This unique collaborative program will begin with the screening of a new 12-minute documentary produced by Cable Positive focusing on the workplace discrimination action against Matthew Cusick, an HIV-positive performer fired from Cirque de Soleil. The panel discussion, moderated by CBS News Correspondent Elizabeth Kaledin, will focus on stigma and media reporting surrounding HIV/AIDS.  Panelists include Cusick; Dr. Marjorie Hill, Acting Executive Director, GMHC; Regan Hofmann, Editor-in-Chief, POZ magazine; and Steve Villano, President + CEO, Cable Positive.

“Twenty-five years into the AIDS epidemic, shame, stigma and denial surrounding HIV/AIDS continue to fuel the epidemic, hurting not only people who are HIV positive but impeding our efforts to stop the spread of the disease.  Stories like Matthew Cusick’s help us all to see what is possible when we stand together to confront discrimination.” Said Hill.

“I feel that lessening the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS is critical to stopping the epidemic,” said Hoffman of Poz Magazine. Fear of being stigmatized prevents people living with HIV/AIDS from getting the emotion, medical and financial support they need to survive the disease. When people can freely, and without repercussion, discuss being HIV positive, it improves not only the quality of their own lives, but it can also help in ongoing prevention and educational efforts that can, in turn, positively affect those who are not infected with HIV.”

The free screening and panel discussion will be held at the Screening Room at the Time Warner Center (10^th floor; entrance on 58^th Street between 7^th and 8^th avenues at the Time Warner entrance) Tuesday, September 12, from 1-3 pm. A dessert reception will immediately follow the discussion. 

Cable and telecommunications industry representatives, AIDS advocates and members of the press are invited to attend. To RSVP, please contact Dana Levitt at dana@cablepositive.org, or 212-459-1547.

About Cable Positive

Cable Positive is a national non-profit organization founded February 1992 by three concerned cable executives with the mission of organizing cable’s resources in the fight against AIDS.  Cable Positive will mobilize the talents, resources, access and influence of the cable and telecommunications industry to raise HIV/AIDS awareness; support HIV/AIDS education, prevention and care; and strive to end stigma by creating a more compassionate climate for people whose lives have been affected by HIV or AIDS.  Cable Positive has grown to include supporters from every major cable network, multiple system operator, cable system, hardware manufacturer, trade association, media publication, and affiliated industry vendors and suppliers.  Since 1992, Cable Positive has raised more than $16 million in the fight against AIDS.  For more information about Cable Positive, call 212.459.1502 or www.cablepositive.org.

About GMHC

Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) is a not-for-profit, volunteer-supported and community-based organization committed to national leadership in the fight against AIDS. Their mission is to reduce the spread of HIV disease, help people with HIV maintain and improve their health and independence, and keep the prevention, treatment and cure of HIV an urgent national and local priority. In fulfilling this mission, GMHC will remain true to our heritage by fighting homophobia and affirming the individual dignity of all gay men and lesbians.

About Poz Magazine

Working with photographers, writers, designers and doctors, Poz Magazine chronicles the HIV epidemic, both in the States and overseas. We publish POZ magazine eleven times a year, POZ.com, Real Health magazine, Combocards, and a variety of other health care resources. POZ is published by Smart + Strong, a division of CDM Publishing, LLC.