ernment for initiating the repressive legislation that forced him to choose between his country and his partner, as well as for taking 20 years to address it. The XVI International AIDS Conference, held in Toronto in 2006, drew attention to the restrictions. Many HIV-positive individuals faced difficulties traveling to the conference, since many flights into Canada would take them through the US. Congresswoman Lee attended AIDS 2006 and realized that the only way to put the United States on the "correct side of history", on this particular issue, was to abolish the travel restrictions completely, in her words: "Human rights are not won by appeasement or incrementalism." Although repealing the travel restrictions had support from both Democrats and Republicans, as well as a consensus in the medical community that travel restrictions did nothing to protect public health, it was a time when there was hostility towards any immigrant-related reform amongst the general public. However two years later the repeal is a major step forward, although it is not the final step. It is now up to the Secretary of Health to change regulations to reflect the new legislation. HIV must be taken off of the list of diseases that mean inadmissibility to the United States, but Congresswoman Lee is confident that this will happen soon. So confident she has suggested her constituency, Berkeley, California, be considered for the next International AIDS Conference. Near the end of the session the conversation was brought back around to other human rights areas where the United States is lacking. One wo man approached the microphone to congratulate Congresswoman Lee on her role in repealing the travel restrictions, but also to say that she would not personally attend an AIDS Conference in the United States until an apology was issued for all the human rights abuses it commits in other countries. Although using a session on travel restrictions against HIV-positive individuals as a platform for chiding the US on Iraq, or as she put it "marching into other countries" in the name of democracy, seems slightly inappropriate, it is a part of what the conference is about. Congratulating and celebrating to encourage progress, along with questioning and criticizing to show that we have not forgotten what remains to be addressed.

t levels and in different ways. Some people bring HIV positive together to influence policy in countries where no structures to do so existed. Others are using innovative research methods, such as picture maps, to encourage people living with HIV to express their needs and aspirations, which are in turn used as advocacy tools to lobby policymakers. Some people living with HIV are on the board of trustees of organisations and/or speak at conferences to ensure that the specific needs of HIV positive people are recognised and acted upon. What was clear from the discussion about positive leadership is that it is not easy to be a leader who represents other peoples’ voices in the community. A participant in the audience stated ‘Really, [networks representing us] listen to our voices. If you don’t have a story to tell, if you don’t hear us, you don’t represent us’. Representation involves accountability to the people you are representing and to the issues they are raising.

Giovanny Romero Infante from the Movimiento Homosexual de Lima, a Peruvian gay activist living with HIV’ provided me with a definition of ‘positive leadership’ from a young person’s perspective. He powerfully stated,

‘Positive leadership is the capacity that HIV positive youth have to talk about their own experiences, to represent the needs of other youth, including LGBT, and to take action using evidence of what is really happening’.

What a responsibility and a privilege!

words.The essence of this child was captured in art like the aroma of a potion captured in a glass bottle. Seeing those images released the emotion and an ongoing narrative of an individual profoundly affected by HIV and AIDS.

In those precious moments, I understood more about HIV and AIDS than I did in four full days of plenary sessions, satellite meetings, skill building workshops, seminars, and symposiums. There is power in art and narrative. Participants in this International AIDS Conference may be overwhelmed with statistics, bar graphs, and powerpoint presentations that numb our minds with numbers and paralyze our brains with complexity. To resist compassion fatigue, I encourage you to take a moment to listen to the voices of individuals sharing their stories and th eir vast wisdom in art.

Amidst the human congestion of 25,000 participants within an atmosphere of raw energy, blasting music, and a thousand activities hoping to steal a second of your attention, I encourage you to

pause.

Interact with art and the people that created it. Hopefully, like me, you'll learn something new.

to make change on this issue for youth people, and it was great that he made a step here” .

The subcommite of the Youth Pavillion gave him and his wife a T-shirt with the messages of advocacy created for the Conference, as a present for visiting the Youth Pavillion.