As we move closer and closer to the High Level Meeting and the International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa we need your powerful voice to help keep the focus on the needs of gay, bisexual men and other men who have sex with men. We are inviting vocal, creative, influential individuals to help us ignite the excitement of the upcoming events by recording a testimonial that demonstrates your passion for the work you do.
Please help us by recording a very short video (1-2 minutes) on your computer or smart phone about why you think it is important that gay, bisexual men and other men who have sex with men must be a focal point in the HIV discussion. You can talk about specific issues in your region. You can use personal examples. You can record all or a portion of it in your native language. Talk about something you are passionate about or a personal story.
As guidance here are 3 example questions you may want to respond directly to:
- Why is it important to have a focus on gay men in global HIV response?
- What are the main barriers to comprehensive HIV prevention, care, and treatment?
- Why is universal access to sexual healthcare important for gay, bisexual men and other men who have sex with men?
You may want to tie back to the pre-conference theme Action + Access: Rights and Demands of Gay and Bisexual Men in the Global HIV Response and talk about why that is important to you.
MSMGF’s theme in the global village is 10 years (B)old: Re-Gaying the Global HIV Response. Our social media hashtag is #HIVbold. You might want to speak to that or how you are bold in your own life and activism. A fourth question for your consideration:
- Why is it especially important for gay and bisexual men to be bold now?
We are going to post these videos on our website and YouTube channel and send them out in email blasts in the coming weeks as well. So please use this opportunity to say what you want and get people excited about the conference and the pre-conference. Get fired up about fighting for the rights of MSM and other key populations. Make it your own!
A few tips for a good quality video:
- Introduce yourself and/or your organization and region
- Good lighting. Front lighting is best and most flattering. Consider sitting opposite a window
- Try to keep the camera/phone at eye level
- Clear sound is important. Speak loudly and clearly and try to minimize any background noise
- Think about the background. Maybe you want a logo in the background. If not, a clean background is ideal so you are the focus.
- Rehearse a couple of times. We want these to seem natural—speak from the heart—but have a few points you want to hit.
- Be original!! There are no rules. We are just excited to have you participating!
- More examples for inspiration here.
When you are finished please email the MOV, MPG or MP4 file along with the signed release form to jmackenroth@msmgf.org
You can download the video instructions here, and the release form here.
