AIDS Action and Boston Pride Committees Unite to Light the Night with 11th Annual Pridelights on June 6.

BOSTON -- The 11th Annual Pridelights concert and tree lighting, a traditional pre-cursor to Boston Pride, will be held on Tues., June 6, from 7-9 p.m. outside of the Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts (BCA). It will once again center on entertaining performances, presentation of a special award and lighting at dusk of the 60-foot pine tree adorned with pink Sylvania LED lights. Sylvania is sponsoring the tree lighting for the first time and promises to deliver a most interesting and fun spectacle this year. The tree will be illuminated by 12 strings of programmable LED string lights donated by Sylvania and the installation was completed by Sylvania Lighting Services. Guidance Mortgage is Pridelights' Premier Sponsor.

Fast Freddie from Mix 98.5 FM will be Master of Ceremonies and present South End residents and visitors Deet Promotions' and RealDanceFM's vocal artists Pepper MaShay, Fredrick Ford and Georgie Porgie; a performance from Animus Ensemble's all-male cast of 'Once Upon a Mattress' and drag magician Cashetta.

The 2nd Annual Spirit of Stonewall Award, sponsored by Wainwright Bank, will be presented to Douglas M. Brooks, MSW, Executive Director of JRI Health in Boston, and is a stigma and health disparities expert and a black, gay man in his 16th year of living with HIV. A member of Union United Methodist Church in Boston's South End, he works closely with the minister and historically Black congregation to explore the church's role in addressing HIV/AIDS in the Black community. He has consulted on the local, state, regional, national and international levels, including South Africa, on issues of HIV stigma and its impact on prevention efforts. Last spring, Brooks received one of three challenge grants from the Academy for Educational Development and the Ford Foundation for public health professionals with expertise in anti-stigma research. With that grant, he examined the impact of HIV stigmatization and discrimination on African-American men who have sex with men (MSM) in Boston neighborhoods that are heavily populated by African-Americans.

Since 1995 The Pridelights Tree Lighting has been a tradition for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. This celebratory and well-attended, free, outdoor event also serves as AIDS Action's official kick-off to some of the agency's most intensive prevention and education initiatives that occur during Boston Pride.

"We are delighted to co-present Pridelights with Boston Pride Committee, as a symbol and signal to erase stigma for the LGBT community, also marking that our MALE Center in the South End has been open for a full year," said Rebecca Haag, Executive Director, AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, Inc.

The MALE Center, a program of AIDS Action Committee, is a community resource and wellness center for gay and bisexual men in Boston, located at 571 Columbus Avenue in the South End. There will be a community event to celebrate the first anniversary of The MALE Center in late June.

"It's exciting to have new and familiar sponsors aboard for Pridelights, with 'Premier Sponsor' Guidance Mortgage, 'Illumination Sponsor' Sylvania, 'Award Sponsor' Wainwright Bank and 'Media Sponsor' Innewsweekly," said Brit White, Senior Development Officer, Special Events and Producer of Pridelights.

AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, Inc., New England's first and largest AIDS organization, is dedicated to stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS by preventing new infections and optimizing the health of those already infected. AAC provides free confidential services to men and women already living with HIV/AIDS, as well as conducts extensive educational and prevention outreach to those at risk of infection. AAC runs the only statewide AIDS Hotline [phone]) and Hepatitis Hotline [phone]). AAC also advocates for effective science-based prevention programs.