On December 2nd, our President & Founder Ariel Rojas participated in the panel discussion “HIV and Mental Health of LGBTQ People of Color” after the screening of the documentary “You Are Not Alone” commemorating the 2015 World AIDS Day at Brooklyn Borough Hall. In attendance: Dr. Torian Easterling, NYC Health Department Assistant Commissioner/Brooklyn District Public Health Office Director, and Eric Adams, Brooklyn Borough President.

As a documentary, “You Are Not Alone” is a little more than a run-of-the-mill film. It is a 65-minute documentary examining many underlying psycho-social factors causing depression in Black gay men: struggles with sexual orientation and identity; being sexually abused by an older adult family member/relative/familiar or authority figure; pastors and imams declaring that a gay man is an abomination and encouraging ostracism from families and communities; low self-esteem, setting out to contract HIV as a form of suicide with the ensuing stigma and discrimination accompanying the diagnosis; and for many aging Black gay men, struggles with loneliness, isolation and abandonment, including desperation for affection, intimacy and sex. In interviews with Black gay men of varying ages, opinions from mental health professionals and religious leaders, and re-enactments of experiences explores the reasons for the descent into depression and suicide. (watch trailer)

Panelists (L to R): Aron Cobbs, Community Educator, Lambda Legal; Ariel Rojas, President/Founder, Transdiaspora Network; Chris Adams, Social Worker; Rev. Dr. Lynn Sexton, Founder/Pastor, Sacred Fellowship Ministries; Dr. Jeffrey Gardere, Assistant Professor, Touro College. Moderator: Marsha Bonner, Founder, Helping Us Grow Spirituality (H.U.G.S).