25 faces: Leaders fighting HIV/AIDS in Colorado

18 Sean Wolfe

While the importance of community in Denver’s LGBT population may be lost on some, Sean Wolfe knows first hand the weight this little word has on the prevention and education of HIV/AIDS. Working for the Denver ELEMENT, Wolfe believes that a strong sense of community is one of the best ways to hurtle the dehumanizing stigma attached to HIV/AIDS; a hope that he has pursued for years through various youth outreach programs in the Denver area.

Wolfe’s passion for HIV/AIDS education started after he lost more than 100 friends and life partners to the disease while living in San Francisco in the 1980’s. After a move to Colorado, he started volunteering for the Colorado AIDS Project, working on their speakers burrow talking with young adults about the disease. His purpose was to de-stigmatize the disease through familiarity; a goal that he believed was accomplished not only through his talks but also with help from the copious amounts of media coverage the disease was getting in the 1990’s. Attention brought about education, and education brought about new medicines, a double-edge sword of a gift as with the prolong longevity they provided to those with HIV/AIDS also came a decrease in media coverage. HIV/AIDS wasn’t the maniac-killer that it once was, and people lost interest.

Wolfe’s main mission with the Denver ELEMENT is to revive the interest HIV/AIDS received in the 1990’s- “Because young people haven’t experienced the loss stemming from HIV/AIDS, they see it as an ‘other persons’ disease, not their own. What they don’t understand is that it is their issue, because it is an issue that affects their community. ” Wolfe further explains that this lack of interest has contributed to the growing stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS victims today; “It almost seems like we are part of the 1980’s again – the stigma is that bad.”

As a program director for Denver ELEMENT, Wolfe has strived to fully educate Denver’s gay community in regard to their HIV-positive brothers and sisters. Leading a brand–new activities and events program for gay or bisexual males ages 18-24, Wolfe provides HIV/AIDS education to participants, along with a strong social network to encourage healthy decisions.

Fueled by the memory of his partner of 13 years that passed away from the disease, Wolfe continues his work with AIDS organizations: “I know that he would want me to keeping working – we need to keep that fight out there.”