vango

Just before the parade was a touching memorial to those AIDS researchers who died recently in the plane crash over Ukraine. There were small boats with people handing out white roses. Two boats full of volunteers pass with their hands over their hearts and as they passed the onlookers tossed the roses into the canal. That marked the beginning of the parade. In July, Malaysian Airlines flight 17 was shot down over Urkraine and all passengers were lost. The plane was carrying Joep Lange, a globally recognized AIDS activist who formerly served as president of the International Aids Society. and Dutch Sen. Willem Witteveen. Lange was traveling from The Netherlands to Australia to speak at an AIDS conference. This loss struck the gay and AIDS activist community very hard.