Julia & Lainy

Julia and Lainy are a queer leather dyke couple who have been together for 31 years, a history that overlaps with that of the AIDS epidemic in Seattle. They recall that in the early days, the SGN (Seattle Gay News) was the only resource for facts, statistics, news, and sadly, memorials, during the AIDS epidemic. Capitol Hill was the epicenter of gay life here, an area the showed how devastating AIDS was on the gay community. Many queer women and members of the leather community stepped up to volunteer at places like Rosehedge (a housing residence), and helped those in need. Unfortunately, not everyone felt love for those in the leather community, who often felt distanced at events like Pride and other collective actions.
The two see similarities between HIV and the recent pandemic of COVID-19, but with AIDS a vaccine has still not been found. In the meantime, even though they have seen many lives lost to the AIDS Crisis, as long as they keep their memories alive those loved ones live on.