“At the end of the day, HIV is just a virus, and we have the ability to prevent it and to treat it,” said Daskalakis, who is director of the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HIV/AIDS expert Dr Demetre Daskalakis, one of the event's grand marshals, urged all LGBTQ+ community members to get tested frequently for the virus. “We've made incredible progress in equality across the country, but trans people are under attack,” he added. “Six days after the shooting, we had a funeral service for my best friend and I made a promise to him that day that I would never stop fighting for a world that he would be proud of,” he told ABC, which aired the event.
Guests included Brandon Wolf, a survivor of the June 2016 mass shooting at the Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, who has since become an advocate for LGBTQ rights legislation.
