This Friday night two signature events and a dozen smaller ones mark World AIDS Day 2006. In Auckland a fabulously glittering drag pageant will pack out the Aotea Centre's main auditorium. The annual Queen of the Whole Universe pageant will once again astonish the audience with its professionalism and artistic splendour. In Christchurch the Red Party at Cruze bar will be a magnet for the South Island party crowd. Both will raise much needed funds for the fight to push back the surging HIV epidemic. There will be other events on other centres, quilt displays, street collections. Most of Auckland's gay venues will be donating a dollar or two from their admission charge or bar turnover to Body Positive, to assist New Zealanders - mostly gay men - whose lives have been disrupted by HIV infection. But this Friday December 1st isn't only a time to party and raise money, it's a time for us in the glbt community to reflect on the hundreds of lives already lost to AIDS, and the likelihood of many more to be lost in coming years if the spread of HIV through our community continues. Look around you next time you are with a group of your gay friends and imagine if half of them were to die within the next 5-10 years. That's the scenario we face as more and more virulent, drug-resistant, strains of HIV are passed from gay man to gay man for want of a little common sense and a condom. Buy a ticket now, hit a venue this Friday night, view the quilts, and while you're at it how about making a commitment to joining the fight against HIV and AIDS, the killers in our community. There's an HIV-related organisation near you which would welcome your support and energy. Jay Bennie - 28th November 2006