The AIDS Memorial
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Photograph of the permanent AIDS memorial in autumn. The view shows the design of the curving pathway. 1999.
The AIDS Memorial in Barbara Hall Park is a tribute to the lives lost to AIDS-related illnesses in Canada. The memorial consists of a series of engraved pillars, winding through a secluded pathway, engraved with the names of those who have passed away. It stands as a space for communal mourning and remembrance.
Barbara Hall Park, formerly known as Cawthra Square Park, has long been a gathering space for Toronto’s queer community. From 1984 to 1991, most Pride events took place in this very park, before the festival grew too large and expanded into what is now one of the largest Pride festivals in the world.
In 2014, the park was renamed Barbara Hall Park in honor of Barbara Hall, who served as Toronto’s mayor from 1994 to 1997. As a young lawyer, she defended gay men arrested in the 1981 Toronto bathhouse raids, and as mayor, she was the first leader of a major Canadian city to march in a Pride parade.
The idea for an AIDS Memorial was first proposed in 1987 by Michael Lynch, a University of Toronto professor, poet, and 2SLGBTQIA+ activist. At the time, the HIV/AIDS epidemic was devastating Toronto’s queer community.
The first reported AIDS-related death in Canada occurred in 1983, and over the next decade, more than 1,400 people across Canada—primarily gay and bisexual men—died.
Lynch and a group of community members formed the AIDS Memorial Committee in 1987, aiming to create both temporary and permanent memorials to honour those lost.
Image of the AIDS Memorial Committee. 1991.
The temporary AIDS Memorial in 1988.
Community members at the temporary memorial, 1988.
Opening of the 1989 temporary memorial.
Installation of the 1989 temporary memorial.
The first temporary memorial was erected on Pride Day in 1988, listing approximately 200 names submitted by friends and family.
Over the next few years, additional temporary memorials followed, and in 1990, fundraising began for a permanent AIDS Memorial.
A design competition was launched in 1990, but no winner was selected. A second competition was held in 1991, judged by a panel of architects, artists, and community leaders, including Michael Lynch.
Pink and white drawing of Patrick Fahn's design for the permanent AIDS Memorial. Text discusses Fahn's status as the winner of the design competition.
Out of 60 proposals, the winning design was submitted by architect Patrick Fahn. His concept was a pathway of engraved pillars, allowing visitors to physically and emotionally walk through the memorial. Lynch later remarked that he liked the idea of “men cruising along this pathway in an era long after AIDS had disappeared.” Tragically, Lynch did not live to see the completion of the memorial as he passed away from AIDS in 1992, one year before its unveiling.
The permanent AIDS Memorial was officially opened on June 19, 1993. Since then, names have been added every year during the Annual AIDS Candlelight Vigil in June, now organized by The 519 Community Centre.
Today, the Memorial holds over 2,900 names, each representing an individual whose life was lost to AIDS. However, as the memorial only includes names that were submitted by loved ones, it does not reflect the full number of AIDS-related deaths in Canada.
To acknowledge those who remain unnamed, the Universal Remembrance Plaque was added in 1995. The first pillar of the memorial also features two engraved poems, “Cry” by Michael Lynch and “Circle of Stones” by Shoshanna J. Addley, dedicated to all of those lost.
Green poster created for the 1989 AIDS Memorial: A Celebration of Life. Poster offers the opportunity to submit names for the 1989 memorial, as well as lists of names already submitted.