The picture shows Queer activist Arthur Law (21 May 1959 – 17 May 2018) with the panel he made for the National AIDS Memorial Quilt in 1991. There are 133 stars depicted, and each one represents a life lost to AIDS in Brighton. It was displayed alongside other quilts at the Corn Exchange in June 1993 but its whereabouts are now unknown. If you have any information that can help with its location please get in touch.

First attempt at creating a Brighton AIDS Day memorial In the mid-90s, legendary LGBT activist Arthur Law (RIP) led a campaign to have a HIV/AIDS memorial set into the pavement by the Old Steine war memorial. In those days Brighton & Hove Council were not the gay friendly pink £ chasing politicos we know today, and the proposal was roundly rejected. A few of us gathered with Arthur one day to see his design for the memorial which he’d painstakingly picked out using flowers. My memory is not what it was, so if you were there too and remember the date, please get in touch.

To mark World AIDS Day 2023, the Brighton AIDS Memorial was proud to display two Brighton specific panels on loan from the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt collection. This was made possible with the generous support of the LGBTQ Workers Forum. The panels which were both sewn in 1991, had not been seen on display in the city for over 30 years.