Dare To Wear 2020
To date DTWL has helped the Stephen Lewis Foundation raise over $900,000 to help to turn the tide in the fight against the AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa by producing vibrant, uplifting, inspirational fashion show galas showcasing some of Canada’s best fashion talents.
The event also greatly increases the awareness of the important issues that the foundation is engaged in, building a supportive community here to assist in the work in Africa.
Founded in 2009 by Jim Searle and Chris Tyrell of Toronto fashion house Hoax Couture, DTWL has been instrumental in funding the launch of the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s LGBTQ Africa Initiative - supporting the work of the courageous grass roots organisations working to fight for their human rights and to end the violence and crushing stigma that are a part of being gay in many countries.
In 34 out of 54 countries in Africa, laws are maintained that criminalize consensual sex between men, and 24 maintain laws that apply to women.
It is against this backdrop of hostility and violence that LGBTQ communities struggle to survive, to claim and secure their Human Rights, to live with dignity and without fear, and to address the scourge of HIV & AIDS.
African LGBTQ organizations are engaged in one of the most urgent Human Rights struggles today.
By supporting Dare To Wear Love you will be supporting the brave individuals and organizations that literally put their lives on the line to fight for the human rights and welfare of their communities.
“Dare to Wear Love is an affair of the heart. Jim and Chris of Hoax Couture, through this creative and effusive event, have brought the fashion community back to an issue with which it is heartbreakingly familiar – the ravages of HIV and AIDS. This time, in solidarity with the struggle in communities across sub-Saharan Africa,”
The Stephen Lewis Foundation was recently deemed the world’s fifth largest philanthropic funder of human rights work related to HIV/AIDS ahead of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
For more information visit the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
To support the Stephen Lewis Foundation, please click HERE
