David Shannon honoured with award for leadership in social justice for the HIV/AIDS community
David Shannon is being recognized with a Casey Award posthumously for leadership in social justice for the HIV/AIDS community. An activist and journalist based in Montreal and later Toronto, David lived with HIV and died at the age of 55 in 2018.
His eldest brother Craig describes David as someone who was complex, smart, a person with strong opinions, and someone capable of giving and inspiring joy. In his twenties, David won hearts with his exuberant and witty representation of gay life in his column Out in the city in the Montreal Mirror and the Homo Show on McGill University radio.
As David experienced the terrible losses of the AIDS epidemic, including the death of his best friend, he became an articulate and passionate leader for the gay community. He spoke against the hostility of the police and the seeming indifference of the wider world. David also combatted the loneliness of people living with HIV by co-founding AIDS Community Care Montreal (ACCM) and as an AIDS-buddy comforting strangers facing the end of life.
He joined CBC Radio in 1991, where he covered important HIV/AIDS stories and contributed to the public’s understanding of the pandemic’s social and political dynamics. David Shannon’s impact extended beyond Montreal, as he continued his advocacy work in London, England, and later in Toronto. His dedication to the LGBTQ+ and AIDS communities remained unwavering, and he left an indelible mark on all those who had the privilege of working with him.
While they personally witnessed his skill and compassion providing palliative care for his mother in the late ‘90s, his family only learned after he passed away that he had previously personally cared for over 50 people with AIDS at end-of-life at a time before treatments were available for HIV.
In 2018, his family learned about Casey House when David told them that he wanted to spend his last days in its care. Craig recounts that it gave David enormous peace of mind knowing he could come here to die.
His family were inspired to return to Casey House after his death to discuss ways to give back. They became the founding and lead volunteers for what became David’s Disco, an enormously successful fundraiser that the whole family is part of organizing and supporting.
Says Craig, “David died, but his inspiration hasn’t.” The family and friends David left behind are continuing his legacy and ensuring that the kind of health care he received continues to be available to others, whenever they might need it.
Casey House extends warm congratulations to David Shannon’s family as we celebrate him with a Casey Award.