Petrelis Files

Blade: NAPWA Trademark Sold to Health HIV for $3,000

(In other NAPWA news, the organization's site has finally closed. A note has been posted about the end of the group.)

Longtime Washington Blade reporter Lou Chibbaro delivers much needed accountability to the demise of NAPWA. Many thanks, Lou!

Wish I could say it's shocking how AIDS Inc and the former leaders of NAPWA have swept the problems under the rug, but I've learned over the decades of the epidemic that full accountability is as rare as the cure for AIDS. From Lou's story in the current Blade:

In a little-noticed development, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Maryland last month agreed to reopen the Chapter 7 bankruptcy case of the National Association of People With AIDS three months after the court closed the case and ruled more than $750,000 owed to creditors could not be paid.

According to court documents, Judge Paul Mannes agreed to a motion by bankruptcy trustee Laura Margulies requesting that the case be reopened to allow NAPWA to sell its trademark for the name “National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day” to the recently formed organization called Health HIV, which is located at 2000 S St., N.W., near Dupont Circle.

“This asset is unlisted in the Debtor’s Petition; however, the Trustee and Buyer have agreed upon a value and entered into a purchase agreement,” according to an Oct. 3 “notice of private sale” of the trademark issued by Margulies. It lists the agreed upon purchase price as $3,000. [...]

Brian Hujdich, executive director of Health HIV, said none of the people from NAPWA would have any involvement in the financial aspects of the organization and would be limited to policy-related issues. Hujdich couldn’t immediately be reached for comment about his group’s arrangement to purchase the trademark for National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

What a waste of $3,000. Hujdich and his Health HIV organization could have saved themselves that amount, on top of lawyer and court fees, and simply come up with a new name for an AIDS awareness day targeting gays.