AIDS: The Lost Voices

In this second instalment with special guest Brian Carmichael, HIV/AIDS and prison activist, we hear how, upon his release in the late 1990s, the state appeared determined to persecute him for the advocacy he carried out at the California Medical Facility—an account of repeated incidents that read as calculated reprisals for the good he accomplished behind bars. Brian recounts how those years of activism seemed to draw official scrutiny and punitive measures, painting a picture of a system seeking retribution rather than rehabilitation.
Having weathered further spells in custody during the 2000s, Brian has lived successfully in New York City since 2019, where he continues to thrive while dedicating himself to others: championing prisoners’ rights with member-led group ‘Freedom Agenda’ and advancing HIV support through ‘What Would a HIV Doula Do?’, his experience and status led to Brian being invited to moderate a major conference of over 2,000 professionals in line with his over areas of advocacy and prevention work.
All articles and relevant documents from this episode are available on the:
XTRA Tea Blog AIDS: THE LOST VOICES - Brian Carmichael
You can find all 3 previous episodes looking at Brian's activism as documented in the press.
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Audio Credit:
Habeas corpus - BBC Radio 4 voived by Stephen Fry WATCH HERE
'Down the Hall' by Bonnie Raitt - Listen on: Spotify - YouTube Music - Apple MusicBonnie Raitt Online: BonnieRaitt.com Instagram
'Spirit in the Sky' by Norman Greenbaum - Listen on: Spotify - YouTube Music - Apple Music
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Music / Instrumental by Aries Beats 'A Sin' + WEBSITE
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Third-party media: Used under 'fair use' for the sole purpose of education, criticism and/or research relating to HIV/AIDS, featured in this podcast which has no (Zero) commercial gain. No copyright infringement intended.

In this first of a two-part series we speak with Brian Carmichael, HIV/AIDS and prison activist, who recalls his time incarcerated at California Medical Facility in Vacaville: though HIV-negative himself at the time, in 1992 he and Charles Perry launched a hunger strike demanding better care and treatment for inmates with HIV/AIDS — a protest that helped secure the first-ever hospice within a US prison.
Brian and his comrades were the first to join the facility’s new Pastoral Care Services team, supporting prisoners with HIV/AIDS; he remembers holding solitary vigils to ensure inmates did not die alone. Brian also played a huge part in the AIDS Quilt’s visit to CMF — the first time it had ever been displayed inside a prison — a stitched testament to the suffering and humanity of those behind bars by Brian and his comrades.
Across this two-hour episode Brian emphasises he was not alone in bringing about much-needed change, sharing stories of love and friendship with fellow inmates — Laos, Charles, Law, Peter and so many more — whose courage and care reshaped how the institution treated HIV/AIDS, illness, grief and dignity.
All articles and relevant documents from this episode are available on the:
XTRA Tea Blog AIDS: THE LOST VOICES - Brian Carmichael
You can find all 3 previous episodes looking at Brian's activism as documented in the press.
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AIDS Quilt - Names Project - Website
Search Quilts: 1943 & 6063
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Audio Credits:
The Normal Heart (2014) by HBO - Watch on HBO Max
Hunger Strike (1991) by Temple of the Dogs - YouTube Music - Spotify - Apple Music
Holberg Suite: Edvard Grieg - Performer: Gerhard Oppitz
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Music / Instrumental by Aries Beats 'A Sin' + WEBSITE
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Third-party media: Used under 'fair use' for the sole purpose of education, criticism and/or research relating to HIV/AIDS, featured in this podcast which has no (Zero) commercial gain. No copyright infringement intended.

Geoffrey Pearce O.A.M. was a prison corrections officer at Long Bay Jail in New South Wales who, shortly after completing his training at 21 with his whole life and career ahead of him, was deliberately stabbed with a needle contaminated with HIV-positive blood by an inmate from the Jail’s AIDS wing, The Malabar Assessment Unit.
There was no clear motive for the attack: colleagues and inmates alike described Pearce as a ‘gentle giant’ who came to the job “with no ego” and was genuinely committed to assisting inmate rehabilitation. Diagnosed HIV positive following the incident, he nonetheless returned to duty and turned his diagnosis and the publicity surrounding the assault into a platform for education, confronting the fear and stigma of the early 1990s by demonstrating that people living with HIV were not contagious in everyday settings and could lead relatively normal lives. His consequential advocacy left such a profound mark in a short time that he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1998 and, in 2020, had a correctional facility named in his honour: the Geoffrey Pearce Correctional Centre.
All articles and relevant documents from this episode are available on the:
XTRA Tea Blog AIDS: THE LOST VOICES - Geoffrey Pearce OAM
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Outro Music
'If I Can Dream' by Elvis Presley
Spotify
Apple Music
Amazon Music
YouTube Music
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Background Music - Always On My Mind (Piano Cover by Riyandi Kusuma)
Stream Riyandi Kusuma on Spotify
Stream Riyandi Kusuma on Apple Music
Follow Riyandi Kusuma on Instagram
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Elvis Presley - Always On My Mind (Piano Cover by Riyandi Kusuma)
Watch on YouTube
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Music / Instrumental by Aries Beats 'A Sin' + WEBSITE
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Third-party media: Used under 'fair use' for the sole purpose of education, criticism and/or research relating to HIV/AIDS, featured in this podcast which has no (Zero) commercial gain. No copyright infringement intended -
British Newspaper Archives / Newspapers

Long Bay Jail in New South Wales has long been regarded as Australia’s “toughest prison,” and in the 1980s and 1990s it became notorious as the site of the prison system’s AIDS wing, initially called the Malabar Assessment Unit and grimly referred to by inmates as “death row.” Press coverage from the era documents tense confrontations as prison officers staged strikes and protests when inmates labelled “AIDS carriers” were not segregated and were moved into the main population, reflecting both genuine fear of infection among staff and vocal hostility from other prisoners unwilling to share space with those infected.
Within that fraught environment, individual stories emerged: transsexual inmate Tanya Spence forming a relationship with fellow inmate David on the segregation wing, and Neil Carroll, a convicted armed robber who redirected his sentence into AIDS peer-support work and, later, playwrighting, producing several AIDS-awareness plays performed for inmates and the broader public — acts that complicated a narrative otherwise dominated by fear, stigma and institutional conflict.
All articles and relevant documents from this episode are available on the:
XTRA Tea Blog AIDS: THE LOST VOICES - Long Bay Jail, Australia
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Background Music:
Dancing on My Own by Brooklyn Duo
YouTube Music Spotify Apple Music Amazon Music
Follow Brooklyn Duo on Instagram
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TV Documentary inside Long Bay Jail c.1987
Watch on YouTube
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Music / Instrumental by Aries Beats 'A Sin' + WEBSITE
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Third-party media: Used under 'fair use' for the sole purpose of education, criticism and/or research relating to HIV/AIDS, featured in this podcast which has no (Zero) commercial gain. No copyright infringement intended -
British Newspaper Archives / Newspapers

In the third and final episode of Prison and HIV Activist Brian Carmichael, we hear the sentencing outcome of Brian’s 2001 conviction after an incident in which a police officer, having kicked his feet from underneath him, alleged that Brian’s subsequent fall caused an injury and led to a battery charge; Brian contests the ruling, mounting an appeal that winds its way through the courts while he and his then partner relocate to New York City, a move that becomes both refuge and new terrain for his activism as he navigates legal uncertainty, personal upheaval and the broader struggle for justice.
Upon his release thirteen years later, he resumed his activism, highlighting the appalling conditions and unnecessary deaths of fellow inmates at Rikers Island. Celebrating years of sobriety and sober living, Brian uses his voice and long-standing experience as an activist to raise attention to these abuses; his testimony and campaigning are widely regarded as a valued contribution in calls for meaningful reform.
All articles and relevant documents from this episode are available on the:
XTRA Tea Blog AIDS: THE LOST VOICES - Brian Carmichael
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Connect with Brian Carmichael:
Facebook Instagram X.com Visual AIDS
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Music / Instrumental by Aries Beats 'A Sin' + WEBSITE
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Outro Music:
'Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now' by Sarah Potenza & Dave Audé
Spotify Apple Music Amazon Music YouTube Music
Connect with Sarah Potenza:
Website
Instagram
TikTok
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Third-party media: Used under 'fair use' for the sole purpose of education, criticism and/or research relating to HIV/AIDS, featured in this podcast which has no (Zero) commercial gain. No copyright infringement intended -
British Newspaper Archives / Newspapers
Music 'Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now' by Sarah Potenza & Dave Audé