27000: When Were Boys [21st Century Secrets Cut]

27000@25: When We Were Boys (runtime 10m) returns with new material from the multi-million selling Erasure to roll back 25 years to Pride on Clapham Common 1996, the UK’s penultimate huge park festival Pride. Jimmy Somerville and Holly Johnson sang the score in 1996 with 160,000 watching. The story follows the HIV positive diagnosis of a very young gay man in 1990s London, based on an a true story. The original was shown from Pride's main stage, before CRUSAID’s historic Release For Life of 27,000 red balloons for every person in the UK with HIV.

The micro-budget source was unseen since 1996, and never in this new form, a unique cooperation between musicians with truly global reach and rare archive of a shied-away from corner in LGBTQIA+ history. It streamed in 7 languages worldwide on Erasure's erasureinfo official media platforms around World AIDS Day 2021.

Erasure's Andy Bell says of 27000: "Apart from being very close to my heart, it is also of historical importance / significance from a world wide human rights perspective."

With It's A Sin cast member Nathaniel Hall, living proof that HIV is a very real issue for the young. Nathaniel acquired HIV at 16.

Equally poignant is the untimely passing of its young star, unable to see this 25th anniversary reimagining.

The US originator of "U=U" Bruce Richman said, ""I LOVE the video and was so deeply moved. Amazing that it promotes U=U so clearly."

Streamed exclusively on Erasure official youtube.com/erasureinfo, fully subtitled with: English Closed Caption, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, Italian and (Traditional) Chinese.

As World AIDS Day moved into US timezones, controversy emerged around the video all over again. With no warning YouTube placed an under 18 content restriction on it, blocking access by the very target group the messaging hoped to reach, young people - also at risk from HIV like over 18s. YouTube was forced to come forward and publicly apologise, after vocal indignation from the world-wide LGBT press, social media and community calling out its censorship. The ban was swiftly reversed and the video was eventually seen by many thousands around the world in 7 languages, including young people under 18.