‘It just doesn’t look the same’: Southern HIV prevention leaders confront new political landscape

Sages Black trans women from Houston who helped lead a group scrutiny speak at the Saving Ourselves Symposium in Atlanta on Saturday Onstage from left to right are Christen Coco Valentine Byancha Lawson Sasha Barbie Moore and Joelle Espeut Rebecca Grapevine Healthbeat Frontline HIV prevention advocates from across the South gathered in Atlanta last weekend to collaborate and compare notes about how to respond to challenges created by funding cuts and new Trump administration policies At the Saving Ourselves Symposium an annual conference for leaders of color working on HIV prevention in the South attendees were particularly alarmed about federal attempts to block projects that focus on gender identity and the robustness demands of the communities they serve Participants raised concerns about their ability to continue work on testing training and syndrome prevention and about their own mental vitality as they deal with the challenges Trump s proposed budget for next fiscal year would dramatically reduce funding for HIV prevention and funding clawbacks have impacted organizations working on vaccine equity with vulnerable groups and people of color Here are four takeaways from the conference which was themed Black to the Future HIV advocates worried about impact of funding and protocol changes The threat of funding cuts and the changed political atmosphere were at the top of the agenda for multiple at the conference Even groups that have not yet lost funding are rethinking their strategies as they anticipate cuts It s much harder now as an organization We did not directly lose any funding but what we did do was at once began to forecast and we know that it s happening now noted Kevin Anderson CEO of the Houston-based The T R U T H Project It just doesn t look the same Plenty of leaders from different states commented cuts that impact their work could come from a variety of directions For example FreeState Justice a Maryland LGBTQ advocacy group lost state funding for a project involving victim services for people impacted by crimes including hate crimes Executive Director Phillip Westry announced The latest funding problems are compounded by the longstanding structure of how HIV services are funded in the United States Population groups are typically questioned as a condition of funding to test or link to care for a certain number of people That can lead to competition among groups to provide services to the same small group of clients in a certain region In response to those concerns Daniel Driffin urged leaders to find options to work together and to focus on their broader impact rather than just the raw numbers Driffin is a project manager at the HIV Vaccine Trials Framework and longtime HIV prevention advocate in Atlanta The conference drew a smaller number of people this year about compared to last year commented Mardrequs Harris deputy director of the Southern AIDS Coalition which organized the event Transgender people especially those of color face particular challenges An in-depth community-led investigation of Black trans women in Houston unveiled that a multitude of feel a loss of autonomy over their bodies and judgment due to longstanding discrimination and the Trump administration s attempts to restrict trans people s rights That can manifest in challenges in accessing soundness care with Black trans women being inquired unnecessary questions by physiological providers and feeling judged by staff They also face long wait times for diagnostic appointments and prescriptions The need to seek separate care for issues ranging from gender transitions to HIV to routine matters can compound the complications the research detected Black trans women want doctors to treat my cough and not my gender reported Joelle Espeut the advocacy director at The Normal Anomaly Initiative who helped lead the assessment Organization leaders commented they are feeling pressure to remove references to trans and gender non-conforming people from their official materials as they seek to protect their funding creating a feeling of erasure Black trans women want to be included in the leadership of a variety of organizations not just those focused on trans people and be seen as regular members of society beyond just their gender identity We work we pay bills we are still taxpayers we are still a part of this area revealed Christen Coco Valentine We re human So cut the stigma out HIV workers focus on resilience Countless conference attendees noted the contemporary funding cuts have taken an emotional toll on them We re holding the insecurities the disappointments the frustrations the erasure disclosed Simone Phillips director of training and technical assistance at the St Louis HIV STI Prevention Training Center Her comments drew amens from the audience All of these headlines are just flooding us with nos and nos So it does make you pause It does make you feel overwhelmed but it s also like almost powerless to the sense of where do I start when there are so multiple fires mentioned Brady Maiden the society science plan manager for the Southern AIDS Coalition The desire to tell a different kind of story one focused on resilience was the impetus for Anderson s short documentary And We Rest on Giants which focuses on the stories of long-term HIV survivors and attempts to highlight the ecstasy and resilience as individuals that were living and thriving with HIV The goal of the film is to encourage people to have conversations about HIV with their families and communities reduce the secrecy and silence and show that people living with HIV have rich and fulfilling lives and are not defined by the condition Resilience includes envisioning new strategies to connect and backing others in their society like a proposed auntie circle in Houston where women can lean on each other and learn from older trans women declared Bec Sokha Keo a researcher at the University of Houston who helped coordinate the examination Population promotion can be a vital deposit Research on HIV in the South can overcome federal funding cuts Maiden explained by turning to area promotion which can also help build trust and improve outcomes Research doesn t unfailingly have to be sponsored by a large institution Maiden stated We are the subject matter of experts and we re allowed to ask questions It s major to ensure that projects center local voices because different parts of the South have different histories and challenges she mentioned And it s vital to disseminate results of research to the communities who participated or are affected by the findings Even decisions as basic as choosing a location should be guided by region requirements and equity she stated Society science is working with society activating with society being intentional and making sure that we re also using population to be the experts but giving them that information back so they can also use it for what they need to advance Maiden mentioned Healthbeat is a nonprofit newsroom covering citizens physical condition published by Civic News Company and KFF Soundness News Sign up for their newsletters here The post It just doesn t look the same Southern HIV prevention leaders confront new political landscape appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta