Our May 2019 Shero of the Month is Jamie Collins of Dallas, Texas. Roxanne Glaxion, co-chair of PWN-USA Dallas/Fort Worth chapter said, “Ms. Jamie is a fierce woman. You will see her smiling, cracking jokes, and she always has her signature fan with her. She is a force to be reckoned with.” Jamie is policy rep for the PWN Texas chapter and is a current PWN policy fellow.

Jamie moved to Dallas from Shreveport in 2011. After being assaulted by her partner, she was diagnosed with HIV in January 2012 after treatment for her injuries. Unbeknownst to her, she had been a champion for the rights of transgender women since 1992 when her best friend became sick. She remembers there was one clinic in Shreveport where services were offered to transgender people. Once it closed down, the only aid came from the local hospital where the environment was neither welcoming, nor affirming. It was while she was caring for her sick friend that she realized more needed to be available. She started protesting the policies of nursing homes which housed people living with HIV. 

Because Jamie had been involved in health care service delivery, she had heard of PWN-USA through different organizations. As fate would have it, she was speaking in a conference room across the hall from a room where the women of the PWN Texas chapter had gathered. She said, “I was asked to come across the hall to speak inside the room by Shelia Crockett. I shared my story and talked about how I had been engaged in the movement.” She said in that room she felt accepted as her authentic self.

She had already been sitting on several community advisory boards, such as The Ryan White Planning Council, AIN Consumer Advisory Committee, Parkland Community Advisory Board and the Ending the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Texas. She officially became a member of the Dallas/Fort Worth chapter in January 2019. She said, “I was all in.” She is currently the Trans Outreach Coordinator for the chapter and the policy work group representative. Her other contributions to the efforts of PWN Texas chapter include being a member of the Rapid Response Team and the Get Out The Vote 2018 mobilization effort. 

When asked how she became interested in the PWN-USA Policy Fellowship, Jamie said, “I was asked to apply for the policy fellowship by Miss Kelly [Flannery]. I was so excited that I was accepted, and my challenges have centered around technology access. That is being remedied.”

She feels that there is growing momentum in the HIV movement for trans women to use their voices. “In Los Angeles [as part of the PWN Ending Violence Is Reproductive Justice cohort at the Biomedical HIV Prevention Summit], I met so many trans women from everywhere, some who hardly spoke English, and it blew my mind being in the presence of community. I am used to seeing people doing things, but I fell in love with the ladies of PWN.”