By Tana Pradia

The views and opinions expressed in this piece are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the position of Positive Women’s Network – USA.

April 15, 2024

We, as members of PWN USA came to AIDSWatch, we came with the purpose to have our voices heard from across the US. As women living with HIV, we are the experts on living with HIV and our fundamental needs to live out loud and to live life on our terms.  

This year over 50 PWN members showed up to tell congress to fund and support critical programs like the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program so people could get the medical services they need and deserve. A large part of our advocacy centered around Appropriations.  We need congress to ensure people have access to HIV prevention, like the Prep Access and Coverage Act (H.R. 4392/S.2188). Congress should protect Medicaid from cuts and go further by ensuring Universal Healthcare access for everyone. Congress must address ongoing and persistent unfair and discriminatory practices that perpetuate structural and institutional racism and other inequities like Voting rights, Criminalization, LGBTQ+ rights, Gender justice, Reproductive rights, Sex Workers rights, and protecting immigrants.

In our Texas meetings, we focused on  the Chyna Gipson Stop the Transgender Murder Epidemic (H.R.4960) bill. We must stop the violence, economic discrimination, and targeting the transgender community. 

There were over 400 hundred advocates from 35 states at AIDS Watch 2024. We told our stories about the issues that were important to us as women living with HIV. We deserve the right as people living with HIV, to have a good quality of life ,  to not be criminalized for living with HIV and having  full access to quality healthcare, without being discriminated against for living with HIV. At PWN USA and in Houston, we know that we need to get out to vote in the fall election to have our voices heard.