The Global Forum on MSM & HIV, which was known as MSMGF and addressed the HIV-related needs of men who have sex with men (MSM) has broadened its scope and changed its name to MPact: Global Action for Gay Men’s Health and Rights.

“To address the escalating incidence of HIV, we must reframe our approach using sexual health and rights as our guiding principles. This means facing the root causes of health disparities head-on,” said cofounder and executive director George Ayala in an MPact press release. “For gay and bisexual men, this includes decriminalizing homosexuality, ending homophobic violence, and combatting stigma and discrimination. It also means redressing economic disparities, challenging gender inequities, and confronting racism—each of which undermines the human rights of gay and bisexual men.”

The group’s new branding and upcoming projects are already visible on social media:

The press release stresses that MPact’s focus will remain on MSM but that its strategies have shifted during the decade the Oakland, California–based agency has been in existence.

MPact’s mission, as stated in the press release, is “to impact the lives of gay and bisexual men around the world,” adding that [The new name] also signals the need for unapologetically bolder, more forward-thinking solutions to the sexual health and rights needs of gay and bisexual men—solutions that will get us more quickly to the end of AIDS.”

“Our goal at MPact is to bring global attention to local concerns,” the agency’s website explains. “We are directly linked to more than 120 community-based organizations in 62 countries and thousands of activists online who are fighting for the sexual health and human rights of gay and bisexual men around the world.”

MPact will host a pre-meeting July 22 at the 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018) in Amsterdam. For more about that meeting, see the first Instagram post in this article. And for more about upcoming International AIDS Conferences in POZ, click here and here.

You can read a statement from Ayala here and visit the organization’s website at MPactGlobal.org.