1. Get Political
This year is likely to be marked by many setbacks for people living with and at risk for HIV—including the Trump administration’s promises to repeal the Affordable Care Act, defund Planned Parenthood and cut the budgets of integral social service providers across the board.
So what’s the best way to speak out on behalf of the community against these injustices?
“One of the biggest pieces of advice I have is to join a network of people living with HIV,” says Scott Schoettes, HIV project director at Lambda Legal, the oldest and largest national legal organization dedicated to the LGBT community and people living with HIV/AIDS. “Being part of a group will help plug people into all sorts of political options, whether it be making a phone call to a legislator, writing a letter, showing up at a protest or showing up to lobby a state legislature on a designated lobby day,” says Schoettes.
Joining these groups can help focus your HIV advocacy and link you to a number of powerful people in the community; doing this will also help give your words weight. Depending on your passions and the amount of time you’re able to commit, you can choose a large and general organization, like the Global Network of People Living with HIV or the Positive Women’s Network–USA, or a highly targeted one, like the Positive Justice Project, which focuses on HIV criminalization.
