HNP Dispatch: 2022 Year End Review

The Health Not Prisons Collective is an intersectional national initiative launched in 2020 by Counter Narrative Project (CNP), Positive Women’s Network – USA (PWN), Sero Project, Transgender Law Center (TLC), and the U.S. Caucus of People Living with HIV (the HIV Caucus) — longtime collaborators led by, and accountable to, communities most affected by HIV criminalization in the United States.

The Health Not Prisons Dispatch is a quarterly bulletin highlighting recent developments relevant to criminalization and policing of people living with HIV in the United States, along with upcoming events, relevant resources, and opportunities to get involved.

HNP prioritizes authentic engagement, activation, training, and leadership rooted in our principles and deep investment in our communities. To that end, we want to hear from you! For more information about the coalition, ways to get involved, or efforts you would like to see the Collective support, email Elena Ferguson at hnp@pwn-usa.org.

Greetings subscribers!

For those who don’t know me, my name is Elena Ferguson. In addition to daylighting as a Policy Specialist at Positive Women’s Network, I also write the Health Not Prisons Dispatch every quarter. I wanted to break the 4th wall and introduce myself because we have a very special edition of the Health Not Prisons Dispatch this quarter!

This time, we’re using the dispatch to celebrate all of HNP’s accomplishments from the past year and to look back on the progress that we’ve made towards ending HIV criminalization in our priority states. In 2022, each of the HNP partner organizations worked tirelessly to advance HIV decriminalization efforts and shed a light on what it means to decarcerate public health.

The HNP Collective will be back in the new year with new programs, new state-based decriminalization efforts, and more educational opportunities. Thank you so much for subscribing to this newsletter and joining us as we work towards a world where people living can lead healthy and dignified lives free from the fear of criminalization.

-Elena Ferguson (she/her)

Big Wins for HNP! HNP Advocate Spotlight

In December 2021, the Health Not Prisons Collective launched the HNP Advocate Program.  In response to our commitment to elevate racial justice in the HIV decriminalization movement, HNP started this initiative to resource and support the leadership of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) living with HIV within HIV decriminalization coalitions and legislative advocacy.

We selected four advocates from states with already established HIV decriminalization coalitions working on legislative efforts: Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. We intentionally prioritized funding advocates in the U.S. South—where most of the epidemic is centered and where most women living with HIV in the U.S. reside—because of the significant social and political barriers to ending HIV criminalization within those states.

The HNP Collective has provided our advocates with financial resources, mentorship, and technical-assistance coaching. This past year, our advocates have spoken on panels about HIV criminalization in their home states, traveled to important conferences like the U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS in Puerto Rico, and advocated fiercely for their respective state’s HIV criminalization laws to be modernized. Join us in celebrating them!

Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to become an advocate. Because of you all, I am able to come outside of my comfort zone and tell my story. This month I am celebrating one year of being an advocate. That is because you all had faith in me that I could do this. My biggest accomplishment is meeting each and every one of you here. You all gave me the love and support that I need to continue my advocacy to become the advocate that I am today.

– Lashanda Salinas, Tennessee Health Not Prisons Advocate

HNP has been a great experience! I had the opportunity to meet other advocates from different states and learn from them on what they are doing in their coalition to change laws that impact people living with HIV like myself. HNP gave me an opportunity to advocate and educate people on the REPEAL Act (H.R. 6111). Among being a part of the HNP cohort I had the amazing opportunity to speak with people living with HIV and our allies at the Positive Living Conference in Fort Walton, Florida. HNP has helped me to elevate my voice and stand in my truth that one day PLHIV will experience seeing our state laws changed or reformed for good. I look forward to continuing the conversations in my community about HNP and being a successful advocate. HNP rocks!

– Rymsky Evans, Mississippi Health Not Prisons Advocate

HNP on the Road

I have learned so much and gained an exceedingly large amount of gratitude and foundation building of knowledge, and people to help in this fight. I can’t express the gratitude I have for Ms. Waheedah [Shabazz-El] and Elena [Ferguson], y’all have and still do help us make this work more burden free with all y’all do.

– Baile Martin, Louisiana Health Not Prisons Advocate

Dog Days of Summer: Webinars, Webinars, and More Webinars

HNP ended its first summer on a high note! We spent the month of August educating different audiences on a wide range of topics related to HIV criminalization. If you missed any of these wonderful webinars, check out the recordings below!

HNP takes St. Louis! In July, Elena Ferguson, PWN Policy Specialist and HNP Coordinator presented on a panel entitled “Black Movement Lawyering & HIV Justice” at Law For Black Lives’ Lawyering for Liberation Conference in St. Louis. Alongside her fellow panelists, Eric Paulk, Deputy Director of Georgia Equality, and S. Mandisa Moore O’Neal, Executive Director of The Center for HIV Law and Policy, Elena discussed the important role of Black movement lawyers in HIV advocacy and envisioning radical strategies for litigation and policy advocacy.

HNP attends its first Let’s Talk About Sex. In August, Elena Ferguson represented HNP on a panel entitled “Nothing About Us Without Us! Liberating Black Bodies Through the Lens of HIV and Reproductive Justice” at Let’s Talk About Sex, SisterSong’s annual conference and the largest Reproductive Justice conference in the country

Moving the Needle: Federal Advocacy

Moving the Needle: State-Based Advocacy

While HIV criminalization is often thought of as a state issue, there are ways the federal government can, and must, help end HIV criminalization. HNP has been diligently engaging with federal partners to demand administrative and congressional action.

As a reminder: On December 1, 2021, President Biden called on states to reform their HIV criminalization laws in his World AIDS Day Remarks. On that same day, White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) and Director Harold Phillips released the new National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS), 2022-2025. The NHAS specifically included the goal of reducing HIV-related stigma and discrimination by (among other tactics) encouraging states to repeal or update their HIV-specific criminal laws. If you’re reading this, you probably already know such laws are stigmatizing, out-of-date, and do nothing to keep communities safe or healthy.

In 2022, the White House made some progress on those promises to address HIV criminalization. In April, Harold Phillips, Director of the ONAP named addressing HIV criminalization as one of ONAP’s Top 5 Priorities. Additionally, on August 29, 2022, ONAP released the NHAS’s Federal Implementation Plan (FIP), which outlines the action that different offices and agencies will take over the next three years to meet the goals set in the NHAS, including promoting the reform of state HIV criminalization laws.

The US PLHIV Caucus carefully read and analyzed the Implementation Plan and published Filling the Gaps: A PLHIV Networks response to the NHAS Federal Implementation Plan, on World AIDS Day 2022 to address what is and is not included in the Plan. The analysis and recommendations in Filling the Gaps was guided by the Demanding Better: An HIV Federal Policy Agenda by People living with HIV, which celebrated its first anniversary this year! Issue area 4 in Filling the Gaps is exclusively dedicated to ending HIV criminalization and adapting surveillance activities to better protect human rights for people living with and vulnerable to HIV.

Importantly, the recommendations in Filling the Gaps are not exhaustive of the actions the federal government must take to fully support people living with HIV in the ways we need. Rather they are reflective of priority actions we see as necessary to fill in the gaps in the Implementation Plan within the three-year time span provided in the NHAS.

We won by elevating human rights, informed consent, and health data privacy for PLHIV!

HNP Partner organizations achieved a significant long-fought win in October 2022, when the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) unanimously passed a historic resolution that is critical to protecting the human rights and dignity of people living with HIV, the Resolution on Molecular HIV Surveillance and Cluster Detection Response. This resolution responds to concerns raised by public health officials, networks of people living with HIV, community advocates, and human rights and data privacy experts. 

It urges the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to change their guidance on molecular HIV surveillance and cluster detection and response (MHS/CDR) activities. This win is a prime example of what it looks like when PLHIV networks have a seat at the table where decisions are being made about the lives, health, and human rights of people living with HIV. It is also a huge victory towards halting MHS/CDR activities until our human rights concerns are fully addressed.

We demanded Congressional action to end HIV criminalization!

On August 17th, HNP launched its first federal campaign – the Ready, Set, REPEAL Campaign – to call on the U.S. Congress to pass the REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act of 2022, H.R. 6111. We kicked off our campaign with a webinar and panel discussion, followed by the official release of the Ready, Set, REPEAL Toolkit for Advocates, which includes background info on the REPEAL Act, sample letters and social media posts, and scripts to use as a launching off point during meetings with representatives, so anyone can become an outstanding advocate in the fight for the passage of the REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act.

In September, we continued to build on the initial success of the Ready, Set, REPEAL Campaign by organizing 11 Days of Action: one day for each year the REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act has been languishing in the U.S. House of Representatives. During the 11 days, advocates signed a pledge to support the campaign and emailed their U.S. House Representative. It is not too late to sign the pledge form or email your Representative! Listen to REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act sponsor, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, and help us fight to end HIV criminalization!

In response to the initial momentum around our Ready, Set, REPEAL Campaign, Sero Project Program Director, Kamaria Laffery, and PWN Policy Director, Kelly Flannery were invited to speak at an in-person congressional briefing to discuss HIV criminalization and the REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act.

New States Modernize their HIV Criminalization Laws

In 2022, multiple states took exciting steps toward HIV decriminalization by either modernizing or repealing their laws.

Sex workers are disproportionately harmed by laws and penalties that target people based on HIV-positive status. Yet HIV decriminalization efforts have not consistently centered or elevated the leadership of sex workers. We also celebrate progress made on decriminalizing sex work and all other forms of policing, surveillance and criminalization that threaten the health and lives of our people. For example:

  • California: On July 1st, California Gov. Newsom signed into law S.B. 357, a.k.a the Safer Streets for All Act. This is an important legislative win and, although it does not decriminalize sex work in California, it does repeal a provision of California law that criminalizes “loitering with the intent to engage in prostitution.” This kind of arrest for loitering is based on a police officer’s subjective opinion, and often results in the disproportionate harassment and criminalization of BIPOC trans women.

While HNP celebrated several wins stateside this year, some harmful legislation also passed this year. Throughout the month of November, the PWN-Pennsylvania chapter, the Pennsylvania HIV Justice Alliance, the Sero Project, and HNP mobilized against the sudden resurrection of Pennsylvania’s H.B. 103, a harmful bill that created additional criminal penalties for people with communicable diseases, including people living with HIV. Unfortunately the bill was signed into law. Nevertheless, we built a powerful network in opposition to H.B. 103, including  over 150 Pennsylvanians and 85 organizations all opposed to using punishment and incarceration to deal with public health issues. While we may have lost this battle, we will not stop fighting until Pennsylvanians living with HIV can lead full and dignified lives free from the threat of criminalization

Shedding Light on the Epicenter of the HIV Epidemic: the American South

The South is currently considered the epicenter of the HIV epidemic in the United States, comprising just over half of new HIV diagnoses according to the latest data. The dangerous mixture of high rates of poverty, patchwork and inaccessible insurance coverage, and the ongoing harms of HIV criminalization laws can often make it difficult for Southerners living with HIV to receive the healthcare that they need and live their lives free from state-sanctioned surveillance and violence. There are folks in the HIV justice movement who are trying to shed light on the unique experiences, challenges, and opportunities of living with HIV in the U.S. South.

Here’s an example out of Mississippi: in September 2022, AIDS United launched its inaugural AIDS Watch-At-Home convening series in Jackson, Mississippi. Hosting the convening in Jackson provided an exciting opportunity for Mississippians to come together for two packed days of community building, education, and advocacy training for HIV/AIDS activists and allies. The two-day event took place concurrently with two other exciting events: ‘Change the Pattern’ – the tour of the AIDS Memorial Quilt through the US South to highlight and honor BIPOC lives lost to HIV and AIDS – presented by Southern AIDS Coalition (SAC) and the National AIDS Memorial and MS Capital City Pride.

Our HNP Advocate, Rymsky Evans, who attended this  programming in Jackson had this to say, “Being a black woman with HIV is Mississippi and knowing that the AIDS Quilts was making their first stop here was very emotional and exciting…Today because of the experience I had with the events around Changing The Pattern and the AIDS quilts I decided to keep on thriving and being an advocate for all those who are most impacted by HIV and being apart of bringing an end to the epidemic.” To learn more about Rymsky’s experiences as a black woman living with HIV, who is fighting against HIV criminalization in Mississippi, check out her episode of the CNN docuseries, Blind Angels.

Exciting Developments in the HIV Decriminalization Field

The Sero Project Shook Up the Field with a New Awareness Day and Exciting News

On February 28th, 2022, The Sero Project and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation launched the inaugural HIV is Not a Crime Awareness Day. The awareness day is intended to raise awareness of 1) communities impacted by the policing of a person’s health status, 2) the laws that exacerbate disenfranchisement of people living with HIV and other health conditions, and 3) the advocacy underway in the U.S. and around the world to end HIV criminalization. 

The Sero Project team is also gearing up for other big changes. On December 6th, the Sero Project celebrated their 10-year anniversary. Sero made an exciting announcement during the celebration, that current Sero Project Executive Director, Sean Strub, would be stepping down and Sero Project Program Director, Kamaria Laffrey, and Sero Project Managing Director, Tami Haught would be stepping up as Sero’s new Co-Executive Directors. We are so thrilled for Tami and Kamaria and look forward to being in thought partnership with them as they assume their new roles.

There’s a new tool for advocates around the world to learn about HIV criminalization

The Health Justice Network (HJN) released a ground-breaking, global resource this year that will aid new and old advocates in developing their analysis and understanding around HIV criminalization. On October 5th, HJN launched its HIV Justice Academy. The new course contains action toolkits, a resource library, and a free online course that provides a broad global overview of HIV criminalization. This will be a valuable resource for advocates for years to come!

Welcome CHLP’s New Executive Director Mandisa Moore-O’Neal

HNP has always valued collaboration with our allies in the HIV decriminalization field, and the Center for HIV Law and Policy (CHLP) is one of those important allies. We wholeheartedly congratulate and celebrate S. Mandisa Moore-O’Neal, who assumed the role of Executive Director in October of this year. Mandisa is a Black Feminist, cultural and political strategist, facilitator and thought partner for grassroots organizations, coalitions and initiatives that are interested in transforming conflict and confronting and shifting power and oppression. We can’t think of a better person to step into this new position and we look forward to collaborating with Mandisa and the rest of the CHLP team in the new year!

HNP Partners on the Web

HNP in the News

  1. CNP Narrative Justice Fellow, Stephen Hickes, argues for an intersectional approach to HIV criminalization that centers sex workers in an article for The Body.

  2. Adam M. Rhodes, features Sero’s Tami Haught and the Caucus’s Robert Suttle in an article about the impacts of HIV criminalization for The Appeal.

  3. HNP Advocate, Lashanda Salinas, shares her own experiences with HIV criminalization to Amelia Abraham for an article and podcast for The Guardian in recognition of World AIDS Day.

  4. CNP Narrative Justice Fellow, Stephen Hickes, calls attention to HNP and allies mobilization against Pennsylvania’s HB 103 in a blog post for The Reckoning.

Counter Narrative Project

Over the past year, CNP has been churning out amazing content! Their blog, The Reckoning, even got nominated for a GLAAD Media Award. 

  1. On November 29th, the Counter Narrative Project Published a piece by Darian Aaron entitled,  “Black Men Disproportionately Impacted By Louisiana HIV Criminalization Law, New Report Finds”

  2. On October 31st, the Counter Narrative Project Published a piece by Leslie Anne Frye-Thomas entitled, “Actor André De Shields Merges Art and Activism, Advocates for Modernization of HIV Criminalization Laws”

  3. CNP also created a HIV Criminalization reel and TikTok to accompany the article about André De Sheilds.

  4. CNP produced a new new video, “How journalists should report on HIV Decriminalization” that can be found on CNP’s YouTube page.

  5. CNP Narrative Justice fellow Michael Ward reflected on being shamed by an HIV Testing Counselor for a CNP TikTok.

  6. CNP created a new reel to breakdown the findings of the Williams Institute’s latest report on the impact of HIV criminalization in Louisiana.

Positive Women’s Network

  1. PWN Co-Executive Director, Naina Khanna was featured in a Bloomberg News article about refocusing the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  2. PWN’s vocal opposition to H.B. 103 in Pennsylvania was featured here: Pennsylvania Governor Signs “Irresponsible” Law to Criminalize HIV, STIs

  3. In the wake of the Dobbs decision (mentioned above), PWN Co-Executive Director, Naina Khanna, authored a powerful piece urging those within the HIV justice movement to join in the fight against reproductive oppression and to come out publicly in support of abortion access. In addition, HNP and PWN released a joint statement furthering our collective commitment to fighting against intersectional forms of criminalization like abortion criminalization for Poz.

The Sero Project

  1. The Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) recognized the inaugural HIV is Not a Crime Awareness Day on its blog.

  2. Shawn Decker broke the news of Sean Strub stepping down as Sero’s Executive Director and Kamaria Laffrey and Tami Haught in an article for Poz.

The U.S. People Living with HIV Caucus

  1. The Caucus was spotlighted in one article and one NPR broadcast about dangers of MHS in an article for CNN.

  2. Tim Murphy sheds light on an aspect of HIV criminalization that U.S. PLHIV has experienced firsthand: the forced registration of PLHIV on their states sex offender registry in an article for Poz.

Transgender Law Center

  1. TLC showed their support for New York State Assembly member Jessica González-Rojas plans to  introduce a bill to decriminalize the sexual activity of people living with sexually transmitted infections in an article for The Advocate.

  2. TLC reflected on the emerging trend of red states like Texas to use the power of medical board to ban gender-affirming care.

  3. TLC Executive Director, Kris Hayashi, reflected on what the fall of Roe. vs. Wade means for people of trans experience seeking both reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare for The American Prospect.

The Health Not Prisons Collective remains as committed as ever to fighting for the decarceration of public health and the right for people living with HIV to not be criminalized based on their status. We will continue to honor our principles in the new year and each of you for following our journey this past year. We will continue this fight in 2023, will you join us?

If you are someone who has served on a Ryan White Part A Planning Council, please take the Sero Project Survey to help them better understand your experience.

Published: January 12th, 2023