POZ October/November 2025

IMPORTANT FACTS FOR BIKTARVY®

This is only a brief summary of important information about BIKTARVY® and does not replace talking to your healthcare provider about your condition and your treatment.

MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT BIKTARVY

BIKTARVY may cause serious side e ects, including:

` Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. Your healthcare provider will test you for HBV. If you have both HIV-1 and HBV, your HBV may suddenly get worse if you stop taking BIKTARVY. Do not stop taking BIKTARVY without fi rst talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to check your health regularly for several months, and may give you HBV medicine.

ABOUT BIKTARVY

BIKTARVY is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in adults and children who weigh at least 55 pounds. It can either be used in people who have never taken HIV-1 medicines before, or people who are replacing their current HIV-1 medicines and whose healthcare provider determines they meet certain requirements.

BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS. HIV-1 is the virus that causes AIDS.

Do NOT take BIKTARVY if you also take a medicine that contains:

` dofetilide

` rifampin

` any other medicines to treat HIV-1

BEFORE TAKING BIKTARVY

Tell your healthcare provider if you:

` Have or have had any kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis infection.

` Have any other health problems.

` Are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. Tell your healthcare provider if you become pregnant while taking BIKTARVY.

` Are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Talk to your healthcare provider about the risks of breastfeeding during treatment with BIKTARVY. Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take:

` Keep a list that includes all prescription and over-thecounter medicines, antacids, laxatives, vitamins, and herbal supplements, and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist.

` BIKTARVY and other medicines may a ect each other. Ask your healthcare provider and pharmacist about medicines that interact with BIKTARVY, and ask if it is safe to take BIKTARVY with all your other medicines.

POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF BIKTARVY

BIKTARVY may cause serious side e ects, including:

` Those in the “Most Important Information About BIKTARVY” section.

` Changes in your immune system. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections that may have been hidden in your body. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any new symptoms after you start taking BIKTARVY.

` Kidney problems, including kidney failure. Your healthcare provider should do blood and urine tests to check your kidneys. If you develop new or worse kidney problems, they may tell you to stop taking BIKTARVY.

` Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious but rare medical emergency that can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, stomach pain with nausea and vomiting, cold or blue hands and feet, feel dizzy or lightheaded, or a fast or abnormal heartbeat.

` Severe liver problems , which in rare cases can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, or stomach-area pain.

` The most common side e ects of BIKTARVY in clinical studies were diarrhea (6%), nausea (6%), and headache (5%).

These are not all the possible side e ects of BIKTARVY. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any new symptoms while taking BIKTARVY. You are encouraged to report negative side e ects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.FDA.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Your healthcare provider will need to do tests to monitor your health before and during treatment with BIKTARVY.

HOW TO TAKE BIKTARVY

Take BIKTARVY 1 time each day with or without food.

GET MORE INFORMATION

` This is only a brief summary of important information about BIKTARVY. Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist to learn more.

` Go to BIKTARVY.com or call 1-800-GILEAD-5.

` If you need help paying for your medicine, visit BIKTARVY.com for program information.

People featured take BIKTARVY and are compensated by Gilead.

Please

BIKTARVY® is approved for more people than ever

BIKTARVY is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in certain adults. BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS.

Scan to learn more about BIKTARVY.

#ADVOCACY

Fighting against HIV and AIDS has always been a struggle. Much work remains to end the epidemic. POZ encourages you to get involved in advocacy. Go to poz.com/ advocacy to find the latest news and learn how you can make a difference in the fight. D #CRIMINALIZATION

Advocates around the world are working to change laws that criminalize HIV, which harm people living with the virus. For more information and to learn how to get involved in reform efforts to make such laws reflect current science, go to poz.com/criminalization

D #UNDETECTABLE

The science is clear: People who have an undetectable viral load don’t transmit HIV sexually. In addition to keeping people healthy, effective HIV treatment also means HIV prevention. Go to poz.com/undetectable for more. D

POZ DIGITAL

Scan the QR code (le ) with your smartphone camera or go to poz.com/digital to view the current and past issues online.

Roman is a longtime HIV activist.

22 STAYING POSITIVE IN CHALLENGING TIMES Arianna Lint ghts for transgender people living with HIV. BY TIM

MURPHY

28 THE IMPORTANCE OF AIDS IN MODERN STORIES

Poet and writer Andrés N. Ordorica re ects on his debut novel. BY CHARLES SANCHEZ

16 NUTRITION & FITNESS

White fish stew; strong bones and muscles

17 BASICS

Paul Kawata gives a candid exit interview on his retirement as NMAC’s longtime executive director.

6 POZ PLANET

HRC launches the American Dreams Tour • AIDS Walk San Francisco raises more than $901K for HIV services • Louisiana upholds its HIV exposure law • POZ Stories • a new HIV clinic opens in Baton Rouge • Everyday: reflecting back on the epidemic

12 VOICES

The message from IAS 2025 was clear: The HIV movement is marching forward—again. 14

HIV awareness through art in Brooklyn, Phoenix and Washington, DC

Nutrition and HIV

18 CARE & TREATMENT

U.S. funding cuts threaten HIV treatment and prevention • can intermittent HIV treatment overcome drug shortages? • once-monthly PrEP pill shows promise • Medicaid and Obamacare cuts could hurt people with HIV

20 RESEARCH NOTES

Yeztugo for teens and young adults • trials for ulonivirine are underway • can immunemodulating drugs help to control HIV?

• doxyPEP drawbacks

32

HIV advocate Julio Roman is the executive director of the Pacific Pride Foundation.

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Beautiful Day I

‘M CONFOUNDED ON A daily basis, it seems, by the shenanigans and outright cruelty of people. It’s easy to assume those people belong to a certain political party or espouse a specific philosophy, but too often that assumption doesn’t hold up, which confounds me even more.

In particular, I find it really concerning that so many folks are obsessed with transgender people. As a fellow member of the LGBTQ community, I say without hesitation that an attack on one segment of the LGBTQ spectrum is an attack on us all. Those of us who identify as LGBTQ or as allies should be wary of the direction these attacks are taking.

fish stew. Not only is it delicious, but it also very much connects me to my Latino roots. Go to page 16 for details—plus exercise advice.

So with all that as background, I’m more than pleased to congratulate Arianna Lint, our cover subject, for her determination not to let current circumstances stand in the way of advocating for herself and other transgender people living with HIV. Her positive attitude and forward-looking perspective deserve all our attention. Go to page 22 to learn more about her work and future plans.

As an immigrant from Peru, Arianna also brings a Latino perspective to her advocacy. She is a great representative for this special issue focusing on Latinos. Poet and writer Andrés N. Ordorica offers another angle on Latino representation. He has an understanding of the importance of including AIDS in modern stories. Go to page 28 for more.

Another Latino advocate is Julio Roman. Currently, he is the executive director of the Pacific Pride Foundation in Santa Barbara, California—he previously was vice president of the Latino Commission on AIDS. Protecting his fellow Latinos from HIV has been a lifelong mission. Go to page 32 to read more.

Food is not only necessary—it often gives us a sense of community and identity. Also, as people living with HIV, proper nutrition is crucial to our health. That’s why we’ve been running our Nutrition & Fitness page for the past few years. I don’t often call attention to it, but I highly recommend the recipe for white

Global health expert and HIV advocate (and former POZ cover subject!) Jirair Ratevosian wrote an opinion piece for POZ.com titled “The HIV Movement Is Marching Forward—Again.”

In the piece, he describes his experience at the 13th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science. Despite U.S. funding cuts and the resulting uncertainty, Jirair was inspired by the gathering. Go to page 12 to read an excerpt. After nearly four decades of service to the HIV community, Paul Kawata, executive director of NMAC (formerly the National Minority AIDS Council), is retiring, effective October 7. Go to page 4 to read his candid exit interview. He addresses personal trauma, the dismantling of our national HIV response and his need to step down from leadership to care for himself. Go to the back of this issue for a Spanishlanguage version of the POZ drug chart and the middle of the issue for POZ en Español.

ORIOL R. GUTIERREZ JR. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF editor-in-chief@poz.com Want to read more from Oriol? Follow him on X @oriolgutierrez and check out blogs.poz.com/oriol.

FAREWELL TO PAUL KAWATA

The executive director of NMAC gives a candid exit interview on his retirement.

AFTER NEARLY FOUR DECADES OF SERVICE TO THE HIV community, Paul Kawata, executive director of NMAC (formerly the National Minority AIDS Council), is retiring, effective October 7.

It has been a remarkable tenure that includes Kawata’s work helping to launch cornerstone convenings, such as the United States Conference on HIV/AIDS, the Biomedical HIV Prevention Summit and the Coalition for Justice and Equality Across Movements.

It comes at a personal cost, however, as Kawata reveals in this candid interview with POZ contributing writer Mark S. King. Here, Kawata addresses personal trauma, the heartbreaking dismantling of our national HIV response and his need to escape the grueling pressures of national leadership to take care of himself.

Paul, I’m hoping you’ll be even more candid than usual. Are you game?

I love NMAC too much to get the agency or the movement in any trouble. So let’s just say that this is what Paul Kawata, the individual, thinks.

You got it. So how are you feeling right now as you retire?

I am fragile, honestly. I am exhausted. Right now, watching decades of work get taken apart in such a short time has been heartbreaking. It has really been very traumatizing in ways that are different from the early days.

The distress you are expressing right now is what is bubbling up in every HIV community meeting I have attended this year. We’ve committed our lives to this. Watching it get decimated has broken my heart. So that’s why I say I’m exhausted. I want to give myself time to find my smile again. I used to have fun. I was wild and outrageous. The last months have done me in.

How will you get better?

I am very aware of how broken I am. As professionals in this field, we put on a facade

about how well we’re handling everything. But now, as a person who is leaving, I want to let people know that it is OK to acknowledge your trauma.

Here’s something to make you smile. You have the most whimsical wardrobe of any HIV figure in the country. Your bedazzled sports jackets are legendary. There was an extraordinary woman named Judy Peabody—a New York socialite and very glamorous. She invited me into her world because her designer friends were dying of AIDS. She wore a fabulous necklace once, and I said I liked it, and she went, “Harry.” And I thought, Harry? She meant Harry Winston. She said, “We have to bring a little sparkle into this awful world.”

So these jackets are your tribute to Judy. Yes, to bring beauty into a world that was ugly. I sold all those jackets. I gave the money to a suicide hotline.

Here’s a lightning round of statements for you to complete for me. “My biggest out-of-body moment during my years of work was when…”

When my friend Michael Hirsch died. He was the founder of the New York People with AIDS Coalition and one of the first to take me under his wing. I remember holding his hand when they turned the machine off, and a single tear rolled down his cheek. He would always sign his letters “Yours in the struggle,” and I sign all my emails that way.

“We will not end this epidemic without…” A new election.

“The most common mistake organizational leaders make is…” To not heal themselves. To take on all of the stuff and try to fix the world. If I’ve learned anything this year, it is that it is not my fault.

I was in a meeting with you and other agencies once, and at one point, you asked the group, “What’s in it for the constituencies NMAC represents?” It was a stark statement. I admired it. What we’re seeing right now is that large segments of our community will be decimated by the cuts coming. What differentiates the people is the color of their skin, their sexual orientation, their gender identity. What most of us thought was litigated is being relitigated. We’re in this tidal wave. The efforts to get rid of diversity, equity and inclusion are all about racism.

What should our long-range strategy be?

First, you’ve got to vote. Like we’ve never turned out before. Second, we have to understand that this is not forever. There was a time when I thought if I had to go to another funeral, I wasn’t going to make it. We made it through. This is so much bigger than any of us. We are fighting for justice. The third thing is technology. We have a whole new set of technologies in the pipeline. Imagine when we have an at-home viral load test, etc. Technology is going to make this better. I hope it will be in time.

We all have regrets. I won’t make you list any of yours.

Hey, honey, I can list plenty. If anyone says they didn’t make mistakes, they’re lying.

But how does a leader like you set aside their missteps and keep plugging away? Therapy. A good therapist will tell you when you are full of shit.

A therapist once ended our session by telling me, “I think our work together has come to an end, as much as I would like to continue discussing your blog.” That’s a good therapist.

You are HIV negative, correct? I am very happy for you about that. Yes. I don’t talk about it very much. I thought if I said I was negative it would imply stigma against HIV-positive people. When I was asked to be part of

Someone I loved dearly died early in the epidemic….

You’re getting quiet. Paul, are you OK? This is the trauma of the work. I fell in love with somebody who died early on. I dated afterward, and all of them died.

I definitely hear you. I dated someone in the early years who was HIV negative, and he finally told me, “I lost someone. I can’t do it again.” And that was it. And I couldn’t argue with that. Oh, Paul, now you’re going to get us both crying.

When you go through that kind of loss you can’t heal.

Paul Kawata

“This is so much bigger than any of us.”

the original NAPWA [National Association of People with AIDS], Michael Callen said to me, “We need someone to live to tell our story.”

A lot of organizations lose a beloved executive director and then things get rocky for the next person. How can organizations carry on without putting the new director in an impossible position?

I was worried about this. I spent time looking for my successor. I worked hard to help find someone capable and even better than me. The decision was up to our board of directors. We are in transition planning now.

What will you be doing the week after you officially retire?

The best thing I can do is go away and shut the fuck up. I need a minimum of six months on a beach.

Do you have a boyfriend? You need someone on that beach beside you.

Let’s carry on. A lot of advocates reading this may have been very young—or not have been born—when you started at NMAC. What is your parting message to them as they begin their journey in the HIV arena?

First, if we can do it, anybody can do it. This is one of those careers where until you’re down in the mud, you can’t understand. Second, there are other jobs in the world. Be sure you want this. It takes your heart and soul. No matter how successful you are, we still live in a world with homophobia and racism and sexism. This work sits at the epicenter of all those issues.

This seems insufficient, Paul, but allow me to thank you for your service to our community.

I got so much more out of this than I ever gave. I didn’t expect to have such a big life. I was supposed to be a dentist! I was in dental school. Can you imagine the hell my life would have been if I had been a dentist? Q

The Human Rights Campaign addresses the realities of HIV today. HRC LAUNCHES AMERICAN DREAMS TOUR

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) announced in July the launch of the American Dreams Tour: Equality Across America—a nationwide initiative to spotlight LGBTQ resilience, resistance and joy at a time of rising political attacks and cultural erasure. The tour, which started in July in Columbus, Ohio, runs through November 2025, traveling to cities and towns across the country to celebrate the communities pushing back against hate and fighting for a future of equality for all.

The American Dreams Tour comes amid an unprecedented wave of attacks against LGBTQ people—from bans on genderaffirming care and curriculum censorship to anti-trans legislation and HIV funding cuts. These attacks aren’t happening in isolation. They’re part of a coordinated strategy by far-right extremists, from the White House to the courthouse, to silence our stories, undermine our health and erase us from public life.

“The American dream has never belonged to just one kind of person. It’s been built by people who dared to demand more—by women who marched, by workers who organized, by Black folks who bled for freedom and by LGBTQ people who refused to disappear. And every time this country tried to erase us, we rebuilt something stronger— with our stories, our truth and our refusal to be silent,” said Kelley Robinson, president of HRC and the HRC Foundation.

“For half a century, our movement has changed hearts and minds with our stories—Harvey Milk in the Castro, Pedro Zamora on The Real World, trans youth and parents coming forward in statehouses across the country. When people know who we really are, everything changes. This tour is about reclaiming that legacy. We’re traveling to the places where harm is happening—and where hope is rising. We’re showing up for communities who’ve been told they don’t belong and reminding them, and the country, that they are the American dream.”

The tour coincides with the launch of HRC’s “One Million Voices for Equality”—a nationwide campaign to engage one million LGBTQ people and allies and put a renewed focus on one of the most powerful tools we have for changing hearts, minds and policies: our personal stories. This initiative will be deeply embedded within the American Dreams Tour, and

each stop will feature training by HRC Foundation’s “Voices for Equality” storytelling program. These trainings help people harness their personal experiences as tools for change—whether speaking with their neighbors, engaging with lawmakers or posting content on their social media channels.

“For years, our movement made critical progress through legal strategies and electoral victories. While those efforts must and will continue, at this moment, it’s clear that building lasting equality requires us to expand support, shift narratives and grow the visible, vocal community of people standing on the side of LGBTQ equality,” Robinson added.

“Together, with one million voices raised, we will change hearts, shape minds and build the foundation for lasting equality.”

To accompany the tour, HRC has a new YouTube series, Equality Across America, that captures stories from the tour and around the country rooted in LGBTQ joy and resilience. The series helped relaunch HRC’s YouTube channel as a space with more fresh, conversational and curated content.

The American Dreams Tour will anchor in six major cities, with rural and suburban activations woven throughout. The remaining dates in the tour will be announced.

• Columbus, Ohio (July 30–31): A launch in the heartland that honors Ohio’s legacy of LGBTQ activism while confronting today’s political backslide and barriers to HIV care;

• Las Vegas (August 23): A national visibility moment tied to coalition-building events with health care and LGBTQ leaders;

• Washington, DC (September 13): A strategic spotlight during HRC’s National Dinner and Equality Convention, with policy-focused engagements;

• Dallas (September 19–20): Ground zero for LGBTQ legislative attacks and a hub for organizing around transgender justice and health access;

• Atlanta (October 11–12): Aligning with Atlanta Pride, this stop amplifies Black LGBTQ leadership and community-led care models;

• Nashville (October 15–16): Celebrating HBCU leadership and youth power with a focus on Southern storytelling, safety and HIV prevention and care.

Go to AmericanDreamsHRC.org for more information. —HRC

Raising Over $901K for HIV Services

AIDS Walk San Francisco has supported community groups since 1987.

Thousands of people living with HIV and their friends and family members showed their support and raised money for HIV and AIDS organizations in the Bay Area at this year’s AIDS Walk San Francisco.

AIDS Walk SF returned to Golden Gate Park Sunday, July 20, in support of 18 co-benefiting organizations, including the University of California, San Francisco, Rainbow Community Center and Rafiki Coalition for Health and Wellness. At last count, this year’s 5K walk, sponsored by Gilead Sciences, had raised $901,288.

Since 1987, AIDS Walk San Francisco has inspired countless Bay Area residents to walk, volunteer and donate to fight HIV and AIDS. In total, the annual walk has raised more than $96 million for organizations across seven Bay Area counties.

In the wake of the Trump administration’s budget cuts impacting HIV and AIDS research and care, AIDS Walk SF director Bert Champagne reemphasized the purpose of the walk: to support and fund local community organizations that provide HIV services and fund other crucial operations.

“Unrestricted funds are so important to smaller organizations because sometimes it’s just getting somebody a vet visit for their emotional support animal,” Champagne said,

according to Local News Matters. “It may be legal advice for somebody that has to do their last will and testament because they’re HIV positive and the doctor gave them bad news. These are funds for things government grants won’t cover.”

California State Senator Scott Wiener (D–San Francisco), a gay man who has championed access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV and related legislation, echoed Champagne’s message.

“We’re at a point now where we know how to end this public health disaster,” he said. “We know how to keep people living with HIV healthy. We know how to end HIV transmission. Now, we have another challenge: We have another government that doesn’t care about us. It doesn’t care if people die. A government that is restricting access to health care, which is how you fuel HIV.” —Laura Schmidt

Louisiana Upholds Its HIV Exposure Law

Other states have changed or repealed such laws.

Louisiana is one of 30 states with criminal penalties related to exposing or transmitting HIV. Most of the laws were passed in the 1980s, during the emergence of the AIDS epidemic. Since then, several states have amended their laws to make them less punitive or repealed them outright, including Maryland and North Dakota this year.

But Louisiana’s law remains among the harshest. The state is one of five that may require people to register as a sex offender if convicted, a label that can follow them for over a decade. And state lawmakers considered a bill to expand the law to apply to other sexually transmitted infections but failed to pass it before the session ended.

Meanwhile, people with HIV also face the threat that federal funding

cuts will affect their access to treatment, along with prevention efforts, supportive services and outreach. Such strategies have proved to slow the HIV epidemic, unlike the laws’ punitive approach.

Public health officials maintain that state laws criminalizing HIV exposure hurt efforts to end the HIV epidemic. Epidemiologists and other experts on AIDS agree that the enforcement of such laws is often shaped by fear, not science. For example, in many states that criminalize HIV exposure, people living with HIV can face heightened criminal penalties for actions that can’t transmit the virus, such as spitting on someone. The laws further stigmatize and deter people from getting tested and treated, undermining the response to the epidemic, experts say.

At least 4,400 people in 14 states have been arrested under these laws, though data are limited and the actual number is likely higher, and the arrests aren’t decreasing, according to analyses by UCLA’s Williams Institute.

In Louisiana, a 2022 Williams Institute analysis found at least 147 allegations reported to law enforcement under the state’s HIV law from 2011 to mid-2022. Black people made up nearly three quarters of the people convicted and placed on the sex offender registry. Most were Black men. At the time of the analysis, Black people made up about two thirds of HIV diagnoses in the state. —Verite News and KFF Health News

Surviving What Was Meant to Destroy Me

Phoenix Rise found strength she didn’t know she had.

In 2014, I was 27 years old, married, homeless, a mother of two—one of them just a fragile 3-month-old baby. I was living in and out of shelters, surviving day by day with my children. My husband was mentally ill, and I was trapped in a cycle of physical, verbal and mental abuse that felt endless. One day, I stood outside a shelter with two women who had become like sisters to me. One of them looked at me and said, “Girl, are you pregnant again?” I laughed. “Heck no,” I said. “My baby is only 3 months old.” But deep down, something in me stirred. Somehow, she knew what I didn’t want to admit. I stayed in denial for months. I ignored the signs—my period never returned, my body felt off, my lymph nodes were

swollen and painful—but I pushed it all aside. Then, in December, I couldn’t ignore it anymore. I bought a pregnancy test, and when those two lines turned blue, I crumbled. I sat and cried, overwhelmed with fear, confusion and a sense of defeat I can’t even describe. I finally made a doctor’s appointment. They performed an ultrasound and told me I was having another baby girl. I was nearly 20 weeks along. They drew blood and sent me home. A week later, the clinic called me back. They said they needed to “redo something.” I asked if something was wrong. The nurse told me “No,” but my spirit knew better.

Here’s the part that still haunts me. When I was pregnant with my second daughter, two of my ex-husband’s cousins warned me. They told me he was sick. I asked what they meant, but they wouldn’t say. They just said, “Be careful with him.” When I confronted him, he gaslit me—told me his cousins were just jealous and messy and hated to see us happy. I wanted to believe him. His family was always chaotic, always drinking and fighting, so I brushed it off. But I still got tested over and over again. Every test came back negative.

Until it didn’t.

That day at the clinic, my doctor sat me down and told me the truth: I had tested positive for both chlamydia and HIV.

He said, “I remember you asking us to test you over and over again during your last pregnancy—and now I understand why.”

My heart dropped.

He reassured me that HIV was no longer a death sentence, that I would live a full life, that my baby could be born healthy, that I would be OK.

But how could I be OK?

I had spent months with no prenatal care, no medicine, no idea. And the person who gave it to me—the man who was supposed to protect me—had knowingly slept with multiple women, refused to take medication and ultimately endangered not just my life but the life of our unborn child.

My doctor explained that contracting chlamydia likely made my body more vulnerable to HIV, that if my husband had taken treatment, he might not have passed it to me at all. But he didn’t. He just kept lying, cheating and leaving behind a trail of destruction.

After that day, I couldn’t unsee the truth.

I started to realize how many women around me were in similar situations— women targeted, lied to and discarded. I feared not only for my own life but for the lives of my children. I feared judgment. I feared violence. I feared what people would say, how they

would look at me, what they might do to me—because of him.

But I kept going. I gave birth. I loved my children. I found strength I didn’t know I had. I started healing. I am still healing.

This is my truth.

I didn’t deserve what happened to me. And if you’re reading this and you’ve gone through something similar, you didn’t either.

We are not broken.

We are not dirty.

We are not shameful.

We are not weak.

We are survivors.

And our truth—no matter how painful—is power.

What adjectives best describe you? Loyal, honest, respectful.

What is your greatest achievement? Finishing college and working in health care.

What is your greatest regret?

Never making my ex-husband get tested.

What keeps you up at night? Nothing. I sleep like a beautiful baby because YWYH is great!

If you could change one thing about living with HIV, what would it be? Not to live in fear of the stigma and to be free and open with my status.

What is the best advice you ever received?

Don’t allow the voices around you to drown the voice coming from within.

What person in the HIV community do you most admire?

Her name is LadyByrd. She’s an HIV educator. I love that she lives her life open. I hope to do the same some day.

What drives you to do what you do?

I’m in the process of becoming a doctor of osteopathic medicine. I want to help other women like me.

What is your motto? It is what it is.

If you had to evacuate your house immediately, what is the one thing you would grab on the way out?

My children—all five of them.

If you could be any animal, what would you be? And why?

A phoenix, because I’ve always come back no matter what.

Read other POZ Stories or share your own at poz.com/stories.

New HIV Clinic in Baton Rouge

The Louisiana city has one of the highest rates of new U.S. HIV cases.

To expand access to HIV prevention and care in Louisiana, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) opened an AHF Health Center in Baton Rouge, according to WAFB News.

In 2022, Louisiana ranked fourth in the country for new HIV diagnoses (18.6 per 100,000 population) and 12th in the estimated number of overall HIV diagnoses, according to recent data from the Louisiana Department of Health. What’s more, Black people in the state experience disproportionate rates; in 2023, they accounted for 68% of new HIV cases.

In 2023, there were 875 new HIV diagnoses statewide. Of those, 133 were in East Baton Rouge Parish, which landed it in the top five cities nationwide in terms of new HIV diagnoses.

In Baton Rouge and its surrounding cities, many people face barriers to timely and effective HIV care, including

EVERYDAY

October

11

low income, food insecurity and lack of housing and transportation, according to AHF mobilizer and advocacy consultant Sashika Baunchand.

Baton Rouge clinic

The new AHF Health Center aims to broaden access to HIV services to those most at risk in Baton Rouge.

The HIV specialty clinic will offer primary care services from HIV specialists, including HIV and sexually transmitted infection screenings,

pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) services, HIV treatment and more. It will also feature wellness days for people 14 years or older to get tested and treated for HIV regardless of their ability to pay.

Erika Forbes, a family nurse practitioner, will be the lead provider at the clinic. Forbes told WAFB that eliminating barriers to HIV care is vital to reducing the rate of new diagnoses and lowering the risk of other HIV-related conditions.

According to Forbes, the number of people in the Baton Rouge area seeking HIV care has nearly doubled over the last five years. She hopes the new clinic will encourage at-risk individuals to access care without stigma or fear of judgment.

The clinic is located at 8425 Cumberland Place in Baton Rouge. It’s open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. —Laura Schmidt

These dates represent milestones in the HIV epidemic. Visit poz.com/aidsiseveryday to learn more about the history of HIV and AIDS. BY

ACT UP New York and the ACT NOW coalition organize the SEIZE CONTROL OF THE FDA PROTEST at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, to demand that the agency speed up the research, development and approval of drugs for AIDS. (1988)

4

November

THE HEALTH OMNIBUS PROGRAMS EXTENSION (HOPE) ACT becomes the first comprehensive federal AIDS bill and establishes the National Commission on AIDS and the Office of AIDS Research at the National Institutes of Health. (1988)

15 i d

During a daily press briefing, President Ronald Reagan’s acting press secretary, LARRY SPEAKES, mocks the first reporter to ask him to comment on the growing AIDS epidemic. (1982)

NATIONAL LATINX AIDS AWARENESS DAY

8

ANGELS IN AMERICA: PERESTROIKA, the second part of Tony Kushner’s epic play about AIDS, premieres at the Mark Taper Forum Theatre in Los Angeles. (1992)

27

Seven AIDS activists are arrested after stripping naked inside U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER’s office in Washington, DC, to protest possible cuts to HIV and AIDS funding as part of the “fiscal cliff” negotiations. (2012)

“

“When I was first diagnosed, I didn’t know anyone else with HIV whose background was similar to mine. So I decided to become my own role model, and hopefully help other Latinx men living with HIV see they can have a full life too.” — GABRIEL FROM ORLANDO, FLORIDA BE

cdc.gov/HIVTreatmentWorks

MARCHING FORWARD

Global health expert and HIV advocate Jirair Ratevosian, DrPH, wrote an opinion piece for POZ.com titled “The HIV Movement Is Marching Forward—Again.” Below is an edited excerpt.

THOSE WHO KNOW ME KNOW

that I’m obsessed with Keith Haring—his art, his activism and everything he represents culturally. He was more than a visionary artist; he was a truth teller who made HIV visible through bold lines and public murals at a time when silence was deadly. With this year’s relentless attacks on science, LGBTQ rights and public health, I’ve o en found myself wondering: What would Keith Haring draw right now? What would he say in this moment of crisis?

But I didn’t expect him to show up in Rwanda.

And yet, there he was in Kigali— his unmistakable imagery projected onscreen during the International AIDS Society’s (IAS) opening plenary of IAS 2025, the 13th IAS Conference on HIV Science, which took place in Kigali from July 13 to 17. Haring was invoked by the remarkable Dr. Linda-Gail Bekker, CEO of the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation and director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre. She wasn’t just referencing art. She was reigniting memory—calling back to an era when advocacy was raw, loud and o en lifesaving. She reminded us that the HIV movement was forged

in re—in the United States and South Africa alike—and that very re is burning again in 2025.

For me, that reference was a turning point. I traveled from Washington, DC, to IAS 2025 expecting to feel hopelessness and despair. The headlines leading in were bleak: budget cuts, rising stigma, stalled progress. But that moment— Keith Haring, advocacy, resilience—was the injection of hope and inspiration we all needed. It landed in the room like a jolt of electricity. We carried that energy through the rest of the week. And boy, did it feel good.

ADVOCACY IS BACK— AND IT’S MULTIGENERATIONAL

IAS 2025 wasn’t just about showcasing progress in the lab. It was about momentum in the streets. Veteran activists who helped launch the global HIV response are returning to the ght. And they’re linking arms with a new generation of advocates: young, global, unapologetic and digitally uent. From Johannesburg to New York, Lagos to Oakland, the message is clear: We will not be erased. We will not go back.

Not back to invisibility. Not back to criminalization. Not back to fragmented

responses that ignore the needs of the most marginalized.

This is a movement that has always known how to make itself seen and heard. And in 2025, that re has been reignited in direct response to the Trump administration’s dangerous attempts to dismantle decades of progress. Activists have carried co ns to the State Department, staged die-ins and protests in the halls of Congress and reignited the streets of South Africa— not for nostalgia but for survival. That same uncompromising spirit pulsed through Kigali.

Sessions upli ed the voices of those too o en le out of decision-making: sex workers, gay men, transgender leaders, people who use drugs, migrants and young people with HIV. They weren’t just included—they were leading.

There were raw conversations about the fragility of progress, about how easy it is for global momentum to stall when politics, prejudice and poverty collide. But there was also urgency— and unity. From community-led research to self-care AI-powered models tailored to key populations, the message was clear: Communities are the front line, not the a erthought.

PROOF: ADVOCACY IS DELIVERING WINS

As activists gathered in Kigali, the U.S. Senate handed the HIV movement one of its biggest legislative wins of the year. Lawmakers removed the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) from the Trump administration’s proposed $9.4 billion rescission package—defying pressure to gut one of the world’s most successful global health programs.

The $400 million in proposed cuts to PEPFAR wasn’t just another budget line. Its removal was a signal. Bipartisan support for HIV programs remains strong, even in a polarized political climate. And it reinforced what we already know: sustained advocacy— loud, strategic and unrelenting— can still change the course of policy. More importantly, it signaled that despite deep divisions, Congress still draws a line when it comes to dismantling HIV and AIDS programs that save lives.

SCIENCE IS MOVING

Alongside the political victories, the HIV science made headlines too:

• Merck’s announcement of a Phase III trial for its long-acting once-monthly HIV prevention pill marks a major milestone, answering years of community calls for expanded options beyond daily oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

• Gilead’s new supply agreement with the Global Fund o ers promise that lifesaving HIV treatment and prevention tools will hopefully reach more people, more a ordably.

• ViiV Healthcare’s expanded voluntary licensing deal with the Medicines Patent Pool is a step toward broader access to long-acting cabotegravir in low- and middle-income countries.

• The World Health Organization released new guidance endorsing twice-yearly lenacapavir as an additional option within combination HIV prevention strategies, signaling growing momentum for long-acting tools in the global response.

None of these developments happened in a vacuum. They were catalyzed by advocates and scientists who showed up at congressional hearings, on panels, in protest and behind the scenes to insist that science without access is not progress. Taken together, these announcements—and the collective energy behind them—made IAS 2025 a historic

“THE HIV MOVEMENT WAS FORGED IN FIRE—AND THAT VERY FIRE IS BURNING AGAIN IN 2025.”

conference. I believe it belongs in the same breath as Vancouver 1996, when HIV treatment changed the course of survival; Durban 2000, which exposed global inequities in access and put Africa at the center of the response; and Vienna 2010, when PrEP emerged as a game-changing prevention tool. These were moments when science, policy and activism collided to change the trajectory of the HIV response—and Kigali now stands proudly among them.

AND THEN THERE WAS KEITH

Which brings me back to Keith Haring. Keith never made it to an IAS conference. When he died in 1990 at age 31, there was no such conference as we know it today. There was no PrEP. No Undetectable Equals Untransmittable (U=U). No Global Fund. No PEPFAR. No long-acting injectable to prevent HIV with just two shots a year. What was there? Stigma. Silence. And a whole lot of death.

And yet, Keith kept drawing.

Keith Haring’s art wasn’t just a response to crisis—it shaped the narrative of the AIDS era. At a time when political leaders ignored the epidemic and the media stigmatized those a ected, Haring’s bold lines and radiant gures cut through the silence. He brought the realities of AIDS into the streets, subways and galleries, using accessible imagery to humanize

the crisis and mobilize action. His work didn’t ask permission; it demanded attention.

So what would he be doing now?

Maybe he would be sketching vaccine syringes and PrEP pills on buildings in Los Angeles and Nairobi—transforming biomedical tools into bold symbols of hope. He’d be using public art to make complex science visible and human, cutting through stigma with color and clarity. And he’d be collaborating with young, queer, Black, brown and trans artists to amplify new voices and reimagine what access and equity in HIV prevention can look like.

More than anything, he’d be telling us: “Don’t look away.”

THE WORK CONTINUES

IAS 2025 reminded us that advocacy is not a relic of the past—it’s our most powerful tool for the future. The movement is alive.

The re is burning. And from Kigali to Congress, from clinics to community centers, from art to action, the message is clear:

We’re still here.

We’re not going back.

And we’re not done yet. Q

Jirair Ratevosian, DrPH, is a Hock fellow at the Duke Global Health Institute and a nonresident global health policy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

ART FOR CHANGE

Visual art has played a pivotal role in raising awareness of AIDS since the start of the epidemic. In the 1980s and 1990s, artists such as Keith Haring and Lola Flash and the ACT UP–affiliated collectives fierce pussy and Gran Fury employed distinctive visual styles to broadcast the fact that HIV was killing people and that the government was doing little to stop the spread of the virus.

Just think of the impact Gran Fury’s “Silence = Death” slogan and related art have had over the years. Such powerful messaging helped give rise to health activism as we know it and led to major policy changes regarding the treatment of people living with HIV and AIDS; it also helped fuel the development of new, effective treatment for HIV.

Today, despite having at our disposal the tools to end the epidemic, stigma and lack of access to health care prevent people from getting on medication to prevent HIV and getting tested for the virus—and treated if positive. And once again visual art, particularly public art, is being used—at the local and national level—to raise awareness and effect change.

With new HIV diagnoses on the rise in Arizona, the Parsons Center for Health and Wellness in Phoenix, which houses Prisma Community Care, specializing in HIV and sexual health services, unveiled a mural promoting U=U (Undetectable

Equals Untransmittable) early last spring. In Montgomery, Alabama, which has the highest number of new HIV diagnoses in the state, the Metropolitan United Methodist Church debuted a mural, late last spring, encouraging folks to get tested for HIV. And in Brooklyn, in August, the Women’s Empowerment Group, a program of Visual AIDS that supports women living with HIV through artmaking and community building, unveiled a mural focused on empowerment and resilience on the facade of a neighborhood pharmacy. The mural was produced in collaboration with Groundswell, which brings together artists, youth and community groups to use art as a tool for social change.

On the national level, on May 17, the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) displayed the 9,000-square-foot Freedom to Be quilt composed of 258 panels on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The nonprofit worked for more than a year with hundreds of trans people and their allies across the country to create the quilt. Inspired by the NAMES Project’s AIDS Memorial Quilt, Freedom to Be celebrates trans joy and trans freedom in the face of a hostile presidential administration.

Created by community for community with an eye toward improving public health, such public works of art not only educate and inspire but also beautify the spaces where they’re displayed.

1. The bold,

draws the attention of drivers, light rail passengers and pedestrians in downtown Phoenix and features the word love and the phrase “U=U,” which promotes the fact that people with suppressed virus do not transmit HIV to others.

2. Mural artists Quinn Murphy and Jake Early depicted a diverse group of healthy-looking people to show how with the right medications, most pe ople can manage HIV as a chronic illness.

3. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, former councilman Carlos Galindo-Elvira, Councilwoman Debra Stark and Councilwoman Laura Pastor attended the mural’s unveiling. Given that Arizona has seen a 20% increase in new HIV cases since 2022, slowing the spread of the virus has become a policy priority. 4. Known for engaging the community, Pastor Richard Williams (in the striped polo) hailed the Metropolitan United Methodist mural promoting HIV testing as an effective merger between art and public health. 5. Soul singer Avangelia Henry performed at the unveiling of the Women’s Empowerment mural. 6. Shirlene Cooper, founder and leader of the Women’s Empowerment Art Therapy group, which collaborated on the mural, proudly poses beside the work of art. 7. In late February, the ACLU hosted an event at the Brooklyn Museum, where supporters of trans people, worked on their panels for the Freedom to Be quilt.

Send your event photos to POZ at website@poz.com or tag us on Facebook, Instagram or X. For a list of community events, visit poz.com/calendar.

WHITE FISH STEW

The stew is a beautiful blend of cultures and tastes.

POPULAR IN PUERTO RICO, this fish stew (aka bacalao stew, referring to the use of codfish) brims with complex flavors and is easy to make. White fish is a delicious source of omega-3 fatty acids and B vitamins. Capers and oregano add a Mediterranean twist, while cilantro and lime recall Latin America. The stew is a beautiful blend of cultures and tastes, much like Puerto Rico itself.

SERVINGS: 4 / INGREDIENTS: 13 / PREP: 20 MINUTES

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon salt

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 poblano or Anaheim chili pepper, deseeded and chopped

1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons sliced pimento-stuffed green olives

1 tablespoon capers, rinsed

DIRECTIONS

1 teaspoon dried oregano, or 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped

2 whole branches of washed cilantro, plus 1 tablespoon chopped

1 pound fillets of white fish, such as haddock, tilapia or cod, skinned and cut into 1½-inch chunks

1 avocado, chopped

1 lime, quartered

1. Heat oil in a large high-sided skillet or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the onion, sprinkle with salt and cook for a minute, stirring until the onion starts to soften. Turn the heat down to medium-low and sweat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 to 8 minutes. 2. Turn the heat up to medium-high and add garlic and poblano pepper. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes. Cook and stir for 3 minutes. Add the olives, capers and oregano. Mix well. Lay the cilantro sprigs on top, cover and turn the heat down to low. Simmer for 20 minutes. If the mixture seems dry, add up to ½ cup of water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Taste stew for salt. At this point, you can set the stew aside until you’re ready to add the fish.

3. Add the fish chunks and mix them into the stew. Cook until the fish is opaque and just flakes with a fork; it should take no more than 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, and let the soup sit for 5 to 10 minutes. This will blend the flavors and finish cooking the fish. Remove the cilantro sprigs. Serve with the chopped cilantro, avocado and lime wedges on the side. To add heartiness, serve the stew with something for sopping up the sauce, like crusty whole grain bread.

NUTRITION FACTS (per serving)

Calories: 268; fat: 16 g; saturated fat: 2 g; polyunsaturated fat: 2 g; monounsaturated fat: 21 g; carbohydrates: 14 g; sugar: 5 g; fiber: 7 g; sodium: 659 mg

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STRENGTHEN YOUR BONES AND MUSCLES

As you age, it’s important to protect your bones, joints and muscles so you’re able to perform all everyday activities and remain physically active.

Lifting weights is one way to strengthen muscles. Muscle strengthening is important because you lose muscle mass and strength as you age. Slowly increasing the amount of weight and number of repetitions during musclestrengthening activities will provide even more benefits, no matter your age.

Everyday activities include climbing stairs, grocery shopping or cleaning the house. Being unable to perform everyday activities is called functional limitation. Physically active middleaged or older adults have a lower risk of functional limitations than people who are inactive.

For older adults, doing a variety of physical activities improves physical function and decreases the risk of falls or injury from a fall.

Older adults need to include aerobic, muscle strengthening and balance activities in their physical activity routines. Such multicomponent physical activity can be done as part of a structured program at home or in a community setting.

Hip fracture is a serious health condition that can result from a fall. Breaking a hip can have life-changing negative effects, especially for older adults. Physically active people have a lower risk of hip fracture than inactive people.

Adapted from: Physical Activity Basics, CDC.gov

GOOD EATING

Balanced nutrition is a key to overall health, especially if you’re living with HIV.

AHEALTHY DIET CAN HELP

you live long and well with HIV. Nutrients from food provide the raw material for cells and organs and support optimal functioning of all body systems. A well-balanced diet improves energy and strength, helps maintain a healthy weight, promotes good immune function and improves quality of life.

A healthy diet is especially important for people living with HIV, as the virus can increase nutritional needs, and poor nutrition can worsen disease progression. Even among people with well-controlled HIV, chronic viral infection triggers persistent immune activation and inflammation, which can affect metabolism and energy expenditure. What’s more, people with HIV are more likely to have coexisting health concerns, and eating well reduces the risk for heart disease, diabetes, fatty liver disease and several types of cancer.

People with more advanced HIV—or any serious illness—may burn calories faster and may not absorb nutrients as well. Opportunistic infections and medication side effects can cause vomiting and diarrhea, which can lead to nutrient loss. In the early years of the epidemic, wasting syndrome was a hallmark of AIDS, but today, overweight and obesity are more common among people living with HIV in the United States, and some antiretroviral medications have been linked to weight gain.

Diet recommendations can be confusing, as food fads come and go and guidelines change based on the latest nutrition research. The guidance you remember from childhood may no longer reflect current thinking about what and how much to eat.

People living with HIV who are on antiretroviral treatment with viral suppression and an adequate CD4 T-cell count can generally follow the same nutrition guidelines as the population at large. Instead of struggling to follow complex dietary rules, most people find it easier to look at the overall picture and try to choose healthful foods most of the time.

Experts recommend a balanced diet that includes a wide variety of foods, which usually provides an ample supply of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, essential fatty acids and antioxidants.

Some people can benefit from supplements, but more is not necessarily better, and too much can be harmful. Focus on whole foods that have not been heavily processed and don’t contain a lot of added sugar, salt and unhealthy fats.

When shopping for produce, select fruits and vegetables with a variety of colors: Green, yellow, orange, red and purple ones contain different nutrients. When choosing bread, pasta or rice, opt for brown whole grain varieties instead of white ones, as the refining process removes nutrients along with color. Include plant-based protein sources, like beans, lentils, nuts and tofu, in addition to lean meat and poultry, seafood, eggs and dairy products.

Water and other fluids are an important part of your diet. Coffee and tea contain healthful bioflavonoids, but cut back on caffeine if it interferes with your sleep.

The latest dietary guidelines recommend developing a customized healthy eating plan that incorporates personal preferences, cultural traditions and budget constraints. Standard dietary recommendations might need to be modified based on your individual needs and circumstances.

Talk to your doctor if you are having trouble eating, are unintentionally losing or gaining more weight than you want or if you feel like you’re not getting necessary nutrients. A registered dietitian can help develop a personalized diet plan that meets your needs. Q

U.S. FUNDING CUTS THREATEN HIV TREATMENT AND PREVENTION

The International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Science in July included the usual gamut of HIV prevention, treatment and cure research, but the Trump administration’s cuts to foreign aid overshadowed the proceedings. According to this year’s UNAIDS annual update, an estimated 1.3 million people acquired HIV in 2024, and more than 9 million people living with HIV were not on lifesaving treatment—numbers that are only expected to worsen.

Soon a er his inauguration, President Donald Trump slashed funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development, which oversees PEPFAR, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Prevention funding was limited to pregnant and breastfeeding women, and HIV care has been sharply curtailed. “This is not just a funding gap—it’s a ticking time bomb,” says UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima. “We have seen services vanish overnight.”

A study from Mozambique showed a 25% reduction in the number of adults starting antiretroviral treatment in February 2025 compared with the same month last year. A modeling study found that halting PEPFAR funding for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) could lead to more than 6,600 additional HIV cases over a year in sub-Saharan Africa. What’s more, deep cuts to HIV research funding threaten future advances.

This year’s conference in Rwanda took place at a paradoxical moment, according to IAS President Beatriz Grinsztejn, MD, MPH. “On the one hand, we’re witnessing extraordinary scienti c breakthroughs that could transform prevention and treatment and even bring us closer to a cure,” she says. “On the other hand, these very advances are under threat from massive funding cuts that risk stalling clinical trials, slowing our progress and jeopardizing the progress we’ve fought so hard to achieve.”

Can Intermittent HIV Treatment Overcome Drug Shortages?

Switching to intermittent antiretroviral treatment—such as taking weekends o —can work as well as daily medication for people with well-controlled HIV, which could help limited drug supplies go further, researchers reported at the International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science.

A UNAIDS survey in May found that 46% of countries a ected by the Trump administration’s foreign aid funding cuts reported medication supply chain disruptions. Asking whether less frequent dosing could help stretch drug supplies, Cassandra Fairhead, MD, of the Royal Free Hospital in London, and colleagues performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies comparing the e cacy of intermittent versus daily antiretroviral therapy.

The researchers identi ed eight relevant randomized controlled trials that together included 1,346 people on daily treatment with viral suppression at baseline, a high CD4 count and no known drug resistance. Participants were randomly assigned to stay on daily meds or switch to dosing three to ve days a week.

Overall, there was no di erence in e cacy between intermittent and daily treatment, with 3.1% and 3.3% of participants, respectively, experiencing viral rebound at 48 weeks. The likelihood of emergent drug resistance was low and comparable in the two groups, as were biomarkers of in ammation. Adherence was similarly high with intermittent and daily schedules, but participants reported higher satisfaction with less frequent dosing.

“For countries with urgent drug shortages, extending antiretroviral therapy supplies could have clinical bene ts for people with HIV and population bene ts of minimizing HIV transmission,” Fairhead said. But this approach is not appropriate for everyone, and it relies on frequent viral load monitoring.

A once-monthly pill dubbed MK-8527 holds promise for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), according to a study presented at the International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science. Much of the enthusiasm at the meeting focused on the recent approval of twice-yearly lenacapavir PrEP (Yeztugo), but long-acting injectables aren’t for everyone. Some people dislike needles or prefer the simplicity of taking a pill, and an oral drug might be easier to roll out worldwide.

MK-8527, from Merck, is a novel nucleoside reverse transcriptase translocation inhibitor, a successor to islatravir.

Ken Mayer, MD, of Fenway Health, presented findings from a Phase II trial that enrolled 350 adults in the United States, Israel and South Africa. They were randomly assigned to receive one of three doses of MK-8527 or a placebo every four weeks.

MK-8527 was well tolerated with a safety pro le comparable to the placebo. There was “no meaningful change” in average CD4 T-cell or total lymphocyte counts like those that led to discontinuation of higher doses of islatravir, Mayer reported. Protective drug levels were achieved within 24 hours.

Merck aims to move MK-8527 into Phase III clinical trials this year.

EXPrESSIVE-10 will enroll nearly 4,600 young women in Africa, while EXPrESSIVE-11 will enroll about 4,400 people—including gay men and transgender and nonbinary people— in 16 countries.

“Until now, long-acting PrEP has been synonymous with injectable formulations, and the oral alternative of monthly MK-8527 could represent a paradigm shi ,” says Rebeca Plank, MD, MPH, of MSD Research Laboratories. “We envision that monthly oral dosing could transform PrEP delivery and implementation models.”

Once-Monthly PrEP Pill Shows Promise MEDICAID AND OBAMACARE CUTS COULD HURT PEOPLE WITH HIV

Cuts to federal funding for HIV prevention and services will have a major public health impact, but budget cuts will also be felt at the individual level: More than 15 million people could lose their health insurance by 2034.

Most of the losses would come from changes to Medicaid, including a new work requirement and limits on coverage of lawful immigrants. While a majority of Medicaid recipients who are not disabled do work, many are expected to fall through the cracks due to the increased red tape of documenting their eligibility. Around 40% of people living with HIV rely on Medicaid.

“Medicaid is a lifeline for many people with HIV, providing them with access to care and treatment that helps them live healthy lives,” says HIV Medicine Association chair Colleen Kelley, MD, MPH. “Imposing administrative hurdles and fees

for low-income people with HIV will delay treatment, leading to poor health and increasing overall costs to the health care system.”

The remaining losses would result from changes to the A ordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. Most people who purchase insurance through the ACA marketplaces receive tax subsidies to help defray the cost of premiums. During the COVID-19 crisis, the Biden administration expanded the subsidies to include people with higher incomes. When these extended subsidies expire at the end of 2025, middle-income people—especially those who are older but not yet eligible for Medicare—could see their monthly premiums skyrocket. The new rules also increase paperwork requirements and shorten the ACA open enrollment period (November 1 to December 15 for coverage starting January 1, 2026), so plan ahead if you need Obamacare coverage.

RESEARCH NOTES

Yeztugo for Youth PREVENTION

Twice-yearly lenacapavir pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) can be a good option for teens and young adults, a group that o en struggles with consistent adherence to daily prevention pills. Worldwide, adolescents and young adults have a higher likelihood of HIV acquisition compared with older people. In June, the Food and Drug Administration approved lenacapavir PrEP (Yeztugo) based on impressive data from the Phase III PURPOSE 1 and PURPOSE 2 studies. All participants in PURPOSE 1 were young women ages 16 to 25, a group that bears the brunt of the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. In PURPOSE 2, about a third of the gay men and genderdiverse people in the study were 16 to 25. Lenacapavir PrEP demonstrated high effectiveness for young peo ple. There were zero new HIV acquisitions in PURPOSE 1. In PURPOSE 2, the two people who seroconverted in the lenacapavir group were in the 16-to-25 age group, but the vast majority of young participants remained free of HIV. There were no clinically relevant differences by age in the drug’s pharmacokinetics or safety.

TREATMENT

Ulonivirine

Ulonivirine (MK-8507), an experimental non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, has the potential to be a component of once-weekly oral HIV treatment. Merck tested ulonivirine plus its nucleoside reverse transcriptase translocation inhibitor islatravir as a weekly regimen, but the Phase II trial was halted ahead of schedule a er some participants saw declines in their CD4 T-cell or total lymphocyte counts, attributable to a high dose of islatravir. Interim results showed that people with viral suppression who were randomized to switch from once-daily Biktarvy (bictegravir/tenofovir alafenamide/emtricitabine) to once-weekly ulonivirine plus islatravir maintained a viral load below 50. While overall adverse events rates were similar, people assigned to the experimental regimen had substantially larger CD4 cell and total lymphocyte decreases, which were reversible a er treatment discontinuation. Ulonivirine itself has not been implicated in the white blood cell declines. A new Phase IIb trial of ulonivirine plus a safer low dose of islatravir is now underway.

CURE

Anktiva Plus bnAbs

Immune-modulating drugs, such as Anktiva (N-803), might help broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) work better to control HIV. Anktiva, approved last year for bladder cancer treatment, is an interleukin-15 receptor superagonist that activates natural killer cells and enhances CD4 and CD8 T-cell activity. It also appears to have latency-reversing properties, suggesting it might be part of a “kick and kill” HIV cure strategy to flush dormant virus out of hiding. A Phase I study enrolled 28 people with chronic HIV who had sustained viral suppression on antiretroviral therapy. They received single infusions of two bnAbs, 3BNC117-LS and 10-1074-LS, plus up to eight injections of Anktiva. Among 24 participants who undertook an analytic treatment interruption, 58% remained off antiretrovirals at six months, nearly a third did not need to resume treatment a er a year and one was still in remission a er more than 30 months. However, the study had no control group taking the bnAbs alone, making it di cult to tease out the added benefit of Anktiva.

CONCERNS

DoxyPEP Drawbacks

As doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (doxyPEP) becomes more widely used to prevent sexually transmitted infections, questions remain about its impact on drug resistance. Taking a single dose of the antibiotic within 72 hours a er sex dramatically lowers the risk for chlamydia and syphilis, with a more modest effect on gonorrhea. A pivotal trial did not show a marked increase in antimicrobial resistance, but a recent report in The New England Journal of Medicine raises concerns. An analysis of more than 14,000 Neisseria gonorrhoeae genome sequences found that the proportion carrying tetM, a gene that confers tetracycline resistance, rose from less than 10% in 2020 to over 30% in early 2024, coinciding with growing use of doxyPEP. Nonetheless, experts at the IAS Conference on HIV Science said that doxyPEP is an appropriate option for some people, with the benefits outweighing potential harms. While doxyPEP is highly effective for preventing chlamydia and syphilis, they agreed that better approaches are needed for gonorrhea.

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IN A HOSTILE POLITICAL CLIMATE, ARIANNA LINT FIGHTS FOR TRANSGENDER PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV.

BY TIM MURPHY

WHEN ARIANNA LINT WAS A CHILD GROWING UP IN A middle-class family in the coastal city of Chimbote, Peru, years before she transitioned, she loved watching stunning, elegant women compete in beauty pageants on TV. Her idol was the trailblazing Brazilian transgender actress and model Roberta Close, who in the 1980s and ’90s was often called the most beautiful woman in Brazil.

“It was my dream to move to the United States someday so I could compete in pageants,” says Lint.

She did ultimately move to the United States, in 2000, but fate had something else in store for her. After years of making a living as a sex worker, she was diagnosed with HIV in 2006. Soon thereafter, she embarked on a journey of advocacy and peer education that led to her founding Arianna’s Center in 2015. It’s the first service agency in Florida to focus on trans women of color.

Coming full circle: Lint is the CEO of Miss Trans Star International, a pageant for trans women from around the world to be held in December in Puerto Rico. Funded by HIV drugmaker Gilead Sciences, the grand finale will be preceded by three days of workshops about HIV prevention and care.

“People think beauty pageants are superficial,” Lint says, “but I use them as a platform to educate and empower people.” That was also her purpose when she appeared on the cover of a recent health-focused issue of People en Español looking both stylish and stern alongside the cover line “I Beat the HIV Stigma.”

That combination of glamour and seriousness defines the 52-year-old Lint. Even in an era when politicians like President Donald Trump and others are demonizing trans people for political points, Lint holds fast to the idea that kindness, charisma and that good old immigrant work ethic can change minds and hearts, scoring lifesaving resources for her community.

On top of all her other responsibilities, she’s about to earn her master’s degree in education and community work. “In this tough social and political climate,” she says, “my major tool to fight back is to be educated.”

ON A WEEKDAY IN LATE JUNE, LINT WAS IN THE cozy home she recently—and proudly—bought in Ft. Lauderdale, where she lives with her also newly acquired French bulldog, Pelón. She was in the middle of a busy week. She had recently received notice that the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) would not renew a grant that for the past three years has paid the rent for Arianna’s Center’s two-week emergency transitional shelter for trans women with HIV just out of prison.

“It was an important program because we helped them stay undetectable,” she says. Lint is seeking alternative funding sources to reopen the shelter.

The next day, she attended a meeting as a member of the advisory board of the trans-inclusive PURPOSE 2 study for Yeztugo (lenacapavir), Gilead’s new twice-yearly HIV prevention drug.

Then there’s the daily work of serving Arianna’s Center’s more than 800 clients between South Florida and Puerto Rico, where she opened a site in 2019. “We’re the first resource for Spanish-speaking trans individuals in Florida,” she says. Earlier in the week, she had personally driven a client, as she often does, to a doctor’s appointment in Orlando, three hours from Ft. Lauderdale.

“Typically, people call me because they know me from social media,” she says. “They may tell me they need a place to live,

but they’re HIV positive and don’t receive services, so it’s important for me to get them into HIV care to stabilize their health.”

Recently, she says, some clients have been calling her in dismay after losing their jobs. The Trump administration’s detention and deportation crackdown has caused many employers, scared of federal punishment, to either let go of or refuse to hire undocumented immigrants. One client called to say she had lost her job-linked health insurance, so Lint told her about a

Lint tested HIV positive in 2006.

clinic that serves undocumented people.

Arianna’s Center also offers money and other help for trans clients to register their name change with Broward or Miami-Dade counties, the governments of which serve large populations of LGBTQ people and are friendlier toward trans folks than the state and federal ones.

Due to funding constraints, Lint has had to lay off some staff. As a result, the center is now run only by her, her parttime assistant, her coordinator in Puerto Rico and both a volunteer executive director and development director. The center’s funding comes primarily from roughly $100,000

grants each from Gilead and ViiV Healthcare, a grant from Borealis Philanthropy and a few other grants under $100,000. Its operating budget is currently $200,000, she says, down from $500,000 last year.

“That reflects what we lost from HRSA,” she says. Additionally, the center just lost its contract with Florida’s health department. “They’re not going to renew any grants that serve trans people,” she says.

THE

CENTER’S

CURRENT SETBACKS

NOTWITHstanding, Lint’s journey from Peru to the present has been

remarkable. As a child, she says, she knew she was trans from an early age but had to hide her identity. She majored in law and political science at Peru’s prestigious University of San Martín de Porres, where once, while presenting a legal case before a class, she recalls, the professor interrupted her. “He says, ‘In Peru, there are no faggot lawyers.’ I replied, ‘Well, there’s going to be one now,’ and I continued with my discussion.”

“I was educated to be a president or minister of my country,” Lint says. Nonetheless, once she graduated in 1996, she had to face the fact that Peru was not the best place to launch a career as an openly trans person. “I wanted to go to the United States because it’s the country of opportunity,” she says. “If you work hard in this country, you have the opportunity to make your dreams come true.”

However, once Lint arrived in the United States in 2000, she ended up living among other Peruvian trans women in New Jersey, just outside New York City, doing sex work like the rest of them. She attended her first New York City Pride March. “That’s when I fell in love with the LGBTQ community.” But at that time, there were nearly no resources for her and her trans sisters. “I saw many of them die of HIV,” she says.

After 9/11, Lint moved to Orlando to work for her brother’s cleaning company. She says both of her straight brothers, one of whom is now back in Peru caring for their mother, love and accept her, as do their families.

Now presenting as trans, she remembered what a friend in Peru had told her: that her Peruvian diplomas would not help her get far in the United States, where she should concentrate on making money to return to Peru and become a lawyer.

Then in 2006 came

From top: Lint on the cover of People en Español Salud (2025); in POZ (2016); on the cover of POZ (2017)

news that she wasn’t expecting: She tested HIV positive. Knowing next to nothing about HIV medications at the time, she resigned herself to dying eventually. “But I wanted to have a decent death,” she says, so she began receiving services at Orlando’s department of health. A staffer there named Gina—her best friend to this day—told her: “You have a law degree. We need people like you helping us [in the local fight against HIV].” A volunteer position at the health department as a peer educator led to a paid position. “I felt great,” she says. “You have to remember that for many trans individuals, our first real job is in the HIV field.” She also started taking HIV meds.

A transformative moment occurred in 2008, when she found herself sitting, alone and timid, at an HIV training led by longtime advocate Linda Scruggs, a cisgender Black woman living with HIV. When Scruggs learned that Lint was trans, she said to her, in Lint’s words, “Come join us. We’re all women over here, like you. And with your history and your life, you can help change the lives of other people living with HIV.” Lint cries as she recounts this turning point. Scruggs, a founding member of Positive Women’s Network–USA, remembers the moment as

well: “Arianna didn’t realize she had power,” she says. “But I could see that she was ready and hungry to help her community and wanted to figure it out. So I told her, ‘We need a voice for Latina women.’” Scruggs helped convince the Ryan White Part D program in Orlando to hire Lint.

In short order, Lint was earning scholarships to attend the U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS. Then SunServe, a local mental health nonprofit for LGBTQ people, asked her to develop the group’s first program for trans people.

Eventually, says Lint, “my entrepreneurial side started asking, Why can’t I have my own organization?” She summoned one of her favorite Spanish words, fantasiosa —a fantasist—and paid a lawyer to form a corporation, starting Arianna’s Center with only about $5,000 of her own savings. The first two years were lean. She served clients out of her own rented home, which she then lost, briefly becoming homeless.

Then she received her first grant from the Trans Justice Project. Then another from Borealis. Then her first big one, $18,000, from AIDS United’s Transgender Leadership Initiative. A $75,000 grant from Gilead allowed her to obtain a small office.

Among her accomplishments that first year, Lint says she’s proudest of setting up HIV testing—but also of the name-change services she started, paying the $650 fee for clients to do so. “We got 45 names changed that year, and at this point, it’s up to 2,500,” she says proudly.

“IF YOU WORK HARD AND LIVE HEALTHY, YOU CAN DO AMAZING THINGS.”

AGAIN, WITH THE FEDERAL CRACKDOWN ON

both immigrants and trans people, these aren’t easy times for Arianna’s Center. “Many of my clients right now are afraid they’ll get a criminal record for doing sex work or having to drive with no license,” she says.

If anyone is likely to continue using their triple threats of smarts, charm and heart to provide as much as she can for her community, it’s Lint. Wilton Manors Vice Mayor/City Commissioner Chris Caputo says he remembers being at a

Lint is a proud immigrant from Peru.

meeting with Lint when he first took office five years ago. “I didn’t know much about trans people and said something stupid like, ‘Why can’t trans people just…,’” he recalls. “But when others in the room attacked me, Arianna treated me with grace and started a dialogue with me. She’s always taken the high road.”

Tony Lima shares that sentiment. He helped Lint secure funding and find office space for Arianna’s Center before becoming CEO of SunServe. “Arianna’s a fighter and a really strong example of what trans resilience looks like,” he says. “If something doesn’t work for her, she’ll pivot—but she won’t stop.”

As part of the Deep South Coalition, Lint works to help create data to show how HIV impacts trans folks in the region. She has also long supported and advised other trans-led or -serving groups in the South. Tania Jimenez, a trans woman who leads Asheboro Latinx Services in rural North Carolina, says that when she started the group in 2022, Lint visited and gifted the group $1,000. “I really admire how she works to fight the stigma of HIV in the Latinx community,” says Jimenez.

As for Lint herself, she’s determined to remain positive during challenging times. “This current political situation sometimes makes us feel unstable,” she says, “but I prefer to think about what the United States has always promoted, which is that if you work hard and live healthy, you can do amazing things.”

Her life may be far from the one she dreamed of, when HIV and AIDS were only just emerging in a land far from her country of origin, but it’s one that she’s proud of because it lets her put her extraordinary intellectual and emotional talents to use for a community she loves.

What would Lint say to the glamour-loving child she used to be? She pauses before answering: “I’d say, ‘I think we did it. We’ve affected our community in a good way.’” Then, her eyes sparkling, she adds: “And we’re on the covers of magazines!” Q

POET AND WRITER ANDRÉS N. ORDORICA REFLECTS ON HIS DEBUT NOVEL.

BY CHARLES SANCHEZ

IDISCOVERED HOW WE NAMED THE STARS BY ANDRÉS N. Ordorica last year. I chose the novel on a whim, picking it because it was written by a queer Latiné writer, and I’m a queer Latiné writer.

I didn’t expect this beautiful book to affect me the way it did. How We Named the Stars touched a part of me that I thought had long died. It was as though Ordorica reached into my soul to light a hopeful candle, reminding me of true love, the hope that it brings and the power of family.

The novel is a portrait of Daniel, a Mexican American college student from an immigrant family, who moves cross-country to attend an elite East Coast university. He meets his roommate, an all-American golden boy named Sam, and, after some awkward interactions, the two fall in love. The book ties together themes of first love, coming of age, family and connections to history.

Ordorica also introduces AIDS into the story in a beautiful way. Daniel is named after Ordorica’s deceased uncle, who was very active in AIDS causes during the 1980s and ’90s.

POZ caught up with the 36-year-old writer, who lives in the United Kingdom with his husband of 11 years, to learn more about the poet and novelist.

Where did you grow up?

I am a third-culture kid, having spent the majority of my life outside of the United States. I grew up between Europe, the Middle East and Asia due to my father’s career.

Where do you live now?

I have been living in Edinburgh for the past seven years; in total, I have lived in the United Kingdom for 13 years of my adult life and am now a dual citizen. I still have remnants of a Californian accent, which was shaped by my parents while growing up overseas, but beyond that, most of my

life has been lived away from the United States. I guess that is why I have chosen to build a life here in Scotland.

Family is such an important part of the book. Tell me about yours.

I am one of four children. My parents were very young parents, which was always funny, especially when I entered university and many of my friends’ parents were nearer to my grandparents’ age. My parents were, and still are, very loving parents who supported my precocious ambitions.

What was it like to travel so much as a kid?

I have many happy childhood memories. I was a very bookish child and interested in reading, art and history. Growing up as I did was a lovely experience and truly unique. Often, I would be studying something in world history that was very much related to the place I called home at the time, be it Roman ruins in the English countryside or preserved Byzantine mosaic floors in a Turkish village’s central plaza. From an early age, I sensed there was a story alive and well all around me.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I have been deeply in love with storytelling from a young age, so there was never an aha moment. I think it was more of working backward from the idea “I want to be a writer,” of figuring out what that means practically. From the age of 5, I knew I wanted to write, and over the next 30 years, it has been a matter of learning what that looks like.

I double majored in English and drama in my undergrad, and then, I immediately went to graduate school in London at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama to study playwriting. While in my graduate studies, I began to freelance as a theater critic for a few online magazines, and that informed my understanding of writing efficiently and informatively. I began to write poetry in secret when I should have been working on plays. Nowadays, I would consider myself a poet and novelist, and I feel my practice holds space for both in equal measure.

What was the impetus for How We Named the Stars? How long did you work on it?

Daniel and Sam, in essence and texture, were very much the same from first draft to the final novel now out in the world. The impetus that led me to find them was a means of coming to terms that I was nearing my 30s and still processing the death of a friend who profoundly shaped my first few years of college life.

The structure and storytelling mechanisms shifted and reshaped themselves many times before landing on the narrative flow that felt best for their story, which was not mine. I wanted to inform the characters of my loss, but I did not want to write autofiction.

There was even a version in which Tío Daniel was much more present, and, in what is the first part of the novel, chapters were jumping between Chihuahua, Mexico, of the ’80 and ’90s and his nephew’s college experience—probably a means of moving from my own story. But it became unwieldy and was not serving the heart of the story, which ultimately is Daniel and Sam’s relationship changing from roommates to something deeper and richer.

However, I was able to leverage many of those chapters of Daniel’s uncle into the diary entries that open each chapter of How We Named the Stars. But all in, I would say it took nearly six years to work on this novel, not always continuous work, but still, it needed that time.

What has been the reaction?

On both sides of the pond, the reaction has been very generous, much more so than I could have imagined. It has had some beautiful write-ups in places I could never have dreamed of, such as The New York Times Review of Books, and was named one of the best top 10 debut novels by The Observer.

The love story in How We Named the Stars is so beautiful. Would you consider yourself a romantic? I wouldn’t say I am interested in romance in any grand sense. However, I do feel love and loss are central themes across all my writing. I think there is a difference between love and romance. Love is fraught, malleable and can evolve, whereas romance feels too much for show. I am more interested in the smaller moments, how one person might help the other handle an unexpected and life-changing moment, how two people greet the dawning of a new day.

On a personal level, the reaction from readers who have championed Daniel and Sam has been unreal. I feel truly honored by every reader who has read it and shared it and shouted about it. Frequently, I receive private messages and emails in which readers have shared very generously their own experiences of loss, especially loss in early adulthood. To have written a story that elicits this type of response is not anything I could have ever planned for.

Family is such an important element in the book, not only Daniel’s but Sam’s family and even how Sam and Daniel become family for each other. How important is family to you?

For me, portraying family dynamics just feels an obvious task to take on. I am one of four children. My mom is one of five, my dad is one of seven, so I have a lot of cousins. I don’t think I could have written a novel that doesn’t explore

family relationships in some way, and I think at the age Daniel and Sam are in the book, they’re using their families as reference points: How to fall in love, how to care for someone, how to articulate intense feelings.

I think in the first half, this is done while living away from their parents for the first time as freshmen in college, and then in México, Daniel’s grandfather and extended family help guide him through his first heartbreak before the onslaught of first loss comes rushing toward him. So family feels like an essential secondary and tertiary character.

How like you is Daniel?

I wouldn’t say I am like Daniel at all. For all his aloofness and doubts, Daniel is far more brave than I ever was at that age, and I did not have any great love in my undergraduate life. Daniel’s empathy and how much he values friendship are probably the closest traits he shares with me.

I love how Daniel discovers so much about himself through the story and his connection to his uncle. Why did you connect Daniel to his uncle?

So much of the novel is heavy, especially the latter half, and it felt vitally important for Daniel to have someone to turn to, even if that person was no longer here. His uncle’s life and subsequent diary entries become both a salve and compass for young Daniel. For me, that mentorship and guidance from a queer elder felt necessary given a story about navigating first love and first loss.

and thus the research of these scholars, artists and curators helped to inform my understanding of what activism looked like in México at the time Tío Daniel would have been alive.

Do you think it’s important for queer writers to include HIV in modern stories?

I think if it is relevant to the story or the world in which the writing exists, then yes. I am thinking of brilliant novels, like Edmund White’s The Married Man or Andrew Holleran’s Dancer from the Dance and one of my all-time favorite contemporary novels Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez.

In these novels, it is either dealt with head-on or lingers in the background but is done so skillfully, without ever becoming polemic. With the advent of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), it is easy to forget how stigmatized HIV was and still can be. From a storytelling perspective, I think it is important that we remind young queer people of what it was to live through the AIDS crisis and how it fundamentally shaped the gay rights and larger queer liberation movement. Ultimately, it is our history and our stories to tell.

“I FELT VERY CALLED

TO WRITE ABOUT AIDS ACTIVISM.”

You handled HIV in the story so well. Why was it important to include HIV in the story?

This is such an interesting reading of Tío Daniel, because in all honesty, I do not mention HIV. The only thing the reader gets is that Tió Daniel became very active in local AIDS activism before his untimely death. So I don’t want to claim something that is not there for me as a writer, especially when there are other writers who tackle HIV and AIDS head-on, with such generosity and truth. But I felt very called to write about AIDS activism in Latin America, specifically in a Mexican context, because I grew up in a way of seeing it through a North American and British lens. Much of the context that informed this subplot of the novel came from the amazing work which shaped the exhibition The Seropositive Files: Visualizing HIV in Mexico and its subsequent text written by Alejandro Brito Lemus, Oliver Debroise, Sol Henaro, Luis Matus, Alfonso Morcillo and Rosa María Roffiel (Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo, UNAM, 2020).

As a queer brown Mexican, it felt vitally important to me to highlight that AIDS activism was not solely a Western story and that work was occurring throughout the global majority,

How does your own history inform At Least This I Know and the rest of your work?

At Least This I Know is my debut poetry collection, which was published in 2022. It has been described as a memoir in poetic form, which I think is a lovely assertion. It explores themes of faith, sexuality, race and concepts of home. I like to draw from life, and so I think my practice is always being informed by my own personal histories.

Tell me about Holy Boys, your most recent work. My sophomore collection, Holy Boys, explores faith and masculinity and is much more experimental than my debut. For me, it is a collection that speaks in close communion with the work of other poets, including my all-time favorite poet, the great, late Edwin Morgan. He was one of the finest linguistic poets to be working in the 20th century, gay during a difficult time in Scottish history. His body of work is immense. “By the Fire” is the most beautiful poem that I have ever come across, and its closing couplet serves as the epigraph to Holy Boys

What’s next for you?

Right now, I am not working on anything. I have been working straight through from 2018 to late spring of 2025 on major writing projects between poetry and prose, and I feel that I need to go and be in the world for a bit. If anything, I am working on my garden. That connection with the land and nature is helping me reconnect to my writing practice. Q

How We Named the Stars is available wherever you buy books. To learn more, visit andresadorica.com.

Safe Spaces

Julio Roman rst confronted HIV and AIDS when he was 10 years old. That was 1993, the year his Aunt Naomi found her way to the home he shared with his mother and twin brother on the south side of Newark.

“She showed up in a hospital gown dying of AIDS,” Roman explains. “And my mom was her caretaker until she passed away in our home. Watching my mother care for her with dignity before there was really any support system—that shaped a lot of what I’ve become today.”

Roman’s mother, Rosario, also taught him the importance of safe spaces. His book, Out of Space: Creating Safe Spaces in Unlikely Places, focuses on the importance of safe spaces to combat the virus. That’s especially true in immigrant communities and for anyone closeted about their sexuality or HIV status.

Roman is currently the executive director of the Paci c Pride Foundation in Santa Barbara, California. He’s also the founder of Project WOW, a Newark-based AIDS service organization that recently celebrated its 25th anniversary.

“I was recruited [to California] speci cally to build programming for our Indigenous and migrant community,” Roman says. “The Paci c Pride Foundation recruited me because of my experience in capacity building. Prior to coming here, I was vice president of the Latino Commission on AIDS, where I had a portfolio of 70 national Latino organizations whose HIV testing and prevention programs I helped build.”

That’s vital in places like Santa Barbara, which has a population that’s about 52% Latino. According to Roman, who calls himself “100% Puerto Rican,” noncitizens in the region remain especially vulnerable to the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant impulses.

Roman’s career as an activist kicked o shortly a er his rst HIV test.

“I was involved in a lot of risky sexual behavior,” Roman explains. “And at 16, I was tested by a trans Latina woman. Like many folks, I thought I was going to die. She really spoke life into me and empowered me that regardless of that result, it wasn’t going to be the end of me.”

Roman tested HIV negative that day and remains so.

“That’s when I knew that I wanted to do something important, like that trans Latina outreach worker was doing,” he says. “So at 16 [in 1999], a position became available for an outreach worker.”

Roman distributed condoms while canvassing strangers, an audacious form of outreach in an era when there was little guidance on how to talk to people about HIV.

“We were literally assessing folks based o the community building and conversations we could have with them out on the street,” Roman says. “Many times those conversations were great, and other times we were put in danger, unbeknownst to us, being young gay men asking people about [same-gender] sexual behavior.”

All these years later, Roman is an elder statesman in the battle against the virus, with a keen focus on protecting his fellow Latinos.

“The rate of HIV among Latinos is still a public health emergency,” Roman warns. “One in three Latino gay men are becoming positive. You look at our white gay counterparts, it’s like 1 in 15. We still have a lot of work to do.” Q

Regímenes completos

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bictegravir + tenofovir alafenamide + emtricitabine

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Una tableta de 300 mg una vez por día. Tomar con o sin alimentos.

ZIAGEN * abacavir

Una tableta de 300 mg dos veces por día, o dos tabletas de 300 mg una vez por día. Tomar con o sin alimentos. Debe ser usado sólo por individuos que sean HLA-B*5701 negativos.

TIVICAY dolutegravir

Una tableta de 50 mg una vez por día para aquellos que comienzan la terapia ARV por primera vez o que no hayan usado un inhibidor de la integrasa en el pasado. Una tableta de 50 mg dos veces por día para las personas con experiencia en tratamiento que tengan VIH resistente a otros inhibidores de la integrasa y cuando sean tomados con ciertos ARVs. Tomar con o sin alimentos.

VOCABRIA cabotegravir

Una tableta de 30 mg tomada una vez por día con Edurant de una toma diaria durante un mes como opción de régimen preparatorio antes de cambiar a las inyecciones de Cabenuva o para un tratamiento corto. Tomar con alimentos.

Regímenes completos

doravirine + tenofovir disoproxil fumarate + lamivudine

Una tableta una vez por día. Cada tableta contiene 100 mg

doravirine + 300 mg tenofovir disoproxil fumarate + 300 mg lamivudine. Tomar con o sin alimentos.

DOVATO

dolutegravir + lamivudine

Una tableta una vez por día. Cada tableta contiene 50 mg dolutegravir + 300 mg lamivudine. Tomar con o sin alimentos.

GENVOYA

elvitegravir + cobicistat + tenofovir alafenamide + emtricitabine

Una tableta una vez por día. Cada tableta contiene 150 mg elvitegravir + 150 mg cobicistat + 10 mg tenofovir alafenamide + 200 mg emtricitabine. Tomar con alimentos.

JULUCA

dolutegravir + rilpivirine

Una tableta una vez por día. Cada tableta contiene 50 mg dolutegravir + 25 mg rilpivirine. Tomar con una comida.

ODEFSEY

rilpivirine + tenofovir alafenamide + emtricitabine

Una tableta una vez por día. Cada tableta contiene 25 mg rilpivirine + 25 mg tenofovir alafenamide + 200 mg emtricitabine. Tomar con una comida.

STRIBILD

elvitegravir + cobicistat + tenofovir disoproxil fumarate + emtricitabine

Una tableta una vez por día. Cada tableta contiene 150 mg elvitegravir + 150 mg cobicistat + 300 mg tenofovir disoproxil fumarate + 200 mg emtricitabine. Tomar con alimentos.

SYMFI AND SYMFI LO efavirenz + tenofovir disoproxil fumarate + lamivudine

Una tableta de Sym o Sym Lo una vez por día. Cada tableta de Sym contiene 600 mg efavirenz + 300 mg tenofovir disoproxil fumarate + 300 mg lamivudine. Cada tableta de Sym Lo (ver imagen) contiene 400 mg efavirenz + 300 mg tenofovir disoproxil fumarate + 300 mg lamivudine. Tomar con el estómago vacío. La dosis debe ser tomada al acostarse para minimizar los mareos, somnolencia y pérdida de concentración.

SYMTUZA darunavir + cobicistat + tenofovir alafenamide + emtricitabine

Una tableta una vez por día. Cada tableta contiene 800 mg darunavir + 150 mg cobicistat + 10 mg tenofovir alafenamide + 200 mg emtricitabine. Tomar con alimentos.

Inhibidores

TRUVADA * tenofovir disoproxil fumarate + emtricitabine

Una tableta una vez por día. Cada tableta contiene 300 mg tenofovir disoproxil fumarate + 200 mg emtricitabine. Tomar con o sin alimentos.

Inhibidores no-nucleósidos de la transcriptasa reversa (INNTR o no-nukes )

Inhibidores de la entrada

TRIUMEQ

dolutegravir + abacavir + lamivudine

Una tableta una vez por día. Cada tableta contiene 50 mg dolutegravir + 600 mg abacavir + 300 mg lamivudine. Tomar con o sin alimentos. Debe ser usado sólo por individuos que sean HLA-B*5701 negativos.

Inhibidores de la integrasa

VIREAD * tenofovir disoproxil fumarate

Una tableta de 300 mg una vez por día. Tomar con o sin alimentos.

ZIAGEN * abacavir

Una tableta de 300 mg dos veces por día, o dos tabletas de 300 mg una vez por día. Tomar con o sin alimentos. Debe ser usado sólo por individuos que sean HLA-B*5701 negativos.

EDURANT

rilpivirine

Una tableta de 25 mg una vez por día. Tomar con alimentos.

INTELENCE

etravirine

Una tableta de 200 mg dos veces por día. Tomar con alimentos.

PIFELTRO

doravirine

Una tableta de 100 mg una vez por día. Tomar con o sin alimentos.

SUSTIVA * efavirenz

Una tableta de 600 mg (ver imagen) una vez por día, o tres cápsulas de 200 mg una vez por día. Tomar con el estómago vacío o con un snack bajo en grasa. La dosis debe tomarse al acostarse para minimizar los mareos, somnolencia y pérdida de concentración.

RUKOBIA

fostemsavir

Una tableta de 600 mg dos veces por día para personas con experiencia en el tratamiento del VIH. Tomar con o sin alimentos.

o cuyo virus fue suprimido en un régimen inicial de Isentress. Una tableta de 400 mg de Isentress dos veces por día para las personas con experiencia en el tratamiento del VIH. Tomar con o sin alimentos.

TIVICAY dolutegravir

Una tableta de 50 mg una vez por día para aquellos que comienzan la terapia ARV por primera vez o que no hayan usado un inhibidor de la integrasa en el pasado. Una tableta de 50 mg dos veces por día para las personas con experiencia en tratamiento que tengan VIH resistente a otros inhibidores de la integrasa y cuando sean tomados con ciertos ARVs. Tomar con o sin alimentos.

SELZENTRY

maraviroc

Una tableta de 150 mg, 300 mg (ver imagen) o 600 mg dos veces por día, dependiendo de los otros medicamentos utilizados, para personas con experiencia en el tratamiento del VIH. Tomar con o sin alimentos.

TROGARZO

ibalizumab

Un inyectable de larga duración de administración intravenosa como dosis única de 2,000 mg seguido de una dosis de mantenimiento de 800 mg cada dos semanas para personas con experiencia en el tratamiento del VIH.

Potenciadores de PK

VOCABRIA cabotegravir

Una tableta de 30 mg tomada una vez por día con Edurant de una toma diaria durante un mes como opción de régimen preparatorio antes de cambiar a las inyecciones de Cabenuva o para un tratamiento corto. Tomar con alimentos.

NORVIR * ritonavir

Norvir generalmente se toma para potenciar los niveles de otros ARVs en la sangre. Tomar con alimentos.

TYBOST cobicistat

Una tableta de 150 mg una vez por día en combinación con ARVs que requieren refuerzos. Utilizado sólo para potenciar otros medicamentos. Tomar con alimentos.

Inhibidores cápsidos

SUNLENCA lenacapavir

Las tabletas de Sunlenca se toman como dosis de carga, con inyecciones cada seis meses desde ese momento en adelante. Tomar con o sin alimentos.

Estos medicamentos antirretrovirales raramente se recetan y ya no se recomiendan:

APTIVUS tipranavir

COMBIVIR * zidovudine + lamivudine

CRIXIVAN indinavir

FUZEON enfuvirtide

INVIRASE saquinavir

LEXIVA fosamprenavir

RETROVIR * zidovudine (AZT)

TRIZIVIR abacavir + zidovudine + lamivudine

VIRACEPT nel navir

VIRAMUNE nevirapine

ZERIT stavudine

Puedes vivir bien con VIH

Es importante comenzar el tratamiento para el VIH lo antes posible y cumplirlo. Recuerda seguir tu tratamiento como te lo recetaron y mantenerte comprometido con los cuidados. Cuidarte a ti mismo es una gran manera de ayudarte a vivir bien con VIH.

Es señal de poder mantener tu salud sexual

El VIH no tiene que ser un impedimento para que sigas siendo tú. Descubre consejos útiles y apoyo para seguir viviendo tu vida de forma auténtica.

Encuentra más información y recursos útiles en HelpStopTheVirus.com

El tratamiento ayuda transmisión

Si estás viviendo hacer que tu carga que hay tan poca no puede medirse estudios actuales como te lo recetaron, mantenerlo evita sexo. Esto también

¿Por qué I = I es importante?

I = I significa indetectable = intransmisible. Ayuda con el estigma de vivir con VIH, aumenta la concientización acerca de que las medicinas actuales pueden nos recuerda la importancia de seguir el tratamiento fue recetado. Mantente empoderado para vivir larga y saludable.

Es importante que proveedor de atención tratamiento adecuado reúnes con tu proveedor las preguntas son

viviendo con VIH, un objetivo fundamental es carga viral sea indetectable. Esto significa poca cantidad de virus en la sangre que medirse en una prueba de laboratorio. Los actuales demuestran que seguir el tratamiento recetaron, lograr un nivel indetectable y evita la transmisión del VIH a través del también se conoce como I = I.

Ayuda a acabar concientización ser eficaces y tratamiento como vivir una vida más Si estás viviendo con VIH, habla con tu proveedor de atención médica acerca de las opciones de tratamiento.

Stop the Virus proporciona recursos e información que pueden ayudarte a mantenerte comprometido con tu salud. Visita HelpStopTheVirus.com

que seas abierto y honesto con tu atención médica para encontrar el adecuado para ti y tu rutina. Cuando te proveedor de atención médica, todas son válidas.