National Transgender HIV Testing Day – April 18, 2016

Written by: Janelle Luster, Peer Advocate

April 18, 2016 – National Transgender HIV Testing Day

“The transgender community has gotten a lot of recognition over the past couple of years, both good and bad. We have what some may consider elites and others who have been trapped and taunted by stigma. People are still whispering when we come into the room and as we go out. There is no care for whom we are and what we do. More importantly than ever, stigma is sticking.

Trans women of color and Latina Trans women are the populations being the most affected by HIV/AIDS. And while most experts agree, hard data backing up this reality are hard to come by because HIV data collection methods often either mistakenly categorize transgender women as men who have sex with men (often called MSM), or don’t distinguish between transgender women and non-transgender women.

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On April 18th, we are celebrating National Transgender HIV Testing Day because every single body deserves to know their status. How can we treat something if we don’t know that it’s there? We encourage the Trans community to go out and get tested; it’s up to us to take a stand to rise above HIV. We take this stand with The Center of Excellence for Transgender Health and all other CBO’s who are taking a stand for Transgender Health.”

[email protected] – 510.986.0340 ext. 4061