The Most Amazing HIV Allies & Advocates of 2023
Meet Our Amazing Allies & Advocates of the Year!
Millions of people around the globe are actively involved in the fight to end the spread of HIV, as well as its lingering stigma. While we wish we had room in these pages to honor them all, in this issue we celebrate eight of these amazing individuals for their tireless and inspiring efforts to not only combat the virus, but to also remind the world that living with HIV doesn’t prevent you from having a life full of love, health, joy — and great sex!
Torrian Baskerville
courtesy Human Rights Campaign
The HRC’s director of HIV & Health Equity is bringing a fresh, sex-positive, and inclusive new attitude to the fight against HIV.
Torrian L. Baskerville is a racial and social justice advocate, activist, and health equity leader in the LGBTQ+ and HIV communities. Throughout his life and career he’s believed in prioritizing community-based, grass-roots tactics and has remained focused on addressing the needs of often disenfranchised or marginalized communities — particularly gay, bisexual, and other same-gender-loving men of color, people living with HIV, and youth and young adults.
With over a decade of diverse experience in these areas, Baskerville brings a refreshing array of innovative ideas and approaches to the Human Rights Campaign’s various health and wellness programs. In his role as the director of HIV & Health Equity, Baskerville oversees the organization’s national HIV portfolio, which focuses on combatting stigma and racial and social discrimination, and also on “ending HIV through changing the narrative, building a new system for change, and developing and advancing public policy.”
Baskerville explains why changing the narrative around HIV is key, especially within Black and brown communities. He also reminds us that adding topics like sexual pleasure and personal empowerment into the conversation is equally important.
“As a person who personally enjoys sex a particular way, it was important that we take a stance that is inclusive of everyone,” he says. “And that it’s not about being ‘safe’ — because safe somehow says that something is unsafe, or something is damaging or there’s a deficit.”
So rather than focus on the negatives around HIV and other STIs, Baskerville stresses that it’s really all about getting people to feel more in control of their sexual health and wellness.
“However you show up, whoever you are, whatever you like, whatever you engage in — how do we take that and empower you to take control over your health, take control over your health outcomes, take control over your sexuality, over your desire, while also centering pleasure?” he asks. “And so we aim to center pleasure in conversations around sex, and not shame people for wanting to engage in sex, or for the types of sex that they’re engaging in.”
One HRC program he’s especially excited about is its Wellness in Action initiative, which was recently expanded under Baskerville’s leadership. The program works in partnership with organizations like CVS Health to provide people access to at-home HIV testing as well as to real-world resources that may be needed after testing, such as connection to HIV prevention methods or treatment.
Baskerville says he’s also proud of increased inclusivity in many of the HRC’s newer programs, specifically for women (cis and trans) and younger people living with or affected by HIV.
“We had these conversations around what communities and what populations we wanted to prioritize. The team sensed that there was some work needing to be done within both communities,” he says, explaining the need to expand the conversation around HIV beyond just gay and bi men.
“We’ve been there, we’ve done that — which has allowed for the disparities to seep into other populations and have allowed HIV to impact greatly in those populations,” adds Baskerville. “And so, we wanted to center HIV but to also center health equity, right? So we look at the whole title of the program: the HIV & Health Equity Program. We can’t talk about health equity and not expand the work into other populations and communities.”
Andy Cohen
S Bukley / Shutterstock
The longtime TV fixture uses his soapbox to battle HIV criminalization.
When it comes to celebrities, Watch What Happens Live! host, TV producer, and Housewives whisperer Andy Cohen has never been anything less than sex-positive. Even now as a dad in his 50s, Cohen never pretends he’s not a sexual being. This candor was most recently illustrated when video of Cohen and a man canoodling in a club emerged in the media; Cohen didn’t bother to respond or defend himself, because why should he have to?
Cohen’s unapologetic attitude as a proud gay man makes him a perfect fit for the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation’s HIV Is Not a Crime Campaign. Announced in September, Cohen will serve as a new celebrity supporter and national champion for the effort to modernize laws and penalties aimed at people living with HIV.
“I am honored to support the HIV Is Not A Crime campaign and to be a part of the movement to end the stigma surrounding the disease,” Cohen said in a statement. “We need to create a world where people living with HIV are not criminalized or discriminated against solely because of their health status, and I am excited to use my platform to help make that a reality.”
ETAF’s campaign wants to end the stigma against HIV, specifically the ignorance that criminalizes people with the disease. People living with HIV in 30 U.S. states are being charged and branded as criminals because of their status, even when there is no risk of HIV transmission, ETAF reports. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agrees with ETAF, stating on their website that, “After more than 40 years of HIV research and significant biomedical advancements to treat and prevent HIV transmission, many state laws are now outdated and do not reflect our current understanding of HIV.”
During the height of COVID-19, Cohen spoken out against federal blood donation restrictions on gay and bisexual men, which persisted for decades because of (likely homophobic) HIV fears that didn’t match scientific reality. With his huge platform on the Bravo network, social media, and podcasts, Cohen will once again ring the bell on the impact of ignorance.
ETAF, partnering with Gilead Sciences, Inc., have long made reforming HIV criminalization part of its mission, working with lobbyists and other organizations to successfully modernize several such laws.
“We are thrilled to have Andy Cohen on board and excited to see the impact he will make in raising awareness and support for HIV Is Not A Crime. We thank Andy for his dedication and support. Together, we can make a difference in reforming our nation’s HIV policies,” said Cathy Brown, executive director of the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, in a statement.
“Gilead Sciences is grateful to have Andy Cohen’s support in our collective fight against discrimination and criminalization of people living with HIV,” added Alex Kalomparis, Gilead’s senior vice president of public affairs. “His dedication to raising awareness and advocating for those affected is truly inspiring. With his help, we can make an even greater impact in our mission to end unjust HIV criminalization and discrimination.”
Waheedah Shabazz-El
courtesy Waheedah Shabazz-El
This fierce advocate is fighting to end stigma and create a better quality of life for women and people aging with HIV.
Over the last two decades, Waheedah Shabazz-El has become a leading voice for issues surrounding women and older folks living with HIV. She is a founding member of Positive Women’s Network USA, a national organization created by and for women living with HIV and their allies. She is also a founding member of PWN’s Pennsylvania chapter.
“Locally, we work to support overdose prevention sites in our area,” Shabazz-El says. “These centers offer life-changing interventions, save lives, and help prevent HIV. We also work to push back against HIV criminalization laws in our state and any harmful provisions that may be proposed.”
Shabazz-El, an African-American Muslim woman, says her own journey living with HIV is what initially brought her to this work.
“The very first time I was tested for HIV, my test came back positive — and I received an AIDS diagnosis at the same time,” she recalls. “In the course of being educated about HIV, I regained the will to live. Armed with awareness of the ‘root cause analysis’ of HIV — that HIV is as much a social condition as it is a medical condition — I believe I had a flight-or-fight reaction. I have found that using a social justice framework helps reduce external HIV-related stigma…. This becomes a call to action to create equity, secure social justice, and carry out human rights.”
Currently, Shabazz-El serves as the director of community engagement at The Reunion Project, where she is working to build a national alliance for long-term survivors of HIV. “It is a challenge to address quality of life issues as we live longer with HIV in a world that is not prepared for us,” says the active 70-year-old, adding that we need to demand that “people aging with HIV have seats at the table and are consulted about programs and policies that affect our lives.”
She adds that The Reunion Project “has a unique and intentional relationship” with SAGE Advocacy & Services for LGBTQ+ Elders (sageusa.org). “SAGE encourages us to be outspoken advocates for safety nets and polices for our LGBTQ+ communities and long-term survivors of HIV as they age.”
In addition to her work at PWN and The Reunion Project, Shabazz-El is also an advocate for HIV cure research and serves on several related community advisory boards, including the BEAT HIV Delaney Collaboratory at Wistar Institute, Penn CFAR, and CRISPR Cure at Temple University. Outside of work, she finds joy by playing Scrabble, retail shopping, and “preparing large meals for my family and having them gather. I enjoy spending time with my partner and traveling together — our bucket list is to visit the Seven Wonders of the World.”
“One real challenge is economic security and financial literacy,” she says of issues facing those aging with HIV. “Without a doubt the advancement in HIV treatment has allowed us to live longer — but many people aging with HIV are living in perpetual poverty, receiving state or federal benefits. Those who yearn to return to the workforce run the risk of losing medical or cash benefits. The bureaucracy of the social security system is intimidating.”
“I believe stigma remains a huge challenge, especially for those who have not found the inner acceptance, safety, and support to live out openly with HIV,” adds Shabazz-El. “Now, as we grow older, for some this may be the secret they take to their graves — leaving behind a legacy of death instead of a legacy of life that is now possible with HIV.”
Dominic Colón
Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images
This out Latinx playwright and actor is using his work to help himself, and others living with HIV, heal.
Actor, writer, director, and producer Dominic Colón has appeared in over 50 films and television shows, including appearances on Power, The Blacklist, Orange Is The New Black, and Escape at Dannemora. The Bronx-born talent is also known to many for his regular role as Manny Spamboni on the Emmy Award-winning children’s show The Electric Company.
Colón has won numerous awards for his writing, including two BRIO Awards for his 2011 play Crush and his 2016 short film Skin, a semi-autobiographical comedy about a man who is afraid to have sex with his boyfriend shirtless after losing an large amount of weight. He’s also a two-time National Association of Latino Independent Producers Latino Media Market Fellow for the screenplays of his feature film Werq It and his short form series, Papi.
Last year was a big one for Colón. His one-act play Prospect Ave or the Miseducation of Juni Rodriguez received rave reviews, and he was featured on the cover of People en Español and as one of POZ magazine’s POZ100. He also joined the writer’s room for Netflix’s upcoming gay military drama, Pink Marine.
In addition to his impressive acting and writing roster, Colón often gives back to the communities that he’s from. He’s taught acting and playwriting at Riker’s Island jail and various schools, hospitals, and juvenile justice facilities throughout New York City.
He’s also been open about his queerness and living with HIV. On World AIDS Day 2021, Colón received the inaugural Write It Out! prize for playwrights living with HIV from the National Queer Theater for his work, The War I Know. The prize included $5,000 funded by Tony- and Emmy-winning star and fellow HIV advocate Billy Porter, with additional support from GLAAD.
“You don’t always control what the blessing in your life will look like, but you do control what you do with it,” said Colón when accepting the honor. “HIV is that blessing! Writing and developing The War I Know has not only been one of the greatest joys of my life, but it has also been a major part of my own healing and liberation. Healing and liberation are my prayer for everyone.”
This year Colón wrote for a special series sponsored by ViiV Healthcare (a global specialist company for HIV treatment) called “Love in Gravity,” which tells stories about Latinx people living with HIV. His contribution, Our Lady of The Six Train, tells a both heart-wrenching and hilarious story of one young man’s journey to accepting his HIV diagnosis.
“It’s trippy because I tested positive in February 2005,” Colón said in a recent interview for The Body. “But I did not talk about it for many years. I could count on two hands the number of people that knew. It was very locked, without a key. And without knowing it, I was 100 percent killing myself.”
“I always say that 2011 is when I started recognizing that I could not live this way,” added Colón. “I started therapy and started to work on myself and all of the issues that led me to think I didn’t want to live. I did not want to be that way, so I had to take steps to heal. But, you know, healing is not linear. It takes a long time. You’re always in the process of healing.”
Ronald Johnson
courtesy Facebook
This policy expert has been fighting for gay and bi men of color living with HIV for decades — and is now advocating for this community as they grow older.
Ronald Johnson has been involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS since the earliest days of the epidemic, having witnessed its devastation firsthand in his own community. He says he was especially concerned about gay and bi men of color at the time, who were often discriminated against at predominantly white-operated HIV organizations and clinics.
“I got involved in the fight against HIV and stigma in the early 1980s,” Johnson recalls. “As a gay man living in New York City, I was aware of the disease we now know as AIDS early in the epidemic and I wanted to get involved. I started as a volunteer at GMHC [Gay Men’s Health Crisis]. I was also aware of reports of discrimination against Black and Latino men at GMHC — so as a Black gay man, I wanted to ‘see for myself’ and to do what I could to ensure that gay men of color were getting the services we needed.”
From there, Johnson worked tirelessly for these communities over the next several decades. Among his many roles over the years, Johnson served as New York City’s first citywide coordinator for AIDS policy from 1992 to 1997, as the associate executive director of policy at GMHC from 1997 to 2006, and directed policy activities at AIDS Action (an organization that merged with National AIDS Fund in 2011 to become AIDS United). He also served as a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS from 1996 to 2001.
Johnson retired at the end of 2017 as the vice president of policy and advocacy at AIDS United but continues to consult with the organization as a senior policy fellow. The spry 75-year-old also currently serves as chair of the U.S. People Living with HIV Caucus as well as board president of Point Source Youth, a nonprofit focused on ending youth homelessness, especially among LGBTQ+ youth. In addition, he advocates for those growing older living with HIV.
“I am involved in maintaining and building the organizational infrastructure in the community to ensure the meaningful engagement of people living with HIV [PLHIV] in the response to HIV and other issues that impact the health and well-being of PLHIV,” Johnson says. “I do this through my work in the U.S. People Living with HIV Caucus. I am also involved in policy and advocacy related to HIV and aging and meeting the needs of people aging with HIV. My involvement in issues related to HIV and aging includes working closely with the policy staff at SAGE.”
SAGE [sageusa.org] is an organization that addresses issues related to aging within the LGBTQ+ community and works to “achieve a high quality of life for LGBTQ+ older people, support and advocate for their rights, foster a greater understanding of aging in all communities, and promote positive images of LGBTQ+ life in later years.”
“The first major challenge facing those of us who are growing older with HIV is managing our health care in the context of HIV and aging,” Johnson explains. “Many older adults living with HIV have comorbidities that are not HIV-related but are impacted by HIV, such as cardiovascular disease. We also must manage health conditions that usually are related to aging, such as frailty.”
He adds that some other major challenges for older HIV-positive folks include polypharmacy (simultaneously taking multiple prescription drugs), mental health, “especially mental health issues that are related to social isolation and loneliness,” and securing and maintaining adequate, safe, and affordable housing.
When he’s not giving his all to his community, Johnson says he enjoys “any opportunity to relax. For me that includes cooking, reading, and traveling.”
Malcom Reid
courtesy Malcom Reid
This amazing advocate is creating safe spaces for Black same-gender-loving men living with HIV.
Meet Malcom Reid, the director of policy and advocacy at THRIVE SS (thrivess.org), a nonprofit focused on ending “death, shame, and stigma for Black same-gender-loving men living with HIV.” He is also serves on the Chair Policy Action Committee for the U.S. PLHIV Caucus.
“I am a person living with HIV since 1997. I became aware of the disparities and barriers Black gay men with no insurance, or who were underinsured, were facing when dealing with our public health system and decided to get involved,” Reid, 66, tells Plus. “I started a program for Black SGL [same-gender-loving] men living with HIV over 50 that evolved into what is now the Silver Lining Project.”
The Advocates for Silver Lining program, implemented by THRIVE SS, is an initiative created for SGL men of color growing older with HIV “to identify systemic changes that will improve health equity for themselves and their local community, and enable them to effectively advocate for those changes.”
As part of the Advocates for Silver Lining, participants will “gain knowledge and support to navigate the public health system of their local community and the U.S.” The program creates a safe place for these men to share their personal stories and successes, while also connecting them to vital HIV care and resources.
“We are on the forefront,” Reid explains of those now growing older with HIV. “Therefore, there is either no research — or the research that has been done has not been carried out, implemented, or adequately tested. There are still a lot of unknowns. That feeds the medical mistrust that has always been experienced in the Black community.”
“Stigma remains a major barrier to getting people into care,” he adds. “Regarding public policy, the major barrier is still health care access. Medicaid, Medicare, and Ryan White are imperfect systems, and Ryan White was really not designed for the geriatric population.”
When taking a break from his important work in the community, Reid says he enjoys “spending time with my husband,” who he lives with in Decatur, Georgia. “After 26 years, we still do date nights. We both still like being out in the community. Bars and clubs never get old — and we refuse to be classified as too old. Other times we are just home vegging on the couch.”
Jeffrey Schwarz
Matthew Simmons / Film Magic / Getty Images
An out filmmaker who continues to place the heroes of HIV front and center.
Jeffrey Schwarz has been a beloved figure in the filmmaking community for over a decade now, thanks to his detailed documentaries studying icons of the queer community. From Vito, about HIV activist Vito Russo, to I Am Divine, centered on John Waters’s subversive drag muse, to Tab Hunter Confidential, on the gay movie star, Schwarz has a knack for uncovering facets of stories and figures we thought we already understood.
Most recently, Schwarz turned his camera on Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest city and the world’s nexus of entertainment, and how it confronted the AIDS crisis in its early days. Commitment to Life, directed, produced, and edited by Schwarz, pays homage to Hollywood legends who stuck their necks out for HIV causes — like Elizabeth Taylor and Zelda Rubenstein, putting their own careers in jeopardy as judgment and panic over the disease permeated society. Taylor largely became the face of celebrity advocacy for HIV, with the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation continuing her mission years after her 2011 death (see pages 31 and 48). For her part, Rubenstein — who’d experienced a first flush of fame at the time thanks to the 1982 hit film Poltergeist — allowed her face and likeness to be used in very early AIDS public service announcements plastered on billboards and bus stops in the city.
But Schwarz doesn’t only honor movie stars in Commitment to Life, he interviews advocates on the ground 40 years ago (and still today); people like Minority AIDS Project cofounder Jewel Thais-Williams, HIV activist Phill Wilson, and Bamby Salcedo, president of the TransLatin Coalition. Schwarz devotes a substantial part of his film to the work of AIDS Project Los Angeles, which has boosted awareness, education, and HIV funds since its 1983 inception. While Los Angeles suffered devastating consequences from the onset of AIDS, similar to New York and San Francisco, Schwarz shows how the city was able to combine efforts of local activists, including many queer women and people of color, with the visibility provided by Hollywood. As laid out by Schwarz, the lesson of a multi-pronged effort to battle a pandemic, and the consequences of disregarding everyone affected by it, is something very relevant in the 2020s.
“Commitment to Life reconstructs [HIV’s] devastating march and the city that rose to fight it,” reads a description of the film, which premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in February. “Like the virus itself, the story winds through gated communities and neighborhoods of color, government offices and university labs, hospital suites and studio soundstages to tell a story of courage and sacrifice — as well as one of discrimination and unequal treatment.”
Boghuma Titanji
Khalil Henderson
This HIV researcher was recently recognized for her vital work during the COVID-19 and mpox outbreaks, and for helping to reduce heart issues in people living with HIV.
This year, Dr. Boghuma Titanji was named the winner of the Health Care Innovator/Researcher category by the Atlanta Business Chronicle for its 2023 Health Care Heroes program. Titanji is an assistant professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine’s Division of Infectious Diseases, where she primarily focuses on HIV research. Her colleague, Dr. Linda A. McCauley, dean of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory, was also honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Atlanta Business Chronicle this year.
Dr. Titanji, who was born in Cameroon, came to Emory in 2016, where she completed her internal medicine residency and infectious diseases fellowship, while also completing a research fellowship in infectious diseases at the VA Medical Center. In August of 2022, she officially joined the Emory University faculty.
Her primary research work focuses on the mechanics of chronic disease in people with HIV — and how the virus drives inflammation, which contributes to cardiovascular disease. The latest data shows that people living with HIV are twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke compared to HIV-negative people. In addition, effective interventions aimed at reducing this risk for heart issues in HIV-positive people are limited.
However, much of Titanji’s work in this area was disrupted when COVID-19 struck in 2020. As an infectious disease researcher, she naturally shifted her work to address the growing pandemic. Titanji also became involved with Emory’s research into the repurposed antiviral drug, baricitinib, originally developed to treat rheumatoid arthritis. She helped research the effect of this drug on people living with HIV in clinical trials and shared her findings with her mentor at Emory. This led to the authorization of emergency use of baricitinib and the drug began being trialed in patients with COVID-19. The results proved it to be very effective.
Dr. Titanji was also a huge ally within the scientific community during 2022’s mpox (monkeypox) outbreak. In an opinion essay she penned for Emory at the peak of the outbreak last summer, Titanji urged governing bodies and the global medical community to prioritize containing the situation before it got worse.
“[Mpox] deserves more urgency; we are simply not doing enough and this is unacceptable, especially for a disease which has made its way to centre stage as a direct result of decades of inaction and neglect,” Titanji wrote.
“On June 23, 2022, the World Health Organization convened an emergency committee meeting to discuss whether the current [mpox] situation constituted a public health emergency of international concern,” she added. “In a surprising turn of events, WHO declined to make that determination based on expert advice. What happened to acting quickly, acting decisively, and having no regrets?”
Titanji remains passionate about using her research to help the world’s most vulnerable populations in terms of infectious diseases, especially in Africa. Moving forward, she hopes to combine research with clinical practice in efforts to influence health policies all over the globe.
