As we mark World AIDS Day today, there is no doubt that it is a time of great promise in the fight against HIV/AIDS. It is also undeniable that much work remains.

Treatments are now available that can stem or even stop the spread of HIV. Living with the virus itself is now a manageable long term condition rather than a debilitating and fatal disease.

But these advancements have not reached everyone in our community. For far too many, this promise is still unacceptably far off.

Equality California is committed to the health and wellbeing of everyone in the LGBT community and ending stigma attached to having HIV. That means:

• Educating people, and the LGBT community specifically, on the benefits and availability of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which promises to end transmission of HIV. Click here for more information about PrEP.
• Working with a coalition of LGBT and civil rights groups to modernize laws that target and stigmatize people with HIV, and that treat them differently than those living with other communicable diseases.
• Guaranteeing that every member of California’s diverse LGBT community has access to quality health care they can afford, regardless of immigration status.

The theme of this year’s World AIDS Day is, “The Time to Act Is Now.”

Because transgender women in America today are an estimated 49 times more likely to have HIV than the general population, the time to act is now.

When the CDC has reported a 132% increase in new instances of HIV infections in gay and bisexual men aged 13-24, the time to act is now.

As millions in America, and too many Californians, still lack quality, affordable healthcare, the time to act is now.

Together, we can fight for a future where everyone has an equal chance at a long, healthy life – and we must.