Leading HIV charities share message of support for trans community

13 of the UK’s leading HIV and sexual health charities, including the Terrence Higgins Trust, the National AIDS Trust, METRO Charity, the George House Trust and Positively UK, have released a collaborative statement in support of trans rights. The statement reads: “As a coalition of HIV and sexual health charities, we want to underscore our absolute commitment to supporting the rights of our trans, non-binary, and gender diverse communities.”

It highlighted that the trans community has been a “key player in the fight against HIV”, but is experiencing “high levels of HIV and poor sexual health” due to discrimination and health inequalities. It also noted the “unacceptable” abuse trans people are facing in the media “which often includes misinformation that paints trans people as predatory, deceptive, and immoral. These are the same tactics that have previously been used to target people living with HIV.”

The statement concluded: “Demanding action on HIV means attending to the intersecting needs of everyone. It means standing together against discrimination and attacks on human rights. We continue to stand together with our trans friends, colleagues, and service users, today and always.”

THT shared the statement on Twitter, saying: “Progress on HIV has been fought hand-in-hand with support for trans people. The transphobia we see today is similar to pernicious tactics used to historically target people living with HIV. We called it out then and we will call it out now.”