Nearly 45 percent of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in this country live in the U.S. South. The 10 cities with the highest infection rates are all in the U.S. South. If current rates of infection hold, the CDC estimates that one in two Black gay and bisexual men in the U.S. will become HIV-positive. So how do we continue to address this ongoing epidemic?

This plenary will spotlight the disproportionate impact HIV/AIDS is having as it ravages Southern communities and takes it toll on Black gay men and transgender women. Award-winning journalist Linda Villarosa, author of the New York Times feature “America’s Hidden Epidemic,” will join a panel of people living with, and working to address, HIV in the South to outline the challenges in the fight against HIV in the South and highlight instructive examples of resilience and leveraging resources for optimal impact.