Open now! Groundbreaking survey to assess needs and realities of transgender people living with HIV/AIDS

Oakland, CA – Today, Transgender Law Center launched the Positively Trans (T+) survey, a first-of-its-kind community-led needs assessment to examine the legal and policy landscape as experienced by transgender women, men, and gender non-conforming people living with HIV/AIDS across the country. The survey is open for responses in English and in Spanish.

“As transgender people living with HIV/AIDS, we are capable of forming our own network, telling our own stories, and developing our own strategies for advocacy,” said Cecilia Chung, Senior Strategist at Transgender Law Center and project lead for Positively Trans. “This survey is a groundbreaking opportunity to not only highlight our needs, but also our resilience when there are few resources available. We are ready to offer policy makers, providers and legislators our own solutions.”

Positively Trans is a response to the structural inequalities that drive the high rate of HIV/AIDS and poor health outcomes for transgender people, especially transgender women of color. The survey is a safe and anonymous place for trans and gender non-conforming people living with HIV to share their experiences with barriers, discrimination, violence, and triumphs in: health care, housing, employment, relationships, and community.

The survey was developed in partnership with the project’s nine National Advisory Board members from across the country — Arianna Lint, Channing-Celeste Wayne, Dee Dee Chamblee, Milan Sherry, Octavia Lewis, Ruby Corado, Tela Love, Teo Drake, and Tiommi J. Luckett — the majority of whom are trans women of color living with HIV.

“This survey is for us and will not be done without us,” said T+ National Advisory Board member Tiommi P. Luckett of Arkansas. “Every trans woman and man living with HIV should fill out this survey because we need people to know that we’re here, and that we can develop our own solutions and strategies to take care of ourselves.”

Positively Trans was made possible with the support of the Elton John AIDS Foundation. The survey’s findings, which will be released in October, will ultimately inform policy and program recommendations, prioritization of needs, strategic planning and advocacy efforts.

Take the survey, available in English and Spanish, at: http://transgenderlawcenter.org/positively-trans.

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Transgender Law Center works to change law, policy, and attitudes so that all people can live safely, authentically, and free from discrimination regardless of their gender identity or expression.