Fighting to End the Invisibility of Women With HIV
May 18 2021 2:03 PM EDT
For years, the public face of the HIV epidemic has been made up almost entirely of white gay men. There have been a few prominent exceptions, like Magic Johnson and Ryan White, but the bulk of HIV prevention and care was directed at this single community, allowing it to spread at devastating rates in other populations.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 50 percent of Black gay and bisexual men will contract HIV in their lifetime. Black Americans represent 43 percent of new HIV diagnoses in the nation, although they represent only 12 percent of the population. Cisgender Black women are 16 times more likely to be diagnosed with HIV than cis white women.