Trans people of color speak out for World AIDS Day

Transgender Law Center releases three powerful videos created by members of TLC's Positively Trans program

(Oakland, CA - November 30, 2017) -- In advance of World AIDS Day on December 1, 2017, Transgender Law Center (TLC) is releasing three new videos created by trans people of color living with HIV. The videos from Positively Trans members Aryah Lester, Arianna Lint, and Marcus Ecks, developed at Story Center workshops, provide a more personal look at the lives and stories behind data showing the epidemic's disproportionate impact on transgender communities.

"In 2017, we live in a world where contracting HIV is completely preventable," Arianna Lint, a Positively Trans National Advisory Board member from Florida, says in her video. "We are living in a world where if you contract HIV, it's a chronic and critical disease, not a death sentence – unless you are poor, unless you are a person of color, and especially unless you're a poor, transgender person of color. If you are holding any of those identities, especially if you're holding all of them, you don't live in 2017. For us, it's 1980."

Arianna, Marcus, and Aryah are all available for interviews about World AIDS Day, their videos, and their experiences and advocacy as trans people of color living with HIV. View their videos below:

Arianna's video: https://youtu.be/cvDn84Yx2ak

Marcus's video: https://youtu.be/plNXLSjeHpc

Aryah's video: https://youtu.be/0oLBl0tRPA8

Transgender Law Center launched Positively Trans in 2015 with the support of the Elton John AIDS Foundation as a response to the structural inequalities that drive the high rate of HIV/AIDS and poor health outcomes. By partnering with a National Advisory Board of community leaders, Positively Trans seeks to mobilize and promote resilience of transgender people most impacted by or living with HIV/AIDS, particularly transgender women of color, through research, policy advocacy, legal advocacy, and leadership strengthening.

The full library of Positively Trans videos and research reports is available here: https://transgenderlawcenter.org/programs/positively-trans.

Transgender Law Center (TLC) is the largest national trans-led organization advocating self-determination for all people. Grounded in legal expertise and committed to racial justice, TLC employs a variety of community-driven strategies to keep transgender and gender nonconforming people alive, thriving, and fighting for liberation. transgenderlawcenter.org