In the 1980s, a dangerous new virus — which would eventually be known as human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV — started spreading rapidly throughout the world. In the early days of the epidemic in the U.S., HIV was mainly affecting gay and bisexual men, who began getting ill and dying at alarming rates. The growing health crisis was compounded by the conservative Reagan administration, which…

Hundreds of people brought candles to New York City’s historic Christopher Street on Friday afternoon for a vigil marking 45 years since the first reported cases of AIDS and protesting cuts to HIV care and public health programs under President Donald Trump.

The New York City AIDS Memorial partnered with numerous health and advocacy groups for a vigil and march through the historic heart of…

Just days after a federal appeals court revived a major challenge to the military's enlistment ban, the same court has clarified that qualified people living with HIV can once again join the armed forces while the case moves forward.

In an order issued Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit said that when it agreed last month to rehear __Wilkins v. Hegseth__ , it also…

Forty-five years into the HIV epidemic, the pursuit of a safe and effective preventive HIV vaccine remains as important as ever. Scientists conducting the research, community members serving as clinical trial volunteers, the Community Advisory Boards (CABs) helping to guide the science, and advocates fighting for sustained funding all continue working toward one of the movement’s most urgent…

A federal appeals court has revived a major challenge to the U.S. military’s HIV enlistment ban, reopening a closely watched case that could determine whether people living with HIV can continue to be categorically barred from serving.

In an order issued May 18, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit agreed to rehear __Wilkins v. Hegseth__ , vacating a February ruling by a…

Maureen McNamara has participated in AIDS Walk New York since the walkathon began 41 years ago. In the 1980s, McNamara watched the AIDS epidemic claim the lives of friends and community members in New York. For her, trekking through Manhattan each year has become an act of remembering.

“I had a really good friend who had been in the hospital in those days. … Nobody would touch him, so it was…

A new treatment regimen helping patients with blood cancer could be effective in suppressing HIV.

Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco told The New York Times that two individuals in a trial saw HIV presence lower to undetectable levels following an experimental infusion of engineered immune cells. Detailed data on findings will soon be presented in full to the…

Democratic congressional candidate Jack Schlossberg is unveiling a national proposal on Sunday to eliminate out-of-pocket costs for HIV prevention drugs while accusing his cousin, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., of dismantling federal HIV prevention efforts.

The 33-year-old grandson of President John F. Kennedy, running in one of the most closely watched Democratic congressional…

Considering treatment options can feel like an overwhelming process for many people newly diagnosed with HIV. That being said, as medicine has advanced over the years, there are more options for people living with HIV to manage their care and explore multiple avenues of medicine. In this episode of __The Talk__ , advocates share examples from their own experiences with treatment.

“If you’re…

As Washington's political and media class descends on the capital for White House Correspondents’ Dinner weekend, the Human Rights Campaign has a message for some of them on Grindr: "F*** Around and Find Out."

The LGBTQ+ advocacy group launched a geofenced ad campaign Friday and Saturday around the Correspondents’ Dinner and a Grindr-hosted party in Georgetown, targeting users who open the…

The leader of the NMAC, a national HIV advocacy organization focused on communities disproportionately impacted by the epidemic, is forcefully disputing claims that the organization is in turmoil, insisting it remains financially sound even as recent reporting and internal concerns raise questions about leadership decisions, staffing, and workplace culture.

In an interview with __The…

A post on Facebook this week advised Filipino travelers to Oman that they may have to undergo a test for HIV to enter the country, not just for work but also to visit. And that information matches an international list of restrictions maintained by the HIV Justice Network, which includes more than 20 nations, such as Canada and Australia.

The Philippine Embassy in Oman posted the advisory on…

A resurfaced clip of _Heated Rivalry_ creator Jacob Tierney from four years ago is getting praise for his frank discussion about living with HIV and the stigma he's had to deal with.

_Heated Rivalry_ ended up being a catalyst for an honest discussion about gay sex (apparently, straight people had no idea what frotting is and didn't know rimming was popular), but it turns out this is nothing…

The Minneapolis City Council this week voted unanimously to direct staff to explore repealing the city’s 38-year ban on adult sex venues, opening the door to the possible return of bathhouses that once served as important social and sexual gathering spaces for gay men. But the 12-0 vote does not mean the Democrat-dominated council is united on whether such venues should ultimately reopen, the…

A former senior executive at a Missouri nonprofit that serves people living with HIV and cancer has filed a lawsuit alleging he was fired for expressing political views on social media.

Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ****+ news and politics.**** Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter.

Justin Kralemann, who worked for eight years at Food Outreach Inc. in St. Louis, filed the…

_This story was originally reported by Orion Rummler of The 19th. Meet Orion and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy._

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a bill that gives low-income Floridians three more months of access to essential HIV medication.

The bill funds the state’s AIDS drug assistance program (ADAP), which gets medications to low-income and uninsured…

In the middle of a busy New York City street, dozens of people lay still atop the pavement on Saturday afternoon. ACT UP, one of the world’s most prominent HIV advocacy groups, organized the demonstration outside Palantir, a software company that develops surveillance technology and contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ**+ news and…

Lawmakers in Pennsylvania advanced employment protections for LGBTQ+ and HIV-positive workers. Those were among eight bills that cleared the House Judiciary Committee that were supported by equality advocates.

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“As lawmakers, we have a responsibility to ensure our laws reflect…

I’m old enough to remember what it looked like when the government decided AIDS wasn't its problem.

I remember the silence from the Reagan White House as funerals piled up. I remember watching and hearing about brilliant sons, partners, uncles, friends, entire communities disappear while officials shrugged and said this was a “gay” disease, something that happened to people who had brought…

Reggie Dunbar II’s doctor was more concerned than he was when his HIV diagnosis came back.

**Keep up with the latest inLGBTQ+ news and politics. **Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter.

It was 1985, nearly a decade since Dunbar had retired from the military after serving from 1972 to 1977. All the news featured was stories about death, and the community around him had tales to…

Kelley Robinson brought a list of gripes about Donald Trump the night of the State of the Union address — but cuts to HIV funding and its impact on her community loomed large.

“I’m here for every trans person that’s been kicked out of our military and every person living with HIV that’s denied their PrEP medication,” Robinson said. “I’m here for our community tonight because I’ve got to…

While HIV _first emerged_ as a national threat to white gay men, no group today remains at higher risk of infection than Black LGBTQ+ individuals.

Nearly half of all Americans living with HIV in the nation are Black, despite the demographic making up just 13 percent of the U.S. population, according to the latest figures from the _Centers for Disease Control and Prevention_. According to…

In a ruling that reasserts broad judicial deference to the U.S. military and delivers a major setback to HIV and LGBTQ+ advocates, a federal appeals court on Wednesday reinstated the Pentagon’s long-standing ban on people living with HIV enlisting in the armed forces, undoing a lower-court decision that had briefly opened the door to qualified recruits with undetectable viral loads.

****Keep…

In the early days of the AIDS crisis, there were no treatments for people with HIV and no pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a prescription-based daily pill or an injection that people not living with HIV can take to prevent HIV infection, to prevent its spread. On top of it all, institutional racism in the realm of public health often left Black patients out.

“Back in those days, it really…

Black people in the U.S. aren't just more likely to have HIV — they're more likely to be criminalized for it.

Black Americans accounted for about 38 percent of new HIV diagnoses and 39 percent of people living with HIV in 2023, according to a report from the Williams Institute, despite making up around 12 percent of the population.

**Related:****13 Black community organizations fighting HIV…