gran varones turns 5 this year and what better way to begin that celebration by announcing our first fellowship for hiv positive varones creatives.

the positive digital arts fellowship will work with 5 hiv positive latinx and afro-latinx men who identify as gay, queer, trans or bi. the fellowship will provide support and tools on creating digital content that challenges hiv stigma and promotes family acceptance.

for more information or to check out the application

please share with your networks.

on june 5, 1981, the center for disease control (cdc) published an article in its morbidity and mortality weekly report (mmwr): pneumocystis pneumonia—los angeles. the article described cases of pneumocystis carinii pneumonia(pcp), a rare lung infection, in five young, white, previously healthy gay men in los angeles. the report stated that all of the men had other unusual infections in to pcp, indicating that their immune systems were not working. by the time the report was published, two of the five men had died and the other died soon after. this was the very first official reporting of what later became the aids epidemic.

in 1981, there were 234 known deaths due to aids, which before 1982 was actually called gay related immune deficiency (grid) by both health officials and mainstream media. this framing and the fear mongering messaging that immediately followed, along with the us government’s willful inaction, helped to create an epidemic that continues to impact our communities globally. 

someone once said that the shortest distance between life and death was aids. by 1993, just five years after then president reagan publically acknowledged the epidemic, aids was the leading cause of death for american ages 25-44.

38 years since the cdc report, we have witnessed profound breakthroughs in hiv treatment, prevention and even how it covered in some media outlets. however, black and latinx gay men, trans men and trans women continue to be disproportionately impacted and criminalized even as the hiv non-profit industry has gone by leaps and bounds.

hiv is still a social justice issue.

hiv is still a racial justice issue.

hiv is still a health issue.

no one is truly living without hiv in a world where it continues to impact those on the margins.

so on this day, we remember those who marched in past pride parades with zero t-cells. we remember those who yelled, “act up! fight back, fight aids!” we carry their legacies as we celebrate stonewall 50. we still rage and mourn because many of them would still be here had it not been for aids.

photo circa 1989 • philadelphia puerto rican day parade • courtesy of David acosta

JUSTICE FOR ROXSANA WEEK OF ACTION

Roxsana Hernandez was a 33-year old transgender woman from Honduras who decided to come to the United States seeking a better future. She left Honduras because she didn’t feel safe, and threats had been made against her life.

After journeying through Guatemala and Mexico, and joining the migrant caravan, she turned herself in at the San Ysidro port of entry in San Diego on May 9, 2018 seeking asylum.

Buzzfeed interviewed her before she turned herself in at the border and is quoted as saying, “I didn’t want to come to Mexico — I wanted to stay in Honduras but I couldn’t. They kill trans people in Honduras. I’m scared of that.” Once she was in ICE custody, she was put in a hielera, or “icebox.” On May 9, 2018, she was transferred to Cibola Detention Center in New Mexico. Even though she asked for medical care, she wasn’t given any. The following day she was taken by air ambulance to Lovelace Medical Center in Albuquerque. She was in the intensive care unit there until May 25 when she died.

Last year, FamiliaTQLM, the Transgender Law Center, the Law Office of Andrew R. Free, and Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project – BLMP filed a Notice of Wrongful Death Tort Claim in New Mexico, the first step in holding all parties responsible for Roxsana Hernandez’s death accountable.

This Week of Action is meant to honor Roxsana Hernandez’ life and to hold every person, and institution, that she came into contact with, accountable for her death given that with the proper care she would be with us today.

ICE continues to deny responsibility for her death but we won’t stop until we get #JusticeforRoxsana.

Follow @familiatqlm for ways to support this effort. 

COLLECTIVE STATEMENT

Trans and queer people of color have been and continue to be the vanguard of every major movement for social justice. While trans and queer people of color have acted as a moral compass for social movements, their stories and their leadership are pushed to the margins. Moreover, anti-blackness within the LGBTQ+ and immigrant justice movements have led to marginalization and attempted erasure of Black communities. This is especially true for Black migrants broadly and Black LGBTQ+ migrants specifically.

About the Rally & March:

We gathered in New Mexico to uplift and center queer and trans migrants in the movement to #AbolishICE. Roxsana Hernandez, a transgender woman from Honduras, was detained at Cibola County Correctional Center and died while in custody. Currently, Udoka Nweke, a gay Nigerian migrant, is in Adelanto Detention Center, and all he’s seen of the United States is a jail cell. The rampant physical and brutal treatment that queer and trans migrants face behind bars can be fatal, particularly for people living with HIV. Our demands today are clear: End detention, stop deportations, and decry the the anti-Black racism that renders Black lives, including Black migrant lives, disposable.

Demands:

We demand an end to the detention and deportation of trans and queer migrants as well as the criminalization of Black people.

We call on LGBTQ+ and immigrant rights movement to decry anti-Blackness and engage in active solidarity with Black LGBTQ+ migrants by uplifting our presence and leadership.

We demand the release of all trans people currently detained at all immigration detention facilities around the country, including right here at the Cibola County Correctional Facility.

We demand an end to all forms of immigration detention and deportation.

We call for the complete abolishment of ICE and prisons.

#AbolishICE must also mean #AbolishPolice. Our demands reflect our belief that whether it is an immigration prison or a county jail, people are being put in cages and they are dying in them. It is the ugly truth that we must reckon with in order to achieve justice for migrants, particularly Black migrants who are disproportionately targeted by all types of law enforcement.

We demand justice for Roxsana Hernandez and other trans and queer people who have died in ICE custody. We hold all people, companies and agencies responsible for her care and safety responsible for Roxsana’s death and we call for them to be held accountable immediately.

Today, we are thinking about Udoka Nweke, whose mental health is deteriorating and is currently in Adelanto Detention Center. All he has seen of the United States is a jail cell. Black migrants and Black queer and trans migrants face a U.S. legal system steeped in anti-Black racism and their voices need to be heard.

We demand an end to all detention. Queer and trans migrants in detention are inhumanely denied life-saving medical care, including mental health care, transition-related care, and treatment for people living with HIV.

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