Surprised, Orazulike responded, “It is quite incredible to hear for the first time in my life doing this work for the past eight years that gay men are not common in Nigeria. I am a gay man; I am Nigerian.”
He then pointed to a group of his friends sitting in the front row and added, “They don’t live in Australia; they live in Nigeria. We are very visible.”
When the Issues Collide
A number of factors—race, gender identity, stigma, criminalization and sex work—come crashing together in the case of Monica Jones, an African-American transgender woman from Phoenix. Last year the Arizona State University social work student essentially was arrested for “walking while trans,” under an ordinance that allows police to pick up anyone who “manifests an intent to commit or solicit an act of prostitution.” Though Jones has engaged in sex work in the past, she says she was arrested after accepting a ride to a bar in her neighborhood from two men who turned out to be undercover cops.
As a result Jones has become a cause célèbre, and even Laverne Cox of Orange Is the New Black fame has signed on to the We Stand With Monica Jones campaign.
“Walking while trans is a way to talk about the overlapping biases against trans women and against sex workers,” explained Jones, who came to AIDS 2014 to discuss her case and also offered a sassy lip-synched dance performance at the main stage of the Global Village.
“They can arrest me for who I am and what they think I am, and the problem is worse in low-income [communities] and communities of color. African Americans make up 50 percent of new HIV infections,” Jones continued. “This is all connected.”
As the conference ended, delegates were already looking toward 2016 in Durban, South Africa. Though AIDS 2014 began on a somber note with the tragedy of Flight MH17 and the deaths of six colleagues, the mood at the conference center remained energized, determined and hopeful.
Australian human rights advocate Michael Kirby summed up the collective feeling during his plenary address. Referring to those who died in the plane crash, he said, “They would demand that we renew and redouble our efforts. This is not a time for silence.”
HIV Does Discriminate: The Worldwide Fight Against Stigma & Discrimination was originally published on blackdoctor.org
