Positive Women’s Newsletter – March 2026

💯 PWN-USA & The Well Project Honor… 💯

Each year on March 10, US organizations and groups come together for National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (#NWGHAAD) to show support for women across the gender spectrum living with HIV or with reasons for prevention. But unlike most years, in 2026, the US government has disavowed this awareness day and with it, any commitment to affirm up the issues that matter to women and girls. In the vacuum they have left, The Well Project and PWN-USA – two national organizations focused on HIV and cis and trans women and gender diverse people – have stepped in to lead efforts to honor and uplift this day. 

“Though the federal government is not recognizing NWGHAAD, our communities are stepping forward. We are building power and will continue to highlight, celebrate, and mourn the realities of our lives together,” Marnina Miller said. “Women and girls living with HIV remain at the center of this movement.”

As a part of our work uplifting NWGHAAD, we spoke with PWN-USA members to ask them about this year’s theme: Sisterhood, Hope, & Equity. These are their reflections on what this theme means to them this day and beyond.

🔥 PWN is Rolling Deep at AIDSWatch 2026 🔥

At AIDSWatch 2026, PWN-USA is bringing lived experience and community perspective directly to Capitol Hill. PWN members and staff are supporting advocates to lead policy conversations with lawmakers, share their stories, and advocate for federal priorities that protect HIV funding, healthcare access, bodily autonomy, and community safety.

At this critical political time, we will advance PWN and Health Not Prisons visibility and policy priorities, develop state-based leadership by our core chapter leaders and members at large, and further relationships with lawmakers, members, leaders, and other HIV movement organizations. 

In 2025, AIDSWatch brought over 630 advocates from 38 states, Puerto Rico and Washington DC to advocate for the needs of people living with HIV through 271 Hill visits.

This is the 32nd year, and it will be even larger and more impactful. It is critical that our voices be heard as we are literally fighting for our funding and our lives.

AIDS Watch 2026 Protest Will Be a Celebration of LIFE!

We will live! These deadly cuts to life saving healthcare will not go on without a fight!

If you will be attending AIDSWatch, join us on Monday, March 16, to take action with us and our the Save HIV Funding comrades. We will call out this administration for its proposed harmful cuts to HIV treatment and prevention.

RSVP here: bit.ly/shf-pre-obit. If you’d like to write a pre-obituary in protest, you can find guidance here.

💯 PWN TX-GHA Campaign Wraps Up

Fiercely on Election Day 💯

This election day, Harris County saw record voter turnout and the PWN TX-Greater Houston Area chapter was there on the ground monitoring polls and calling voters to make sure they had a plan to vote in the primary.

We are living in a time when people across the United States are seeing voter disenfranchisement and confusion, but we are not confused about what people, especially people who look like us, need. We will continue to talk to people about the issues that are most important and make voting an easy way to show what we value most. 

💖 Are you a trans or gender diverse (TGD) person living with HIV? Want to be more involved in our TGD initiatives? Join our advisory group! PWN’s TGD staff and board caucus is looking for members to provide insight, vision, and support for our ongoing trans justice efforts and help plan our Trans Day of Power.

Our first call will be on Mon, 03/30 at 7pm ET. If you are interested in participating, please connect with us at Alex@pwn-usa.org. 

To our allies—we appreciate you and thank you in advance for honoring our need to share space with only each other.

🤗 PWN-PA co-chairs, Maria “Cookie” Cruz and Kenya Moussa, attended the Reproductive Freedom Taskforce’s People’s Hearing, held by Minority Leader Kendra Brooks. We all know that budget reflect our priorities – and the City of Philadelphia must prioritize our reproductive freedom. During public comment, Kenya gave a stirring call to action: “Rather than doubling down on the Trump regime’s racist, anti-poor policies, Philadelphia must invest more in the long-term survival of people living with HIV and our communities.”

😊 Colorado HIV and Harm Reduction Advocacy Day was a HUGE success hosted by PWN Colorado, CORA, Promotores de Esperanza, Vivent, HRAC, Crazy Love Africa, DPA and CCJRC.

Since 2017, we have advocated for our community at the Colorado State Capital. We had 103 folks register with over 80 showing up despite the snow. We kicked off the day serving 200 ever famous Santiago burritos, 7 gallons of coffee and 6 dozen donuts to community and legislators alike. We connected with 65 Representatives and Senators, had a proclamation in honor of HIV and Harm Reduction Advocacy Day read on both the Senate and House floors and brought attention to ongoing HIV funding challenges, a groundbreaking gender-affirming care fund, and shortfalls with the Naloxone program.

👑 PWN-LA and the Louisiana Coalition on Criminalization and Health (LCCH) held a powerful and intimate community conversation on the damage HIV criminalization laws have on people living with HIV across the state. This Louisiana legislative session, advocates are fighting to undo parts of the longstanding, unjust criminalization law that unfairly and disproportionately puts felony charges on Black and brown people living with HIV. This should never happen because of a health condition. To learn more or join in on this fight, join PWN-LA and follow @stigmaisntjusticela on Instagram.

Policy & Advocacy Training – March 12th

Join us on Thurs, 03/12/26 at 6PM ET/5PM CT/4PM MT/3PM PT for our next policy & advocacy training! This session will focus on Storytelling for Advocacy ahead of AIDSWatch. Everyone is welcome to join, no matter your experience level. Come learn with us! Register here!

PWN-USA National Membership Call – March 13th

Our next PWN members call is Friday, 03/13/26 at 4PM ET/3PM CT/2PM MT/1PM PT/10AM HT. Note: you must register as a PWN member before getting the Zoom link. PWN members include women (cis and trans), gender diverse, and transgender people living with HIV. Register here!

Sister Circle Virtual Support Group – March 19th

Are you a PWN member living with HIV? Join our virtual support group, Sister Circle, for a space to release, connect, and find peace! ✨ Join us Thurs, 03/19/26 at 8PM ET/7PM CT/6PM MT/5PM PT/2PM HT. Registration required to attend: bit.ly/PWNCARES (all caps). Hope to see you there! 💗

PWN-NYS NWGHAAD Event – March 21st

Our PWN-New York State chapter is joining us in honoring NWGHAAD by hosting an event featuring Elder Antionettea Etienne, Ruby Garner, Yolanda Diaz, and Marlene Knowles. 

Did you or your community host an event or campaign uplifting NWGHAAD? Let us know at Communications@pwn-usa.org! 

• “Did you know over half of [the people living with HIV] in the world are [women]?” by The Advocate (03/09/26)
  • Featuring Alyssa Crawford, Lizzie Bellamy, Janea Hunter, Isis Torrente, Ashley Cason, Justine Davenport, Katie Willingham, Xeena Ellison, Lynette Trawick, & Robin Barkins
• “Evany Turk on Motherhood, Trans Rights, and Magical Women” by Mark S. King (03/05/26)
  • Featuring Evany Turk
• “The Power of Telling Your HIV Story Out Loud” by TheBody (02/25/26)
  • Featuring Marnina Miller
• “A ‘pre-obituary’ as protest by a long-term survivor in Florida” by Positively Aware (02/18/26)
  • Featuring Kamaria Laffrey

• “Pre-Obituaries Aren’t New—I’m Writing Mine to Ensure They Don’t Become Necessary Again” in POZ Blog (03/11/26)
• #HIVResists: February 2026 Monthly Policy Update – PWN-USA (03/10/26)
• Health Not Prisons Bill Tracker is Live! 
• “Trump threatens not to sign any bills until Congress approves strict voter ID act” by The Guardian (03/09/26)

• How the Florida ADAP Crisis Will Affect Me and 16,000 Floridians with Tori Samuel – YouTube (03/03/26)

• “The Supreme Court Just Handed Down Its Fifth Anti-Trans Decision In Less Than a Year” by Erin in the Morning (03/03/26)
• “PWN-USA Urges Action Against Changes to Florida ADAP” in POZ Blog (03/02/26)
• “Many alleged suicides of Black trans women are in fact modern-day lynchings, report finds” by The Advocate (03/02/26)
• Lawmakers Move to Mark HIV is Not a Crime Awareness Day & Call to End HIV Criminalization – PWN-USA (02/28/26)
• HIV JUSTICE WORLDWIDE statement on HIV Is Not a Crime Awareness Day (02/28/26)

If you’ve been to a PWN celebration in the past few years, then you’ve grooved to the song stylings of our very own DJ Big Sal, a.k.a. Sallie Thomas – the decriminalization specialist on our policy team. Now she’s bringing you a song selection to get your joy on!