Positive Women’s Newsletter – June 2026

18 years ago, 28 women and gender diverse people living with HIV got tired of being ignored. HIV was still treated like an infection that only affected gay men, with no attention being paid to the specific needs of women. Rather than get mad, these incredible advocates got activated and created Positive Women’s Network-USA: a national membership organization led by and for their community. 18 years later, they’re still leading the way.

This June, we are celebrating their legacy with a month-long birthday campaign featuring the stories of 18 members who built our movement. This celebration focuses on how PWN came together, trained future leaders, developed policy wins, sustained community, and transformed the HIV movement into an inclusive space for all people. 

This campaign focuses on our founding stories and brings our members together to learn with each other while accessing new offerings, including:

• 18 Years. 18 Voices: A month-long release of 18 profiles of members who’ve helped define PWN-USA’s movement.
• We Survived Because We Loved Each Other: A webinar featuring longtime and lifetime survivors sharing lessons that transformed the HIV movement. (June 4)
• Movement & Flow: An online movement and healing class led by PWN-USA board member Leah Freeman. (June 10)
• PWN 18!: Our online birthday celebration with community members and allies toasting our past and future. (June 18)
• PWN Amplified: June 22 is the premiere of our Transcending Barriers episode, featuring Michael Elizabeth and Coco. Watch our opening episode, “Getting to Know You“, featuring Evany Turk and Marnina Miller.
• Comms Baddies Fellowship: Applications open for our paid fellowship that trains participants to lead public health conversations. (June 24) 

• Her Voice: A joyful poetry workshop led by PWN-USA board member Lisa Johnson-Lett and PWN-AL leader Katie Willingham. (June 26)

Follow PWN-USA on social media for more details about each event! You can find us @PWN_USA on Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, and LinkedIn.

Disclaimer: We strongly encourage our members to not donate to our birthday campaign, as the funds raised are meant for programs supporting you. This is the time for allies and accomplices to show up and support PWN. 

On 05/21, Louisiana House Bill 808 was signed into law by Governor Jeff Landry after passing both the House and Senate. The bill updates LA’s outdated HIV criminalization law to reflect modern science (spitting and biting removed) and ensures that intent and real likelihood of transmission are required. It’s not repeal, but definitely a step in the right direction towards modernization.

Millicent Foster, PWN-LA Co-Chair and Louisiana Coalition on Criminalization and Health Coalition (LCCH) member, Steering Committee, and Speakers Bureau, reflects: “HB808 being signed by the governor marks one of the biggest changes to Louisiana’s HIV criminalization law in decades. It does not completely end HIV criminalization in the state. For people living with HIV it means that the law would move closer to modern medical science instead of treating all contact as equally dangerous. As a person from Louisiana living with HIV fighting for more modern laws, I’m excited that we have finally made a little progress.”

Shout out to LCCH, a statewide group of people living with HIV, advocates, allies, public health professionals and clinicians who are fighting to end the harmful impacts of laws that stigmatize people who are living with HIV, for spearheading this effort. We are so proud of our PWN-LA members for participating and helping lead the coalition and giving public testimony to make sure legislators know the harmful impact that HIV criminalization has had on people living with HIV. 

PWN-AL has kicked off their Summer of Freedom Tour with a meeting with Representative Robert Aderholt’s office to discuss the need for more accessible healthcare in Alabama. Rep. Aderholt is the chair of the Labor-HHS Appropriations committee and is an influential voice in determining HIV funding levels.

Over the next few months, PWN-AL will tour the state to talk directly with Alabamians about issues that matter to them, especially people living with HIV.

PWN-AL leaders Katie Willingham and Myra Franks meet with Rep. Aderholt’s office.

PWN-GHA celebrated its 10-Year Anniversary on May 24, 2026, bringing together members, supporters, community partners, and allies to recognize a decade of advocacy, leadership, and community building. The event featured a “Past, Present, Future” discussion highlighting the chapter’s history, current impact, and vision for the future, as well as a memorial moment honoring those who have passed and recognition of founders, leaders, and members who have contributed to the chapter’s success.

The celebration provided an opportunity for fellowship, networking, and community connection while reflecting on PWN-GHA’s accomplishments over the past ten years. Community partners and supporters joined in the celebration through attendance, sponsorships, in-kind contributions, and volunteer support. The event reinforced PWN-GHA’s commitment to empowering women and communities affected by HIV while building leadership for the next decade. Isis T. says, “I’m happy and proud to be a part of this wonderful group of women. Celebrating 10 years, and many more to come.”

Newsletter contribution provided by Angela Hawkins. 

Positive Women’s Network USA is proud to partner with the Seven Days in June advocacy campaign. This is a nationwide awareness and mobilization effort responding to proposed Medicaid funding cuts included in HR1, which will have serious consequences for people living with HIV and other medically vulnerable communities. We are coordinating with our community members in support of this action and would like to know about any activities or events that members are coordinating so that we can promote and amplify.

Check out the “Care is Critical” flyer for an event the Colorado chapter is partnering to host and share flyers for your events. If you don’t know what this action is about or would like to learn how to get involved join the weekly Save HIV Funding mobilization calls, which are held every Wednesday at 12:00 PM (ET) or reach out to Barb@pwn-usa.org for more information.

Additional information can be found on the Save HIV Funding campaign site. As you learn about the campaign and plan your own actions, please remember to speak with your elected officials to speak with them about Medicaid and ADAP protections. And please stay in touch so that we can support you! 

PWN is looking for our next Campaign Coordinator! We lead campaigns to mobilize our members, base, and voters in key areas across the country. The Campaign Coordinator is responsible for organizing and carrying out campaign strategies at PWN, which includes integrated voter campaigns. This person organizes to advance the key issues and strategic goals of the PWN network through campaigns in key priority areas. Role is remote and full time: $60k+/year.

Congratulations to our May 2026 Shero of the Month, Jessica Erves (she/her) of Texas!

Jessica Erves is a passionate advocate, community leader, and proud grandmother based in Texas. Originally from a small town in Mississippi, she relocated to Texas five years ago—a move that would spark a powerful journey into advocacy and personal growth.

As a woman living with HIV, Jessica has become a dedicated voice for awareness, education, and change. Through her work, she has developed a deep understanding of the political and personal importance of advocacy, using her lived experience to uplift others while continuing to 

advocate for herself. The relationships she has built along the way have fueled her commitment to this work and strengthened her purpose.

Jessica is also a proud mother of two daughters and grandmother to six grandchildren, whose lives and achievements—especially two upcoming graduates—bring her immense pride and joy.

Outside of her advocacy, Jessica enjoys watching movies, listening to music, traveling, and cooking—something she learned and loved from her mother. She also cherishes memories of fishing and picking blackberries as a child, experiences that continue to ground her in family, tradition, and resilience.

Jessica’s story is one of strength, transformation, and purpose, and she remains committed to making a lasting impact in her community and beyond.

😊 Shout out to PWN-PA chapter co-chair, Maria Cookie Cruz, who presented on a plenary panel at the Philadelphia Aging and Thriving Conference on May 5!

🤩 PWN members and staff traveled to Washington D.C. to attend the Fund Care Not Cuts march, rally, and lobby day hosted by Popular Democracy. On May 20th hundreds of immigrants, allies and working families affected by the cuts on SNAP, Medicaid, and ACA gathered for a march from ICE headquarters to the Capitol to engage in a lobby day, to ensure that no money is given to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) during the reconciliation process. 

4 PWN members and 2 staff attended 4 meetings with representatives and did 4 literature drops!

HR1 Resource Center Launch – June 10th

The Big Ugly Murder Bill (H.R.1) passed last summer and its implementation continues to unfold in ways that are destructive to our quality of life and access to care! To help you stay on top of what’s changing, we created this resource page that breaks down the updates as they happen and lays out what they mean for people living with HIV, especially Black and brown communities, immigrants, women, cisgender and transgender and gender diverse people living with HIV, who are often hit first and the hardest.

Join us on 06/10/26 at 5PM ET/4PM CT/3PM MT/2PM PT for the website launch party! We will walk through the webpage together, share what to expect as implementation dates continue to roll out, and talk about how to fight back against this big ugly bill! Register here!

Sister Circle Virtual Support Group – June 11th & 25th

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, 06/11/26 and 06/25/26 at 8PM ET/7PM CT/6PM MT/5PM PT. Registration required to attend: bit.ly/PWNCARES (all caps). Hope to see you there! 💗

PWN-USA National Membership Call – June 12th

Our next PWN members call is Friday, 06/12/26 at 4PM ET/3PM CT/2PM MT/1PM PT. 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!

PWN-USA Policy Fellows Graduation – June 25th

Please join us on Thursday, 06/25/26 at 6PM ET/5PM CT/4PM MT/3PM PT for the 2025-2026 PWN Policy Fellowship Graduation! We are gathering virtually to celebrate the work, commitment, and achievements of our cohort of policy fellows! Register here!

• “Decades of Stigmatization Fueled Growing Threat of Pregnancy Criminalization” by Truthout (05/05/26)
• Video of protesters singing civil rights songs in Tennessee in opposition of racist redistricting post-Callais decision by @jhollymc.bsky.social‬ on Bluesky (05/06/26)
• “Court rejects Virginia redistricting in a blow to Democrats’ counter to Trump, GOP” by NPR (05/08/26)
• “Federal Judge Rules Trump Government Has Animus Towards Trans People, Blocks Org Subpoenas” by Erin in the Morning (05/08/26)
• “NYU Langone First Known Hospital to Face Federal Criminal Subpoena Over Trans Youth Care” by Erin in the Morning (05/11/26)
• “NWLC on Moms.Gov: ‘A Pronatalist, Anti-Woman Website Littered with Misinformation’” by National Women’s Law Center (05/12/26)
• “Supreme court allows abortion pill mifepristone to continue to be available by mail” by The Guardian (05/14/26)
• “Texas Children’s Hospital to develop ‘detransition clinic,’ fire physicians as part of settlement, AG says” by Houston Public Media (05/15/26)
• “8 Congressional Democrats Vote To Defund Schools That Support Trans People” by Erin in the Morning (05/21/26)
• “Court blocks Alabama racial gerrymander from being used in 2026 elections” by Democracy Docket (05/26/26)
• “Trump’s latest immigration move clouds the path to green cards” by PBS (05/27/26)