Nothing About Us Moves Without Us: Women Living with HIV and the Fight for Democracy

#PWNVotes is PWN-USA’s approach to building long-term political power by engaging voters to advance racial, gender, and reproductive justice, transform systems, and shift narratives. We do this work alongside our members, allies, and communities in conversations about the issues that matter most to people living with HIV.

#PWNVotes is multi-pronged. Our focus is to:  

• Elevate issues important to the HIV community.
• Build voter engagement skills for people with HIV, our communities, and organizations in the HIV movement.
• Leverage organizing power into votes at the ballot box.
• Grow the leadership of our members to build power throughout the year because we are very clear: voting alone will not liberate us. 

Voting is one tactic to leverage our collective power and stop the escalating attacks on our communities. When legislators are finding more ways to strip away our voices and our rights, we must continue to use every tool we have to demonstrate our power and fight back. Your vote is your voice, use it!

Since 2016, PWN-USA has led voter mobilization efforts across the country to elevate issues impacting our communities. In 2020, we kicked off electoral efforts in Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas. In PA, CO, and TX alone, we have held over 100,000 conversations with voters and paid over 200 people living with HIV and allies for their work.

Across the United States and around the globe, our communities face escalating threats, such as:

• Attacks on gender justice, healthcare, and bodily autonomy (including access to abortion care and gender-affirming care)
• Racial injustice and voter suppression
• Criminalization and hypersurveillance
• Economic and health inequity
• Militarization of police
• Targeting of immigrant communities
• Misinformation/disinformation

Every day, policymakers are making decisions that meaningfully impact our lives—our survival, our safety, our freedom. We cannot stand by and remain silent while our rights are under attack and systems of power perpetuate harm against us and those we love.  

The communities that are targeted and most impacted by escalating state violence—women, Black and Brown folks, trans and gender diverse folks, queer people, poor and working class people, disabled people, and immigrants—are also most vulnerable to and impacted by HIV. 

As the only national membership organization led by and for trans and cisgender women, gender diverse, and trans people living with HIV, PWN-USA is deeply invested in empowering our communities to shape the systems that they were intentionally excluded from.  

We believe that the power lies within the people most impacted by oppression, and if they are provided the resources and tools, they will create solutions that work best for them. PWN-USA’s diverse and powerful membership is reclaiming their voice and power to lead voter mobilization campaigns that strengthen communities, build people power, hold elected officials accountable, and defend our collective liberation. 

If not us, then who? If not now, then when?

In the United States, there are over 1 million people living with HIV. We are a powerful voting bloc made up of people most impacted by HIV and the people who love us. This year, there are local, state and federal races on the ballot that will shape our futures. 

We will not tell you who to vote for; but, we will give you easy, accessible information on when, where, and how to vote. Use our new #PWNVotes toolkit to:

• See what’s at stake
• Learn more about the issues 
• Determine where and how to vote
• Know your rights and e-day safety tips 

The #PWNVotes 2026 Training Series is in full swing, kicking off in early June! We are building the knowledge, skills, confidence, and political clarity of trans and cis women, gender diverse, and trans people living with HIV to lead transformative voter engagement and civic power-building efforts in their communities while keeping themselves and their communities safe. Missed our past trainings? No worries! You can find all of the recordings for our trainings on our YouTube.

Join us for the following trainings and learnings:

• July 29 – They Work for Us! Understanding the Difference between a 501c3/c4 and What You Can & Cannot Do
• August 12 – If We Don’t Tell the Story About How Women Living with HIV are Saving Democracy, Who Will?! Engaging with Media to Tell Our Stories
• September 15 – National Voter Registration Day! What You Need Know about the Midterm Election and How to Make a Voting Plan
• October 21 – Get out the HIV Vote! Community Safety on Election Day

4 ways HIV advocates and organizations can do now to build powerful communities of engaged voters:

1. Tell your legislator to fight for issues that are important to you, like access to healthcare. Remember, they work for us! Right now, our access to healthcare is being threatened. PWN, the U.S. People Living with HIV Caucus, the Sero Project, and the #SaveHIVFunding Campaign are joining forces to flood Congress with a simple message: Don’t let people living with HIV get kicked off Medicaid. Join this conversation next Tuesday, July 21 from 6-7PM ET/5-6pm CT/ 4-5 MT and 3-4 PT.
2. Get registered to vote. There are over 1 million people in the U.S. living with HIV, and countless more people who love someone living with HIV. This is an important bloc of voters, many of whom live in communities that are structurally left out of the political process, either neglected by traditional get-out-the-vote efforts or downright suppressed in their efforts to participate. HIV organizations must rise to the moment! Registering voters is a non-partisan activity, anyone can do it!
3. Talk to your people about what’s at stake in your community and encourage them to vote! As an individual, you can make a difference no matter your voter status. Education and information sharing is something that everyone can do no matter if you are able to vote or not.
4. Join PWN-USA! Stay connected as a member or an ally. Find out more about our campaigns and get notified about opportunities to work or volunteer by filling out the form below!