Positive Women’s Newsletter – May 2026

PWN-USA presents at the NaLa Conference in partnership with the National Network to End Domestic Violence celebrating a 15 year collaboration between our two organizations.

Presenting to an enthusiastic and packed room Mary Jane Maestas, Barb Cardell, and Ashley Slye, led an empowering and deeply impactful conversation on HIV disclosure guidance for family, friends and providers through a survivor-centered lens, written by and for cis and transgender women, gender diverse, and transgender people living with HIV.

Together, presenters shared PWN’s HIV Disclosure Toolkit, developed in partnership with the National Network to End Domestic Violence, and guided participants through the complex intersections of HIV disclosure, intimate partner violence, Latine community impacts, trauma-informed care, and survivor autonomy.

The strong turnout and engaged discussion underscored the urgent need for subject matter experts developing tools, services and education led by PWN members in HIV and IPV service spaces.

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.

The PWN-DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth) chapter is roaring back into action with new co-chairs and renewed energy.

We showed up all over the NaLa conference from marching to the Dallas City Hall for LOVE at La Marcha del Amor, to volunteering, presenting, attending, and bringing the voices of our members into critical spaces.

We took some time to appreciate our work and build community gathering around the table at Gloria’s Latin Cuisine, this time together was about so much more than events. It was about connection, leadership, community, and loving on each other.

Members are deeply grateful for this incredible group of people who have built community, supported one another, and supported leadership growth. This is what the DFW chapter of PWN–USA has always been about: showing up, making sure our voices are heard, lifting each other up, and moving forward together.

The love is real, the leadership is strong, and DFW is back.

When 5 women came together in 2016 to create the PWN Texas-Greater Houston Area chapter, they had a took up the charge of learning to become empowered decision makers that would help other women living with HIV. They used their skills to combat the stigma and change policies that impact people living with HIV. 

Today, the chapter has grown to be powerful PWN leaders in the United States and in their communities. Please join PWN TX-Greater Houston Area as they celebrate 10 of the past, present, and future. Attend their celebration in person!

Everyday under this administration people living with HIV are seeing attacks on our lives through targeted legislation and cuts to funding for healthcare. We cannot be silent. We must use these opportunities to speak out about how these attacks on healthcare impacts our lives and build a community that understands intersectional issues.

Join PWN members across the country who are organizing direct actions, along with local partners, to elevate issues specific to women (trans and cis), gender diverse, and transgender people living with HIV.  

Seven Days in June — A National Call to Elevate Health as a Governing Priority — is an opportunity to organize people who are waiting to take action. Use this as a way to build power, disrupt, and grow a community of support that is prepared to fight. 

Seven Days in June: HEALTH IS PRIMARY, a decentralized, nonpartisan, grassroots-driven national week of action from June 1 to June 7.

Partners include the Save HIV Funding Campaign.  

We are excited to present PWN-Amplified: A new podcast that amplifies the voices and leadership of women and gender diverse people living with HIV.

When people talk about HIV in the South, Texas is always in the conversation. But rarely do we hear from the women who are holding community together. PWN Amplified is changing that! We’ve gathered incredible women and gender diverse leaders to speak of their joys, challenges, lessons learned, and triumphs.

With an eye on who is overwhelmingly affected in this movement, we are using Season 1 to highlight the voices of Black women and gender diverse people. This is intentional: We are creating the roadmap to liberation for our communities, as we always have. And we know that when Black women are free, everyone is free.

Join our hosts Evany Turk and Marnina Miller in amplifying this mission!

PWN-Amplified premieres May 26, 2026 on our YouTube channel.
Produced by Evany Turk and Juan Michael Porter II

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!

PWN-USA is excited to welcome our new Communications Director, Juan Michael Porter II (he/him)! 

Juan Michael Porter II was diagnosed with HIV in 2015 after being denied PrEP by 5 different doctors. He works as health journalist, culture critic, educator, and HIV advocate. He also serves as the Communications Officer for the U.S. PLHIV Caucus. 

Congratulations to our April 2026 Shero of the Month, Devarah “Dee” Borego (she/her) of Massachusetts!

Dee is a woman of trans experience thriving with HIV who believes unshakingly in the rights of minorities, especially disabled peoples, sexual and gender minorities, and BIPOC. She is of Mexican-American and Jewish descent, and is a long-term survivor of HIV. Originally from Denver, Colorado, she grew up mostly in suburban Connecticut and acquired HIV at age 20; the same year she began her transition.

She has lived in the Boston area since 2004, working with and at a number of different community organizations in the area, including JRI Health, TransCEND, the Boston Living Center, and

and Cambridge Cares About AIDS. Dee is also a polyglot, speaking Spanish, French, Norwegian, American Sign Language, and a variety of other languages to various degrees.

Dee is also a founding member of the Positive Women’s Network – USA (PWN-USA), an organization led by and for HIV+ American women to address the way HIV disproportionately affects women and gender minorities in the US. She’s also worked previously with the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+) North America and the HIV Prevention Justice Alliance (HIV PJA). In 2010, Dee spoke at the Opening Plenary of the US Conference on AIDS (USCA) to discuss how HIV affects transgender youth.

She’s also an artist who’s passionate about fiber arts like sewing and knitting.

🤠 PWN-Louisiana co-chair Millicent Foster was featured in the I Love Me x Louisiana Can campaign! The campaign states the cure for the HIV epidemic isn’t just in a lab—it’s in our communities, our conversations, and our commitment to care for ourselves and each other. Getting tested, knowing your status, and accessing care aren’t just medical decisions—they’re acts of self-love. Your Health is Your Power. Watch Millicent’s testimonial video here!

🤗 Please join us in celebrating Sonya Milliman from the PWN-Louisiana chapter for being named the April 2026 Thera Thursday Champion!

White Folks Anti-Racism Caucus Dinner & Learn – May 7th

This session is a beginning, a space to call in white folks in HIV advocacy spaces. We invite you to join us as we engage in anti-racism as an ongoing practice, not a one-time conversation. Racism continues to shape HIV outcomes, access, and advocacy spaces, and it is our responsibility to name it, interrupt it, and change it. Join us on Thursday, 05/07/26 at 7PM ET/6PM CT/5PM MT/4PM PT. Register now!

During this session, we will build a shared language, examine how harm shows up in our work and communities, and practice real tools for accountability and action. This is not about perfection—it’s about commitment, courage, and a willingness to be uncomfortable, to listen, and to change. We invite white folks in HIV advocacy to show up fully, take responsibility for your role, and leave with concrete steps to advance racial justice alongside—and not ahead of—those most impacted. Learn more about the group at www.WFARCaucus.org.

Note: This session is specifically designed for white folks. For transparency and accountability, BIPOC folks can certainly join. We hold ourselves responsible for our learning and will not ask you to share stories or lessons.

PWN-USA National Membership Call – May 8th

Our next PWN members call is Friday, 05/08/26 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!

Sister Circle Virtual Support Group – March 14th

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, 05/14/26 at 8PM ET/7PM CT/6PM MT/5PM PT. Registration required to attend: bit.ly/PWNCARES (all caps). Hope to see you there! 💗

Pretty, Pink, and Powerful – May 22nd

A community conversation — Our future and our life.. Where do we go from here? Featuring PWN-NYS members Ruby Garner, Eldder Antoinettea, and Lucille Grant.

In-person event on Friday, 05/22/26 at 12PM. Address is 2348 7th Ave, New York, NY, 10030.

From Caregiving to Civic Power – May 23rd

Save the date! From Caregiving to Civic Power: The Political Determinants of Health. In-person event on Saturday, 05/23/26 at 11AM. Address is 1948 Division St, Suite 101, Detroit, MI 48207. 

Hosted by Michigan State Lead, Chunnika Hodges

• “Why America’s HIV epidemic hasn’t ended” by Vox
  • Featuring Marnina Miller (04/24/26)
• “OP-ED: Motherhood Is a Radical Act of Love for Black Queer Women Living With HIV” by GLAAD (04/16/26)
  • Written by Marnina Miller

• “‘Take the Test, Risk Arrest’: Why Some [Americans Living with HIV] Are Still Forced to Register as Sex Offenders” by Uncloseted Media (03/28/26)

  • Featuring Lashanda Salinas-Hicks

• “Supreme Court temporarily restores full access to abortion pill” by NBC News (05/04/26)
• “Alabama seeks to draw new congressional map ahead of midterms” by POLITICO (05/01/26)
• “Supreme Court Eviscerates The Voting Rights Act” by HuffPost (04/29/26)
• “Federal Judge Vacates Kennedy Declaration, Permanently Blocks Trump’s Trans Youth Care Hospital Threats” by Erin in the Morning (04/20/26)
• “Is ICE a reproductive health hazard?” by The Meteor (04/18/26)

• PWN-USA Webinar: Ending HIV Criminalization: Using Abolitionist Frameworks in Advocacy (04/16/26)

• “Mississippi Becomes The Latest State To Pass Ban On Trans Drivers License Changes” by Erin in the Morning (04/08/26)
• “This Is What Trump Thinks Makes You a Domestic Terrorist” by The New Republic (04/06/26)
• “Trump administration releases fiscal year 2027 budget request” by Center for Reproductive Rights (04/03/26)
• “All Anti-LGBTQ Legislation Defeated in Georgia as 2026 Session Ends” by Erin in the Morning (04/03/26)

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!