By Katie Willingham

The views and opinions expressed in this piece are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the position of Positive Women’s Network – USA.

April 15, 2024

Over 600 advocates from across the country descended on Washington, D.C. for advocacy orientation and a day of speaking with legislators about the issues facing the HIV community. This was only my second AIDSWatch, my first time attending was in 2019, pre-Covid, so it had been a while for me. When I arrived at the host hotel I found PWN sisters in the lobby. There were a lot of PWN members attending AIDSWatch, and it’s always awesome to get together with sisters. 

Sunday, we had a chance to network around the hotel, there was a great workshop about molecular HIV surveillance hosted by PWN-USA, and a reception hosted by the U.S. PLHIV Caucus. Timothy Jackson received the Persistent Advocates award, he’s not a PWN member but he was my first mentor and I was so happy for him. After traveling that day I was exhausted and turned in early to prepare for the next day. 

The next day was full of great workshops and trainings to get everyone ready for the big day on the Hill. I attended a workshop about transgender health and safety in the southern states, and the need for comprehensive sex education. These issues are important to me in my state. I also attended a New Advocates training to brush up on what to expect on the hill, which was very helpful for me because honestly I was extremely nervous about talking to legislators (or their staff), and they gave some great advice.

After lunch, there was a fireside chat with PWN’s own co-executive director Keiva Lei Cadena on the panel, and then a PWN group photo on the staircase. In the evening, we attended a Congressional Reception, PWN’s own Tiommi Luckett also received an award, I was really happy for her as well.

Finally, it was the big day. I tried to dress nice while also warm because it was freezing cold, and I didn’t forget to wear comfortable shoes, because I knew there was going to be a lot of walking. I’m glad I did. 

My state brought the second largest delegation to AIDSWatch with nineteen people from Alabama. We all visited the offices of our Senators Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt together,  we filled the meeting rooms for sure. I didn’t speak but the meetings went well. We spoke with the senator's staffers; they were very friendly and receptive, which was actually surprising to me, I wasn’t expecting that.

After meeting with our Senators it was time to go to the House side of town and talk to our representatives Terri Sewell and Robert Aderholt. I planned to share my story and concerns with these offices. I was terrified, I have severe anxiety about speaking so I wrote down what I wanted to say and I shared it with the Representative’s staff. After reading my statement I could tell that it was impactful and I was extremely pleased. 

This year’s AIDSWatch theme was “We’re All In This Together.”  I thought this was great, because we really are in this together. We are stronger together and we join generations of advocates who have come to Washington for years. Since the beginning of the pandemic, they’ve come for funding and support for people living with HIV, this is the 31st AIDSWatch, we have been so successful. This is one reason why I advocate, because someone else advocated for me when I didn’t even know I needed it, and I’m alive today because of their advocacy and the programs it funded. 

This was my AIDSWatch experience, if you haven’t attended before then I recommend it. It’s very satisfying to make a difference, representing thousands of people who don’t have my opportunity to sit at these tables. 

We’re here to make a difference, and we’re making history for people living with HIV, this is AIDSWatch!!