Intern Blog

On Wednesday, July 30, 2014, the organizations Advocates for Youth, Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE), National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC), and Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity (URGE) hosted an Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill entitled, "Sex and Politics in the Capital City." As the conclusion of a summer-long lunch series of sexual and reproductive health justice issues, this was a great outlet for our newly learned knowledge and advocacy skills.  Although unrelated to my internship at the Forum, this was definitely a highlight of my time in DC.

On July 22, 2014, DC interns gathered for a final Sex and Politics seminar. The past few sessions focused on developing useful strategies for discussing reproductive justice issues with members of Congress during the 2014 Advocacy Day. Through exploring connections between the LGBTQ Liberation Movement and fight for reproductive justice, learning more about mobilizing the younger generation to vote, and analyzing the work of faith-based organizations in the field students learned of the importance of collaboration and coalition building in affecting political change.

On Monday, July 21, 2014, the 30 for 30 campaign and Congresswoman Barbara Lee hosted a Congressional briefing titled, "Sustaining Care, Treatment and Essential Services for Women Living with HIV and the Future of the Ryan White Program."  The moderator and panelists included: C. Virginia Fields (Executive Director, National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS), Vignetta Charles (Senior Vice President, AIDS United), Robert Greenwald (Director, Treatment Access Expansion Project and Director, Center’s Health Law and Policy Clinic, Harvard Law School), Margot Kirkland (Senior Program Associate, DC Care and Health Advocate for the Ryan White Program), Ivy Turnbull (Deputy Executive Director, AIDS Alliance), and Alison Yager (Supervising Attorney, HIV Policy at HIV Law Project).

What if there was a law that criminalized sneezing in public?  Sneezing can transmit influenza, and if we prevent everyone from sneezing in public - we could prevent flu from spreading, right?

For the Independence Day holiday, the HIV Forum staff went out for lunch at a local Mexican restaurant. It was fun to catch up on all our current projects, plans for the long weekend, and general Forum talk. 

The Positive Action Southern Initiative (PASI) Webinar series addresses issues related to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the South. The June 30th webinar was titled "Empowerment and Cultural Change: Engaging Women with HIV and Using Narrative to Breakdown Stigma and Improve Care".

June 27, 2014 marks the nation's 10th annual National HIV Testing Day (NHTD).  NHTD was first observed on June 27, 1995 to support and promote the importance of HIV testing.

The discussion this week featured panelists representing the Drug Policy Alliance, Metro TeenAIDS, HIPS, and the National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable and addressed how these organizations use harm reduction principles to combat the HIV/HCV epidemic and war on drugs specifically in Washington, D.C.

"Reproductive Justice is when all people have the economic, social and political power and resources to make healthy decisions about their bodies, sexuality, and reproduction for themselves, their families, and their communities in all areas of their lives."--URGE: Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity(formally Choice USA)