Trans Empowered: JoAnne Keatley in Conversation w/ 5 Women about HIV & Transgender Health

Empowered: Trans Women & HIV is a campaign from Greater Than HIV to bring more understanding of the issues faced by transgender women in relation to HIV risk, prevention and care. By sharing common experiences, the campaign helps to reduce the social stigma many transgender women feel, while promoting actions to improve health and well-being. Presented as part of Greater Than HIV and produced with the UCSF Center of Excellence for Transgender Health with funding provided by ViiV Healthcare’s Positive Action Programme, the campaign aims to give transgender women a voice to share their own narrative about HIV, both the impact and response that is needed. For more information, please visit http://www.greaterthan.org/empowered/. Greater Than HIV is a leading public information response to the U.S. domestic HIV / AIDS epidemic. http://greaterthan.org. Facebook:   / greaterthanhiv   YouTube:    / @greaterthanhiv   Twitter:   / greaterthanhiv   Instagram:   / greaterthanhiv   TRANSCRIPT: JOANNE: I do feel like we have a community of trans women who are empowered today. We don’t have to live in the shadows anymore. PHOEBE: Trans people definitely need to have their own voice within HIV; we’re trans, we’re not black gay men. BRE: HIV hasn’t stopped me from dating, and it's not going to stop from getting married. BLOSSOM: To step into this life, you have to have tough skin, it’s about you standing in your truth. VIVIANNA: It is okay to live with HIV. It is okay to be accepted. VICTORY: This is who I am, I shouldn’t ashamed of that. I am a transgender women, I am so proud to say that. JOANNE: When it comes to really having an impact on HIV as a threat to this community, [VO begins over title card] the only way that we’re going to move beyond it is really by working together. BLOSSOM: We are finally on the forefront. You're seeing transgender shows everywhere. We are finally on the forefront, and we need to take that platform and really use it. BLOSSOM: Our stories make an impact, whether we want – whether we see the results right away or not. They are making an impact and we have to continue to get everyone to understand this community better. PHOEBE: Trans people definitely need to have their own voice within HIV, we’re trans, we’re not black gay men. JOANNE: And we’re starting that work here, right? JOANNE: We have this opportunity to really speak with each other and get real. We know that HIV impacts so many of our lives, right? Is this something that is well known and understood among transwomen in your communities? BLOSSOM: I definitely think it is not. PHOEBE: To be honest, in my own community, the conversation isn't happening and to be black and trans, knowing that we are disproportionally affected by HIV and for people to still think that, like that it's not like a necessary conversation, like it's completely crazy, completely crazy. BRE: But I think people have this false sense of security when it comes to HIV. I didn’t realize it was issue for me personally until the first person I knew living with HIV disclosed to me, and it just made it personal, made it close. PHOEBE: When I decided – well, when I came to the conclusion that HIV was an issue that impacted me was, I realized that so many of my friends were positive. Recently, three of my friends have died because of HIV complications. And – [crosstalk] it’s dark, it's a really dark area, and I think that – I think ignorance is – most of the time – the perpetrator. VIVIANNA: My teenage years, I was naïve, ignorant .I was not educated properly. I was not brought up with making sense of a lot of things, someone to teach me a couple of things – diseases, how to use a condom, how to protect myself, the proper advice, how to prevent me from getting affected. JOANNE: And why aren’t trans people having these conversations in communities like yours or communities where all of us come from? Why aren’t these conversations not taking place? VICTORY: I don't think we really feel safe talking about that because we feel like we are adding to stigma of ourselves when we talk about that with each other. Like in our own community I don’t feel like we have that conversation when we talk with each other, like this is what HIV is, this is what it can do, this is what you can do to protect yourself against these things..