We are fighting for survival—plain and simple.
I’ve been living with HIV for more than 30 years. In the early 1990s, during an era overshadowed by fear, stigma, and silence about the epidemic, even knowing your status could lead to rejection by family, community, and healthcare providers.
As a transgender woman, accessing quality, affordable healthcare has always been a challenge. For many in my generation, healthcare simply wasn’t designed with us in mind. For too long, we were left out—misunderstood, misgendered, and dismissed. And yet, we persisted.
In the early 2000s, I witnessed a shift. We began to see more legislative allies at the state level, and places like San Francisco became leaders in pushing forward protections for our communities. I joined the Transgender Law Center in 2005 to help ensure that trans voices were part of that change.
One pivotal moment was the passage of the Insurance Non-Discrimination Act, which required healthcare services to be offered equitably across gender identities. It meant that services like OB-GYN care, often listed only under “women’s health,” had to be made visible and accessible for all people, regardless of how they identified. That single shift helped begin the dismantling of a system that had excluded so many of us for so long.
We were building a more balanced system. A system that prioritized HIV treatment, de-stigmatized care, and created space for people like me to not just survive, but to lead and thrive. Gender-affirming care, much like HIV care, is deeply personal and life-saving. When people can access the care they need, they are empowered to participate fully in society.
But even with all that progress, we know policy goals alone aren’t enough. We must continue holding lawmakers accountable—not just for promises made, but for the funding and protections that make our survival possible.
Allyship is more than showing up. It’s not about saving us.
We aren’t waiting for heroes. What we need are co-conspirators—people who see us, listen to us, and follow our lead. Allyship means sharing the mic, shifting the spotlight, and helping to amplify the lived experiences of people most impacted.
We must not allow our progress to be pushed backward. We’ve come too far to return to a time when services were inaccessible, when trans people didn’t trust providers, and when a diagnosis was treated like a death sentence. When people try to take away that progress, they’re also taking away our hope. And without hope, it becomes harder to fight.
We cannot depend solely on government funding. That’s a reality we must face. We need our communities—and our allies—to stand with us not just in action, but financially as well. To contribute. To commit. To show up and speak out.
This is a wake-up call.
We must exercise our civil rights. That means contacting our elected officials, urging them to protect the systems that keep us alive, and demanding that they not dismantle the safety nets we’ve fought so hard to build—programs like the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, Medicaid, and Medicare. These aren’t just policies. These are our lifelines.
In recent years, we’ve seen attempts to roll back protections, to end federal support, to silence conversations about race, gender, and equity. We’ve watched as trans healthcare and HIV funding become political battlegrounds. But we refuse to go back.
I want to continue being one of the voices that holds policymakers accountable. While we may hold ourselves to bold declarations like ending the HIV epidemic by 2030, we can’t get there if the administration continues to dismantle the support systems we need to reach that goal.
When you lead from lived experience, you speak with the voice of a movement. You’re not just telling your story—you’re honoring every story like yours. That’s what keeps me going. That’s why I fight. And that’s why I will always stand for justice, for health equity, and for hope.
Let’s continue to show up for each other, for our futures, and for a world where survival isn’t a fight, but a guarantee.
Cecilia Chung, a transgender woman living openly with HIV and Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives and Evaluation of Transgender Law Center and a member of the Board of Trustees for AIDS United. Cecilia Chung is internationally recognized civil rights leader who advocates for HIV/AIDS awareness and care, LGBT equality, and social justice. Cecilia has been a vocal advocate for transgender women and people living with HIV. Learn more about Cecilia Chung work at https://www.ceciliachung.com/