It’s June 5th, 1981, and you’ve just picked up the latest edition of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, produced by the Center for Disease Control. In this report, you find out that five once-healthy and thriving gay men have been infected with a rare type of lung infection by the name of Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia. A bit after this report is produced, however, what you had come to know as Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia will take on a new name, and the five men will have sadly passed. June 5th, 1981 marks the first-ever reporting of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, otherwise known as AIDS.
It wouldn’t be until 1984 that scientists discovered that AIDS was being caused by a second, new set of viruses called Human Immunodeficiency Viruses. HIV was known to be spread through blood and other bodily fluids, with sharing needles and unprotected sex being the main source of spreading. If anything was clear to the Center for Disease Control in such a frightening and trying time, it was this: HIV/AIDS was spreading, and it was spreading fast. What started as five casualties turned into over 100,000 in a matter of nine years.
With our stage being set with such a bleak tone, it leaves us with the question: where are we now? Luckily, in the 1960s, a failed cancer drug by the name of Zidovudine was reported to stop HIV infections from multiplying. Another drug in 1987 called Azidothymidine also became available to help improve the life expectancies of those infected. In the present day of 2023, we have a plethora of antiretroviral treatments that are taken daily to prevent HIV from progressing into AIDS. Seems like a happy ending for everyone, right? Well, not entirely.
Over time it became widely known that predominantly gay and bisexual men were at greater risk for HIV and AIDS, but what about the other groups of people who are also largely impacted by this epidemic? Transgender women, for example, have 49 times the odds of getting HIV, compared to the general population.
In the United States, almost 1/4th—21.6%, to be exact—of transgender women have HIV. More specifically, Black transgender women are at a higher risk for infection, with HIV being three times more prevalent compared to Latinx or white transgender women. Although there are few studies done on HIV in the trans community, it is believed that such persons are at greater risk for infection than the general population. Even with trans women being an at-risk population, there’s a lack of data on population-specific concerns that could impact their HIV treatment.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, transgender women face a number of risk factors that have ties to transphobia and marginalization, but what does that exactly look like? These risk factors mainly consist of high alcohol and other substance use rates; unemployment due to transphobia and other discrimination; reliance on survival sex work, housing displacement; limited access to competent health care; and negative health care experiences overall. Discrimination and stigma towards transgender individuals force them into certain circumstances that increase the risk of HIV infection. Limited access to sufficient care is also a product of discrimination and stigma, so if an infection does occur, it is exceedingly more difficult to control the issue. Other potential indirect factors such as being assaulted due to their gender identity, making less than $10,000 a year, and not having a high school diploma all put trans women at greater risk.
Transgender women need to be included in the HIV/AIDS conversation. It is exceedingly more difficult to navigate your way through such a complex issue when you’re not even included in the conversation. Making quality education accessible to trans individuals allows for the conversation to open up to multiple communities, thus increasing knowledge on safe sex, relationships, and our bodies. Currently, transgender women face multiple barriers to care such as discrimination and refusal of treatment based on gender identity. With HIV/AIDS treatment (as well as tests) not being accessible to all, rates will continue to increase and data reflecting the number of cases will be consistently inaccurate.
Other resources are available for those who are either struggling or may know someone who is struggling with HIV/AIDS in the trans community. Spreading awareness and accurate information on this important topic will help up prevent the spread—now and in the future.
