WASHINGTON — Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization, marked World AIDS Day 2022 with a statement from Kelley Robinson, President of the Human Rights Campaign:

“Every December 1st reminds us how much incredible work has gone into fighting the HIV epidemic, as well as how much work we have left to do. We are reminded of those we have lost and renew our commitment to ending this epidemic once and for all,” said Kelley Robinson, President of the Human Rights Campaign. “While we have made massive strides in treatment and testing for HIV, health disparities are still pervasive. HIV poses a much higher threat to Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ people. We continue to see these health disparities as we work to combat public health emergencies — including COVID-19, and now mpox — and we will never see an end to any of these epidemics until we confront these inequities.”

Currently, over 1.1 million people are living with HIV in the United States. For gay, bisexual, and other same-gender-loving men, 1 in 6 are expected to develop HIV within their lifetime. Those rates for Black and Latino men jump to 1 in 2 and 1 in 4, respectively. Read more about the realities of HIV, including the work that HRC is currently doing to stop the epidemic, at www.hrc.org/resources/hiv-aids.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ+ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.