World AIDS Day 2023: HIV has changed — but our employers don’t know this

I was proud to move a motion on HIV stigma as the regional rep for Greater London at the UNISON LGBT+ Conference in Liverpool in November 2023. Below you will find my speech to move the motion as well as the text of the motion that was passed by conference.

7 min readDec 1, 2023

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This one is personal. I am living with HIV.

Those five words still have the power to shock and can make people visibly recoil in horror. But those five words and the self-acceptance they represent also embody one of the most effective activist and personal empowerment movements we have ever seen.

My diagnosis came at the beginning of 2007. Effective treatment for HIV had been introduced in the mid-90s and was well established by the time I needed it, and was much easier to take by then. Today I take just two pills every morning to control the virus and keep me healthy.

Medically HIV has been pretty easy for me — I was diagnosed early and started medication when I needed to — but facing stigma and discrimination has been much harder.

People often come up to me after talks and tell me I’m brave. But I’m not brave to be standing up here: I’m fortunate. Fortunate that I have the support of my employer, my UNISON branch, and my family and friends. Many people living with HIV don’t have that.

I always think if I can make it easier for just one person, I’ve done my job as an activist.

Conference, isn’t it remarkable we have a devastating virus that within my lifetime is now treatable, as well as preventable with U=U and PrEP? We should be shouting from the rooftops how amazing medical science is.

Let’s create a world where people can move on and live their lives after an HIV diagnosis without fear, shame and stigma. We owe it to the loved ones we have lost to this virus, as well as to all the people living with HIV today, to do what we can.

We — as people living with HIV — deserve to take our places in the workforce. We deserve to be seen in society — not to have to live out our lives in secret.

We don’t want your pity. We want your compassion and respect. We deserve to have our dignity.

Conference, we hold the power in our hands to make it better for all people living with HIV in the UK in so many interactions with public services that they will have.

Our union, our members and our employers have a huge opportunity before us. We can contribute to making HIV stigma a thing of the past, and we can help to support our members with HIV to live happy, healthy and fulfilled lives.

Ant Babajee at the rostrum at the UNISON LGBT+ Conference 2023

UNISON LGBT+ Conference 2023 in Liverpool and the launch of the HIV Confident charter mark with the Positively UK team at London City Hall on World AIDS Day 2023

Motion 12: HIV has changed — but our employers don’t know this

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) remains one of the most stigmatised long-term health conditions. Our members living with HIV often face stigma, discrimination, prejudice, bullying and harassment in the workplace, in healthcare settings, and in their daily lives.

Conference notes that over 100,000 people in the United Kingdom (UK) are living with HIV, and many of these are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender plus (LGBT+) people.

Although there is currently no cure for HIV, medical treatment known as antiretroviral therapy (ART), available since the mid-1990s, can help people living with HIV to remain fit and healthy, and prevent them from developing advanced HIV or AIDS.

Conference acknowledges the millions who have died from HIV and AIDS globally, and the work done to treat people living with HIV through development of effective antiretrovirals, as well in advancements in prevention with PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis).

For most people in the UK, especially if diagnosed early, HIV is no longer the ‘death sentence’ it once was, and is now considered a chronic but manageable health condition.

People with HIV are automatically covered by the protections accorded to disabled people under the Equality Act 2010, although many employers and workers are not aware of this.

Conference notes the Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) campaign 2030: HIV Time’s Up! THT believes the UK can be the first country in the world to end new cases of HIV.

Conference acknowledges there are many people living with HIV who do not know it. THT’s campaign is about finding and testing everyone living with HIV in the UK, so that they can be offered treatment. People with HIV who are successfully on treatment can’t pass the virus on, so this would help to reach the goal of no new cases.

UNISON can play an important role in helping to end a global epidemic that has claimed 38 million lives, and support people living with HIV to thrive. By adding our trade union strength to this campaign, we can help end new cases of HIV in the UK by 2030 and reduce stigma for people living with or affected by the virus.

Conference instructs the national LGBT+ committee to work with the national executive council and other parts of the union as appropriate to:

Review UNISON’s guidance on HIV in the workplace with a view to publishing an updated version, to include best-practice use of language around HIV and AIDS as described in the People First Charter.
Raise awareness that people with HIV are entitled to protections under the Equality Act 2010.
Encourage the adoption of the anti-stigma HIV Friendly Charter [now known as HIV Confident] currently being developed by National AIDS Trust and partners [Positively UK, NAM aidsmap and Fast-Track Cities Initiative].
Support THT’s 2030: HIV Time’s Up! campaign.

UNISON is the UK’s largest trade union, with more than 1.3 million members working in the public services, including the NHS and higher education, as well as the private, voluntary and community sectors and in the energy services.

HIV facts:

HIV [Human Immunodeficiency Virus] attacks the immune system and weakens the body’s ability to fight diseases.
Antiretroviral medication — also called ARVs, combination therapy, or HIV treatment — lowers the amount of the virus in the blood to undetectable levels, which stops it from damaging the immune system, and means it cannot be passed on to other people.
HIV treatment is now extremely effective and easier to take than ever before. Many people take just one or a few pills once a day.
A person with HIV should live just as long as an HIV-negative person — especially if they are diagnosed early and begin treatment.
There is still a great deal of stigma about HIV. Stigma is damaging as it prevents people from getting tested, from accessing treatment and from living a happy and healthy life.
Aids [Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome] can develop when HIV damages the immune system to such an extent that it can no longer fight off a range of often rare infections it would normally be able to cope with. In the UK, the term ‘late-stage HIV’ is now generally used as it is much less stigmatising. HIV treatment stops the virus from damaging a person’s immune system.
HIV cannot be passed on through casual or day-to-day contact. It cannot be transmitted through kissing, spitting, or sharing a cup, plate or toilet seat.

World AIDS Day 2023: HIV has changed — but our employers don’t know this

I was proud to move a motion on HIV stigma as the regional rep for Greater London at the UNISON LGBT+ Conference in Liverpool in November 2023. Below you will find my speech to move the motion as well as the text of the motion that was passed by conference.

Motion 12: HIV has changed — but our employers don’t know this

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HIV facts:

Written by Ant Babajee | he/him