World AIDS Day: uniting against HIV stigma for 2030
How trade unions are vital allies in the fight against HIV stigma — inside and outside the workplace
Positively UK trustee Ant Babajee has been living with HIV since 2007 and volunteering with us since 2016. Over the past 18 months, he has been working with his trade union UNISON to change their policies and practice on HIV.
This morning, as I took my Dovato pill — which I have fondly nicknamed my Demi Lovato pill — I found myself reflecting on how HIV has always been a deeply intersectional issue. The virus I have been living with since 2007 affects those on the margins of society: communities historically silenced and sidelined, and often spoken for rather than actively listened to.
On this World AIDS Day — with its theme of Take the Rights Path: My Health, My Right — we are reminded that everyone deserves to be seen and heard. But visibility and voice are just the start. We must go further to ensure active inclusion, breaking barriers and rewriting legislation that perpetuate inequities in healthcare, our workplaces and our communities.
Standing on the shoulders of giants
HIV and AIDS activism has a proud history. In 1983, the Denver Principles — established by a group of AIDS activists — created a roadmap for inclusivity, dignity and empowerment. They did not merely call for effective treatment before even the Human Immunodeficiency Virus [HIV] had been discovered by scientists; they demanded respect and the right for people living with HIV and AIDS to define their own experiences.
These principles and the activism of groups like ACT UP continue to inspire me, shaping my work as an HIV and LGBT+ activist. They should remind us that no single narrative or voice can capture the diverse lived experiences of the millions of people living with or affected by HIV. While I am so proud to have become the HIV poster boy and to have become a voice for the voiceless, I often remind myself of the limits of my own experiences.
Unionising against HIV Stigma
I am so proud to have kickstarted the Unionising against HIV Stigma campaign, which commits my trade union UNISON to supporting the HIV Confident charter mark programme. HIV Confident aims to reduce HIV stigma and discrimination in member organisations, and is a partnership between Positively UK and National AIDS Trust, supported by Fast-Track Cities London.
UNISON — the largest trade union representing workers in healthcare, local government and other public services — has now made combating HIV stigma a campaigning priority. This kind of activism has brought my LGBT+ and HIV advocacy together, creating opportunities to challenge discrimination in the workplace and in healthcare, and to ensure policies reflect up-to-date science and include the U=U [Undetectable = Untransmittable] message.
When I wrote and moved motions on HIV stigma at UNISON conferences last year and earlier this year, I saw how the union movement can join and amplify our fight against discrimination.
Stigma remains one of the most significant challenges for people living with HIV. Despite so many amazing medical advances, societal attitudes have been painfully slow to change. My journey as an HIV activist has taught me that education is key.
I am so proud to have been one of the faces of World AIDS Day for National AIDS Trust a few years ago, and to have been a part of numerous campaigns for LGBT HERO, including their Undetectables video, and a video for BBC Three, which has been viewed more than a million times. Being involved in these videos even helped me to come out publicly at work — one of the last barriers in my HIV coming-out story. Marching in this year’s Pride in London Parade with Positively UK was also a special moment.
I have been able to spread the life-changing message that people with an undetectable viral load cannot transmit the virus. I know from my own friendships and relationships how powerful this truth has been in transforming how people with HIV are perceived — not just by others but also by ourselves.
Peer support: the beating heart of our community
I know from personal experience how vital peer support can be. When I was diagnosed in 2007, I felt isolated and uncertain about the future. It was not until I joined a newly diagnosed group some 18 months later that I began to rebuild my confidence and find my own support network. Today, as a proud trustee of Positively UK, I see countless examples of how our peer-empowerment work transforms lives.
Peer-led initiatives like Positively UK’s Catwalk4Power are proof of the transformative power of shared experiences. When people with HIV come together, they can cast off self-stigma, educate others, and become able to advocate for systemic change. This creates a virtuous circle: supported and empowered people are more likely to thrive, adhere to treatment and become advocates within their communities.
I believe equitable access to peer support is just as important as equitable access to antiretroviral treatment — it’s that vital difference between surviving and thriving with HIV. It’s why I continue to call on the government to establish a nationally co-ordinated and locally delivered HIV peer-support network with adequate funding to ensure no one living with HIV faces their journey alone.
Pride and protest
As an LGBT+ activist, recognised for my work by Stonewall and the Queer Student Awards, I know how closely my community’s history is tied to the fight against HIV. From the earliest days of the HIV pandemic, LGBT+ people have been on the frontlines, advocating for access to treatment, prevention and care.
How my community came together in the AIDS crisis changed the world. As Conchita Wurst said when they won Eurovision: “We are unity and we are unstoppable.” When seemingly the whole world was against us, we looked after those who were sick, and we organised protests to call for funding for research and effective treatments. In the 2010s we came together again to fight for access to PrEP on the NHS in England.
But there is still so much work to be done. Around the world, homophobic and transphobic policies continue to harm LGBT+ people and undermine the HIV response. Here in the UK, we must keep campaigning to ensure our workplaces, public services and the NHS are inclusive. Pride remains a vital platform to get our voices heard — not just a celebration but a protest, demanding equality, dignity and respect for all.
Building a future without stigma
As we look toward 2030 — and I look forward to turning 50 proudly living with HIV — our goals must extend beyond zero new HIV transmissions. We must focus on quality of life for people living with HIV: we need to address loneliness, isolation and mental health challenges, and break down those systemic barriers standing in our way.
By fostering peer networks and amplifying diverse voices, we can create a future where people with HIV are not just surviving but thriving. Everyone can play a role, whether that is through volunteering for an HIV charity or community group, starting conversations around HIV, or simply challenging assumptions and myths.
Activism comes in many forms: from loud protests to quiet, personal acts of courage. For me, coming out publicly as living with HIV over a decade ago was the most empowering decision I have ever made. It allowed me to own my story, and I hope I inspire others to do the same.
If you are an ally to people living with HIV, I have some suggestions for you to become an even better one. If you are from a community that has higher rates of HIV, please get tested regularly. Far too many people are still being diagnosed late after their immune system has already been damaged by the virus.
On World AIDS Day I hope you will wear your red ribbon with pride — not just to commemorate all the loved ones who we lost to AIDS, but also to stand in solidarity with all the millions of people, like me, who are living with HIV today. We should not have to live our lives in fear and shame: HIV is a virus, not a moral judgement.
In the coming months and years, let’s commit to honouring the legacy of the early AIDS activists by ensuring that no one is left behind on our journey to 2030. Let’s work together — activists and allies — to create a world where everyone with HIV is met with compassion, understanding and equity.
Because nothing about us should ever be without us.
- An edited version of this post appeared on the Positively UK blog for World AIDS Day 2024
Related stories:
- December 2024: World AIDS Day 2024: Unionising against HIV Stigma for 2030
- July 2024: Unionising against HIV Stigma: tackling HIV stigma in our workplaces
- June 2024: UNISON stands against HIV stigma
- February 2024: UNISON: Let’s get organised — Year of LGBT+ Workers
- December 2023: World AIDS Day 2023: HIV has changed — but our employers don’t know this
- July 2023: “As a gay man, it fills my heart with joy to bring visibility to a community that has previously had nothing” — MDX staff working closely with Barnet community to raise profile of LGBT+ residents
- June 2023: MDX wins university of the year accolade at Queer Student Awards
- May 2023: Ant Babajee is a Stonewall Change Maker of the Year
- March 2023: Stonewall Award Winners
- March 2023: Inspiring HIV activist named Change Maker of the Year
- February 2023: MDX recognised for LGBTQ+ work with Gold Award from Stonewall
- December 2022: MDX’s Ant proud to “rock the ribbon” as face of World AIDS Day 2022
- December 2022: My World AIDS Day 2022
- August 2022: Middlesex University at Pride 2022
- February 2022: LGBT+ History Month, National HIV Testing Week, Middlesex and me
- February 2021: It’s a Sin: it’s not my story, but at last my history is on screen
- January 2021: My 14th annHIVersary: a day for hope, not sadness
- December 2020: Nothing about us without us: why it’s vital we amplify the voices of people with HIV on World AIDS Day
- April 2020: COVID-19: physically distant but still connected to my LGBT+ community
- January 2020: The Undetectables: U=U, PrEP and a decade with HIV
- January 2019: Baring all about HIV and U=U
- March 2018: The Inheritance is this generation’s Angels in America
- January 2018: I have just found out I am HIV positive: what do I do now?
- December 2017: World AIDS Day: community, fear and hope
- July 2017: Why I walk with Pride
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.