Andre Wade, director of Silver State Equality, sits down with the Las Vegas Sun to discuss the newly formed Nevada organization and how it looks to address LGBT policy issues, Tuesday Aug. 27, 2019.
Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020 | 2 a.m.
Silver State Equality is running ads on dating apps like Grindr and Scruff to encourage the Las Vegas area’s LGBTQ community to practice safe sex and get tested for HIV.
Although significant strides have been made in HIV/AIDS research and treatment since the epidemic swept the United States about 30 years ago, it’s still an issue — especially in minority communities.
African Americans made up the highest percentage of new HIV diagnoses in Clark County at 32%, despite only making up 11.3% of the county’s population in 2018, according to the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health.
In 2017, African Americans accounted for 43% of HIV diagnoses in the United States despite making up only 13% of the population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HIV diagnoses have also increased 40% among gay and bisexual African American men between ages 25 and 34, according to the CDC.
Hispanics also represent a disproportionate number of HIV/AIDS cases, making up 26% of new HIV diagnoses in 2017, while making up just 16% of the national population.
“They’re struggling with racism from a largely white coded (LGBTQ) community and homophobia with their respective black and Latino communities,” said Andre Wade, director of Silver State Equality, Nevada’s statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization. “They have a low sense of belonging and with the stigma attached to sex with men, they tend to do so in the dark and aren’t having safe sex or getting tested.”
Officials with Silver State Equality will be active on Friday for National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, using the day as a launching point to discuss awareness and testing with African American and Latino LGBTQ communities.
The theme of the awareness day is Together for Love: Stop HIV Stigma, which focuses on the shared responsibility toward fighting the HIV stigma.
Samuel Garrett-Pate, spokesman for Silver State Equality and its counterpart Equality California, said they partner with nonprofit organizations like The LGBTQ Center of Southern Nevada to do outreach work at LGBTQ community events as well as events exclusively for black and Hispanic/Latino communities.
“Silver State Equality is focused on not just going to Las Vegas PRIDE, but also events specifically garnered to LGBTQ folks of color,” he said.
Ways to protect against HIV transmission include condoms as well as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, which is a daily pill taken before possible exposure to HIV, as well as post-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP, which is an emergency option to reduce risk of HIV after possible exposure. Much of the marketing and advertising emphasizing these options have been mostly geared toward young men, however, Garett-Pate said.
“The result of all that marketing targeting men exclusively is that many women don’t know PrEP is an important option for them as well. Something we need to take into account is to gear this marketing toward women as well,” he said.
Nevada’s criminal laws on HIV also discourage people from getting tested, as anyone who tests positive for HIV and later exposes someone can be criminally prosecuted, he said. Yet, the laws don’t take into account modern medications like antiretroviral therapy that can achieve an undetectable viral load, eliminating the risk of passing on the virus to others.
HIV criminalization laws can also disproportionately affect marginalized communities, according to a study conducted by the Williams Institute, a think tank at the UCLA School of Law. The study found that women and people of color bear the heaviest burdens of HIV criminal laws.
That’s why Silver State Equality advocated for the passage of Senate Bill 284, which creates a task force to examine Nevada’s statutes on the criminalization of HIV transmission. It was passed by the 2019 Nevada Legislature and signed by Gov. Steve Sisolak.
“These laws don’t make sense for public health, criminal justice, at every angle you look at them,” Garrett-Pate said. “They’re outdated, unjust and counteract efforts to eliminate HIV.”
Vince Collins, who is director of operations at The Center, is hosting a James Baldwin cocktail party exclusively for African American LGBTQ men. Baldwin, the civil-rights era literary figure, is often revered in African American LGBTQ communities for his support of gay and lesbian rights.
Collins said African American men are often unable to speak freely about the issues they face in certain spaces. He hopes the event will create an opportunity for community building and for participants to speak without a filter.
“It’s a new group, and this will be its first gathering,” Collins said. “What we’re doing is talking about the writings of James Baldwin to identify specific issues that he speaks about in his era of life to spark conversations around how we can address stigma and taking a look at our own community and address some of those underlying issues and challenges.”
The event will take place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Feb. 28 at The Center. While it’s a closed event, anyone who wants to get involved can email Collins at [email protected].
