UNAIDS dubbed this year’s World AIDS Day theme as “Let Communities Lead.” This is how conversations around HIV and AIDS should be structured, Duante’ Brown said, who manages two programs at NMAC — a nonprofit dedicated to working to end the AIDS epidemic. People living with HIV need to be considered the subject matter experts, he said. 

“Bringing those people into the room, showing them that they have a voice and that there’s not just this group of people who are making a decision for them … is definitely the way that you go about this.”

Brown manages the ESCALATE program at NMAC, which aims to empower people to address HIV stigma, and the ELEVATE program, which is a training program for people with HIV to be more involved in the planning and delivery of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, which is the largest federal program designed specifically for people with HIV. 

In the United States, it’s estimated 1.2 million people are living with HIV, according to HIV.gov. About 13% are unaware they have HIV.

HIV also continues to disproportionately affect certain populations. Men who have sex with men accounted for 70% of the 32,100 estimated new HIV infections in 2021. And Black individuals accounted for 40% of the new infections that year, while only comprising 12% of the population of the United States, according to the CDC. 

In 2023, stigma is a key inhibitor to ending the epidemic, Brown said. When stigma gets out of the way, there could be a day when there are no new cases of HIV transmissions, he said. To get around that stigma, people need to have meaningful and productive conversations about AIDS. 

“Not treating it as taboo, making sure that we are empowering people living with HIV and AIDS to tell their stories and to be empowered to feel that it’s OK,” Brown said. “And that nothing is wrong with you.”

And there are several events in the region to recognize World AIDS Day, many of them aimed at abolishing the stigma that comes with talking about HIV. 

World AIDS Day events 

Whitman-Walker is hosting two events around World AIDS Day this year. There is the World AIDS Day Cabaret on Dec. 1, which is a 70-minute performance of “The Shadow of Her Smile” by Ann Talman. Talman starred alongside Elizabeth Taylor, a legendary AIDS advocate, on Broadway and locally at the Kennedy Center. 

The show highlights Taylor’s advocacy for those with AIDS. She established the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in 1991 to raise funds and awareness to fight the spread. 

The show will be at The Corner at Whitman-Walker. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the $50 admission includes a complimentary cocktail. 

Whitman-Walker is also hosting its Annual Walk to End HIV on Dec. 2. The 37th annual walk will begin at Anacostia Riverwalk Trail. This year, the walk celebrates the new Whitman-Walker location in Anacostia Park – the Max Robinson Center. 

“We’re continuing this new tradition of hosting the walk east of the river as a way to really remind the community that there is a pillar of support care and resources to a very historically undervalued and underserved portion of Washington, D.C.,” said Dwight Venson, the external affairs and community coordinator at Whitman-Walker.  

The warm-up begins at 8:45 a.m., and the walk kicks off at 9 a.m. Venson noted there is no need or pressure to fundraise — the goal is for people to come out and march. 

More details on both events are available on Whitman-Walker’s website. The organization also provides HIV testing across D.C., and more details are available on its website. 

At a national level, Janet Jackson is set to headline the World AIDS Day concert on Dec. 1 — an annual fundraiser sponsored by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. The concert will be at the NRG Arena in Houston, and will also honor actor and activist Blair Underwood with its lifetime achievement award. 

“[The concert] really is a way to commemorate World AIDS Day in a way that is both remembrance of those that we’ve lost, recognizing where we’re at, but also really celebrating and connecting the work that’s yet to be done. And having folks still leaving uplifted and elevated about what the future could hold,” said Imara Canady, AHF’s national director for communications and community engagement. 

Jackson has long been an outspoken advocate for people living with HIV. Her song, “Together Again,” is a tribute to a friend she lost to AIDS, as well as a dedication to patients around the world. 

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the largest nonprofit HIV/AIDS service organization and advocacy group, has several health care centers in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, and many across the nation and world. 

Mike McVicker-Weaver, the regional director for the D.C. and Baltimore area for AHF, said the local region has a robust network of providers to address HIV in the area, which is something to be proud of. 

“I see a lot of collective effort on strategizing, to bring an end to the epidemic,” McVicker-Weaver said. 

AHF also has a free HIV test locater online at freehivtest.net. 

CAMP Rehoboth is hosting a World AIDS Day non-denominational service on Dec. 1. Attendees will walk from CAMP Rehoboth to All Saints’ Church on Olive Avenue at 5:30 p.m., and the service will begin at 6 p.m. 

The service will feature the names of local people who have died of AIDS, and there will be performances by members of the CAMP Rehoboth Chorus. Attendees can also create a painted rock expressing their feelings about AIDS, loss and hope, which can be placed at the Peace Pole on CAMP Rehoboth grounds. 

There will be a display of a portion of the AIDS Quilt for viewing at All Saints’ Church. There are also viewing opportunities on Dec. 2 and Dec. 3. More details about the service are available on CAMP Rehoboth’s website. 

CAMP Rehoboth recently expanded its HIV testing program, CAMPsafe, to offer daily free testing. 

“It’s our work here to commit to making a better future where those cases are less,” said Matty Brown, the communications manager at CAMP Rehoboth. “We just want to make sure that there’s ample room for plenty of testing opportunities.” 

Visual AIDS, an organization using art to raise AIDS awareness, is hosting a screening of five videos about connections between HIV and other forms of illness and disability. “Everyone I Know Is Sick” is on Dec. 1 at 6 p.m., and more details are available on Eventbrite.

D.C. Health is hosting a World AIDS Day Celebration on Nov. 30. There will be live performances, and the event is free. More details are available on Eventbrite. 

The DC Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta is organizing a celebration and community HIV screening on Dec. 1 at Skyland Town Center. It’s an outdoor event, and attendees are encouraged to bring a chair and dress comfortably. More details are available on Eventbrite. 

Daydream Sunshine Initiative is hosting an event with free screenings and a clothing closet in Mount Rainier, Md., on Dec. 1. More details are available on Eventbrite. 

There is a World AIDS Day community celebration on Dec. 1 at Johns Hopkins, hosted by the nonprofit Begin Anew. The Baltimore city mayor and Savena Mushinge, Miss Maryland USA 2023, are expected to speak. More details are available on Eventbrite. 

Montgomery County is hosting its third annual World AIDS Day Solidarity for Health Equity Breakfast at the Silver Spring Civic Building on Dec. 1. It will highlight HIV’s disproportionate impact on Black women in the county. More details are available on the Montgomery County government’s website.