Two local organizations are collaborating to bring a first-ever national transgender-focused HIV-prevention effort to Philadelphia.
The Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative and House of Blahnik received a $40,000 grant to spearhead Mobilize, Educate and Engage, which will allow trans people of color to reach within their own communities to build awareness and support of HIV-prevention biomedical research.
Project MEE will disperse social-media messaging, along with a quarterly newsletter, about the importance of trans inclusion in biomedical research, and organizers will participate in Ballroom and other trans-focused events throughout the nation.
The grant will support the creation of a working group, comprised of 12 trans women of color who will serve as spokespeople for the project.
“We picked people who we noted to already be leaders in their communities across the United States,” said GALAEI executive director Elicia Gonzales. “They are people who have influence in some capacities and are legends in their community.”
GALAEI and HOB received the grant earlier this month from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) through Be the Generation Bridge Partnership, which is administered by the Legacy Project and FHI 360.
Gonzales said the initiative will allow GALAEI to continue its commitment to trans issues.
“From the beginning of GALAEI’s existence, we’ve worked with the trans community,” Gonzales said.
GALAEI and HOB have also had a longstanding history of working together.
“We’ve partnered with them in different capacities. It is just a natural marriage now,” Gonzales said. “We have a lot of respect for the work that they do. They really do a good job of reaching folks that really wouldn’t have been reached otherwise. They help young gay and trans kids.”
Lawrence Frazier, HOB managing director, will serve as program manager for the initiative, and said the trans community of color is “greatly marginalized, underserved and is often overlooked in HIV-prevention efforts, thus this education would ultimately lead to healthier outcomes and decision-making.”
HOB executive director Damon Humes added that, with efforts around HIV vaccines and microbicides ramping up nationally, “it is critically important to know what these interventions could mean for the future of HIV prevention among transgender persons in both the short and long term.”
The initiative is funded through June.
“Technically, there is an opportunity for additional funding but there is no conversation because the project just started,” Gonzlaes said, noting that organizers will continue to seek funding support. In the coming months, she is eager for the project to “grow in popularity and visibility.”
For more information, visit www.facebook.com/ProjectMee.