Today, August 20, is Southern HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, a day dedicated to calling attention to the disproportionate number of people living with HIV in the south.

This disparity is caused by a number of factors– including systemic inequality, stigma, and misinformed policies. "In the South, we know how to hold pain and possibility in the same breath. We are the region most burdened by HIV, yet also the heartbeat of resilience, care, and cultural power. Southern HIV/AIDS Awareness Day isn’t just a date. It’s a declaration. A declaration that Black, Brown, queer, trans, rural, and working-class people in the South deserve access to life-saving prevention and treatment. That stigma must die before our people do. That silence is not an option when systems keep failing us," writes Kayla Quimbley-Young, HIV Policy Manager.