Erika Castellanos Urges HIV Funding, Trans Rights at Aids 2026 as 14 Countries Criminalize Trans People
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 10
Erika Castellanos Urges HIV Funding, Trans Rights at Aids 2026 as 14 Countries Criminalize Trans People
2 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 10
Summary
At Aids 2026 in Rio, Erika Castellanos said cuts to HIV support — including scaled-back USAID and Pepfar backing — risk reversing decades of progress for trans and other marginalized communities.
Castellanos, 50, framed that warning through her own survival: diagnosed with HIV in 1995 and once given six months to live, she said treatment transformed the disease but politics kept many friends from accessing medicines.
Latin America's estimated 35-year life expectancy for trans women and widespread stigma in hospitals and law enforcement still deter care, she said, especially where people fear humiliation, arrest or violence.
UNAids echoed that message in its 2026 update, saying 168 countries criminalize sex work, 66 criminalize same-sex relations and 14 criminalize trans people, undermining efforts to end Aids as a public health threat by 2030.