NAESM National African American Leadership Conference

CHLP Public Health and Advocacy Strategist Kytara Epps is presenting at NAESM's annual conference on Saturday, June 28 in Los Angeles. The session, Pushing Health Departments to Address the Public Health Threat of HIV Criminalization, will feature a discussion with co-presenters André Wade, Silver State Equality, and Chauncey McGlathery, American Academy of HIV Medicine.

Although cooperation with law enforcement by health departments has broadened HIV criminalization's reach in some settings, health departments have also reduced the harms of HIV criminalization by educating policymakers and providers, directly supporting PLHIV impacted by criminalization, and reforming institutional policies in other settings. This workshop will explore the role of state and local health departments in ending HIV criminalization. An introductory presentation will explain HIV criminalization, including its origins, scope, and disproportionate public health and other harms on Black, brown, and LGBTQ+ folks. A public health professional will briefly share their work to train and support health departments and medical providers in addressing HIV criminalization. Two grassroots coalition members will then describe their coalition's work to secure the support of health departments for legislation reforming and repealing their criminalization laws.

The NAESM National Leadership Conference on Health Disparities and Social Justice is a yearly gathering dedicated to delving into advancements in prevention, care, treatment, policy, and research concerning the health and well-being of Black gay, bisexual, and same-gender-loving men, alongside other MSM (men who have sex with men). This conference serves as a platform for Black MSM-serving organizations and individuals to exchange best practices and methodologies, functioning as both a think tank and a repository for Black MSM-related research.