USCHA 2026
CHLP staff will be attending USCHA, the U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS in California, from September 17-20. CHLP will be exhibiting at a table in the exhibit hall, and staff will be participating in the following institutes and workshops:
Thursday, September 17 · 8:00–11:00 am
The Louisiana Coalition on Criminalization and Health: Building and Sustaining a Movement to Decriminalize HIV in the South
Focusing on the work of the Louisiana Coalition on Criminalization and Health (LCCH) over the past four years, this institute will examine the organization’s successful campaign to modernize Louisiana’s Intentional Exposure to HIV statute. We will break down how LCCH built a statewide coalition of advocates, increased community capacity, developed leadership, leveraged national partnerships, and collaborated with non-traditional partners to achieve legislative success. Additionally, we will discuss why specific education and outreach strategies were effective, highlighting the LCCH Speakers Bureau and our four distinct approaches to legislative advocacy.
Presenters: Jazmine Carroll, Robert Smith, and Dietz, LCCH; Kytara Epps and Sean McCormick, Center for HIV Law and Policy; Robert Suttle, Suttle Impact; Peyton Rose Michelle, Louisiana Trans Advocates; Kamaria Laffrey, Sero Project
Friday, September 18 · 8:00–11:00 am
Decriminalization in 2026: Ending HIV Criminalization Amid Our Current Political Environment
The HIV decriminalization movement is at a critical juncture. While advocates have secured significant victories through legislative reform, repeal efforts, strategic litigation, and coalition building, criminalization continues to evolve alongside broader punitive responses to public health and social inequality. This moderated panel discussion will examine current legal and policy trends, emerging threats, and innovative advocacy strategies shaping HIV decriminalization efforts nationwide. Drawing on recent state campaigns and national advocacy work, panelists will discuss successful approaches, persistent challenges, and lessons learned from both victories and setbacks. Participants will gain practical tools for advancing decriminalization and health justice in their communities.
Presenters: Ronnie Taylor, FreeState Justice, Charles Stephens, Counter Narrative Project, Jazmine Carroll, The Louisiana Coalition on Criminalization and Health, and Jada Hicks, The Center for HIV Law and Policy
Friday, September 18 · 3:45–5:15 pm
Sex and pleasure in the time of surveillance and criminalization – An Intergenerational Conversation
Through storytelling, archival materials, and intergenerational dialogue, this workshop brings together a moderated conversation between people with lived experience working in the sexual education and pleasure fields, public health experts, and attorneys exploring how communities left behind by the government and public health during the early days of the epidemic kept themselves safe with formal and informal harm reductive sexual health practices as well as how people living with HIV today can have healthy, positive sex lives amidst prevailing stigma and HIV criminalization laws.
Presenters: Kytara Epps and Jada Hicks, Center for HIV Law and Policy; Kim Canady, Conversations with Kim; Phill Wilson, Founder of Black AIDS Institute; Tony Valenzuela, One Institute; Brian Minalga, Fred Hutch
