Today is HIV Cure Research Day, observed annually on December 14, to raise awareness, promote community involvement, and celebrate the life-saving efforts of researchers, advocates, and community members working towards finding a cure for HIV.
GLAAD recognizes the ability of fair, accurate and consistent representation in media to eradicate HIV stigma and bridge generational gaps. In celebration of this historic day, GLAAD is amplifying some essential statistics and stories centering people and/or characters living with HIV, as well as their experiences with HIV cure efforts.
The CDC estimates that approximately 1.2 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV. According to their latest “HIV Surveillance Report,” gay and bisexual men account for about two-thirds of new HIV diagnoses in the U.S. each year, with Black and Latine gay and bi men disproportionately impacted. The CDC also estimates that over 14% of transgender women are living with HIV.
In partnership with Gilead Sciences and the Gilead COMPASS Initiative®, GLAAD’s State of HIV Stigma report measures knowledge, perceptions and attitudes among non-LGBTQ Americans about HIV. In 2024, nearly 90% of American adults reported knowing at least a little about HIV, stable over five years. However, there has been a significant increase in the percent of Americans who say they have heard the term HIV but don’t know much about it, as well as a decrease in Americans who report knowing that people living with HIV, when on effective treatment, can live long and healthy lives.
Media exposure is critical to driving comfort around people living with HIV (PLWHIV). In fact, when Americans see PLWHIV in the media, comfortability grows by up to +15%.
Unfortunately, just as more Americans report feeling less comfortable interacting with people living with HIV in certain scenarios, media representations of PLWHIV have fallen. In the 2023-24 television season, GLAAD’s Where We Are On TV study counted only one character living with HIV on broadcast, cable, or streaming primetime programming, down from 8 the year prior. Additionally, GLAAD’s Studio Responsibility Index study found that characters living with HIV were completely absent from 2023 films.
To engage with media centering people and characters living with HIV, check out the pioneering films and TV shows below!
Three Months
Featuring the only character living with HIV in GLAAD’s 2023 Studio Responsibility Index, Paramount+’s Three Months is a coming-of-age story that focuses on the three months it takes gay Florida teen Caleb (Troye Sivan) to find out his HIV status. The GLAAD List Script-turned-feature follows Caleb’s journey of getting tested, joining a support group, and forming a summer romance—sending the powerful message that an HIV diagnosis is not a death sentence and that people living with HIV can have long and healthy ongoing lives, goals and dreams. While HIV stories are often relegated to older generations, Three Months portrays the existence of HIV in the modern world, emphasising the advancement of HIV research and the need for representation across all time periods. Stream Three Months on Paramount+ now!
How to Get Away with Murder
ABC’s GLAAD Media Award-winning series How to Get Away with Murder not only left a queer legacy, but also introduced a ground-breaking HIV story to the mainstream media. In the 2018 episode “We Can Find Him,” Oliver Hampton, played by Conrad Ricamoa, came out to his traditional Filipino mother as HIV-positive. GLAAD worked as an advisor on the episode, introducing the writers to people living with HIV to hear their personal stories of telling family members they were living with HIV. According to Ricamoa, “There is this tendency to approach storylines with characters living with HIV and AIDS with such a heaviness and I think that just in showing Oliver living his day-to-day life, even in episodes where we haven’t mentioned it, it is allowing people to see characters and a person living with HIV that is thriving and it’s not about them having a crisis.” Find the full interview with GLAAD’s Vice President, Communications & Talent Anthony Allen Ramos below and watch How to Get Away with Murder on Hulu today!
How to Survive A Plague
The Oscar-nominated documentary How to Survive a Plague tells the story of the brave young activists who successfully reversed the tide of an epidemic, demanded the consciousness of a fearful nation and stopped HIV/AIDS from becoming a death sentence. Battling hostility and indifference, this improbable group of activists brought attention to the HIV epidemic in order to reduce the number of victims, ultimately hoping to lead the drive in finding a cure. By infiltrating government agencies and the pharmaceutical industry, these groups helped to identify promising new medications and treatments while moving them through trials and into drugstores in record time. This GLAAD Media Award-winning film has since inspired other movements for change and stands as an inspiration for future generations of activists and HIV cure researchers and activists. Stream How to Survive a Plague on AMC+ or rent/purchase the film on Prime Video!
The Real World: San Francisco
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the airing of MTV’s The Real World: San Francisco, which featured Pedro Zamora, the first reality TV personality to publicly share their HIV status. Captivating audiences nationwide with his openness, compassion and charisma, Zamora understood the power of storytelling and of mass media to influence public opinions and dedicated his life to raising awareness about HIV prevention. Throughout the GLAAD Media Award-winning season, viewers got a sense of Zamora’s life with HIV and witnessed the first commitment ceremony between a same-sex couple in TV history with his partner Sean Sasser, another man of color living with HIV. Zamora passed away only hours after the Real World season finale aired in November 1994, showing the nation the firsthand consequences of HIV stigma and misinformation. Stream The Real World: San Francisco on Paramount+ and watch MTV’s tribute to Pedro Zamora above!
Life Support
This drama film is loosely based on the real-life story of a mother who overcame addiction and became a positive role model and an HIV activist for the Black community. Played by Queen Latifah, Ana devotes her life to her work at Life Support, an AIDS outreach group in Brooklyn, while attempting to repair her relationship with her teenage daughter. Life Support accurately portrays the realities of racial and gender disparities among those living with HIV. According to the CDC, although data demonstrates progress in HIV prevention, longstanding social and economic factors continue to contribute to health inequities—particularly among Black and Latine people. In fact, in 2022, 47% of estimated new HIV infections among all women were among Black women. To learn more, watch Life Support on Max now!
TRANSWorld Atlanta
The GLAAD Media Award nominated reality-docuseries TRANSWorld Atlanta centers on Black trans men Malik Brown, Ja’Mel Ashely, Shon Jackson, and Nick Devereux as they push through adversity, love, and life. No longer willing to hide in the shadows of hatred or hostility, the men explore relationships, marriage and inner truths while navigating a world that has yet to accept them. In the unprecedented episode “Men Have Babies Too,” Ja’Mel and his husband Alphonso discuss their pregnancy, raising their child, and living and thriving with HIV. Stream TRANSWorld Atlanta on Tubi!
Fellow Travelers
Showtime’s limited series Fellow Travelers features the only character living with HIV in GLAAD’s 2023-2024 Where We Are on TV study. Based on Thomas Mallon’s novel of the same name, the show documents a passionate love story between two men, Tim (Jonathan Bailey) and Hawk (Matt Bomer). Over the course of three decades, the GLAAD Media Award-winning series chronicles queer American history from the Lavender Scare of the ‘50s to the assassination of Harvey Milk in the ‘70s, culminating in the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in ‘80s San Francisco. Depicting the American government’s failure to address the HIV/AIDS crisis, one of the men becomes a strong voice for HIV legislation and opens up about his own identity after his lover passes away. Watch Fellow Travelers on Hulu today!
Pose
FX’s groundbreaking drama series Pose depicts the HIV/AIDS epidemic through the lens of Black and Latine trans communities in New York City in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. The GLAAD Media Award-winning series spotlights the legends, icons and ferocious house mothers of NYC’s underground ball culture, examining the juxtaposition of several segments of life in the city, including the downtown social and literary scene and the rise of the yuppie milieu. Highlighting the importance of ongoing HIV advocacy, education, and remembrance, the show features multiple characters living with HIV, including Pray Tell, portrayed by Billy Porter, a trailblazing actor and singer living with HIV. Stream Pose on Hulu now!
Stay tuned for an upcoming HIV narrative inspired by true events in Los Frikis, coming to theaters nationwide on Christmas Day!
For more information, check out GLAAD’s World AIDS Day and HIV Global Resource Hub, Media Reference Guide – In Focus: HIV and the LGBTQ Community, Fact-Sheet on federal efforts to end HIV/AIDS, and Southern Story Bank featuring profiles of people living with HIV and advocates elevating facts about HIV and equitable health care for LGBTQ people in the U.S. South.