HIV takes its toll on the transgender community

BayWindows.com – by John Gatto – Bay Windows Contributor

We at Cambridge Cares About AIDS (CCA) appreciated, professionally and personally, the article on how the HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to impact our communities (“Far from the finish line,” May 29); specifically we echo the need for advocacy and innovative approaches with gay and bisexual men and injection drug users.

However as an organization also working with the transgender community, we feel the article missed an opportunity to raise awareness on two issues: (1) the differential impact HIV/AIDS has on transgender individuals and (2) recognition that transgender community members continue to advocate at local, state and federal levels for transgender women to be seen as distinct from the category of men who have sex with men (MSM).