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In This Issue
 
We’re really excited to present our Greater Than AIDS newsletter as our last issue of 2014.
 
Here, we feature the work of the Greater Than AIDS movement throughout the United States, including stories about World AIDS Day gatherings to empower Black women, the “Health Coverage, HIV and YOU” portal to help PLWHA navigate the Affordable Care Act, the #SpeakOutHIV gathering of gay and bisexual men for a digital storytelling workshop, and more. 
 
We also want to remind you about open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act. Although the December 15th deadline for having coverage by January 1, 2015 has passed, you have until February 15th to enroll for health insurance at HealthCare.gov.
 
If you need assistance in helping diverse Ryan White clients enroll in the ACA, visit the Affordable Care Enrollment Technical Assistance Center for resources.
 
The Black AIDS Institute’s next newsletter will come out on Tuesday January 6th.

We look forward to seeing you in 2015.
 
Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanza, and Happy New Year!
 
Phill

 
SPEAK OUT COMES TO TEXAS SPARKING HIV CONVERSATIONS ACROSS THE STATE

Speak Out Texas is here! In September, Greater Than AIDS and local partners premiered new Speak Out content to confront the silence and stigma of HIV. Angel, Jai and Nat are among the nine gay men currently living in Dallas featured in the new video content speaking candidly about HIV as part of an effort to encourage a more open dialogue about prevention, testing and treatment. The campaign comes as the Kaiser Family Foundation released a new national survey of gay and bisexual men revealing that few are talking about HIV even with those closest to them. Speak Out is being distributed on the web and through social media as well as through targeted community outreach. 


SPEAK OUT TAKES THE BIG SCREEN
 
On September 17, Greater Than AIDS was on hand at the Angelika Theater in Dallas, along with the cast of Speak Out Texas, to premiere the campaign for local community organizations. There were tears, laughter, and so much love in the room. See for yourself >


SHOWING TEXAS PRIDE
 
The conversation continued that weekend at Dallas Pride (September 20) and Austin Pride (September 21) festivals. Speak Out Texas representatives distributed HIV informational and promotional items to attendees and a photo and video booth gave individuals an opportunity to share their own personal Speak Out message.
#SPEAKOUTHIV
T his fall, Greater Than AIDS, together with AIDS United, the Black AIDS Institute and the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) with support from the Ford Foundation, brought together 25 gay and bisexual men ages 25 and younger for a three-day digital storytelling workshop to record their personal #SpeakOutHIV messages. Released through social media on National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (September 27), the videos they created offered an intimate and revealing look at HIV that is not often seen and encouraged their peers to make their voices heard on HIV. 
SPEAK OUT GOES TO 
THE WHITE HOUSE
Greater Than AIDS produced a "Real Voices" video that opened a White House meeting on "Gay and Bisexual Men and HIV/AIDS. Focus. Action. Impact." Featuring Greater Than AIDS ambassadors along with top experts from the CDC and amfAR, the video provides insight into the current epidemic in the community. Greater Than AIDS Ambassador Angel Velasco, who appears in the new Speak Out Texas campaign, was also on hand to provide the perspective of a young person living with HIV today.
 
OUT MAGAZINE SPEAKS OUT ABOUT HIV! 
Pick up your copy of Dec/Jan OUT Magazine featuring the 2014 OUT 100 to get a new HIV/AIDS informational guide that Greater Than AIDS produced with Here Media. The 8-page resource provides readers with information about the latest in HIV prevention and treatment. Download here >

Greater Than AIDS was also out in force with #SpeakOUTHIV at the 2014 OUT 100 event in NYC honoring individuals making a difference in the LGBT community. Greater Than AIDS ambassadors worked the red carpet talking with event attendees about the campaign and HIV/AIDS. Zachary Quinto, Tyler Oakley, Andrew Rannells and other honorees also recorded messages for Greater Than AIDS about how HIV/AIDS has impacted their lives as part of #SpeakOutHIV. Watch all of the videos here >
 

HEALTH COVERAGE, HIV & YOU PORTAL UPDATED FOR OPEN ENROLLMENT
As the  Affordable Care Act (ACA) began its second year of open enrollment on Saturday, November 15th, Greater Than AIDS provided important updates to the  Health Coverage, HIV & YOU portal to help people with HIV navigate the ACA. Created by the Kaiser Family Foundation with funding from Gilead Sciences, the website includes essential information about the ACA and HIV, including state-specific information on health insurance marketplaces, a downloadable worksheet for people applying for coverage, updated commonly asked questions, Spanish-language resources and more! 

                               WORLD AIDS DAY:
          GREATER THAN AIDS & ESSENCE.COM TEAM
             UP FOR SPECIAL EMPOWERED RELEASE
On World AIDS Day (December 1), Greater Than AIDS and Essence presented for the first time online "Through Love of Self, Family and Community: Empowering Black Women to End AIDS." a 2014 ESSENCE Empowerment panel featuring Alicia Keys and guests in conversation with MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry. Also featured in the inspiring hour-long program are Greater Than AIDS Ambassadors Kym, a young professional who lost her new husband to AIDS shortly after learning she was infected, and is a passionate voice about the need to remove the stigma surrounding HIV, and Teresa, a mother whose unconditional love of her HIV positive son has helped him thrive in the face of the disease. Learn more >
 
                  GREATER THAN AIDS AMBASSADORS
                   HOLD EVENTS ACROSS THE NATION
Across the nation, Greater Than AIDS friends & family came together to honor World AIDS Day. Equipped with World AIDS Day community kits and downloadable offerings, Greater Than AIDS ambassadors and community organizers held events across the country passing out Greater Than AIDS materials and hosting forums to discuss HIV.
                                 USCA 2014 
With the theme "Together, we are Greater Than AIDS" the Greater Than AIDS U.S. Conference on AIDS (USCA) exhibit booth drew hundreds of conference attendees who received HIV information and resources. Other highlights included a Walgreens panel on a collaborative approach to HIV treatment featuring Greater Than AIDS Ambassador Cheryl. In the discussion, Cheryl gave strategies to finding the right provider and inspired the audience: "First you have to determine that you're worth the effort." The conference was a great reminder that whether HIV positive or negative, we all have a role to play in ending this epidemic.

                  REBELS WITH A CAUSE
Speak Out youth ambassadors Mario (Los Angeles, CA) and Maliek (Birmingham, AL) were "Rebels with a Cause", an event produced by The Atlantic and MAC AIDS Fund on November 14 in New York City. They joined Douglas Brooks, Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, to discuss "AIDS: The State of the States" at the standing-room-only webcast that convened leaders in social justice and philanthropy, old and young, to discuss the dynamics of youth activism today. Social media is a powerful starting point.  Join the #SpeakOutHIV conversation online and watch the full #RebelWithCause event video here >

GREATER THAN AIDS AND HRC #SPEAKOUTHIV
Greater Than AIDS and HRC again joined forces to foster Speak Out conversations in the community. Greater Than AIDS ambassador Jai spoke to student leaders from HBCUs across the country who gathered in DC as part of the HRC Leadership Summit to encourage them to #SpeakOutHIV
 

GREATER THAN AIDS AROUND THE NATION





GEORGIA > AIDS IS STARTING CONVERSATIONS
Speak Out conversations took place across Georgia at Black Pride (August 30), the MSM Symposium (September 25-26) and at Atlanta Pride (October 11), where GEORGIA > AIDS passed out informational and HIV-themed community materials provided by Greater Than AIDS and captured Speak Out photo and video booth moments. Leading up to the Pride events, special radio messages hit the airwaves to promote testing and local HIV resources. Across the state, Speak Out posters were placed in select restaurants, bars, and coffee shops in cities like Albany, Augusta, Gainesville, Macon, Savannah, and Columbus.







 
TEXAS SHOWS IT IS GREATER THAN AIDS IN BIG WAYS
This year Texas > AIDS was featured at the 2014 HIV/STD Conference. Hosting a “Together, Texas is Greater Than AIDS” exhibit, hundreds of state leaders in HIV/STD prevention dropped by the TEXAS > AIDS booth and picked up materials to help in their outreach. In a special plenary session, TEXAS > AIDS teased the new Speak Out Texas campaign. Speak Out posters were also placed at gay-friendly local shops in Texas and Speak Out messages connecting people to HIV resources reached thousands in the Dallas Voice and Austin Chronicle newspapers.





 
LOUISIANA > AIDS ON RADIO AND ONLINE SPEAKING OUT
Speak Out digital messages reached gay and bisexual men in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Shreveport this fall. Themes like “HIV Shouldn’t Stand in the Way of Love” and “Ask to Be Tested” resounded, connecting people to information on topics like PrEP and Treatment as Prevention and more. And, leading up to World AIDS Day (December 1), Louisiana > AIDS broadcasted a new radio message encouraging people to get informed about HIV.

VIRGINIA > AIDS TESTING
In September, Virginia > AIDS rolled out new local radio messages encouraging people to get tested. The messages build on a new program developed earlier in the year between Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and Walgreens to offer free, rapid, year-round HIV testing at select Walgreens stores across the state.

WELCOMING NEW PARTNERS TO THE FAMILY
Hats off to Arizona in joining the movement to be Greater Than AIDS! Arizona placed a Speak Out digital campaign in October aimed at reaching the most HIV-impacted areas of the state. Messages reached gay and bisexual men through targeted social media and web placements. Look out for more coming from AZ > AIDS!
 
Making moves across Florida, Miami Dade College joins the Greater Than AIDS family to bring HIV information all over campus. The MDC > AIDS initiative launched on World AIDS Day with a presentation from AIDS United President Michael Kaplan on “A New Paradigm for Ending AIDS.” From coast to coast, we are Greater Than AIDS!
UPDATES FROM THE EXPERTS
This fall, Greater Than AIDS co-founding partner the Black AIDS Institute and the Black Treatment Advocates Network organized a series of meetings to share new updates in HIV/AIDS work from experts on the ground at the 2014 International AIDS Conference (IAC). The meetings were held in BTAN cities across the country. For follow-up information, or to meet the leaders of BTAN in your jurisdiction, click here >

GREATER THAN AIDS IN THE NEWS
Greater Than AIDS is a leading national public information response focused on the U.S. domestic epidemic. Launched  in 2009, it is supported by a broad coalition of public and private sector partners, including: major media and other business leaders; Federal, state and local health agencies  and departments;  national leadership groups; AIDS service and other community  organizations;  and foundations,  among others. Through targeted media messages  and community  outreach, Greater Than AIDS and its partners work to increase knowledge,  reduce stigma and promote actions to stem the spread of the disease. While national in scope, Greater Than AIDS focuses on communities most affected. For more information, visit: www.greaterthan.org
 
Download a PDF of this newsletter or previous newsletters here.
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