Center for HIV Law & Policy

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Center for HIV Law & Policy Abolitionists working to make positive justice possible. https://linktr.ee/hivlawandpolicy

CHLP fights stigma and discrimination at the intersection of HIV, race, health status, disability, class, sexuality, and gender identity and expression, with a focus on criminal and public health systems. As part of this work, we support movement building that amplifies the power of individuals and communities to mobilize for change rooted in racial, gender, and economic justice. We do this through legal advocacy, high-impact policy initiatives, and the creation of cross-issue partnerships, networks, and resources. We support and increase the advocacy power and HIV expertise of attorneys, community members, and service providers, and advance policy initiatives that are grounded in and uphold social justice, science, and the public health. We do this by providing high-quality legal and policy materials through an accessible web-based resource bank; cultivating interdisciplinary support networks of experts, activists, and professionals; and coordinating a strategic leadership hub to track and advance advocacy on critical HIV legal, health, and human rights issues. CHLP offers a collaborative approach to the persistent problem of HIV discrimination, and the shortage of trained advocates to address the problem: a national center dedicated to coordinating and expanding the power of HIV advocates. Strategic coordination and sharing of resources is a sound approach to maximizing the representation of those with HIV, allowing existing organizations to use limited resources as efficiently as possible. CHLP works with experts and community members from local direct service providers to national organizations to identify, create, and share high-quality legal and policy resources and advocacy strategies. Please note: CHLP does not provide direct client services or legal advice. If you are looking for an attorney to provide you with legal representation or advice, please consult the Legal Assistance page in our Resource Bank. CHLP is an independent project of the National Center for Civic Innovation (NCCI), http://www.civicinnovation.org, a 501(c)(3) organization created by the Fund for the City of New York, 121 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013-5675.

❓ DID YOU KNOW: The first-of-its-kind lawsuit to use the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to challenge HIV criminal...
10/09/2026

❓ DID YOU KNOW: The first-of-its-kind lawsuit to use the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to challenge HIV criminalization – OUTMemphis v. Skrmetti – survived an attempt to dismiss the case earlier this spring?

Now we’re bringing the community together to learn about the ruling and its impact on the HIV decriminalization movement at a virtual town hall discussion with the OUTMemphis legal team.

Tuesday, October 27 at 4:00pm ET
➡️ REGISTER: https://streamyard.com/watch/GhiA96J54MZg

Everyone impacted by HIV – no legal or policy background required – is invited to join CHLP’s Sean McCormick and Jada Hicks for this conversation with advocates and attorneys from the ACLU, Transgender Law Center, and the U.S. PLHIV Caucus.

We’ll break down the nuts and bolts of the case and follow it with a Q&A session with legal and policy advocates working to end HIV criminalization and with all community members in attendance.

See you on the 27th!

Read more about TeamATAC’s work at www.hivlawandpolicy.org/atac

CHLP’s Jada Hicks and Sean McCormick will present on the HIV legal landscape at Caraconference in Cincinnati on October ...
10/08/2026

CHLP’s Jada Hicks and Sean McCormick will present on the HIV legal landscape at Caraconference in Cincinnati on October 15. Their presentation is entitled Criminalization in 2026: Understanding, Preventing, and Minimizing the Threat of Harm to People Living with HIV.

Caraconference 2026: Policy, Power & Progress brings together experts, practitioners, and people with lived experience to dig into today’s most pressing issues in HIV. The conference features two full days of interactive sessions, discussion, and connection with people who are shaping the HIV response every day.

Continuing education and legal credits are available for select conference sessions.

Registration is open until Monday, October 12: https://caracole.org/event/caraconference-2026/

Caracole is Greater Cincinnati’s nonprofit devoted to positively changing lives in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

CHLP Executive Director S. Mandisa Moore-O'Neal joins Funders for LGBTQ Issues and Funders Concerned about AIDS (FCAA) f...
10/05/2026

CHLP Executive Director S. Mandisa Moore-O'Neal joins Funders for LGBTQ Issues and Funders Concerned about AIDS (FCAA) for the launch of their HIV/AIDS Issue Brief on October 8 from 2:00 - 3:30pm ET.

For this conversation, Mandisa joins Saida Agostini-Bostic and Sammy Luffy (Funders for LGBTQ Issues), Marvell Terry II (FCAA), Carl Baloney, Jr. (AIDS United), Jake Arman (The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation), Shelby Chestnut (Transgender Law Center), and Daniel D. Driffin (Public Health Innovation Lab).

Topics include:
-- The current HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ philanthropic landscape in the U.S.
-- Funders and movement partners' storytelling of efforts to address disparities in HIV acquisition and care, the criminalization of HIV and its disproportionate impacts on transgender women of color, and other intersectional issues.
-- Space to reflect on where philanthropy can play a meaningful role in sustaining HIV/AIDS organizing, care, and movement infrastructure in this moment.

Please note that this virtual convening is only open to grantmakers and those working in philanthropy.

Register: https://secure.everyaction.com/KPm0d7RlYk-0ZPieq7sUbg2

10/02/2026

⚡️ Still carrying the energy of . ⚡️

CHLP’s spent four days doing the work of building our movement with advocates, organizers, funders, and people living with HIV from across the country. We shared strategies, strengthened relationships, and imagined what’s possible together. In the sessions, in the meetings, at the exhibit tables, and through the conversations with our fellow advocates, we got energized and reminded that we’re all in this together. Grateful for our movement, ready to keep building...and we’ll never stop. ✊🏽

09/24/2026

HIV decriminalization supporters to hold first-ever Advocacy Day at Ohio Statehouse.

Ohio still has six laws on the books that criminalize living with HIV. And the laws are actively enforced.

🔗 Click the LINK IN FIRST COMMENT for the full story.

CHLP’s is heading to USCHA, the U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS in California, from September 17-20. CHLP will be exhibiti...
09/15/2026

CHLP’s is heading to 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
– Kytara Epps and Sean McCormick

Friday, September 18 · 3:45–5:15 pm
S*x and pleasure in the time of surveillance and criminalization – An Intergenerational Conversation
– Kytara Epps and Jada Hicks

Friday, September 18 · 3:45–5:15 pm
Tracing Transformation: How the COMPASS Initiative Changed the South
– S. Mandisa Moore-O'Neal

Saturday, September 19 · 8:00–11:00 am
Decriminalization in 2026: Ending HIV Criminalization Amid Our Current Political Environment
– Jada Hicks

Read more at https://www.hivlawandpolicy.org/events/uscha-2026


NMAC

09/14/2026

As our communities face ongoing attacks – including widespread defunding of HIV research, care, and prevention and increasing carceral punishment targeting people living with stigmatized health conditions – attorneys, advocates, and people with lived experience are collaborating on proactive legal strategies. These efforts require that legal experts respond to community leadership, build relationships based on trust and accountability, and leverage personal narratives to drive change.

Join CHLP and our Team ATAC partners at GLAD Law, ACLU, and the LGBTQI+ Rights Clinic at Northwestern Law’s Bluhm Legal Clinic for an introductory conversation about the role of impact litigation in our resistance against surveillance, divestment, and criminalization. The webinar will offer an accessible overview of key legal concepts followed by a discussion with experienced litigators led by people living with HIV about best practices for partnership in impact litigation.

Panelists:
-- Sean McCormick (he/him), Staff Attorney, CHLP
-- Kara Ingelhart (she/her), Clinical Assistant Professor of Law & Director, LGBTQI+ Rights Clinic, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
-- Bennett Klein (he/him), Senior Director of Litigation and HIV Law, GLAD Law
-- Dena Robinson (she/her), Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU LGBTQ & HIV Project
-- Kerry S. Thomas (he/him), Public Engagement & Narrative Strategist, Sero Project
-- Todd Fuqua (they/them), Network Building Lead, HIV Modernization Movement - Indiana

🔉 CHLP’s Impact Report is here. Building the Infrastructure for Liberation tells the story of how CHLP creates the relat...
09/14/2026

🔉 CHLP’s Impact Report is here. Building the Infrastructure for Liberation tells the story of how CHLP creates the relationships, leadership, legal strategies, movement infrastructure, and collective power that make positive justice possible.

Over the last two years, CHLP has worked alongside advocates, attorneys, organizers, and people living with HIV to build a movement capable of advancing justice—even in increasingly hostile political conditions.

We celebrated 20 years of making positive justice possible. We launched CHLP’s first strategic plan, Advancing Justice, Rooted in Liberation. And we helped create the infrastructure necessary for our collective liberation by:

– Building power by supporting successful HIV criminalization repeal efforts through the Positive Justice Project

– Building analysis by expanding movement understanding of bodily autonomy, molecular surveillance, and informed consent

– Building leaders by strengthening shared leadership through the Aging Advisory Council

– Building possibility by advancing new legal strategies through Team ATAC

These stories illustrate how our work helps build what our communities need to fight, win, heal, and thrive. Read the full report: https://www.hivlawandpolicy.org/our-impact

Our communities are under sustained attack—from the defunding of HIV research, care, and prevention to expanding carcera...
09/04/2026

Our communities are under sustained attack—from the defunding of HIV research, care, and prevention to expanding carceral punishment. Impact litigation can be a powerful tool of resistance—but it must be guided by community leadership and rooted in trust and accountability.

Join CHLP and our Team ATAC partners for Litigation for Liberation, an introductory webinar exploring how impact litigation can challenge surveillance, divestment, and criminalization. Following an accessible breakdown of key legal concepts, people living with HIV will lead a conversation with experienced litigators about building effective, accountable partnerships.

Monday, September 14
12 pm ET

Moderated by CHLP Staff Attorney Sean McCormick, the webinar will feature PJP Partners Kerry S. Thomas, Lashanda Salinas, and Todd Fuqua in conversation with Kara Ingelhart, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, Bennett Klein GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders - GLAD Law, and Dena Robinson ACLU.

Learn more and register today:
https://www.hivlawandpolicy.org/events/litigation-liberation-understanding-impact-litigation-and-its-relevance-people-living-hiv

Punishment is not prevention. On International Overdose Awareness Day, we know that overdose prevention means rejecting ...
08/31/2026

Punishment is not prevention. On International Overdose Awareness Day, we know that overdose prevention means rejecting the criminalization of people who use drugs and those deeply impacted by HIV.

▶️In this new blog, Staff Attorney Sean McCormick reflects on the impact of overdose on our communities and demands responses rooted in care, dignity, and self-determination, not carceral punishment. Read the blog: www.hivlawandpolicy.org/blog

▶️In 10 states, people living with HIV or viral hepatitis who share used syringes, needles, or other drug equipment face heightened felony-level punishment due to their health status. See our map: www.hivlawandpolicy.org/maps

▶️ Harm reduction is a commitment to addressing the root causes of violence, discrimination, and subjugation through racist, classist, sexist, and ableist systems. Harm reduction is abolition in practice. See our definition: www.hivlawandpolicy.org/glossary

We cannot punish our way out of the overdose crisis. We need systems of care that advance our collective liberation and respect the inherent dignity of all people.

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Washington D.C., DC

Opening Hours

Monday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Thursday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Friday 9:30am - 5:30pm

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