World AIDS Day 2024: Empowering Trans Women and Trans Femmes to End HIV

Today, December 1, we commemorate World AIDS Day. This year's theme is “Collective Action: Sustain and Accelerate HIV Progress.” Today, we at LifeSkills Mobile honor the resilience, leadership, and wisdom of trans women and trans femmes in the fight against HIV. As HIV continues to disproportionately impact transgender women and femmes, especially trans BIPOC, the path forward to collective action is in following the leadership within those very communities. We believe BIPoC trans women and trans femmes know best how to support and uplift each other, 

grounded in building knowledge and resilience through peer mentorship to not let HIV be a barrier to living their best lives. The LifeSkills Mobile Study is built on the trans pioneers who built Project LifeSkills, which was designated by the CDC as a best practice model for HIV prevention amongst trans women and femmes. Our study took lessons from that intervention into building apps to promote effective HIV prevention (LifeSkills Mobile) and HIV care (LifeSkills Mobile+).

Through tailored coaching and skill-building in navigating healthcare, relationships, sex, and building self-worth, we empower trans women and femmes to define their lives not by the challenges they face but by the dreams and goals they pursue. 

On this World AIDS Day, we call on our community to continue standing together, celebrating our achievements, and pushing for a brighter future where no one is left behind. Ending HIV is not just about medicine or policies—it’s about valuing the wholeness and humanity of trans lives. Together, through collective action, we can end HIV and create a future defined by equality, empowerment, and possibility.