Masonia B. Traylor

HIV activists staged a mock funeral in a Virginia hotel on 16 March to protest the Trump administration’s “deadly” federal funding cuts to HIV programmes and resources.

The protest was organised by the Save HIV Funding Campaign at the venue hosting this year’s AIDSWatch, an annual conference in Washington DC that brings awareness to HIV funding and policy.

The “funeral” saw protesters carry coffins and take to a pulpit to read their own premature obituaries and share fears surrounding cuts to HIV and AIDS initiatives like PEPFAR and the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program.

Vincent Crisostomo, the director of aging services for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, said: “The cuts to HIV funding are not just numbers. They represent lives at stake and potential to undo decades of progress.”

📷 Getty