USCHA 2024 Interfaith Pre-Conference: KEYNOTE – Faith to End HIV Criminalization in the South

Faith to End HIV Criminalization in the South is the keynote presentation for the 2024 United States Conference on HIV/AIDS (USCHA) Interfaith Pre-Conference, Moving Faith Forward in the South to End the Epidemic. The keynote is given by Dr. Robert Suttle, a native of Louisiana. Dr. Suttle is a recognized HIV racial justice leader who for over ten years has engaged in the struggle to decriminalize HIV in the U.S. criminal justice system. He works to cultivate relationships with other cross-movement leaders, collectively advocating for meaningful involvement of communities most impacted, centering Black communities and communities of color, connecting advocacy to decriminalize HIV to other movements around prisons, policing, and criminalization. He is a person living with HIV whose life has been altered by a grossly unjust HIV prosecution and conviction.

The session concludes with remarks by the Rev. Michael Schuenemeyer, CEO/Founder of Expansive Dignity, LLC, and a Sending Prayer by the Rev. Dr. Bentley deBardelaben, Minister and Team Leader – Education for Faithful Action (EFA) & Transitional Executive Local Church Unit for the National Ministries of the United Church of Christ.

The 2024 USCHA Interfaith Pre-Conference was presented by the U.S. HIV & AIDS Faith Coalition, comprised of people of faith, faith leaders, and people working in the HIV and AIDS response. The day-long, hybrid conference engages participants to discuss and develop strategies to access and strengthen the capacity of houses of worship and faith-based organizations in efforts to end the HIV epidemic. The focus of this conference was on the experiences of people in the Southern region of the U.S. and the role of faith in combating HIV-related stigma and discrimination in the South.

Organized by the U.S. HIV & AIDS Faith Coalition, with support from Gilead Sciences, the HIV Vaccine Trials Network, and the United Church of Christ.