From Sept. 25 through Sept. 28, the Still Here Magazine premiered an interactive exhibit and immersive experience at the WACO Theatre in Los Angeles. The magazine is a capsule publication set to launch on Dec. 1, World AIDS Day. It’s a new project from LA-based WACO (Where Art Can Occur) Theater Center that aims to change the narrative of those living with HIV by amplifying stories of Black mothers, sisters, pastors, artists, and community members to illuminate the impact of HIV on Black women.
The project is supported by Gilead as part of the company’s ongoing work to increase HIV prevention, anti-stigma, and health equity efforts for Black cisgender and transgender women and girls in the United States. Since 2010, Gilead has provided $35.8 million in total philanthropic support for Black women-led and Black women-serving organizations in the U.S., with $28 million granted to organizations working to end the HIV epidemic.
The Still Here Magazine interactive exhibit allowed guests to partake in a Dreamgirls-themed hair salon installation and a performance—a two-part experience—that consisted of music, oral storytelling through audio, a play, and visuals.
HIV is a virus and public health crisis that is still impacting multiple communities and demographics, despite the progress of medications used to help people live longer lives as the virus was a global epidemic in the 1980s. Black women and girls are a demographic of those with HIV that is often overlooked in mainstream media.
“When I see commercials on television or even, you know, streaming services, I don’t see myself. I see trans women, I see gay Black men, or I see other representations of the LBGTQ community. I don’t see Black cisgender women there. And for me, I think some of the conversation about why that gap exists is because of the representation in the media when it comes to HIV,” said Shay Wafer, executive director of WACO Theatre.
She also said that due to the limited representation, she thought HIV prevention methods such as PrEP were only for gay men. PrEP stands for pre-exposure prophylaxis, a medication that people can take to prevent them from transmitting HIV. According to a JAMA Network study, Black women are often under-informed about HIV care and treatment options and have lower PrEP intake rates than other demographics.
In 2023 Black women had the highest HIV diagnosis rate of any group of women (19.6 per 100,000), which is 11 times higher than the rate of white women and three times the rate among Hispanic/Latina women, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Black women accounted for half of all new HIV diagnoses among women, despite making up about 14 percent of the population, the report said. In 2024, the Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD, and AIDSVu compiled a report that showed 44 percent of Black transgender women in the U.S. are living with HIV.
Daria Lynn Cottingham, an award-winning media professional, is also a Black queer transgender woman with lived experience. Cottingham is one of the 30 contributors who wrote essays for the magazine directly reflecting the power of narrative.
“It is something that I am really enthusiastic to be a part of because I was just honored to be included within the narratives of HIV and its impact on Black women. This is not something that focuses on a divide between cisgender and transgender women; it was all about sisterhood, and that really mattered a lot to me.” Cisgender is a term that refers to a person whose gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth, meaning they are not transgender.
In her contributing essay, she interviewed a Black Caribbean transgender woman from the South who is HIV positive and in the process of becoming a parent—while navigating a multitude of barriers such as access to adequate healthcare, HIV medication, and its affordability—all while under the Trump Administration’s executive orders that have cut funding.
“That type of story was really important for me to tell because I’ve dealt with that myself, fearing not being able to pay for meds. Those meds are expensive without insurance.” She added, “I also think people often really don’t see people [living] with HIV as human, but they also really don’t see trans women as human, and I really am ‘big’ on finding ways for people to see our humanity.”
Deborah Wafer, executive director of U.S. Virology Public Affairs at Gilead Sciences, also attended the Los Angeles premiere of Still Here. She emphasized that HIV is a public health issue, not just a sexually transmitted disease, and stressed the importance of education to reduce stigma. She praised the event for its immersive, community-focused approach to HIV education and encouraged non-traditional storytelling methods to reach Black communities effectively.
“I’m proud that Gilead supported WACO in the work that they did, because I think it was one of the most creative things that I’ve seen in a long time. The art, in itself, was impactful. I think that Still Here did that for people.”
Deborah Wafer also said that a misconception the Black community has about HIV, since the HIV epidemic began in the 1980s, is that it was a disease found only in the LGBTQ community.
She also said that studies have shown most HIV diagnoses occur in southern cities and states, as they often don’t have expanded Medicaid and adequate access to sexual health resources due to HIV prevention funding cuts, unlike states with major cities, such as Los Angeles, that have more safeguards.
The magazine’s interactive exhibit and immersive experience will have two more events in Baton Rouge, La., and Houston, Texas, in the spring of 2026. For more information, please visit www.https://wacotheatercenter.com/stillhere/.
