To our beloved community,
Above all, in this moment, we on The Well Project's team want you to know that we stand with you, in all your power, brilliance, passion, and compassion. We sit with you in heartbreak, in confusion, in numbness, in rage, in whatever may be coming up within and around you as a result of the deluge of cruel and dangerous federal orders we are already facing.
While we cannot and will not respond to every element of the cascade of chaos meant to keep us afraid, destabilized, and reactive, this moment calls to us to affirm our commitment to you and this work, based on our core values:
- Community members of trans, nonbinary, and gender-expansive experience are essential to our community and family. Our unwavering focus on women across the gender spectrum is the essence of all that we do – that means that all women who identify as such and all people who can benefit from our materials and support networks are welcome under our wide umbrella.
- We will never diverge from or cease our bedrock commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice. We believe those most affected by change must guide change-making.
- We support and stand with women in claiming agency and building power. We will always fight for our own and our communities' rights to dignity and safety, and to control, celebrate, and care for our bodies in the ways we see fit – whatever our country of origin. No body is illegal.
- We ground our work in research and community-based evidence. The US is an integral part of the global health and research community – we resist any attempt to write that role out of existence.
- We foster connections among women living with and affected by HIV, rooted in compassion and care for one another. We seek solidarity across a range of experiences of marginalization, and we will not be divided by rhetoric pitting us against one another. We will continue to collaborate and consult with trusted partners and accomplices on creative and innovative ways to be in service to all our communities in this moment and beyond. This is how we look out for each other.
These times are terrifying, and these attacks so personal for so many in our communities. By no means do we have all the solutions, but we do know that in facing the brutality of this or any moment, it helps to find, connect with, and, yes, even practice joy alongside people who have your back. The Well Project has got your back. And, as the poet Toi Derricotte wrote, Joy is an act of resistance.
In the meantime, we encourage you to follow and gather knowledge and resources from some of our dynamic partner organizations on the frontlines of fortifying our communities, and read some of the perspective and resources they have shared in response to events of the past several days:
- Transgender Law Center on Instagram
- "We'll get through this, together.": Thoughts for Inauguration Day (Positive Women's Network – USA)
- So Now What? A Clarity Offering from Sero Leadership (Sero Project)
- AIDS United Statement on Recent Federal Policy Changes (AIDS United)
- American Academy of HIV Medicine Statement on Recent White House Executive Orders (American Academy of HIV Medicine)
- Weathering the Storm Together (IAPAC, via POZ)
Our community is why we exist. We look forward to continuing to be here for you – as a space for support, connection, self-expression, affirming, evidence-based information, and action.
Yours in sisterhood and power,
The Well Project Team
