Can We Talk About Sex?!? A Recap from AIDS 2024

Submitted on Aug 21, 2024

Kimberly Canady with logos for AIDS 2024 and The Well Project.

By Kimberly Canady

AIDS 2024, the 25th International AIDS Conference, convened July 22-26, 2024, in Munich Germany, showcasing exciting community-led innovations alongside scientific breakthroughs and game changers. Two members of The Well Project's community advisory board made their way to Munich to experience the conference's unparalleled energy – and often-complicated dynamics – firsthand. Read on for one perspective on AIDS 2024 – and scroll down the page for more.

I almost feel like writing about the International AIDS conference is going to put me on "thee LIST" – y'all know the list I'm talking about. The one where no matter how many times you apply to go to a conference, you feel that the "powers that be" see your name and you never get that scholarship, or your abstract gets rejected even though you know it's amazing. We can all act like we don't know what I'm talking about, but that's not a discussion for today.

Kimberly Canady in Munich, Germany for AIDS 2024.

Oh wait, I also would like to give this disclaimer that I was not here for the pre-conference: I was sleepwalking for a day because of the time difference; I almost got robbed by the conference area; and I also had other obligations while I was there because I was getting ready for the symposium I agreed to participate in. OK so now that I got those disclaimers out the way, I can give my honest feedback.

I truly wish that there were more sessions around sex and/or pleasure; baby, I would have even taken something around women's reproductive health. Now before I continue, I'm not saying that there wasn't anything. What I am saying is the ones that fit into my availability didn't make me wanna run to the sessions and be present for 60 to 90 minutes of my life. The sessions that did pique my interest conflicted with my schedule, and the others I straight-up just walked out of. I felt that the two I did try to attend were missing the human perspective, and I couldn't relate to the information.

I found myself about to give up and not write anything – until I found myself in the Global Village the majority of the time. The Global Village felt like the safe space in the conference where you can be whoever you want to be, dress the way you want, and also really engage with the community. If you wanted to talk about sex, domestic violence, human rights, sex workers, women's bodies, etc., you had to be in the Global Village.

I was able to connect with amazing advocate, author, spoken word artist, and mother Jenna Rollins from Atlanta, Georgia, as well as fellow Dandelion Antionette Jones. Coming together, breaking bread, and conversing over motherhood and sex was a time, and a time was had.