The Trans Networking Zone takes place at the Global Village at AIDS 2026 in the Riocentro Convention and Event Center.
GATE’s Trans Networking Zone TRANScend Together: Rethink. Rebuild. Rise. is a welcoming, trans-focused community hub bringing together trans and gender diverse communities and allies to meet, learn from each other, and take action on HIV, health, and human rights issues. For those attending our sessions, we will be spoiling you with our amazing merch – last time we ran out!
The Global Village is free to access and open to the public. If you are in Río de Janeiro, come and visit us from Monday 27 to Thursday 30 July!
Trans Networking Zone Timetable
| Mon 27 July | Tue 28 July | Wed 29 July | Thu 30 July | |
| All Day | Live Inner Condom Demonstrations: From 10:30-16:00 each day, the African Alliance will be providing live inner condom samples and demonstrations! | |||
| 10:30-11:00 | Daily Trans Meet-Up: Connect with other activists and plan your day! | |||
| 11:00-12:00 | Trans community challenges & solutions | Addressing gaps in global HIV and human rights frameworks | Alternative funding strategies for community-led organizations | Corresponsales Clave: Informal meeting with LAC civil society |
| 12:00-13:00 | Networking Space: Meet GATE staff, board and members and learn more about our work! | Networking Space: Meet GATE staff, board and members and learn more about our work! | ||
| 13:00-14:30 | Community Consultation: Our Preferences on Long-Acting HIV Prevention and Treatment | Networking Space: Meet GATE staff, board and members and learn more about our work! | ||
| 14:30-15:00 | ||||
| 15:00-16:00 | TNZx – Trans-Led Interventions: Barriers and entry points to community representation in NGO and Community Delegations | TNZx – Trans-Led Interventions: Realities of the HIV response in Latin America and the Caribbean | TNZx – Trans-Led Interventions: Borders, Bodies, and Budgets: Resourcing Trans Resilience in Closing Civic Spaces | GATE’s trans community gala: Canapes, cocktails and a show! |
| 16:00-17:00 | Social space: Relax, unwind and meet other like-minded activists in the trans networking zone. The perfect opportunity to talk about your day! | Social space: Relax, unwind and meet other like-minded activists in the trans networking zone. The perfect opportunity to talk about your day! | ||
| 17:00-18:00 | Global Village closed for AIDS 2026 Opening Session | |||
Trans Networking Zone Sessions
Daily Trans Meet-Up – 10:30-11:00
Connect with other trans and gender diverse activists at the conference and plan your day together!
Learning Sessions – Mon-Wed, 11:00-12:00
Monday: Trans community challenges & solutions
Learn about the impact of anti-gender movements on trans people’s access to healthcare, community-led approaches to population-size estimates in criminalized contexts, and translating global declarations into concrete community-led actions.
Tuesday: Addressing gaps in global HIV and human rights frameworks
Hear from GATE’s International Trans Men & HIV Working Group and the THRIVE Consortium about trans-led solutions to addressing gaps in global HIV and human rights frameworks, and connecting health access issues to broader development goals.
Wednesday: Alternative funding strategies for community-led organizations
This session will provide an overview of GATE’s Innovation Lab and Social Enterprise Toolkit, delivering practical insights for community-led organizations to rethink their financial structures and learn from examples of successful social enterprise models.
Please note: On Thursday, GATE is offering the space to Corresponsales Clave for an informal meeting with LAC civil society.
Networking Space – between 12:00-15:00 (exact times vary by day)
Meet GATE staff, board and members and learn more about our work!
Community Consultation: Our Preferences on Long-Acting HIV Prevention and Treatment – Wed, 13:00-14:30
An opportunity for our communities to be heard on what we want from long-acting HIV prevention and treatment. Pills or injections? Intramuscular or subcutaneous? How should distribution work, and what would an ideal model look like? Together we’ll map what already exists, amplify the successes, and identify the gaps — to ground GATE’s forthcoming LA-ARV Policy Brief in community priorities. Join us for a discussion that will inform GATE’s Policy Paper on this topic!
TNZx: Trans-Led Interventions – Mon-Wed, 15:00-16:00
Join us for TEDx-style interventions from GATE members presenting specific issues and solutions from trans-led organizations.
Monday: Barriers and entry points to representing communities in NGO and Community Delegations
This session demystifies international advocacy mechanisms, exploring how trans-led organizations can effectively engage with UN NGO delegations, the Global Fund Communities Delegation, and other community delegations at the regional and national levels to represent people living with or affected by HIV, TB, and malaria.
Tuesday: Realities of the HIV Response in Latin America and the Caribbean
Led by regional experts, this session will unpack the intersecting challenges of healthcare discrimination and the socio-economic vulnerabilities that disproportionately drive up HIV transmission rates.
Wednesday: Borders, Bodies, and Budgets: Resourcing Trans Resilience in Closing Civic Spaces
This session tackles the urgent, intersecting crises of shrinking civic spaces, the right-wing agenda in politics, the anti-gender movement’s impact on general sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), migration, and funding landscapes for human rights and health organizations.
Social Space – Mon, 16:00-17:00, Tue & Wed, 16:00-18:00
Relax, unwind and meet other like-minded activists in the trans networking zone. The perfect opportunity to talk about your day.
GATE’s Trans Community Gala – Thu 15:00-18:00
Celebrate the closing of the Global Village with GATE and join us for canapes, cocktails and a live performance from the House of Mamba Negra, a Brazilian Kiki ballroom house and cultural collective!