ImpulseRio revelers in the Global Village. Made you look!

Nearly 10,000 researchers, public health and policy experts, community based organizations, and front-line advocates descended on Rio de Janeiro July 26-31, 2026, for AIDS2026, the International AIDS Conference.

Most notably to me, the delegates and attendees included people from around the globe living with HIV. We represent the heart, soul, and purpose of this conference. As a 41-year HIV survivor, I keep a vigilant eye out for the on-the-ground human effects of the crisis itself.

Before I share my complete coverage of AIDS2026, let me give you some suggestions if you’re looking for science, policy, or other important content from AIDS2026. Check out Liz Highlyman from POZ Magazine, Gus Cairns from AIDSMap, and Roger Pebody from TheBodyPro for science and policy news; and Karl Schmid from Plus+ Life Media for video content with newsmakers. And for fun interviews with people living with HIV and our allies, check out Dan Hall’s “HIV: The Morning After” podcast, who also provided this handy post-AIDS2026 Rapponteur Report. They are all doing terrific work.

You know me. I love to capture the people that help make this global HIV gathering absolutely burst with creativity, love, and passion for the issues people living with HIV care about most.

Here is my full collection of coverage from AIDS2026, featuring my work with Positively Aware Magazine and POZ Magazine. The titles will link you to the story. 

“Finding Community Through Bold Self-Expression” 

Positively Aware Magazine Feature Story

Amsterdam provocateur Taka Taka from Club Church.

Positively Aware editor Rick Guasco instructed me to turn myself loose at the AIDS2026 Global Village and provide local color commentary. Sure, Rick. Twist my arm.

The Global Village is an HIV programmatic carnival, featuring booths from organizations around the world, eye-popping exhibits, and live performances. It is also the only aspect of the conference that is free to the public, a change that was made by conference organizers when community-based organizations insisted on it several years ago. 

My article, “Finding Community Through Bold Self-Expression,” is an entertaining look at how delegates threw the doors wide open to express their sexual and gender identity. Keep in mind that countless delegates at AIDS2026 were able to express themselves in a way they could never do safely back at home. In Rio, they found an oasis of nonjudgmental acceptance and a runway for their fiercest looks. 

Come for my essay, but stay for the images. My photo subjects were wild, unbound and unbothered.

“The Human Pain Behind Global HIV Funding Cuts”

POZ Magazine Feature Story

Flavia Kyomukama from Uganda has lost twenty of her own staff members to AIDS since funding was cut.

POZ Magazine editor Oriol Guttieriez knew he had coverage of breaking science in the talented hands of science writer Liz Highlyman, so he asked me to explore the very human crisis that resulted from the United States’ heartless and sudden budget cuts to PEPFAR and USAID last year.

Sadly, the impact I included in my piece, “The Human Pain Behind Global HIV Funding Cuts,” was all around me. Everyone I approached from one of the 55 countries affected by the cuts was anxious to share their stories of programs abandoned midstream, clients turned away without any continuation of life-saving medications, and even dozens of their fellow HIV positive staff members who had died after being abruptly laid off and losing access to healthcare.

There were conversations in which I felt like a grief counselor, sitting with their confusion and fears, and knowing all the while that it was my country that created this cruel chaos. 

Former PEPFAR official Mike Reid at an AIDS2026 press conference.

The POZ Magazine story includes one of the most striking interactions I had during AIDS2026. An exclusive press conference event included health leaders from four African nations, along with Mike Reid, a former official from PEPFAR, the agency that lost its global health grants to nations that included the very ones at the press conference when the Trump administration took a buzzsaw to its budget last year. 

I was struck by the “worryingly dejected demeanor” of Reid, and couldn’t help but ask him about the personal toll the administration had taken on him and other federal employees of his stature. I hope you’ll check out the POZ story to read his insightful, emotional answer. (You can watch our exchange in one of the video “PA Chats” listed below.) 

Video Interviews for “The PA Chat” 

Positively Aware YouTube Channel

Several newsmakers and prominent HIV figures agreed to on-camera interviews with me during AIDS2026. The conversations are short (about three minutes) and insightful, and they make nice additions to Positively Aware Magazine’s ongoing YouTube channel series, “PA Chat.”

Here is a quick list and description of those videos:

The PA Chat | Mark S. King interviews Rhyheim Shabazz @ Mpact (above)

Gay adult film actor Rhyheim Shabazz has a gazillion social media followers and an impossibly energetic video career, but his dedication to the sexual health of gay men took him to AIDS2026. He believes using his platform to educate about HIV is just common sense. 

The PA Chat | Mark S. King interviews Elise Lankiewicz amfAR 

I couldn’t wait to interview Elise Lankiewicz, because her report from AmFAR was the only report that clearly spelled out how the huge funding cuts to global health have impacted communities on the ground. She’s a great interview, too. 

The PA Chat | Mark S. King and Svetlanna | Sex Worker Fashion Show 

Sex workers AND a fashion show? I couldn’t resist. These sex workers, who have their own clothing line that serves as a funding stream for their education outreach, fight stigma and shame every day, while often serving as HIV educators with clients who have never had a frank conversation about sexual health.

The PA Chat | Mark S. King talks with former PEPFAR chief science officer Dr Mike Reid 

This is a clip from the press conference when I pointedly asked former United States PEPFAR official Mike Reid, “How are you…?” and got a heartbreakingly candid answer. 

The PA Chat | Mark S. King interviews IAS President Elect Andriy Klepikov

The incoming President of the International AIDS Society (IAS) talked to me about his new role as head of the organization, and how waging a war in his home country of Ukraine takes the same kind of innovation and determination to be successful. 

The PA Chat | Mark S. King interviews Mpact Executive Director Andrew Spieldenner 

Spieldenner may be stepping away as director of MPact, the global organization for gay men’s sexual health, but he clearly still believes passionately in its mission.

Other Video Tidbits from My Fabulous Disease

Edwin Bernard of HIV Justice Network with Mark S. King

“HIV Unwrapped” at the AIDS2026 Event in Brazil. A fun exploration of the intersection of fashion and science, with Bllan discussing #HIVUnwrapped.

HIV Justice Network at AIDS2026 in Brazil. A conversation with Edwin Bernard of the HIV Justice Network.

‘Where is the money?” protest at AIDS2026. Inside one of the many protests at the AIDS2026 Global Village.

Until Next Time, My Friends…

Mark S. King with his emotional support cameraman Derrick Mapp.

I hope this collection of coverage gives you a fresh perspective on what it was like to experience AIDS2026. Thanks for reading, watching, and supporting my voice as an HIV survivor and advocate. It means more than you know.

Allow me a final thanks. Derrick Mapp served as my camera man, conference husband, and sometimes my therapist, when the rush of the conference would become exhausting or I would second-guess my own instincts. I hope you have a friend like Derrick. They sure do come in handy.

Until next time, my friends, please be well. 

Mark