The annual International AIDS Conference has been taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil over the last few days. The event, held in a different location each year, attracts hundreds of experts and advocates in the HIV field.
It’s not all workshops, panel talks and presentations. On Wednesday, HIV advocacy group Mpact Global staged a kiss-in featuring people with HIV, their supporters and allies.
Mpact Global has been staging similar kiss-ins since 2023, but in Mexico. This was the first time it staged a similar event in Brazil, and images and video quickly spread online. Scruff sponsored the event at the Rio Centro Convention & Event Center.
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(Video: Pedro Mendes & JotaPê Felix)
“Still a powerful statement”
“A kiss between two gay men in public is still a powerful statement,” explained Alex Garner, Managing Director of Mpact Global, in a statement.
“Mpact organized this Kiss-In at AIDS 2026 to demonstrate that we can act against homophobia and stigma in the HIV response. This international conference was the ideal place for our queer HIV-positive communities to come together fearlessly.”
One man who captured some video of the kiss-in was content creator and activist Anthony Antoine. His video has been viewed thousands of times.
“I stumbled into MPact Global’s @mpact.global HIV Kiss-In at exactly the right moment – and what began as something I was covering as media became something I needed personally,” he wrote.
“This powerful act of public intimacy challenged HIV stigma, demanded decriminalization, and declared that queer people and people living with HIV deserve pleasure, affection, desire, and love without shame.”
He started filming, but was soon invited to join in by a handsome stranger.
“I was filming. Observing. Reporting and for one moment, I stopped being media. I became human.
“I shared one kiss – and then went right back to documenting this bold, joyful, unapologetically queer act of resistance.”
“The value of the sexuality of queer people living with HIV”
Garner told Queerty afterward that the kiss-in (or ‘Besoton Sidoso’ in Spanish) was a “great success. It brought together queer people living with HIV and organizers and activists from around the world.”
“We want to celebrate and demonstrate the value of the sexuality of queer people living with HIV, but we can’t disentangle that from the fact that gay sex is still criminalized in over 60 countries around the world,” Garner continued.
“In this international gathering we are also very aware of the fact that many of the people who were present could be arrested for being gay where they live. It highlights the broader issues of justice and equality, the right to sex and the right to be able to control what one does with their own body.”
Antoine told Queerty, “What struck me most was that this wasn’t really about kissing. It was about challenging the idea that some people are still told their love should remain hidden or that living with HIV should come with shame.
“As someone who spent more than twenty years working in HIV prevention and public health, the demonstration reminded me that science alone doesn’t end epidemics — stigma does just as much damage as the virus itself. Until people can love openly, seek testing without fear, and access treatment without discrimination, our work isn’t finished.”
Antoine’s video on Instagram received some negative comments about the kissing aspect. For Antoine, those comments just demonstrated the stigma around queer intimacy, and particularly in relation to HIV.
Advances despite funding cuts
This year’s International AIDS Conference has featured presentations about medical advances to fight HIV. However, there have also been discussions about “severe and devastating” cuts in funding. Chief among these is the current White House administration’s decision to slash the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR).
What was Garner’s feeling as he left this year’s conference?
“The progress we have made around HIV treatment and prevention is under threat because of drastic funding cuts and rising anti-LGBTQ movements globally,” he said. “We have the scientific ability to end this virus, but it requires political will and investment.”
Despite this, Garner still felt optimistic.
“I am leaving the conference inspired by the communities we work with and more committed than ever that, as Mpact is community-led, we have the unique experience and community trust to continue advancing queer health and human rights and finding creative ways, like Kiss-ins, to make an impact.”
Antoine felt similar.
“I actually left this conference more optimistic than I’ve felt in years,” he said.
“The science continues to move forward at an incredible pace. We heard about advances in prevention, treatment, long-acting medications, diagnostics, and implementation that would have been unimaginable when I started this work in 1999.
“What gives me the most hope, however, is the people. I met researchers, clinicians, advocates, community leaders, and people living with HIV from every corner of the world who remain deeply committed to ending this epidemic. They inspire me.
“At the same time, I don’t think optimism should make us complacent. Political instability, funding challenges, criminalization, and persistent stigma threaten decades of progress. The science exists. The question is whether we have the collective courage and political will to make sure everyone benefits from it.”
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Adorbs.
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