Washington, DC – April 17, 2025

Housing Works joined forces with a powerful coalition of HIV/AIDS activists, community partners, and allies to stage a dramatic protest outside the U.S. State Department. Together, we delivered 206 symbolic coffins to the steps of power—one for every hundred thousand people whose lives are now in jeopardy because of the Trump Administration’s cruel shutdown of PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

This action sent a clear message to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the administration: we will not stand by silently while 20 million people are pushed toward preventable death.

A Funeral for the Living

We called it what it is—a funeral. Our community came dressed in black, holding space for the people, families, and futures that hang in the balance. For decades, PEPFAR has been one of the most effective global health initiatives in history, credited with saving over 25 million lives. Its defunding is not just reckless policy—it’s a death sentence for the most vulnerable communities across the globe, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.

As activists chanted and laid down coffins, press cameras captured the grief, rage, and resilience of a movement that refuses to forget our past—or repeat it.

Making Headlines, Making History

Our action made national and international news, reigniting the urgent conversation about U.S. responsibility in the global HIV/AIDS response. This was activism in the tradition of ACT UP and the early AIDS movement: bold, visual, unapologetic. And the world took notice.

Read and watch the coverage:

• • Gay City News: HIV/AIDS activists hold ‘funeral’ protest against PEPFAR freeze

  • Washington Blade: HIV/AIDS activists protest at State Department, demand full PEPFAR funding restoration

  • The 19th: Activists pile 200 coffins outside State Department to protest cuts to global AIDS relief

  • The New York Times: Demonstrators brought coffins to the State Dept. to protest cuts to an H.I.V. program

  • The Advocate: Activists stack coffins in front of State Department to protest PEPFAR cuts (in photos)

  • The Rachel Maddow Show – 4/17/25

  • Politico Pro: AIDS activists revive 1980s tactics to protest Trump’s PEPFAR cuts

We’re Not Done

We are proud of what we accomplished, but this was just the beginning. Our communities are mobilizing across the country to demand full restoration of PEPFAR and global HIV funding. Millions of lives depend on it.

We’re calling on everyone—elected officials, healthcare providers, activists, and allies—to rise and fight back.

Here’s How You Can Help:

📞 Call your Senators and Representatives – Demand full restoration of PEPFAR funding.

📲 Share the protest photos and press coverage – Keep the momentum going.

✊🏽 Join us at the next action – Because we will be back. Stronger, louder, and more united than ever.

This is the legacy of AIDS activism: grief turned into action, and anger turned into change.

Stay tuned. Stay ready. We’ll see you in the streets.