Ohio’s next governor will inherit stubborn gaps in HIV prevention and LGBTQ+ healthcare. Advocates are urging Dr. Amy Acton to include people living with HIV and LGBTQ+ health and civil-rights specialists on her transition team, arguing that lived experience belongs at the table from the start. The stakes reach well beyond appointments: they touch access, trust and whether people feel safe seeking care.

Ohio’s HIV response has room to improve

About 28,500 Ohioans are living with HIV, and prevention and treatment gaps remain. The CDC’s Ohio data show that in 2022, 67.5 per cent of people diagnosed with HIV were virally suppressed, while an estimated 14.8 per cent of people living with HIV didn’t know their status. Those figures point to practical priorities: more testing, prevention and sustained access to treatment. [3] [4]

The letter to Acton calls for expanded access to HIV testing, PrEP, harm-reduction services and supportive care. Community health centres are also central to that effort, particularly for people who face barriers to mainstream services. The aim isn’t only to prevent new infections; it’s to help people living with HIV stay well. [2] [3] [5]

Healthcare needs to feel safe, not daunting

LGBTQ+ people can face discrimination, stigma, cost pressures and a shortage of providers they trust. KFF research highlights how discrimination can shape people’s experience of healthcare, while Ohio-focused research documents stigma and discrimination affecting LGBTQ+ residents. For patients, the impact can be painfully straightforward: if a clinic feels unsafe, getting care may become harder. [6] [8]

These challenges don’t sit neatly in separate boxes. Housing instability, economic insecurity, violence and mental-health needs can all affect a person’s ability to find and maintain healthcare. Ohio’s provider guidance on cultural competency offers one resource for better-informed care, but advocates say broader, coordinated policy attention is needed too. [7] [8]

Why representation on the transition team matters

The central request is simple: include LGBTQ+ policy and public-health experts, including people living with HIV, in the group preparing the incoming administration. Their presence could help officials understand how decisions land in real life, not just on paper. That perspective matters when agencies are planning responses to complex health and civil-rights concerns. [2] [7]

The letter argues that affected communities should help shape policy, rather than appear only as its subject. It frames meaningful representation as a way to ground decisions in evidence and community experience. It’s a reasonable distinction: consultation is useful, but a seat at the table gives people a chance to influence priorities as they take shape. [2] [8]

What Ohio’s next governor can prioritise

For HIV services, the practical agenda includes testing, PrEP, treatment access and support delivered through community-based providers. Ohio’s HIV information portal and CDC materials offer a snapshot of the state’s response and the needs it must address. Keeping those services accessible is especially important for people who might otherwise be overlooked. [3] [5]

For LGBTQ+ health, the next steps include tackling discrimination and improving the quality and accessibility of care. Provider training can help, but it can’t substitute for policy that recognises the wider pressures shaping health. A transition team with relevant expertise could help connect those concerns across agencies. [6] [7]

A chance to set a more inclusive direction

The appeal to Acton is ultimately about how Ohio chooses to govern: whether people most affected by health and civil-rights decisions help guide them from the outset. The letter presents the transition as an opportunity to build a more equitable approach, with community voices involved early rather than invited in as an afterthought. [2] [8]

That work will take more than appointments, of course. But the people around the table can influence which problems get attention, what evidence is considered and whose experience counts. For Ohioans seeking care, that can make a meaningful difference. [2] [3] [6]

Ohio’s transition team could help turn community experience into better-informed policy.

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