The conference was intense. Click HERE to see the program and speakers' bios! The Human Rights Campaign's Joe Solmonese opened with remarks on the importance of marriage equality for an effective gay men's response to the HIV epidemic. Heavy hitters from CDC, DHHS, and the District of Columbia Department of Public Health told us where they think the epidemic is and how government at different levels is responding. Poet Tavon Vinson and Bayard Rustin Project HIV testing advocate Tory Smith told us what it's like to be young, gay, black, and positive. Working lunch workshops addressed issues of managing HIV care and adherence issues with once-a-day and twice-a-day ART regimens. Concurrent roundtables discussed public policy (what can we do, what must we do?), the experience of gay doctors caring for gay men, HIV issues for gay adolescents and young adults, and community mobilization for Latino gay men. A community response roundtable blossomed into an impassioned discussion of the pros and cons of PrEP, with the room coming finally to the realization that it was really talking talking about how gay men do and should have sex. Dr. Joe O'Neill, President Bush's AIDS czar and the father of PEPFAR, closed the conference with a call for gay men to end their complacency about HIV. It's still spreading, and just because we have effective drugs to control the virus, that doesn't mean we have a cure.

Some take-aways:

AIDS United's Vice President of Policy & Advocacy Ronald Johnson reminded us that the dynamics of the epidemic are very different in different communities. For black MSM, new infections peak in the teens and early twenties. For whites, they peak around forty. We need to understand what drives those different patterns so we can respond to them in community-specific ways.

Dr. Greg Pappas of the D.C. Department of Public Health told us the number of new infections in the District of Columbia stays high because so many Washingtonians already have HIV and so many don't know it. The District will mount one of the country's most concentrated programs to find unaware positives and to get absolutely everyone who needs care into care, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay.

The public policy roundtable returned concrete calls to action:

For the individual:

• Get tested for HIV. Know your status and take control.
• Take personal responsibility for using condoms.

For the medical community:

• Create safe, non-judgmental places where gays and lesbians can seek medical care that is free of homophobia.
• Routinize HIV testing - ask all your patients to take the test.

For government:

• Repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
• Pass the Employment Non-discrimination Act (ENDA).

For the whole community:

• Understand and make informed decisions about pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). For individuals, know what your options are. For the medical community, make sure PrEP is available and be prepared to manage its risks. For government, make it affordable.

After which we threw ourselves an awards reception at D.C.'s Number Nine club. Click HERE to read about the party, and enjoy the photos below!

Frank J. Oldham, Jr. welcoming conference participants

HRC's Joe Solmonese delivering opening remarks

Conference organizer Steve Bailous (right) with DC Coalition of Black LGBT Men and Women Executive Director Guy Weston

New NAPWA trustee Lisa Fager-Bediako moderating the morning session

Dr. Greg Pappas outlines the District of Columbia's all-out response to high HIV prevalence and new infection rates

CDC's Rashad Burgess talks about facing the epidemic amond young gay men of color

DHHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Richard Sorian discusses ways to promote HIV awareness among men who have sex with men

Poet and former high school track team captain Tavon Vinson, reading from his work with help from Dab the bear

Tyranny "Tori" Smith, sharing how he learned to live with HIV without having his life be about HIV

The public policy panel: Ronald Johnson, Cornelius Baker, Ernest Hopkins, and Matt Lesieur

Father of PEPFAR Dr. Joseph O'Neill wraps up the conference with a call for gay men to end complacency about the the HIV epidemic

HRC's Joe Solmonese (center) receives a NAPWA Positive Leadership Award from NAPWA President Frank Oldham, Jr. and Trustee Lisa Fager-Bediako

Between sessions: Youth panel moderator Venton Jones, public policy panelist Ronald Johnson, and NAPWA Bayard Rustin Project program manager Rodney McCoy