CNP applauds the passage of SB 164—the bill that modernizes Georgia’s decades-old statute criminalizing people living with HIV. The updated legislation introduced by State Senator Chuck Hufsteler (R-52) received bipartisan support and was signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp on May 9, 2022.

Before the passage of SB 164, a person living with HIV (PLHIV) could face a felony and up to 10 years in prison for not disclosing their HIV status prior to any sexual activity. The degree of risk of HIV transmission was not a factor in the statute—including circumstances where there was no HIV transmission, nor even any risk of HIV transmission.

With the passage of the Parental Rights in Education bill in Florida, most commonly referred to by opponents as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, Republican state senators in Georgia are proposing Senate Bill 613, a similar bill to the Florida legislation that now awaits Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signature to become law. The proposed Georgia bill restricts teachers from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity with students in private schools.

The Counter Narrative Project (CNP) was founded as a love letter to early HIV movement leaders, some of whose stories are documented in books such as “In The Life” and “Brother To Brother,”—two sacred texts amplifying the voices of Black gay men in the early HIV crisis. CNP is committed to not only countering narratives but shattering myths as we work at the intersection of public health, narrative shift, and collective remembrance. Acknowledging our past as Black people and Black HIV movement leaders has been the fuel for our activism. At CNP, we believe that historical erasure is anti-Black racism. By healing collective trauma, we are elevating community power.

For the second year in a row, GLAAD has nominated The Reckoning, CNP’s digital publication covering Atlanta’s Black LGBTQ+ community in the Outstanding Blog category. GLAAD announced the 2022 nominees across 30 categories on Wednesday. The Reckoning is one of five nominees in the Outstanding Blog category that met GLAAD’s criteria for bold and original content that accurately represents the LGBTQ community.

September 17, 2021 - Today musical artist Lil Nas X is releasing his new album “Montero,” and asking fans to donate to HIV and LGBTQ advocacy groups. The Counter Narrative Project (CNP) from Atlanta, GA is among those included on Lil Nas X’s “baby registry,” connected to the song “Don’t Want It.”

Atlanta, GA—January 28, 2021, Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company, a nonprofit regional theater that celebrates the rich traditions of Black storytelling, and the Counter Narrative Project (CNP), a Black gay advocacy organization that uses art and culture as strategies for social justice, are partnering on a virtual reading of Before It Hits Home, written by Cheryl L. West. The virtual reading will celebrate the play’s 30th anniversary and commemorate National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. More about #NBHAAD here.

June 27, 2019 – Atlanta, GA – On this National HIV Testing Day, the Counter Narrative Project (CNP) is calling for radical community conversations around the social isolation, loneliness, and despair, in the lives of black gay men. These forces are also fueled by the deep erosion of our historical, physical, cultural, and geographic communities, our most sacred spaces, in the face of nationwide gentrification and black displacement. Fueled by the continuing disappearance of physical spaces for us, by us, we turn to virtual substitutions, which are more often than not, insufficient.

February 20, 2019 – Atlanta, GA – Black people represent only 13% of the population but 50% of people living with HIV. The epicenter of that epidemic continues to be the Southern region of the United States and has been for some time. In response to the endurance of the epidemic and the anemic response to that epidemic as it relates to black Americans, particularly in the South, on National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, a group of activists and organizations are demanding change. The Counter Narrative Project, a national black gay men’s advocacy organization located in Atlanta, joined over 50 signees on a five-point statement of principled stances demanding the following: …

February 14, 2019 – Atlanta, GA – The Fulton County Board of Commissioners will deliver a proclamation honoring the legacy of a Black gay poet, HIV activist, and cultural pioneer who made both Black and American history, Atlanta’s own Tony Daniels. The proclamation will be presented during the February 20th Fulton County Board of Commissioner’s Recess Meeting at 10 am, in the Fulton County Government Center Assembly Hall located at 141 Pryor Street SW in Atlanta, GA. The proclamation is expected to officially be delivered by District 4 County Commissioner Natalie Hall of Atlanta.

January 8, 2019 – Atlanta, GA – News outlets are reporting that the body of another black man has been found at the home of Ed Buck on January 7th. His name has not been released. Only a picture of his body on a gurney. In 2017 the body of Gemmel Moore, a young black gay man, had also been found at Buck’s home. Buck was investigated, but the L.A. County District Attorney’s office declined to file charges. In less than two years, two black men are dead, and Buck is free.

December 18, 2018 – Atlanta, GA – The Counter Narrative Project (CNP), a national Black gay men’s advocacy organization won the 2018 POZ Award in the Best Video Series category, for Revolutionary Health. “This is such an incredible honor. We are so very grateful for the support of our community,” said CNP Executive Director and co-host of the Revolutionary Health series, Charles Stephens. The Atlanta-based talk show also is co-hosted by the esteemed clinical practitioner and researcher David Malebranche, MD, who only one month before received a proclamation from the city of Atlanta for his local and national work in HIV.

December 11, 2018 – Atlanta, GA – On December 4, 2018, 39-year-old comedian Kevin Hart was announced as the host for the 91st Annual Academy Awards. Over a 48-hour period, America watched as a series of homophobic jokes and comments from 2009 to 2015 resurfaced for a public divide of condemnation and defense, often with Hart’s young son as the subject, and usually at the expense of Black gay men.

November 13, 2018 – Atlanta, GA – As the co-host of the Counter Narrative Project’s, POZ-award nominated “Revolutionary Health” health education web series, Dr. David Malebranche has tackled such far-ranging topics as addressing chronic depression to engaging in safer practices with sex toys among Black gay men. However, thousands of dedicated viewers of the cutting-edge, live-streamed show may not be aware that Dr. Malebranche is more than a knowledgeable talking head. The first-generation son of a Haitian immigrant physician is also a published author and one of the leading practitioner researchers working in the HIV/AIDS field today.

September 19, 2018 – Atlanta, GA – The iconographic images of long-time Atlanta-based photographer and Counter Narrative Project (CNP) Director of Networking and Community Mobilization, Johnnie Ray Kornegay III, are gracing the September/October pages of Positively Aware Magazine’s landmark HIV Criminalization issue. The editor of the publication’s special edition commissioned Mr. Kornegay as the volume’s cover photographer to visually capture the stories of those impacted by HIV criminalization laws as well as those who have spent the better part of their lives advocating for the modernization, if not the eradication of these draconian laws. The issue features such prominent activists as Georgia HIV Justice Coalition’s Nina Martinez and survivors such as The Sero Project’s Robert Suttle, a Black gay man who was imprisoned under Louisiana law. Symbolically shot at The National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, the critical edition extends Mr. Kornegay’s reputation as one who continues to mix his art and activism with a unique and personal flair.

May 15, 2018 – Atlanta, GA – The Counter Narrative Project (CNP) congratulates Gracie Bonds Staples on winning the coveted 2018 GLAAD Media Award for “Outstanding Newspaper Article.” Hosted by the GLAAD in New York City on May 5th, following star-studded ceremonies in Los Angeles in April, the 29th Annual Awards ceremony honored her critically acclaimed coverage of the HIV epidemic’s impact on Black gay men in the South. Published last August in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), the five-part series, “The Silent Epidemic: Black Gay Men and HIV,” featured Rev. Duncan Teague, Craig Washington, Dr. David Malebranche, Daniel Driffin, as well as CNP Executive Director Charles Stephens

February 28, 2018 – Atlanta, GA – The Counter Narrative Project (CNP) Atlanta-based Mobilization Director, Johnnie Ray Kornegay, III, has been featured among the South’s top queer artists in the third physical edition of WUSSY Magazine, a Southern LGBTQ multimedia platform. Kornegay and three of his selected photographic works are prominently featured in WUSSY's “Sex Issue” alongside over 30 other queer Southern artists. The edition, available now through WussyMag.com, serves as both Kornegay’s artistic debut in a print publication and the first time his work will have international exposure through the magazine’s global distribution channels. 

February 21, 2018 - In July 2017, over 20 leaders of color convened in New York City to begin articulating a racial justice analysis for the HIV field. From that meeting, A Declaration of Liberation: A Framework for Building a Racially Justice and Strategic HIV Movement was released by the group in September 2017. Today, we announce the formation of an interim steering committee for a newly created network of leaders of color advancing racial justice in the HIV movement: HIV Racial Justice Now.

ATLANTA, GA - On Tuesday, June 27, 2017, The Counter Narrative Project will unite black gay men and allies to celebrate the legacy of Craig G. Harris and to commemorate National HIV Testing Day (#NHTD) by aligning with partners from around the country to host the I Will Be Heard (#IWillBeHeard) National Day of Action.

February 7, 2017 - As you read these words, Michael L. Johnson is sitting in prison under a discriminatory law that hurts many and helps no one. With your help, he could be free in a matter of months. To make sure that Michael has expert legal support when his case is again heard in court, we must raise $20,000 in 20 days. Will you give now to help secure justice for Michael?

ATLANTA, GA - On November 2, 2016, the Counter Narrative Project, a national black gay men's advocacy organization, in partnership with a number of community organizers, cultural workers, activists, and artists from across the country, will commemorate the 30th anniversary of In the Life: A Black Gay Anthology (#ITLAt30).