Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman wants you to know about PrEP. If you already do, skip ahead 3 spaces on account of your woke-ness. For the rest of us, here’s a quick tutorial: PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, is a pill (brandname: Truvada) to protect anyone at high risk for HIV from catching the virus.

In June, Watson Coleman introduced a Congressional resolution supporting more research and public education efforts on the usage of PrEP for individuals  most at risk of contracting HIV. This, after her long track record as an indefatigable ally for LGBT equality in Congress and before that, in the NJ General Assembly.

The National Black Justice Coalition, the nation’s leading civil rights organization for the empowerment of Black LGBTQ Americans, recognized Congresswoman Watson Coleman’s enduring commitment to LGBT equality during their 9^th annual OUT on the Hill Black LGBT Leadership Summit in Washington DC over the weekend.

“This is award is a reminder of each individual who doesn’t get a voice in Congress, whose interests aren’t regularly represented at the table,” Congresswoman Watson Coleman told InsiderNJ. “I will continue to fight for them, and I am proud to fight for them. The LGBTQ community deserves the same respect, the same rights, the same access and the same freedom to live as any other group, yet we know that bias, bigotry and disparity remain prevalent, particularly for Black members.”

David Johns is NBJC’s executive director.

“Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman is one of the leading Congressional champions” Johns, NBJC told InsiderNJ. “Her leadership to raise awareness about critical interventions like PrEP in the fight to end  HIV/AIDS  is essential to ending the spread of this disease and to ensure the wellness of our nation, more generally.”

“NBJC is honored to shine a light on the Congresswoman’s leadership to prevent HIV, and otherwise, address the stigma and shame surrounding the epidemic to save lives and move us closer towards an AIDS-free generation,” Mr Johns added, white noting “the alarming rate of HIV/AIDS in the African American community and other communities of color.”

As the opiate crisis rages on in NJ and in America, it’s worth noting that PrEP is also an effective tool to curb HIV transmissions rates within the IV drug-using population. PrEP is a harm reduction tool, to reduce the consequences commonly associated with risky behavior like sex and drug use.

An ounce of prevention is worth a boatload of charity care dollars. We can do it because it’s a nice liberal thing to do. Or we can acknowledge that embracing a harm reduction model makes sense for the taxpayer while keeping the population safer and healthier.

I’m not trivializing the harms and the dangers of risky behavior. I’m about eliminating the costly, painful long-term damage caused by HIV while protecting the populations most at risk.

And that’s what’s Bonnie Watson Coleman’s all about too.

It’s easy to forget the bad old days, going to funerals all the time, burying yet another friend who’d succumbed to AIDS, gaunt and covered in lesions. Thanks to modern science, we flipped that script and quite suddenly, HIV became a manageable, treatable chronic illness.

But now there’s this tool, PrEP, that’s changed the game altogether by keeping people from getting infected in the first place.

I’ve been HIV+ for over 26 years. No matter how normal or manageable this disease becomes, being HIV+ sucks. I’d gladly trade all this legal weed for another crack at being HIV-free.

Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman knows about PrEP, the drug that prevents HIV transmissions.

And she wants to you to know about it too.