Objective: Memphis, Tennessee ranks 2nd nationally for HIV incidence and is situated in the Biblebelt of the U.S. South. Coupled with the region’s conservative roots and pervasive HIV stigma, Memphis is an HIV epicenter with inequitable access to HIV prevention and care for Black same gender loving men (SGL) and Black transwomen. To showcase these inequities and understand how HIV stigma is internalized among people living with HIV (PLWH/LWH), a photovoice project sharing lived experiences with HIV stigma was disseminated via exhibits at community events in the Memphis region. This study aims to evaluate how these community-based dissemination efforts elicit changes in behaviors and attitudes among exhibit viewers.

Methods: Thirty-five storyboards, created primarily by Black SGL or transwomen LWH, were exhibited for community members at 33 community events. Researchers facilitated recorded discussions with exhibit attendees and administered demographic and evaluative surveys. Surveys, audio recordings of facilitator-attendee interactions, and field notes denoting exhibit attendees’ interactions were analyzed for patterns via theme analysis.

Findings: Emergent themes suggest attendees that notably engage with storyboards show positive changes in attitudes regarding HIV. Attendees initially exhibiting avoidant behaviors, such as evading interaction with the exhibit, are most likely to contemplate HIV-related topics upon active discussion with an exhibit facilitator. Avoidant behaviors ease upon an attendee’s connection to a shared emotion expressed in a storyboard. Attendees frequently mention storyboards providing actionable methods for attendees to personally address stigma. Exhibit attendees who express an intention to change stigmatizing behavior, do so most when interacting with storyboards eliciting universal emotions, such as loneliness, isolation, exclusion, and church hurt.

Implications: Photovoice, when used in combination with supplemental components like facilitator-led engagement at exhibits, is a powerful tool for social change. Moreover, the evaluation of exhibit attendee responses is helpful in understanding how, and in what ways, social change is catalyzed within the local community. This information is essential to improving HIV prevention efforts by establishing factors vital to changes in community beliefs regarding marginalized populations.