Torrian L. Baskerville

Torrian L. Baskerville (he/him) is a racial and social justice advocate, activist, and health equity leader in the LGBTQIA+ and HIV communities. With over ten years of varied experience, Torrian has a proven record of recognizing, prioritizing, and using a strength-based and community-centered approach to addressing the needs of often disenfranchised communities – with a particular focus on Black and Latinx gay, bisexual, and other same-gender-loving men, people living with HIV, and youth and young adults. Currently, Torrian serves as HIV and Health Equity Director at the Human Rights Campaign. In this role, he oversees the national HIV portfolio, which focuses on eradicating HIV stigma, racial and social discrimination, and ending HIV through changing the narrative, building a new system for change, and developing and advancing public policy.

Before joining HRC, Torrian was a manager on the Prevention team at NASTAD, leading the Capacity Building (CBA) and Technical Assistance (TA) work relative to HIV stigma, social determinants of health, community engagement, cultural responsiveness, and gay, bisexual, and other same-gender-loving men within community-based organizations (CBOs) and health departments (HDs) in the South. Before NASTAD, Torrian worked as the Statewide LGBTQ Prevention Manager for the Hyacinth AIDS Foundation, overseeing multiple state and federally-funded HIV prevention and PrEP programs across five major counties in New Jersey.

Due to his work, Torrian was featured in GLAAD's "Queer Black History Month: Legacy Series," analogized to the legacy of prominent Black, openly queer civil rights activist Bayard Rustin. In addition, Torrian is often recruited to share his personal experience and professional expertise on panels and serve on advisory boards and committees, including his current position as board chair of The Door – Adolescent Health Center in New York. Torrian is an undergraduate student of Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Social Justice in Healthcare Management at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst.