Growing up in his father's church, Joshua Stovall had a religious upbringing. But it wasn't until he became HIV-positive that he discovered the real meaning of faith.

This past summer, Rabbi Mike Moskowitz became the first Orthodox rabbi to serve at the world's largest LGBTQ synagogue, Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, in Manhattan.

The line between religion and spirituality can be difficult to navigate.

"I hate this!" Charles Sanchez pouted, as he sat helplessly on the floor of his hospital room. "I feel so pathetic. Christ!" The nurse, Anthony, cooed comfortingly: "I know, honey. Just let it out, darlin'."

We've come a long way since it was common practice for religious leaders in the U.S. to publicly condemn people living with or at risk for HIV. But places of worship still can do more.

On Aug. 27, faith leaders and members of the Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Jewish, Hindu, Bahá'í and Buddhist communities celebrated the inaugural National Faith HIV and AIDS Awareness Day.

"Issues of health and wellness, relationship and community, comfort and protection are central to the discourse within any faith community," says Rabbi David Dunn Bauer, who shared his HIV status with his congregation in 2015. "Silence means we aren...

"In many ways, the National Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS reminds me of the efforts and action that took place in the earliest years of the epidemic," Richard Wolitski writes.

"I have found through my own experience that religious groups have failed to offer compassion, care and inclusion to those of us living with HIV/AIDS," Harold Scott writes.

"As LGBTQ people who lived through the AIDS crisis, we know what it looks like and feels like to be scapegoated and isolated in the midst of a crisis that actually requires solidarity, empathy and collaboration from all quarters," states a letter sig...