Jose Abrigo, Esq. (he/him) is HIV Project Director at Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the oldest and largest national legal organization dedicated to securing full civil rights for LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV. He leads the organization’s HIV related litigation, policy advocacy, and coalition work, focusing on discrimination and access to health care.

Jose served as an attorney on Doe v. Nashville, a challenge to employment practices that excluded qualified applicants living with HIV, and Latasha Monroe, Administratrix v. Foley, a case concerning solitary confinement and the mistreatment of a transgender woman living with HIV in Missouri’s prison system.

He serves as Lambda Legal’s lead attorney in San Francisco AIDS Foundation v. Trump, challenging federal actions that threaten HIV prevention and care funding. He also leads Lambda Legal’s work in National Urban League v. Trump, which challenges executive orders affecting diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and transgender recognition.

Jose also serves as lead counsel in American Academy of HIV Medicine v. HRSA, challenging federal funding conditions that restrict gender-affirming care under the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program.

He helped coordinate the national coalition and amicus strategy in Kennedy v. Braidwood, defending federal protections for no-cost preventive care, including HIV prevention services.

Beyond litigation, Jose works on HIV decriminalization in New York and supports legislative efforts across the country to bring HIV criminal laws into line with current science and public health practices. His federal policy work includes advocacy with HHS, CDC, and HRSA to protect access to HIV prevention, treatment, and support services. He also provides legal support to national coalitions of HIV advocates, clinicians, and community organizations. In 2023, he helped coordinate a national coalition’s advocacy to preserve federal Ending the HIV Epidemic funding in Tennessee after the state rejected federal HIV prevention funds.

Before joining Lambda Legal, Jose was the Director and Supervising Attorney of HIV and LGBTQ Advocacy at Manhattan Legal Services. He led legal services for low-income LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV in matters involving discrimination, housing, public benefits, immigration, and identity documentation. Jose has dedicated his entire legal career to serving low-income people living with HIV, LGBTQ+ people, and communities of color.

Jose holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and a J.D. from the City University of New York School of Law.