National
Pelosi on National Pulse Memorial, Maloney on Pride (video)

America is lurching into a new era. Though Donald Trump desperately clings to the racist confederate heritage he reveres, the pulse of a newly awakened generation, more empathic, more colorful and more demanding is coursing through the country.
And helping guide the transition to a more enlightened civilization is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is also ensuring the inclusion of the LGBTQ community that is otherwise overshadowed by momentous events.
Friday, June 26, the fifth anniversary of marriage equality since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges. The historic decision was noted by some, though most of the media focused on the coronavirus pandemic and the police reform and anti-racist revolution underway since the murder of George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer.
But Pelosi, a decades-long LGBTQ ally, remembered on Twitter and though a House statement, noting the work that still remains:
“Five years ago, our nation made a historic step toward fulfilling the promise of equality and justice for all when the Supreme Court unequivocally declared that marriage is right of all people, regardless of who you are or whom you love. Today, the love and commitment of countless LGBTQ couples and families enriches and strengthens our communities and honors our nation’s most fundamental values.
“As we mark this momentous anniversary, we also celebrate the recent Supreme Court victory, affirming the right of all LGBTQ individuals to live free from discrimination in the workplace. Despite this great progress, the LGBTQ community still endures a relentless assault on their rights from the Trump Administration and widespread discrimination and violence throughout the country, particularly trans women of color who are face disproportionately high rates of homelessness, sexual assault, HIV and murder.
That is why, over a year ago, House Democrats took bold action to pass the landmark Equality Act to finally and fully end discrimination against the LGBTQ community, not just in the workplace but in every place. Now, Leader Mitch McConnell must abandon his outrageous, partisan obstruction and allow the Senate to vote on this critical legislation.
“In honor of this important day, we must remain vigilant in defense of the rights and dignity of the LGBTQ community. Together, we can confront the discrimination that continues to undermine our democracy as we work to build a brighter, more just and equal future for the LGBTQ community and all Americans.”
But more solemnly, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took to the House Floor to deliver remarks in support of H.R. 3094, legislation to designate the National Pulse Memorial, four years after the mass shooting at the gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
“Pulse was a peaceful haven where young LGBTQ Americans could enjoy music, dancing, celebration knowing they were in a sanctuary of safety and solidarity. Pulse was a monument to joy, a tribute to resilience and pride born out of the grief that Barbara Poma experienced after losing her brother, John, to AIDS. That was her motivation for starting this. May the grief that we experience now, at the loss of 49 who were murdered, move us to turn our pain into purpose,” Pelosi said.
“Shortly after the horrific act of hatred at Pulse, I had the solemn privilege of traveling to Orlando and meeting with survivors and families who had lost loved ones. Their message to the Congress was – to a person that I met with there – was: ‘Please, do something to stop gun violence,’” she continued. “Yet, painfully, since that tragic night, the horror that we saw in Orlando has been replicated in countless other communities across the country. In too many places the epidemic of gun violence has killed too many innocent people and left too many families suffering unimaginable pain and loss.”
“Four years later, four years after Pulse, our grief remains raw, but our resolve to end the deadly scourge of gun violence and hatred – discrimination, that’s what it was about too – remains unwavering, strengthened by the memories of those who are lost to gun violence: 49 souls here, so many others,” Pelosi said. “Inspired by the spirit of hope that we celebrate during Pride month, especially this weekend, let us never relent in our mission to end the horror of gun violence once and for all, and end discrimination against anyone in our community.” (See her full remarks and video below)
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York took the occasion of delivering the Weekly Democratic Address to discuss and celebrate Pride Month “and the critical legislation passed by House Democrats to ensure equality for the LGBTQ community, people of color and all Americans, including the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and the Equality Act.” (See his full remarks below)
“Remember, we celebrate Pride in June to commemorate the Stonewall Inn riots from June 1969, which happened when police raided that Greenwich Village hangout, a normal thing back then, and brutalized the peaceful patrons for no other reason than they were Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender. But that night was different. The people fought back, and that changed everything,” said Maloney. “Every year since, even in the darkest days of the AIDS crisis, LGBTQ people and our allies have grown stronger and marched on. Now, 51 years after Stonewall, the riots and marches have become parades and parties, but at its core, Pride Month commemorates a moment when brave men and women said enough and demanded equality. People like me stand on the shoulders of those pioneers, and we must pick up their torch and carry it forward for ourselves and for all oppressed communities.”
Below are the Speaker’s remarks:
“Thank you, Madam Speaker. I thank the gentleman for yielding. And I thank you and him for making this important memorial possible for us today.
Can I have the photos? Set the photos?
I rise to solemnly join my colleagues to honor the 49 beautiful souls murdered four years ago in an unfathomable act of hatred and bloodshed at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
Thank you, Congressman Soto. Thank you, Madam Speaker, for giving us this opportunity of observing, and for being a voice for peace and healing for all those affected.
Pulse was a peaceful haven where young LGBTQ Americans could enjoy music, dancing, celebration knowing they were in a sanctuary of safety and solidarity. Pulse was a monument to joy, a tribute to resilience and pride born out of the grief that Barbara Poma experienced after losing her brother, John, to AIDS. That was her motivation for starting this. May the grief that we experience now, at the loss of 49 who were murdered, move us to turn our pain into purpose.
This poster is all of them, but sometime after the terrible tragedy we stood on the steps of the Capitol holding individual – their individual pictures. And, at that time, we said we will never forget. And thank you for giving us the opportunity to keep that promise, to turn pain into purpose.
Shortly after the horrific act of hatred at Pulse, I had the solemn privilege of traveling to Orlando and meeting with survivors and families who had lost loved ones. Their message to the Congress was – to a person that I met with there – was: ‘Please, do something to stop gun violence.’
Yet, painfully, since that tragic night, the horror that we saw in Orlando has been replicated in countless other communities across the country. In too many places the epidemic of gun violence has killed too many innocent people and left too many families suffering unimaginable pain and loss.
As one of the first actions of our Majority, last year, the House took action to end the bloodshed by passing H.R. 8 and H.R. 1112. H.R. 8, so designated because it had been eight years since the assault on the life of our colleague, Gabby Giffords. She survived. She is doing remarkable things in terms of trying to end gun violence. But other people died, including a 9-year-old child. Hence H.R. 8, because it was eight years since. And then, H.R. 1112, Mr. Clyburn’s legislation to address what happened in South Carolina.
485 days, nearly 500 days later, we continue to urge the Senate to take up this legislation, supported broadly: Democrats, Independents, Republicans, gun owners, hunters, many of whom have had to pass background checks in order to have their guns and to enjoy their sport and protect themselves. They are not against background checks.
Across the country, this has broad support, nonpartisan support. And yet, in the Congress of the United States, there is resistance to that safety of simply commonsense background checks. And it isn’t – it isn’t as if we were starting something new. This is just an expansion of the background checks that already exist to include gun shows and online sales, etcetera, just an extension.
I remind my colleagues that, on average, 100 people die every day from gun violence. And let me restate: it has been almost 500 days since the House passed those bills and the Senate has failed to take them up. Almost 500 times 100 a day, you see the consequences. Not that all of them would have been saved, but many would have. And many have been saved since the original background check legislation passed.
Four years later, four years after Pulse, our grief remains raw, but our resolve to end the deadly scourge of gun violence and hatred – discrimination, that’s what it was about too – remains unwavering, strengthened by the memories of those who are lost to gun violence: 49 souls here, so many others.
Inspired by the spirit of hope that we celebrate during Pride month, especially this weekend, let us never relent in our mission to end the horror of gun violence once and for all, and end discrimination against anyone in our community.
With that I, again, commend Mr. Soto, you, Madam Speaker, and urge a yes vote, and yield back the balance of my time. Thank you.”
Below is a full transcript of Sean Patrick Maloney the address:
“Hello, I’m Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, and it is my honor to represent New York’s 18th Congressional District in the Hudson Valley. I am also proud to be New York’s first openly gay Member of Congress.
“Each June, the LGBTQ community and our allies come together to celebrate Pride Month. Pride is different this year, but its fundamental promise has never been more important.
“Remember, we celebrate Pride in June to commemorate the Stonewall Inn riots from June 1969, which happened when police raided that Greenwich Village hangout, a normal thing back then, and brutalized the peaceful patrons for no other reason than they were Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender. But that night was different. The people fought back, and that changed everything.
“Every year since, even in the darkest days of the AIDS crisis, LGBTQ people and our allies have grown stronger and marched on. Now, 51 years after Stonewall, the riots and marches have become parades and parties, but at its core, Pride Month commemorates a moment when brave men and women said enough and demanded equality. People like me stand on the shoulders of those pioneers, and we must pick up their torch and carry it forward for ourselves and for all oppressed communities.
“Just a few days ago the Supreme Court ruled that Americans cannot be fired simply because of sexual orientation or gender identity. Millions of Americans in dozens of states where no protection existed can now legally fight back if they are fired because of who they are or who they love. That’s reason to celebrate.
“Last year, the Democrats in the House, under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi, passed the Equality Act. This landmark bill would finally protect LGBTQ people in the same way we protect all other minority groups in employment, education, access to credit, jury service, federal funding, housing and public accommodations. No more, no less. Simple equality. But like so many other important bills passed by the Democratic House, this legislation is still sitting on Mitch McConnell’s desk.
“So, we still have work to do. We must keep pushing and marching until all vulnerable LGBTQ people – our youth who’ve been rejected, our international brothers and sisters who face brutal persecution, our transgender neighbors, particularly trans women of color who face an epidemic of violence – until all of us are equal and free.
“Yes, this Pride is different. There are few parades or parties, but we are still marching. This time we’re protesting police brutality against people of color. That’s the spirit of Stonewall.
“You know, my husband Randy and I celebrated our wedding anniversary this week. We could legally marry just a few years ago, of course, but we’ve been together for 28 years. Today, we celebrate the fifth anniversary of Obergefell v. Hodges, the historic ruling that delivered marriage equality to the United States. It’s a beautiful thing when your country catches up to you. Randy and I have raised three kids together, Reiniel, Daley and Essie. We all joined the vigils and protests following the murder of George Floyd this month because, for us, demanding that Black Lives Matter is a powerful way to celebrate Pride Month.
“And this week, those of us in the LGBT Equality Caucus joined our colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus in casting our votes for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. This is the living embodiment of what Pride Month truly means. You see, Pride Month isn’t something disease or violence can diminish or defeat. Pride is the strength of people who come together across all our lines of difference to say, enough. We want better – we want the promise of America for ourselves, for our families and for everyone.
“Thanks for listening, and Happy Pride!”
National
Military families challenge Trump ban on trans healthcare
Three military families are suing over Trump’s directive cutting transgender healthcare from military coverage

Three military families sued the Department of Defense on Monday after President Trump’s anti-transgender policies barred their transgender adolescent and adult children from accessing essential gender-affirming medical care.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, challenges the legality of the Trump administration’s decision to ban coverage of any transgender-related medical care under Department of Defense health insurance plans.
Under the new directive, military clinics and hospitals are prohibited from providing continuing care to transgender adolescent and adult children. It also prevents TRICARE, the military’s health insurance program, from covering the costs of gender-affirming care for both transgender youth and young adults, regardless of where that care is received.
A press release from the families’ attorney explained that the plaintiffs are proceeding under pseudonyms to protect their safety and privacy. They are represented by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law), the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP, and Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP.
“This is a sweeping reversal of military health policy and a betrayal of military families who have sacrificed for our country,” said Sarah Austin, Staff Attorney at GLAD Law. “When a servicemember is deployed and focused on the mission they deserve to know their family is taken care of. This Administration has backtracked on that core promise and put servicemembers at risk of losing access to health care their children desperately need.”
“President Trump has illegally overstepped his authority by abruptly cutting off necessary medical care for military families,” said Shannon Minter, Legal Director at NCLR. “This lawless directive is part of a dangerous pattern of this administration ignoring legal requirements and abandoning our servicemembers.”
“President Trump’s Executive Order blocks military hospitals from giving transgender youth the care their doctors deem necessary and their parents have approved,” said Sharif Jacob, partner at Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP. “Today we filed a lawsuit to put an end to his order, and the agency guidance implementing it.”
“This administration is unlawfully targeting military families by denying essential care to their transgender children,” said Liam Brown, an associate with Keker, Van Nest & Peters. “We will not stand by while those who serve are stripped of the ability to care for their families.”
National
Supreme Court sides with transgender boy in bathroom access fight
Plaintiff challenging SC law

On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a transgender boy may use the boy’s bathroom in a South Carolina public high school while pursuing a challenge to a state law that requires students to use the bathrooms corresponding to their sex assigned at birth.
The order, which was unsigned by any of the justices, did not provide reasons for the court’s decision, but made clear that it applied only to the one student in this case. The order specifically stated that it was “not a ruling on the merits of the legal issues presented in the litigation” and was instead “based on the standards applicable for obtaining emergency relief.”
It should be noted that Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., and Neil M. Gorsuch filed dissents to the order, though they did not provide any explanation for their opposition.
This is not the first time the highest court in the nation has addressed trans rights in the country.
In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled in Bostock v. Clayton County that federal law prohibits anti-trans discrimination in employment. Despite this significant victory for trans rights, in June the court upheld a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming medical care for trans minors in U.S. v. Skrmetti. That ruling, which suggested the court could be used to remove protections for trans people, has contributed to increased scrutiny and the reconsideration of previous rulings favorable to trans rights, placing broader LGBTQ protections at risk.
The recent order comes as the Supreme Court prepares to hear two cases involving trans athletes and their rights to participate in sports under Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in educational programs and activities that receive federal funding. Advocates for trans rights have expressed concern that these upcoming cases could further challenge the legal landscape surrounding gender identity in schools and other public institutions.
National
Trump to honor Charlie Kirk with Medal of Freedom
Anti-LGBTQ political activist assassinated in Utah on Wednesday

At a Sept. 11 remembrance ceremony at the Pentagon on Thursday, President Donald Trump announced that he will award right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Kirk was assassinated less than 24 hours earlier at Utah Valley University while speaking on conservative talking points to a crowd.
The 31-year-old conservative commentator is best known for founding Turning Point USA, a nonprofit that sought to build a robust conservative youth movement. He earned notoriety for his unwavering loyalty to Trump, his advocacy of expansive Second Amendment rights, and his opposition to LGBTQ rights. Conservatives and far-right supporters have quickly elevated Kirk to martyr status since his death.
“Before we begin, let me express the horror and grief so many Americans feel at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk,” Trump said. “Charlie was a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty, and an inspiration to millions and millions of people.”
As of now, there is no indication when the award ceremony will take place, although Trump said “I can only guarantee you one thing, that we will have a very big crowd.”
Many credit Kirk with helping Trump return to the White House in 2024 by mobilizing young voters — particularly young men — on behalf of the twice-impeached president.
Kirk’s stance against LGBTQ rights was a central part of his political brand.
A staunch opponent of Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark Supreme Court ruling requiring states to recognize same-sex marriage, Kirk often used incendiary rhetoric, at times calling for the erosion of LGBTQ rights altogether.
As host of “The Charlie Kirk Show” on the Salem Radio Network, he frequently denounced transgender participation in sports, referring to trans people and their supporters as “sick.” He also suggested they should be “taken care of like how things in the 1950s and 60s” were — an allusion many critics interpreted as a reference to lobotomies, shock therapy, and forced institutionalization.
Kirk often framed his views through the lens of “Christian values.”
On his YouTube channel, he invoked biblical passages, at one point citing Leviticus 20:13 to claim that the Bible’s call for the stoning of gay men reflected “God’s perfect law.”
The Washington Blade contacted several LGBTQ advocacy organizations for comment on Trump’s decision to posthumously honor Kirk, a man widely criticized for his hostility toward the LGBTQ community. Many focused instead on condemning the violence that ended his life.
“Political violence is unacceptable and has no place in this country,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, in an emailed statement. “We cannot ever accept this epidemic of gun violence as normal. We cannot keep living like this.”
Kristen Browde, president of the Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus, which has 21 chapters across the state, making it one of the largest LGBTQ caucuses in the nation, echoed those sentiments while pointing to the consequences of Kirk’s rhetoric.
“Political violence, for any reason, is wrong. Gun violence, for any reason, is wrong. Spending your life, inciting violence, demonizing political opponents? Attacking those who are different? Every bit as wrong. And when violence follows such actions? One can’t be shocked. All you can do is recommit yourself to fight against it.”
According to videos — and witnesses at Utah Valley University, Kirk was shot seconds after beginning to answer a question about how many”transgender” people were responsible for “mass shootings,” where he answered “too many.”
As of Thursday evening, Kirk’s killer remained at large. The FBI has identified a person of interest in its investigation and is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Utah
Charlie Kirk shot to death at Utah university
Anti-LGBTQ figure asked about trans shooters moments earlier

Charlie Kirk, a right-wing political activist, outspoken anti-LGBTQ figure, and founder of Turning Point USA, a conservative nonprofit, was shot and killed at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah on Wednesday.
The 31-year-old was visiting the university’s Turning Point USA chapter and speaking to a large outdoor audience when he was struck in the neck by a single bullet fired from about 200 yards away. NBC reported that no suspect is in custody, despite university police previously indicating otherwise. President Trump announced Kirk’s death on social media.
Just moments before the shooting, an audience member asked Kirk, “How many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?”
“Too many,” Kirk replied—seconds before being shot. Videos of the graphic incident have since gone viral online.
Kirk had long opposed LGBTQ rights and publicly opposed same-sex marriage. He frequently cited his “Christian values” as the basis for his positions, often quoting Leviticus 20:13 (“men lying with men… abomination”) as “God’s perfect law” on sexual matters.
He was also a prominent national voice in efforts to ban transgender healthcare, saying, “Donald Trump needs to run on this issue.” Kirk further proclaimed, “Pride is a sin,” and dismissed “gay corporations that hate America.”
On his YouTube show, he declared there are “only two genders” and described “transgenderism and gender ‘fluidity’ … lies that hurt people and abuse kids.” He also warned that LGBTQ efforts would not stop at marriage equality but instead aimed to “corrupt your children,” according to Media Matters for America.
Utah Valley University, established in 1941 as Central Utah Vocational School, is the state’s largest public university, with more than 46,000 students. It is located about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City.
National
Concerns for future emerge at U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS
‘I’m done being treated like shit in the country I grew up in’

More than 2,400 people, including public health experts, scientists, physicians, local government officials, and community activists, turned out for the 29th annual United States Conference on HIV/AIDS, which took place Sept. 4-7 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in D.C.
Organized by the D.C.-based group NMAC, formerly known as the National Minority AIDS Council, the conference is considered the nation’s largest and most comprehensive gathering of experts involved in addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S.
NMAC spokesperson Pavni Guharoy said NMAC officials will be completing a final count of the conference participants based on registration numbers later this week, but she said the current estimated attendance was at least 2,500.
The conference included more than 100 workshop sessions that focused on a wide range of issues related to the status of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S., with a focus on the large and growing number of people living with HIV who are 50 years of age or older.
Information released at the conference shows that as of 2022, of the nearly 1.1 million people living with HIV in the U.S., approximately 54 percent were 50 years of age or older.
Many of the sessions addressed the needs, concerns and sometimes stigma faced by diverse communities of people living with HIV and those at risk for HIV, including African American, Latinx, and LGBTQ communities, both those who are aging as well as young adults.
The conference also included four plenary sessions in which all conference attendees listened to two-dozen prominent keynote speakers. Among them was former U.S. National Institutes of Health official Dr. Anthony Fauci, who pointed out that continuing advances in HIV research have led to effective medical intervention that changed AIDS from a once fatal illness to a condition in which people with HIV can live “a normal life span.”
Other keynote speakers included Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson, the acclaimed basketball player who became an advocate for people with HIV after testing positive for HIV 33 years ago, and Dr. Rachel Levine, who made history by becoming the first out transgender person to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2021as an appointee by then-President Joe Biden as a U.S. Assistant Secretary of Health.
Also speaking was Jeanne White-Ginder, the mother of Ryan White, who was diagnosed with AIDS in 1984 at the age of 13 from a blood transfusion. White-Ginder told conference attendees how Ryan faced discrimination when he was initially barred from going to his school in Indiana out of fear that he could transmit the virus to others at school.

In a moving presentation, she told how Ryan became one of the nation’s early advocates for people with HIV/AIDS up until the time of his death in 1990, one month before his high school graduation. She said then-U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) invited her to come to Washington to help lobby for a bill Kennedy introduced and which Congress passed in her son’s honor called the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act in August 1990.
“Now, today, thanks to your hard work and dedication, Ryan’s bill and your bill, too, provides treatment and support to more than half a million Americans in big cities, small towns and rural communities across the country,” she said. “It has dramatically reduced suffering. It has enabled people to live with HIV, to live long and healthy lives.”
But White-Ginder joined the many conference speakers, including Magic Johnson, in calling on attendees and the public to urge Congress to reject the dramatic cuts in funding for federal AIDS programs, including the Ryan White program, proposed by President Donald Trump and Republican congressional leaders for the Fiscal Year 2026 federal budget.
Among those calling on the AIDS community and allies to speak out against the proposed budget cuts were Paul Kawata, NMAC’s outgoing executive director and CEO, who is retiring Oct. 7, and Harold Phillips, the former director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy during the Biden administration and current NMAC Deputy Director for Programs who was chosen to succeed Kawata as NMAC CEO.
NMAC officials, led by members of its board of directors, praised Kawata for his 36 years of service as NMAC’s leader and his dedication to the cause of service and support for people with HIV and AIDS.
Kawata reflected on his work at NMAC and his concerns over the current political climate in Washington in a sometimes-emotional farewell address at one of the conference’s plenary sessions on Sept. 5.
“I’ll be honest with you. After 36 years the thought of leaving all of you is much more difficult than I thought it was going to be,” he told the gathering. “You are my family. You are the people that I love,” he said.
“You taught me how to be a better version of me. And I am so extraordinarily grateful for everything that you have given me,” he continued. “And you will always be a part of my heart.”
Pointing to members of the NMAC staff, both current and former members in the audience, Kawata said, “NMAC is NMAC because of what you do every single day with your life. You fight to make a difference in the world. And I am honored and privileged to call you my friends.”
Without mentioning the Trump administration by name, Kawata had harsh words for what he said was happening now in the United States and its impact on people living with HIV.
“I’m not going to lie to you,” he said. “I’m done being treated like shit in the country that I grew up in. I’m done being told that I’m a second-class citizen because of who I love,” he continued. “It’s not my America anymore. And I’m worried for our future.”
He added, “We always talk about the pendulum of justice, about the arc of justice. And I really want you to know in this moment, as difficult and as awful and how hellacious it is, we are on the right side of history. We are the ones who will change the world.”

In his remarks at the conference’s closing Sept. 7 plenary session, Fauci said, “We’re in very difficult times. You don’t need me to tell you that. But we’ve got to continue to put the pressure on what we did in the ‘80s with the activist groups, to make sure we do end the epidemic.”
He noted that he was at his job as director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases in the early 1980s, when the AIDS epidemic first surfaced and the AIDS patients he and his colleagues cared for, had little chance of survival.
“Fast forward now, 44 years, extraordinary things have happened,” Fauci said. “We now have drugs that you are all very aware of that can have an individual living with HIV live essentially a normal life span in putting under the care and the availability of drugs,” he continued.
“We know what U equals U – something that we didn’t imagine some years ago. That undetectable equals untransmissible,” he said, referring to the current HIV medication that suppresses the HIV virus to an undetectable level that prevents an infected person from transmitting it to someone else.
“And right now, with these drugs that we have for the prevention of HIV we have what we actually hoped for years ago – and that is to end the HIV epidemic,” he said.
Dr. Rachel Levine, who during the Biden administration served in the dual role as Assistant Secretary of Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and as director of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, also spoke at the closing session of the conference.
She noted that she began her career as a pediatric physician in 1983 in New York City, at the time of the early stages of the AIDS epidemic. From that time through her years as Assistant Secretary of Health, Levine said she observed first-hand the skills and dedication of doctors, nurses, and others who cared for people with HIV/AIDS who she described as the HIV care workforce.

“The HIV care workforce since that time has been incredibly dedicated, with many people working for decades,” she said. “And working to end the HIV epidemic in the United States and around the world. We applaud you. You are in this room. We applaud you arduously for your dedication and for your passion.”
Levine also noted that the cuts in funding and large-scale federal worker layoffs brought about by the Trump administration have had a direct impact on the HIV care workforce.
“Many dedicated public health leaders, including most of the HIV and infectious disease team who I worked with in my office at HHS have had their positions eliminated,” she said. “These hard-working civil servants went to work every single day to support the health and wellbeing of all Americans, including those living with HIV.”
She added, “And we know that there are shortages in HIV care. And it is so critical at this challenging time that we support you, the HIV care workforce.”
Many conference attendees said Magic Johnson played a leading role in boosting morale and spirit at the 2025 U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS by his inspirational speech at the Sept. 5 plenary session.
Upon receiving a prolonged, standing ovation after being introduced as the next speaker, Johnson said, “When I think about 33 years living with HIV in a moment that changed my life forever. And what a blessing to be here 33 years later to tell that story at a time when there was only one drug.”
Johnson added, “Wow, and they said it probably is a death sentence for myself, and I had to wrap my arms around making the toughest decision I probably had to make in my life, which was to retire from the NBA.”
Among other things, Johnson said his doctors told him that while he was physically capable of continuing to play basketball, the stress of an 80-game season could impact his immune system and lower his T-cell count.

With the support of family, friends, and his community, Johnson said he miraculously survived the early days without a known fully effective HIV drug. And at the request of community activists, he agreed to speak out as a well-known figure and a person with HIV to inform “my community,” especially people of color, he said, about how to live with HIV and how uninfected people can lower their risk.
“But what I do, I adhere to my doctor. I take my meds. I work out, and then I love life and myself,” he said.
In response to the challenge facing people with HIV under the current political situation, Johnson said, “We got to pull ourselves together and continue this fight, because it’s important and we got to keep this at the forefront. Now, HIV and AIDS kind of slipped back. We got to bring it back up.”
Among other things, he said the nonprofit foundation he helped to form has “given away over $15 million” in grants to HIV/AIDS organizations. “And we will continue to do that because of the work you are doing.”
He received another thunderous applause and standing ovation upon the completion of his speech.
Phillips, who will succeed Kawata as NMAC’s CEO on Oct. 7, told the Washington Blade he believes this year’s U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS was “extraordinary” under difficult circumstances.

“I think so, because this year we did this without a lot of federal support,” he said. “And many of the attendees – the federal government, HRSA, the Ryan White program told them they couldn’t use their grant funds to attend the conference, which was a shame.”
Phillips added, “But I think with a crowd of over 2,400, some people found a way to be here regardless and thought that it was important, and the topic was important enough. And I think our listening sessions, our workshops, our plenaries hopefully gave them what they needed to continue to be activated to serve people living with HIV. “
“And also gave them a sense of hope, especially in these dark times that we can continue to work to end the HIV epidemic,” he said.
National
House GOP seeks to cut all U.S. HIV prevention programs in 2026
‘A disastrous bill that will reignite HIV in the United States’

The Republican-controlled Appropriations Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives has released its Fiscal Year 2026 funding bill that calls for cutting funds for domestic HIV prevention, treatment, and care programs by at least $1.7 billion, which is an amount significantly greater than the AIDS budget cuts proposed by President Donald Trump.
Among other things, the bill, if passed by the full Congress, would eliminate federal funding for all HIV prevention programs in the U.S. as well as eliminate the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative program that Trump persuaded Congress to pass during his first term as president.
“This is not a bill for making America healthy again, but a disastrous bill that will reignite HIV in the United States,” said Carl Schmidt, executive director of the D.C. based HIV + Hepatitis Policy Institute, in a Sept. 1 statement.
“We urge Congress to reject these reckless cuts,” Schmidt says in the statement. “Eliminating all HIV prevention means the end of state and local testing and surveillance programs, educational programs, and linkage to lifesaving care and treatment, along with PrEP,” the statement continues. “It will translate into an increased number of new HIV infections, which will be costlier to treat in the long run.”
It adds, “At a time when we have the tools to prevent HIV, including new long-acting forms of PrEP, we must not abandon the bipartisan progress our nation has made in combating HIV.”
The proposed bill by the House Appropriations Committee, which has not yet taken a full committee vote on the bill, would also cut the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Care and Treatment Program by $525 million or 20 percent.
The bill would eliminate the entire $1 billion in prevention funding at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including $220 million allocated to President Trump’s Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) initiative.
Schmidt points out that nearly 90 percent of this funding “flows to state and local health departments, including those in the South that do not have dedicated state funding and carry over half of HIV cases in the country.”
The House committee proposal supports the president’s budget proposal to eliminate $43 million in dedicated funding for hepatitis prevention at the CDC and instead proposes a $353 million block grant to states that would also include STD and tuberculosis prevention. This is $53 million more than the president proposed but still represents a combined cut of $24 million, Schmidt says in his statement.
“Instead of decreasing and diluting funding for hepatitis, if the country is serious about addressing chronic health conditions,” added Schmid, “we should be increasing funding so that people with hepatitis can be identified through testing and linked to treatment, and in the case of hepatitis C, a cure.”
The proposal by the House Appropriations Committees follows the U.S. Senate’s release earlier this year of a bipartisan FY 2026 budget bill that would maintain current funding for domestic HIV programs. If the House committee passes its proposed budget bill the budget provisions would have to be reconciled with the Senate version, and a reconciled version must then be passed by the full Congress.
National
Doctor who led mpox response resigns from CDC, slams administration
‘Unskilled manipulation of data to achieve a political end’

Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, resigned from his position on Wednesday in a scathing social media post.
“I am unable to serve in an environment that treats CDC as a tool to generate policies and materials that do not reflect scientific reality and are designed to hurt rather than to improve the public’s health.” Daskalakis wrote in a resignation letter he posted to X. “Having worked in local and national public health for years, I have never experienced such radical non-transparency, nor have I seen such unskilled manipulation of data to achieve a political end rather than the good of the American people.”
Daskalakis, who’s gay, was among three senior officials to resign following President Trump’s firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez. She is fighting her dismissal.
In 2022, Daskalakis drew praise from the LGBTQ community while serving as White House National Monkeypox Response Deputy Coordinator. Daskalakis previously served as medical director for the New York-headquartered Mount Sinai Health System and then was made deputy commissioner for the Division of Disease Control at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. In late 2020, as the U.S. saw thousands of new covid fatalities each day, Daskalakis joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention.
In an exclusive interview with the Blade during the mpox crisis in 2022, he warned of the dangers of homophobic stigma.
“Stigma is stigma, and homophobia is homophobia,” Daskalakis said, and while these problems are older, more intractable, and broader in scope than public health messaging around MPV, it is important to not “attach an infection to an identity.”
“Stigmatizing a disease and creating stigma really creates rabbit holes that take people away from [figuring out] how to respond to an infectious disease — and the way that you respond to infectious diseases, the focus on community, the focus on knowledge, and the focus on data, which should act as a guidance” in getting messages to people, whether through online social platforms or other channels, he said.
Dr. Monarez, who only served in her job for one month, said she refused “to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives” and accused HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of “weaponizing public health.”
Dr. Monarez reportedly clashed with Kennedy over vaccines. The government announced earlier this week that healthy adults would not be eligible for a new COVID booster and instead only those 65 and older, children, and those with underlying medical conditions would be eligible for the new vaccine.
National
CVS Health withholds coverage for new HIV prevention drug
AIDS activists criticize delay for acclaimed twice-yearly PrEP medication

CVS Health, one of the nation’s largest pharmacy benefit manager companies that play a lead role in deciding which drugs are covered by health insurance plans, has initially decided not to approve coverage for the new HIV prevention drug Yeztugo
Developed and manufactured by the pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, Yeztugo was approved for use in June of this year by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as an HIV prevention or PrEP medication that needs to be taken just twice a year by injection.
HIV prevention advocates hailed the new drug as a major breakthrough in the years long effort to curtail and end the HIV/AIDS epidemic by enabling far more people at risk for HIV infection to adhere to a prevention drug regimen that needed to be taken once every six months rather than daily pills or through bi-monthly injections.
But the same advocates warned that the benefits of Yeztugo, which tests showed is greater than 99 percent effective in preventing HIV infection, could not be realized if the cost of the drug is not covered by health insurance plans or other coverage programs.
At the time the FDA approved its drug, Gilead Sciences announced that the yearly retail price for Yeztugo without insurance coverage would be $26,218.
According to reports by Reuters and Bloomberg news publications, a CVS Health spokesperson disclosed on Aug. 21 that the company “for now” would not add Yeztugo to its commercial coverage plans.
“As is typical with new-to-market products, we undergo a careful review of clinical, financial, and regulatory considerations,” Bloomberg News quoted CVS spokesperson David Whitrap as saying. Bloomberg reports that Whitman added that Yeztugo hasn’t been added to CVS Caremark’s commercial drug plans or U.S. Affordable Care Act plans.
“The entire world is excited by this drug and its potential contribution to preventing and eventually ending HIV,” said Carl Schmid, executive director of the D.C.-based HIV + Hepatitis Policy Institute. “However, a drug will only work if people can access it and right now CVS Health, which owns the largest pharmacy benefit manager in the country, is shamefully blocking people from taking it, unlike other payers,” Schmid said in a statement.
“We urge CVS, which has been committed to ending HIV in the past, to reconsider their decision immediately,” Schmid said. “Additionally, we call on federal and state regulators to ensure that plans are in compliance with the federal government’s PrEP coverage guidance and the many state laws that require coverage of all PrEP drugs.”
Gilead Sciences, meanwhile, has said it is “extremely pleased” with the progress it is making with other health insurance companies and “payers” to arrange for coverage of Yeztugo, according to Reuters. “[T]he company said it is on track to secure 75 percent of U.S. insurer coverage of Yeztugo by year-end, and 90 percent coverage by June 2026,” Reuters reports.
National
After targeting youth, state lawmakers now going after the rights of LGBTQ adults
Legislators are also teeing up challenges to same-sex marriage

The proliferation of anti-LGBTQ bills proposed by state legislatures across the country, which ticked up dramatically in 2021 and has since increased year-over-year, looks different in 2025.
Efforts that once focused on school sports and pediatric gender care have now broadened, as many advocates warned they would, to target adult life and the legal scaffolding of hard-won freedoms like same-sex marriage.
LGBTQ issues remain fraught political battlegrounds, but the fight has shifted to driver’s licenses, hospital policies, state-worker speech rules, and even marriage licenses — exposing these communities to greater risk of civil-rights violations.
This shift comes at a moment when legal avenues for challenging discrimination by state governments or the Trump-Vance administration have narrowed significantly, even as rhetorical and political attacks intensify.
The new types of bills
By the numbers, this year is shaping up to be the worst in recent memory. The ACLU tracked 520 anti-LGBTQ bills in 2023, 533 in 2024, and by February the organization had already logged 339, an accelerated pace for 2025.
Predictably, these legislative efforts are clustered in conservative places like Texas, where state lawmakers teed up 32 anti-trans bills on the first day of pre-filing for 2025, as GLAAD noted.
At the same time, however, the group reports that the year kicked off with similar activity in far bluer statehouses located in places like Massachusetts, Colorado, and New York.
The new crop of bills share some distinguishing features. For instance, Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, and Illinois are considering (or have enacted, in Alabama’s case) proposals to adopt restrictive definitions of sex and gender.
Not only does the establishment of a legal definition for gender based on a fixed binary that must be determined by one’s sex at birth exclude the recognition of people who are trans or have other gender diverse identities, but it also carries significant downstream impacts.
President Donald Trump has already demonstrated how this can work. Issued on the first day of his second term, his Executive Order 14168 recast “sex” across all federal policy as a fixed category that is limited to “male” or “female,” defined at “conception,” and unchangeable.
Pursuant to the order, the administration mandated that agencies replace all mention of “gender” with “sex,” strip gender self-identification options from passports, and halt funding for anything deemed “gender ideology,” including gender‑affirming care.
With respect to restrictions on gender markers on passports and official documents, the consequences for Americans who are not cisgender are far-reaching, touching areas of their lives from housing to employment and travel.
Georgia, meanwhile, previewed how conservative lawmakers can restrict guideline-directed best practices medical interventions for not just transgender youth, but adults as well, with a bill introduced this year that would bar coverage by state employees’ health benefits plans.
Georgia has also enacted a law prohibiting all gender-affirming care (hormones, surgeries, and even personal funding of such care) for incarcerated individuals in state prisons, which came after Trump’s executive order requiring the Bureau of Prisons to halt funding for these treatments and move trans women inmates into men’s facilities.
Broadened healthcare restrictions did not necessarily start this year, however. Florida passed a law in 2023, for example, that requires trans adults to receive in-person, state-approved informed consent for gender-affirming care, while banning nurse practitioners and telehealth delivery of such treatments, thereby limiting access for patients.
Following years of conservative activism focused on censoring pro-LGBTQ speech from schools — banning books and other materials with gay or trans characters or themes; restricting classroom instruction on matters of sexual orientation and gender identity — some states have taken a new tack in 2025: protecting anti-LGBTQ speech.
Once again, the scope of these efforts now extends beyond educational institutions and their focus is broadened from youth to youth and adults.
Montana’s Free to Speak Act, enacted in May, protects students and public employees from being disciplined for refusing to use a person’s preferred name or pronouns, establishing a private right of action allowing affected individuals to sue for injunctive relief, monetary damages, and attorney fees.
Lawmakers in Florida are going even further with a proposal that would bar public employers from requiring the use of trans individuals’ preferred pronouns, remove “nonbinary” as an option on state job applications, and make LGBTQ+ cultural competence training optional rather than mandatory.
Marriage equality under fire
On Monday, news outlets around the world reported on the return of Kim Davis. The thrice divorced former Kentucky county clerk has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear her case, which seeks to overturn the High Court’s precedent setting ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that established marriage equality as the law of the land in 2015.
Some legal experts believe the gambit is a long shot. Others are less confident, pointing to the establishment of a 6-3 conservative supermajority in October 2020 and Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurring statement in the 2022 decision overturning abortion rights, where he expressed interest in revisiting the marriage decision.
In what may be a harbinger of another battle over same-sex marriage, or a sign that the matter was never settled in the first place, five states this year have considered non-binding resolutions asking the justices to overturn Obergefell: South Dakota, North Dakota, Idaho, Michigan, and Montana.
Other measures have been more concrete. In Tennessee and several other states, lawmakers introduced “covenant marriage” bills defining marriage as a union between “one male and one female” with heightened divorce restrictions — a move that would effectively exclude same-sex couples from that marital track. While none have yet been passed or enacted, they illustrate how legislatures can reshape marriage law without directly challenging Obergefell.
Such bills raise a potential clash with the Respect for Marriage Act, legislation passed during the Biden-Harris administration that requires states to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere but does not require them to issue licenses.
District of Columbia
Trump’s federal takeover of D.C. police sparks outrage among LGBTQ leaders
Move threatens marginalized communities and undermines city’s autonomy

As President Donald Trump pushes forward with his takeover of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department using federal agents, local LGBTQ leaders are sounding the alarm.
Trump on Monday invoked Section 740 of the D.C. Home Rule Act to “declare a crime emergency” in the District and began sending 800 National Guard troops to patrol the nation’s capital.
Multiple leaders in the District have criticized Trump for using misleading statistics to justify this power grab, one that will disproportionately impact Black, brown, and LGBTQ residents.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser initially tried to reframe Trump’s takeover as something that could benefit the District, saying to “make the most of the additional officer support that we have” during a Tuesday meeting with Attorney General Pam Bondi. She later began to backtrack on that statement.
“This is a time where community needs to jump in and we all need to, to do what we can in our space, in our lane, to protect our city and to protect our autonomy, to protect our Home Rule, and get to the other side of this guy, and make sure we elect a Democratic House so that we have a backstop to this authoritarian push,” Bowser said in a virtual meeting with local leaders later that day.
One of those local leaders, Ward 5 Council member Zachary Parker, called the Trump administration’s claims of “bloodthirsty criminals” and “roving mobs of wild youth” unsubstantiated and a distraction from “the bigger game in motion.”
In two separate Instagram posts, Parker — the District’s only openly LGBTQ Council member — called the move more about Trump “flexing” his power over a Democratic stronghold than fixing any issues of crime.
“The suggestion that crime is out of control is not supported by data,” Parker wrote Tuesday on his personal account, citing Department of Justice data from earlier this year showing the president’s claims are unsubstantiated. “Violent crime hit a 30-year low in 2024,” he continued, citing Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) data showing a 26% decrease in violent crime in the past year alone.
In another post, Parker called the tactic by the Trump administration a stark move that echoes the dictatorial takeovers of history.
“The raids today from those in power are derivatives of the instruments of power that have policed neighborhoods since the ’70s,” his second post said. “The ploy to seize capitals and collapse power traces back to colonial times and, more recently, Hungary and Turkey.”
The D.C. LGBTQ Budget Coalition, comprised of multiple organizations and advocates that fight for resources supporting LGBTQ residents — including trans people of color, low-income individuals, those with disabilities, and migrants — called this an “attack on D.C. autonomy.”
“This is a blatant violation of D.C.’s right to self-govern and a dangerous escalation rooted in political theater, not public safety,” the coalition’s official statement read. “We stand with local community leaders and other advocates fighting for D.C. to be free (including our evergreen fight for statehood), and all who reject this federal overreach… This move is not about safety, but about control and fear.”
The statement also echoed Council member Parker’s point that both federal and local data show a decline in violent crime despite massive budget cuts to the city prompted by Trump.
“Crime is down — the data is clear. And any attempts to combat the District’s issues were directly thwarted during the federal budget battles that forced our government to cut $1 billion from the local budget.”
The letter, sent to coalition members and supporters, explicitly called these actions anti-LGBTQ and anti-people of color.
“This kind of horrific federal overreach will inevitably cause the most irrevocable harm to our Black, brown, immigrant, and LGBTQ+ siblings — communities who already bear the brunt of systemic violence, over-policing, and underinvestment,” the email said.
“As LGBTQ+ advocates working to ensure equitable investment in our communities, we know that safety comes from housing, healthcare, and justice — and we will not demonize those most vulnerable in this city.”
-
AIDS and HIV2 days ago
Assemblymembers urge Governor Newsom to sign “lifeline” bill for HIV medication
-
Theater3 days ago
The Palm Springs historic Plaza Theatre to reopen, celebrating its past by looking to the future
-
a&e features3 days ago
Sandra Bernhard unpacks her anecdotal “Shapes & Forms” live show and why it’s more important than ever to reach straight audiences
-
Mongolia1 day ago
UN urges Mongolia to do more to protect LGBTQ+ rights
-
a&e features1 day ago
C’mon, Dallas! Wesley Smoot brings Unleashed LGBTQ+ queer business conference & festival to the Lone Star State
-
West Hollywood1 day ago
“Will you own your deceit?” West Hollywood community members denounce city’s decision to lower flags for Charlie Kirk
-
Movies1 day ago
‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’: Michael Varrati on why the queer, camp classic still resonates 50 years later
-
Arts & Entertainment2 days ago
A very queer night at the Emmys
-
Movies2 days ago
Short film explores little-known corner of AIDS history