Trump’s 2020 budget would disproportionately hurt LGBTQ people

March 12, 2019 congress, lgbtq, News

President Donald Trump’s proposed 2020 budget would seriously harm the LGBTQ community, many of whom rely on the public programs the administration is intent on shrinking. Even the initiative to end HIV is deeply flawed, experts on LGBTQ policy say.

The 2020 budget includes a $8.6 billion cut for the Department of Housing and Urban Development and proposes eliminating the Community Development Block Grant program and capital improvement funds for public housing repairs.

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Trump’s plan to ‘defeat AIDS’ lacks ambition

February 6, 2019 Donald Trump, lgbtq, News, politics, transgender

As teased earlier in the week, President Donald Trump pledged in his State of the Union address Tuesday to “eliminate the HIV epidemic in the United States within ten years.”

Noting incredibly scientific strides, Trump promised, “Together, we will defeat AIDS in America and beyond.”

Following the speech, Health & Human Services Secretary Alex Azar released additional detail about the strategy, which for the most part, contains core components that...

The Senate has been rushing through judicial confirmations, including many anti-LGBTQ judges

January 7, 2019 lgbtq, News, politics, transgender

The process by which the Senate confirms federal judges has greatly shifted under President Trump, and the results are greatly endangering the LGBTQ community. A new report from Lambda Legal shows that more than a third of nominees have a documented history of anti-LGBTQ bias, but many are getting rushed across the confirmation finish line to lifetime appointments anyway.

In the past, the Senate has been a bit slow to confirm judges to the federal bench. For example, under the past ...

Coalition releases plan to end U.S. HIV epidemic by 2025

November 30, 2018 health, health care, lgbtq, medicaid, News, politics

In advance of World AIDS Day Saturday, a coalition of HIV/AIDS advocacy organizations have laid out a detailed plan to end the U.S. HIV epidemic by 2025.

The new roadmap sets ambitious goals for treatment and prevention and calls upon lawmakers to enact the kinds of changes that will help achieve them.

What that looks like is meeting what is called the “95/95/95” framework:

95 percent of people who have HIV are aware of their status.

95 perce...

Transgender women celebrate monumental health care court victory

October 30, 2018 health care, lgbtq, News, politics, transgender

It was the first case outcome of its kind: a total of $780,000 in damages for two transgender women who were denied medically necessary health care because of their gender identity. It was also likely the first time a court found that facial feminization surgery was medically necessary.

The women now hope that if eight jurors in Wisconsin could be convinced that transgender people deserve access to health care related to their identities, others might be inspired to fight for what t...

Trump administration falsely blames Obama administration for transgender erasure proposal

October 23, 2018 lgbtq, News, transgender, Trump administration

The Trump administration issued a new response Monday to the New York Times’ report that it is considering a plan to erase transgender people from recognition under federal nondiscrimination laws. This attempt to blame the Obama administration for the current circumstances is not only false, but further undermined by conservative groups’ praise for the news.

In a statement calling the Times’ story “misleading,” Health and Human Services spokesperson Cai...

It’s not an exaggeration to say the Trump administration wants to erase transgender people

October 22, 2018 health care, lgbtq, News, transgender, Trump administration

A Sunday New York Times article revealed that the Trump administration is planning to impose a rule that would effectively erase the existence of transgender people under the law. Though the Times did not share the full memo draft it had reviewed, it detailed the memo’s plan to define sex across agencies as “either male or female, unchangeable, and determined by the genitals that a person is born with” — subject to genetic testing.

It’s the equivalent of impo...

Trump voters worry about discrimination against men and Christians more than any other group

October 18, 2018 Donald Trump, lgbtq, News, religion

A new survey from YouGov and The Economist suggests that people who voted for President Donald Trump are living in a very different United States than those who voted for Hillary Clinton.

In a series of questions about the discrimination they perceive different groups to be experiencing, the respondents were far more concerned with the plight of men and Christians than with just about any other group.

The poll surveyed 1,500 U.S. adults this past Sunday through Tuesday, 28 pe...

Lawmakers’ scores plummet on LGBTQ congressional scorecard

October 17, 2018 congress, House of Representatives, lgbtq, News, politics, Senate

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has released its Congressional Scorecard for the 115th Congress — and it’s revealed some shocking drop-offs.

With Republicans in control of both Congress and the White House, lawmakers showed far less concern for the LGBTQ community, voting against their interests and ignoring legislation that would protect them.

Unlike in previous sessions, lawmakers over the past two years didn’t vote on a single bill that would have directl...

These 3 anti-LGBTQ lawsuits outline new conservative strategy in Texas

October 12, 2018 lgbtq, News, politics, texas, transgender

Conservatives in Texas have filed three lawsuits seeking to overturn LGBTQ protections in the name of “religious freedom.” As the Texas state legislature gears up for its 2019 session, the litigation suggests a bold and renewed effort to undermine civil rights for LGBTQ people, seemingly at every turn.

The three suits in question were filed last week — all within a few days of each other — by three of Texas’ most vocal anti-LGBTQ groups. Two of them tar...