What do HIV and LGBTQ advocates do when health care comes under attack? Fight back!

 

Since Inauguration Day, President Trump has been issuing executive orders threatening the long-term health of both vulnerable Americans and citizens of developing countries. In response to funding freezes for the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and mass firings at the United States Agency for International AID (USAID) plus threats to professionals who provide gender-affirming health care, the long-resilient HIV and LGBTQ communities have been taking to the streets to show their numbers and voice their anger.

 

In February, activists rallied at the State Department to protest the dismantling of USAID and billions of dollars in cuts to PEPFAR while similar actions were held around the world. And in New York City and Chicago, trans people and their allies challenged the federal pause on the provision of gender-affirming health care, particularly to trans youth under 19, as well as the administration’s rollback of President Biden’s guidance on Title IX protections that allowed trans students to access school sports teams and sex-segregated facilities that align with their gender identity.

Rise Up for Trans Youth rally in New York

On February 8, hundreds attended the Rise Up for Trans Youth rally in New York, organized by Trans formative Schools (an after-school program for trans youth), the Gender Liberation Movement and ACT UP New York.@javiermofficial/instagram

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