Re-post: 30 years of AIDS
Dec. 1st, 2011 02:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wwcitizenThis post comes from an email sent to me by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund. I am posting this so that people can be informed that organizations like this exist, learn about this history and current status of HIV/AIDS in the US, and, if so moved, can donate to support the Fund's efforts.
"30 years ago the Task Force hired the first lobbyist in the nation to focus on AIDS issues. The Task Force ran the first toll-free AIDS hotline in the world early in the epidemic. In 1984, we secured the first federal funding for community-based AIDS service organizations. Today, the Task Force continues to push the federal government as we have for 30 years to ensure that community AIDS service organizations have the funding they so desperately need. We are pleased that the CDC recently granted 34 community organizations $55 million to be spent over the next five years to increase HIV prevention services for those most at risk, including young men of color, transgender youth, and their partners.
But that is not nearly enough. We must also put an end to the discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS, who are disproportionately transgender women, gay and bisexual men, and people of color.
Results from [the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund]'s National Transgender Discrimination Survey showed that transgender individuals have a rate of HIV/AIDS that is more than FOUR times higher than the general population. And, tragically, the survey also found that 1 in 4 transgender African Americans live with HIV/AIDS. Discrimination and lack of education is the reason for this tragedy.
[People] can help to end discrimination against people living with HIV by urging your member of Congress to co-sponsor the REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act which addresses the unfair use of criminal and civil laws against those who test positive for HIV. Today, 34 states have laws that criminalize transmission of HIV. It’s time to repeal ... harmful laws that demonize people with HIV. Call 202-684-2468 today and tell your representative that this bill needs their support.
[Personal Note: I do believe that, if you know that you are HIV+, you are committing a crime act by 1) not disclosing your HIV status to the other party(ies) with whom you are going to have sex, 2) having unprotected sex with others, if you are HIV+, and 3) not asking the status of people with whom you are going to have sex. Communication, education, and knowledge are two-way streets. For instance, if you send someone an envelope full of anthrax virus, you don't know if the recipient will get the envelope, open it, or get anthrax, but it's still a criminal act - same principle here without the sex bit.]
We honor and stand with those who have dedicated their lives to the fight against HIV/AIDS. We mourn everyone we have lost in the past three decades and we vow to continue working toward the end of HIV/AIDS. This World AIDS Day, join [the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund] in supporting the REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act to reduce the stigma and fear of living with HIV. Take action now [by calling] 202.684.2468.
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund builds the grassroots political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The Task Force Action
Fund does this through direct and grassroots lobbying to defeat anti-LGBT ballot initiatives and legislation, and works to pass pro-LGBT legislation and other progressive initiatives. The Task Force Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation incorporated in New York. Contributions to the Task Force Action Fund are not tax-deductible."
"30 years ago the Task Force hired the first lobbyist in the nation to focus on AIDS issues. The Task Force ran the first toll-free AIDS hotline in the world early in the epidemic. In 1984, we secured the first federal funding for community-based AIDS service organizations. Today, the Task Force continues to push the federal government as we have for 30 years to ensure that community AIDS service organizations have the funding they so desperately need. We are pleased that the CDC recently granted 34 community organizations $55 million to be spent over the next five years to increase HIV prevention services for those most at risk, including young men of color, transgender youth, and their partners.
But that is not nearly enough. We must also put an end to the discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS, who are disproportionately transgender women, gay and bisexual men, and people of color.
Results from [the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund]'s National Transgender Discrimination Survey showed that transgender individuals have a rate of HIV/AIDS that is more than FOUR times higher than the general population. And, tragically, the survey also found that 1 in 4 transgender African Americans live with HIV/AIDS. Discrimination and lack of education is the reason for this tragedy.
[People] can help to end discrimination against people living with HIV by urging your member of Congress to co-sponsor the REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act which addresses the unfair use of criminal and civil laws against those who test positive for HIV. Today, 34 states have laws that criminalize transmission of HIV. It’s time to repeal ... harmful laws that demonize people with HIV. Call 202-684-2468 today and tell your representative that this bill needs their support.
[Personal Note: I do believe that, if you know that you are HIV+, you are committing a crime act by 1) not disclosing your HIV status to the other party(ies) with whom you are going to have sex, 2) having unprotected sex with others, if you are HIV+, and 3) not asking the status of people with whom you are going to have sex. Communication, education, and knowledge are two-way streets. For instance, if you send someone an envelope full of anthrax virus, you don't know if the recipient will get the envelope, open it, or get anthrax, but it's still a criminal act - same principle here without the sex bit.]
We honor and stand with those who have dedicated their lives to the fight against HIV/AIDS. We mourn everyone we have lost in the past three decades and we vow to continue working toward the end of HIV/AIDS. This World AIDS Day, join [the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund] in supporting the REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act to reduce the stigma and fear of living with HIV. Take action now [by calling] 202.684.2468.
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund builds the grassroots political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The Task Force Action
Fund does this through direct and grassroots lobbying to defeat anti-LGBT ballot initiatives and legislation, and works to pass pro-LGBT legislation and other progressive initiatives. The Task Force Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation incorporated in New York. Contributions to the Task Force Action Fund are not tax-deductible."
