National
Obama won’t attend Int’l AIDS Conference
President to prepare video message for attendees instead
President Obama won’t attend the 19th international AIDS conference (Blade file photo by Michael Key)
President Obama will prepare a video message for attendees at the 19th International AIDS Conference in lieu of making a live appearance at the event, according to the White House.
In a notice issued on Monday, the White House announced that Obama is set to provide a brief video message for the conference, which will take place next week in D.C., as part of “[c]ontinuing his personal engagement on this issue.” Shin Inouye, a White House spokesperson, confirmed this video message will be in lieu of a live appearance at the event.
“The president will not be speaking at the conference,” Inouye said. “He will provide a brief video message to welcome Conference attendees from around the world to Washington.”
Organizers for the conference had invited the president to deliver remarks at the event as HIV/AIDS advocates had publicly expressed their desire to see him make an appearance and call for an end to the epidemic. They also wanted him to talk about achievements of his administration, such as laying out the first-ever National AIDS Strategy and creating more opportunities to cover people with HIV/AIDS under the Medicaid expansion of the health care reform law.
The statement announcing the video message touts the Obama administration’s efforts at combatting HIV/AIDS.
“Under the president’s leadership, the administration has increased overall funding to combat HIV/AIDS to record levels,” the statement says. “We have launched the first comprehensive National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States to prevent and treat HIV in America. Globally, the Obama Administration has committed to treating 6 million people by the end of 2013 and is increasing the impact and sustainability of our investments.”
According to the statement, the White House will also host a reception on July 26 to honor people living with HIV and to thank individuals who have fought against the disease.
Other high-ranking administration officials are set to attend the event, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius; U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby; Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy Grant Colfax; and Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.
Former President Clinton is slated to speak as is former first lady Laura Bush; former President George W. Bush, who set up the fund known as U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, was invited to speak but hadn’t responded to the invitation as of Tuesday, according to organizers.
HIV/AIDS advocates had varying reactions in response to Obama’s decision to prepare a video message as opposed to making an appearance at the event.
Brian Hujdich, executive director of HealthHIV, expressed disappointment, but appreciated that the president would address attendees via video.
“While we are disappointed that President Obama will be unable to address the International AIDS Conference in person, his decision to address attendees via video demonstrates the importance he places on AIDS 2012 and HIV,” Hujdich said. “As the first president to set a comprehensive National HIV/AIDS Strategy and pass meaningful healthcare reform, his commitment to addressing HIV prevention care and treatment is strongly demonstrated.”
Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, called Obama’s decision not to attend “a kick in the teeth” to attendees.
“It’s less than a mile from the White House to the convention center,” Weinstein said. “He’s flying back into town on Friday night. I think he’s making an intentional statement by not attending, and he’s either waiting for a better offer or he doesn’t feel like he’d get a good reception and doesn’t want to expose himself to that, or he’s consciously wanting to [let it be] known that this is not a priority for him, which he’s done a pretty good job at for the last three-and-a-half years.”
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story reported that President George W. Bush was confirmed to speak. He was invited to speak but as of Tuesday, he had not responded to the invitation, organizers told the Blade.
National
Queen Jean is Tony’s first transgender winner
Designer/activist wins for work on ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’
It was a historic night at the 79th annual Tony Awards on Sunday as Queen Jean won the award for Best Costume Design of a Musical, making her the first out transgender person to win a Tony.
“This experience has been monumental. We are here for the legacy of queer people, trans people,” she said. “We are taking up space in ways we have to take up space. We have to shift the paradigm. So I just want to say, thank you all so much for this incredible honor. The world right now is deeply, deeply combating so many ailments, and we know as a society that when we come together, we can make real, permanent change.”
She won the award for her work on “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” and was also nominated for best costume design of a play for “Liberation.”
In addition to her stage work, Queen Jean is the founder of Black Trans Liberation, an organization that supports trans and gender-nonconforming people in New York City.
National
Madonna turns Times Square into massive dance floor
Pop icon celebrates Pride month with surprise performance
Pop icon Madonna celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York City’s Times Square on Thursday to the delight of 50,000 fans.
She performed for about 15 minutes high above street level, including several songs from her new album “Confessions II” due on July 3, along with a trio of songs from the first “Confessions on a Dance Floor.”
In addition to the brand new “Love Sensation,” she performed “I Feel So Free” and “Bring Your Love,” plus “Hung Up,” “Get Together” and “I Love New York.” She wished the crowd a happy Pride season; the event was shared with audiences through Grindr’s first-ever livestream.
National
Gallup finds LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping
Marriage equality support lowest since 2016
Gallup, one of the leading organizations in public opinion polling, has found that LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping.
The poll, whose data was collected using Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey, was conducted in May and was published on Wednesday. The data was collected through telephone interviews from a sample of more than 1,000 adults living in all 50 states and D.C. using random digit dialing.
It highlights declining attitudes surrounding LGBTQ issues in multiple areas — from support for same-sex marriage to views on gender identity and the morality of one’s sexuality.
One of the most striking findings was that support for marriage equality fell six points from its 2022-2023 high.
The survey also found that 62 percent of Americans view gay and lesbian relations as morally acceptable, the lowest level since 2016 just after same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide by the U.S. Supreme Court.
One newer question on the poll found that the perceived morality of changing one’s gender has dropped eight points since 2021, indicating the American public is less supportive of transgender people.
The data attributes much of the decline to shifting Republican views alongside the party itself. Conservative leaders have pushed back against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that were intended to foster greater acceptance of LGBTQ people and other historically disadvantaged groups.
President Donald Trump has been a guiding force behind waves of anti-LGBTQ sentiment, particularly when it comes to trans rights. The president has enacted multiple executive orders, including Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” which mandates that gender be defined by one’s sex assigned at birth. He also signed Executive Order 14183, “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” which barred qualified trans applicants from joining the military and led to the removal of trans service members already serving in the armed forces.
Additionally, he signed Executive Order 14201, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which prohibits trans female athletes from participating on women’s and girls’ sports teams.
In February, Gallup found that an estimated 9 percent of Americans identified as part of the LGBTQ community in some form.
The organization also found that 23 percent of adults under age 30 identify as LGBTQ, compared with 10 percent of those ages 30 to 49 and 3 percent or less among those ages 50 and older.
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