Health
Local LGBT groups assist with Obamacare
Whitman-Walker, Us Helping Us, D.C. Center helping uninsured sign up
Local businessman David Franco was among several D.C.-area advocates who spoke at a news conference at the National Press Club on Tuesday to draw attention to what they consider the strong advantages of the Obamacare program. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
At least seven D.C.-based LGBT or LGBT-friendly organizations sprang into action on Tuesday to help members of the LGBT community and people with HIV choose a health insurance plan under the controversial U.S. Affordable Care Act that’s better known as “Obamacare.”
Similar to reports surfacing from across the country, officials from the local groups said some of their clients encountered computer glitches on the website for D.C. Health Link, the city’s online health insurance marketplace or “exchange” on its first day of operations on Tuesday.
But all of the officials contacted by the Blade said they were optimistic that the exchange program in D.C. and those in neighboring Maryland and Virginia would soon be operating smoothly and would be an important resource for LGBT people looking for health insurance.
“I’m excited about it,” said Ron Simmons, executive director of the D.C.-based Us Helping Us, an HIV services organization that reaches out to black gay men.
“We have so many clients who don’t have health insurance,” Simmons said. “If you are HIV positive you need a certain type of insurance, and we are ready to help people choose the best policy suited for their needs.”
Ron Simmons, president/CEO of Us Helping Us (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Us Helping Us is one of five D.C.-based organizations that received a grant from the D.C. Health Benefit Exchange Authority to recruit members of the LGBT community to sign up for insurance under the Obamacare program. The grant calls on the five groups — as well as another 30 organizations that received grants to work with other constituencies — to help their clients navigate the complicated process of choosing the best possible insurance plan.
The other organizations that received grants to work with the LGBT community on the Obamacare program are Whitman-Walker Health, D.C. Care Consortium, Damien Ministries and Health HIV.
Health HIV, a new national AIDS advocacy organization located in the Dupont Circle area, applied for its grant in partnership with the D.C. Center for the LGBT Community and Westminster Presbyterian Church’s START program. The START program provides HIV/AIDS-related services with a special outreach to people with substance abuse problems.
“This is an important opportunity to engage our communities in a conversation about healthcare and for us all to better understand the changes that are taking place in the healthcare system,” said David Mariner, executive director of the D.C. Center.
“Our goal is to help 300 individuals enroll in a healthcare plan and to make the process as simple as possible for them,” Mariner said.
Simmons of Us Helping Us said his group has a goal of helping to enroll 1,000 people on a health insurance plan through the D.C. Health Link system during the nine-month-long grant period.
“We will have town hall meetings,” said Simmons. “We will go to the clubs. Our purpose is to help people enroll in the plan best for them.”
Under the Affordable Care Act’s various provisions, Tuesday, Oct. 1, became the first day that the health insurance exchanges opened for business, enabling people to review dozens of options for insurance plans. Consumers may sign up for a plan between now and next March during the program’s first annual open enrollment period. Insurance policies won’t go into effect until Jan. 1.
In order to receive a policy that begins Jan. 1, people must sign up and pay their first monthly premium by Dec. 15, government officials in charge of the program said. People may still sign up between Dec. 15 and March 31, with their policy taking effect at the first day of the following month. After the March 31 deadline, enrollment in the program will be closed until October 2014.
Experts monitoring the system have said the cost of premiums and additional payments such as deductibles and co-payments for doctor visits and prescription drugs vary widely with the different options available. But those familiar with the program say the costs so far appear to be significantly lower than health insurance available in the past in the private market.
Carl Schmid, deputy director of the AIDS Institute, a national AIDS advocacy organization, noted that low-income people may now enroll in Medicaid in the states that have agreed to expand their Medicaid programs under a non-mandatory provision of the Affordable Care Act. D.C. and Maryland opted to become part of the expanded Medicaid program while Virginia declined to do so.
Schmid points out that prior to the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid provision, which took effect last year, low-income people with HIV who didn’t have private health insurance were not eligible for Medicaid unless they were medically disabled with an AIDS diagnosis.
“So now people with HIV who don’t have full-blown AIDS qualify for Medicaid,” Schmid said. “Our goal, of course, is to keep these people healthy.”
AIDS Institute Deputy Executive Director Carl Schmid (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Schmid and others familiar with the Obamacare program note that in Virginia and other states that chose not to participate in the expanded Medicaid program, people with incomes below a certain federally defined level are eligible for federal subsidies to help pay for their insurance premiums and co-pays.
Erin Loubier, director of public benefits and senior managing attorney for Whitman-Walker Health, said people with HIV and LGBT people whose income levels may not make them eligible for the subsidies will benefit from another provision of the healthcare law already in effect.
“Anyone living with HIV or another chronic health condition will be able to get insurance,” she said, noting that prior to the Obamacare law insurance companies routinely rejected people with a pre-existing condition.
She said the generally lower prices for premiums through the exchanges will also benefit those who aren’t eligible for subsidies.
Under its grant from the D.C. Health Benefit Exchange Authority, Whitman-Walker will provide its clients as well as non-clients the services of trained “navigators” or “assisters” to help people choose the best insurance policy through D.C. Health Link. According to Loubier, Whitman-Walker will also provide training for people to become navigators and, similar to Us Helping Us, will reach out into the community to recruit people to sign up for insurance under the Obamacare program.
“The role of these assisters is critical,” she said. “Even computer savvy people may not be able to navigate the system by themselves.”
Guy Westin, executive director of D.C. Care Consortium, which provides services to people with HIV, said his group is providing navigator services to individuals as well as non-profit community organizations about the enrollment process for Obamacare.
D.C. gay businessman David Franco, owner of the clothing store chain Universal Gear and the real estate development company Level Two, said he was pleased to discover that prices announced so far by insurance companies offering employer health plans for small businesses are lower than previously available plans.
“I was able to see in a matter of 15 minutes with a couple of clicks on my keyboard what my rate would be and compare that to an equivalent plan and see the savings that are offered by different insurance companies,” Franco said.
“So the fact that you’ve got this open, free market has really created this price competition, and it’s going to drop the overall cost for the plan for all of my employees,” he said.
Franco was among several D.C.-area advocates who spoke at a news conference at the National Press Club on Tuesday called by D.C. Health Link and the healthcare consumers’ group Families USA to draw attention to what they consider the strong advantages of the Obamacare program.
Similar to Americans across the country, local LGBT advocates working on the Obamacare program say some LGBT people will likely be surprised and put off when they realize they will be subjected to a $95 tax penalty from the IRS in 2014 if they don’t have insurance and fail to buy a policy under the new program. The penalty for not having insurance in 2015 goes up to $700.
Federal officials in charge of Obamacare point out that people who already have insurance either through their employer or on the private market and people already on Medicaid or Medicare will not be required to do anything under the new program. Their insurance status will remain as it is, officials said.
Following is a list of the seven D.C.- based organizations known to be providing services to the help the LGBT community and people with HIV access the Obamacare program, including the process of singing up for an insurance plan. Officials with the groups say it’s preferable to call first for an appointment but walk-ins are accommodated when possible.
Whitman-Walker Health
1701 14th St., N.W.
Us Helping Us
3636 Georgia Ave., N.W.
D.C. Care Consortium
7059 Blaire Road, N.W., Suite
Health HIV
2000 S St., N.W.
Damien Ministries
2200 Rhode Island Ave., N.E.
D.C. Center for the LGBT Community
1318 U St., N.W.
START Program at Westminster Presbyterian Church
400 I St., S.W.
Health
United States Conference on HIV/AIDS grapples with federal budget cuts
Annual gathering is largest of its kind in the country
Advocates, public health experts, and healthcare providers gathered for the United States Conference on HIV/AIDS on Sept. 17 in Anaheim, Calif.
The conference is the largest of its kind in the nation and came amid a wave of new challenges for HIV research and treatment. Since the beginning of the second Trump-Vance administration, federal spending cuts have targeted HIV/AIDS programs, including the gutting of the U.S. Agency for International Development and proposed cuts to PEPFAR, which supports HIV testing and treatment globally, in 2025.
Last year, Congress maintained funding for HIV programs after proposed cuts faced opposition from advocacy groups and bipartisan criticism. Yet, this year Congress has proposed similar cuts to many of the same programs, which would cut nearly one billion dollars in HIV funding. The majority of the cuts would impact HIV prevention and outreach, which includes ending nearly all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention HIV prevention activities.
“If we continue down this path,” said Jeremiah Johnson, the executive director of PrEP4ALL, an advocacy group that supports expanding access to HIV prevention. “We’re going to see more people falling off treatment. We’re going to see more wait lists. That’s going to lead to more people dying from AIDS-related complications.”
Cuts and challenges
The funding cuts loomed over the conference and inspired protest from activists.
On the first day of USCHA, activists with Save HIV Funding organized a mock funeral outside the convention center. Advocates living with HIV wrote eulogies for themselves, meant to show the consequences of diminished access to treatment. Then activists marched through the conference carrying fake coffins.
Johnson, who helped organize the protest, said that “the Trump administration has eviscerated global aid … and the fears that many of us are just talking about hypothetically for ourselves at the moment are already happening [internationally]. And so we wanted to place that front and center at this conference.”
The attacks on funding for HIV research and outreach come at a complicated time for the movement to end the AIDS epidemic. While options for prevention and treatment have never been more accessible, such as PrEP and antiretroviral therapy, there have been some concerning upticks in infections, particularly among communities of color.
Southern states account for the majority of new HIV infections in the country, despite making up only 38 percent of the population. And these infections impact disproportionately Black and Latino communities. According to the CDC, even as overall HIV infections decreased from 2018 to 2022, diagnoses of HIV among Latinos grew by 17 percent, with a majority of this increase happening in the South.
Stigma is still the biggest barrier for people seeking out HIV treatment, said Guillermo Chacón, president of the Latino Commission on AIDS.
“The progress that we [made] in the past two years has been demolished,” he said.
Chacón blames the federal government for stigmatizing HIV treatment by using harmful rhetoric about queer people.
“The level of homophobia and transphobia right now is even higher because it has been used as a political message to create fear and division in our country,” he said.
Chacón believes that research and outreach must be done to reverse the rising HIV infections among Latinos. However, this is exactly the type of research that the Trump-Vance administration is targeting most intensely. Research into “health disparities” — why some health problems impact certain communities more than others — has been heavily criticized by the White House, along with other research that it considers “woke” and claims is not supported by science.
Impact felt at conference
The opening plenary for the conference addressed some of the funding challenges the movement was facing but tried to shift the focus to the victories the movement has seen over the years. Speakers highlighted historic successful activist campaigns like ACT UP, and recent improvements in medical care and access to treatment.
Randevyn Pierre, head of U.S. external affairs at ViiV Healthcare, the sponsor of the plenary, took the stage to celebrate the success of the U = U campaign (undetectable viral load =
untransmittable HIV virus), and ViiV’s investment of $33 million in HIV community organizations across the U.S. This comes as the Trump-Vance administration has made moves to end direct funding of community-based organizations, opting to give the funding to state healthcare agencies.
The speakers at the conference discussed reducing stigma for those living with HIV and the joy of living authentically. They also emphasized the diverse groups of people that are impacted by HIV and how they can come together to fight for a cure. Longtime AIDS activist Rae Lewis Thorton exclaimed, “When they tell me there’s a cure to HIV, I’m gonna take off my 4-inch heels and put on gold slippers,” to applause from the audience.
The opening plenary also featured song and dance from a variety of artists, many of whom spoke about how HIV has impacted their own lives and how advocacy has uplifted their spirits. However, the joyous atmosphere at the conference would not last.
On the final day of USCHA, Geri Donenberg, the associate director of AIDS research at the National Institutes of Health, took the stage to address the conference.
As she spoke, phones began to buzz around the room with breaking news: the Trump-Vance administration was drafting an executive order to create an external board to oversee NIH grants and screen them for political content. NMAC CEO Harold Philips took the stage after Donenberg to address the crowd. “It’s up to us,” Philips said, “to hold NIH accountable.” He added that HIV advocates “have supporters inside NIH who are struggling and working to do the right thing. We have to have their back.”
Chants of “stand up, fight back, fight AIDS” erupted from the crowd as Philips spoke. “We do have to fight back. We do have to continue to fight,” Philips replied.
Caleb Kaufman is a California Local News Fellow placed with the Los Angeles Blade. The California Local News Fellowship is a state-funded initiative to support and strengthen local news reporting. Learn more about it at fellowships.journalism.berkeley.edu/cafellows.
Health
AIDS Healthcare Foundation announces 3 million people globally in its care
Los Angeles-based group lauded ‘historic milestone’
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit group founded in 1987 that has become the world’s largest HIV/AIDS organization, has announced it has three million people in care around the world.
In a statement released on May 26, the organization, known worldwide as AHF, said the latest accomplishment reflects its global commitment to HIV prevention, care, and treatment. It says the accomplishment comes at a time when AHF marks the 25th anniversary of its first global programs launched in South Africa and Uganda in early 2001.
The statement says the three million people in care milestone also comes while the group approaches the 40th anniversary of its founding in 1987.
“Today, AHF provides lifesaving services in 50 countries across Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe, supporting millions of people living with HIV through a network of 1,056 global clinics, 79 healthcare centers in the U.S., 67 pharmacies, 96 wellness centers, 26 Out of the Closet thrift stores, outreach programs, and community partnerships,” the statement says.
“This accomplishment is far more than a number — it represents 3 million individuals whose lives have been touched by compassion, commitment, and the belief that healthcare is a human right,” Condessa M. Curley, the AHF board chair, said in a statement. “We extend our deepest gratitude to every member of the AHF team whose dedication made this milestone possible,” Curley said.
The AHF website notes the organization was founded in 1987 in Los Angeles as a network of hospices committed to “fighting for the living and caring for the dying” at a time when there was no effective treatment for HIV/AIDS. A statement on the website says since that time AHF has greatly expanded, converting its hospices into healthcare centers “and building a new paradigm for HIV care both in the United States and around the world.”
The statement adds, “Under the leadership of president and co-founder Michael Weinstein, AHF has grown from a group of friends dedicated to creating dignified hospice care to the largest AIDS organization in the world.” It says Weinstein “has been at the forefront of creating cutting-edge healthcare and advocacy programs and continues to drive the organization forward with the aim of saving more lives around the world.”
The statement announcing the milestone has also come at a time when more than 40 million people worldwide are living with HIV, “while hundreds of thousands continue to die annually from AIDS-related illnesses despite the availability of effective treatment.”
It says AHF’s response has included an expansion of its prevention and public health programs worldwide. In 2025 alone, according to the statement, AHF and its affiliated programs provided nearly five million free HIV tests globally and distributed more than 54 million free condoms, “underscoring the organization’s continued emphasis on both prevention and treatment.”
In D.C. AHF operates health care centers at 1701 K St., N.W., Ste. 400 [202-293-8680], 650 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E., Ste. 310 [202-350-5000], and 1647 Benning Road, N.E., Ste. 300 [202-350-5000].
Cannabis Culture
LGBTQ people, weed, and mental health: what you need to know
Community uses marijuana at much higher rates than general population
Uncloseted Media published this story on May 7.
By SPENCER MACNAUGHTON | In 2025, the global cannabis market size was valued at nearly $103 billion. By 2034, that number is expected to explode by roughly 1,400 percent to more than $1.43 trillion.
In short, as an increasing number of countries legalize marijuana use, everyone is starting to consume a lot more weed. And LGBTQ people tend to use cannabis at much higher rates than the general population. One study found that 55 percent of lesbian and 45 percent of gay young adults use marijuana, compared to about 33 percent and 37 percent, respectively, of their straight counterparts.
As LGBTQ people face a mental health crisis, the mainstream stereotypes that depict weed as an antidote for anxiety, panic and depression aren’t painting the full picture. And that could be exacerbating the mental health struggles so many queer people, and especially youth, face.
Here’s what the research demonstrates about marijuana and its effects on mental health:
- Multiple studies suggest a link between marijuana use and an increased risk of mental health disorders, including schizophrenia, depression and anxiety in individuals who are genetically predisposed.
- One study found that daily marijuana use, especially among younger people, makes some individuals seven times more likely to develop psychosis.
The increase in higher-potency strains of marijuana could pose unknown risks. In 1995, the average content of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in confiscated marijuana was less than 4 percent. In 2022, it was more than 16 percent. Researchers don’t know the full extent of the impact that these higher concentrations can have on mental health and especially on younger people whose brains are still developing.
- A systematic review of studies published between 2013 and 2025 found damning results for the mental health of young cannabis users:
They were 51 percent more likely to experience depression, 58 percent more likely to experience anxiety, between 50 and 65 percent more likely to experience suicidal ideation and 80 to 87 percent more likely to have attempted suicide.
- While the above stats paint a grim picture, there is also some research that suggests benefits of cannabis use:
- A 2025 systematic review found that “medicinal” weed showed some efficacy in relieving withdrawal symptoms of opioid use disorder. THC use has been associated with improvement of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, bipolar symptoms and sleep quality.
- Other studies found that THC administered in a controlled setting was associated with a decrease of symptoms and adverse effects for a range of mental health disorders, including schizophrenia, psychotic symptoms, and anorexia nervosa.
Beyond what we pulled from academia, there is an astounding lack of information about the interplay between weed and mental health. As we dive deeper into Mental Health Awareness Month, I hope advocacy organizations, influencers and news outlets ramp up their coverage of this important topic that affects the countless LGBTQ weed smokers, many of whom are already struggling.
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