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HIV/AIDS returning to the spotlight?

Following victories on marriage, advocates say decades-old issue will get renewed look

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Act Up, Silence = Death, AIDS, HIV, gay news, Washington Blade, HIV/AIDS
Act Up, Silence = Death, AIDS, HIV, gay news, Washington Blade, HIV/AIDS

(Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

After years of being overshadowed by other issues like marriage equality and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” an issue that decades ago was at the center of the gay rights movement is once again moving to the forefront.

Following hard-fought victories for marriage rights at the Supreme Court, in states throughout the country and across the globe, the persistence of HIV/AIDS is grabbing new attention as recent news stories have documented progress toward a cure and the disease’s continuing impact on gay youth and people of color.

Sean Strub, founder of POZ magazine, said LGBT leadership is taking a renewed look at the issue in response to community pressure and stubbornly high infection rates among young gay men — particularly men of color — which he said are “skyrocketing and simply impossible to ignore.”

In the past week, two separate articles in the mainstream media were published following World AIDS Day that documented the persistence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic among gay and bisexual men.

One article, which appeared on the front page of the New York Times, reported the disease is “rapidly becoming concentrated” among poor, black and Latino men who have sex with men.

Jonathan Mermin, director of HIV prevention at the Centers for Disease Control, is quoted as saying reaching these men is “the Holy Grail” in confronting HIV/AIDS.

Although his agency has granted millions of dollars to local health departments, Mermin reportedly couldn’t identify any city or state that has succeeded in lowering infection rates among young men of color.

An op-ed published on CNN.com written by Perry Halkitis, associate dean of New York University’s Global Institute of Public Health, raised the question of whether there’s a “gay generation gap” with regard to the perception of HIV. Halkitis points to the growing rate with which young gay men have unprotected sex now that the disease is perceived as chronic, but not fatal.

“The disease may not be front and center — it may not be the primary presenting problem faced by young gay men, as it was for me at age 18 in 1981 — but it is a concern,” Halkitis writes. “However, it’s a concern that must be spoken about and dealt with differently for this ‘new’ AIDS generation.”

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control, gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men remain the most profoundly affected by HIV.

In 2010, an estimated 29,800 men were infected with HIV after having sex with another man  — a 12 percent increase from the 26,700 new infections among this group in 2008. In 2010, men who have sex with men accounted for 63 percent of all new HIV infections nationwide.

At the same time as the disease gets renewed attention from the gay community, Strub said young gay men infected with HIV face new challenges — even though the disease is no longer a death sentence — because of the lack of solidarity with other gay men.

“People with HIV no longer inspire a sympathetic response from the public, especially not the gay public, but are more often seen and defined — particularly by the public health and criminal justice systems — as potential threats,” Strub said. “We’re living longer so we’re around to infect longer, viral vectors, potential infectors, an inherent risk to society.”

Meanwhile, advocates working on HIV/AIDS contend the issue has always belonged to the gay community, but is rising again in prominence for various reasons.

Richard Socarides, a gay New York Democratic activist, was among those predicting HIV/AIDS will “emerge as a major issue for the gay community.”

“Especially now, as a whole new generation of young gay men face issues relating to safe sex head on for the first time,” Socarides said. “But now in a context where ‘silence’ may not equal death but instead, a long-term chronic but treatable disease.”

Mark Mazzone, a spokesperson for the LGBT military group SPART*A, said he thinks HIV will come to forefront for advocates working on LGBT military issues in the wake of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal and the Supreme Court ruling against the Defense of Marriage Act.

“I think this will return as an LGBT military issue simply because of the lack of education given to our service members and the high risk behaviors mostly younger LGB men engage in, which need to be mitigated through a comprehensive training and prevention program,” Mazzone said.

Mazzone said service members become non-deployable once they’re discovered to have HIV; can’t commission as an officer or warrant officer; can’t fly aircraft or work in any jobs requiring a flight physical; are restricted to stateside duty assignments (with the exception of the Navy); and are not eligible for special schools such as Ranger, Special Forces or other special ops jobs.

And the nation’s largest LGBT group says that it continues to make a priority efforts to bring the HIV/AIDS epidemic to an end.

Fred Sainz, vice president of communications for the Human Rights Campaign, said HIV/AIDS has been and continues to be at the forefront for LGBT groups like HRC.

“Until the scourge is gone, fighting HIV/AIDS has, is and will remain a top priority for the LGBT civil rights movement,” Sainz said.

Strub said in recent months he’s seen HRC devote more attention to HIV/AIDS.

“I am heartened by HRC’s outreach to HIV advocates in the last several months and am cautiously optimistic we will see a greater commitment from them in 2014, on HIV issues, than we have seen in recent years,” Strub said.

One HIV/AIDS issue that has particularly risen in prominence is the HIV criminalization laws in some states. Under such laws, an HIV-positive person can face criminal charges for failing to disclose their HIV status before engaging in sex.

LGBT and HIV/AIDS advocates have railed against the laws, saying they send an inaccurate message regarding prevention responsibility, create a disincentive to receiving testing and may discourage disclosure of HIV status. According to Lambda Legal, 39 states have HIV-specific criminal statutes or have brought HIV-related criminal charges, which have resulted in more than 160 prosecutions in the United States in the last four years.

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) introduced on Tuesday legislation in the Senate known as the Repeal Existing Policies that Encourage and Allow Legal (“REPEAL”) HIV Discrimination Act, which would require an interagency review of federal and state laws that criminalize certain actions by people living with HIV.

“A disturbing number of state and local criminal laws pertaining to individuals with HIV/AIDS are rooted not in science, but in outdated fear,” Coons said in a statement. “They run counter to effective public health strategies, discourage HIV testing, and perpetuate unfair stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS – people who are our friends, family, and neighbors.”

In May, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) introduced the House version of the legislation along with Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.). According to the Library of Congress, the bill has 37 sponsors, although Ros-Lehtinen is the only Republican co-sponsor.

In Iowa, the punishment for being found guilty of violating Code 709C can be imprisonment for up to 25 years and registration as a sex offender.

Donna Red Wing, executive director of the LGBT group One Iowa, said in the wake of securing marriage equality in her state, working with local HIV groups to repeal her state’s HIV criminalization law has become the No. 1 legislative priority for the organization.

“Over the years, I’ve been troubled that as the face of AIDS changes, fewer and fewer LGBT organizations are engaging in this struggle,” Red Wing said. “It seems like the right thing to do, you know? Because in the early days, if it wasn’t for our people, if it wasn’t for the LGBT communities, we would not be where we are today.”

Although the Iowa Legislature is no longer in session, Red Wing said efforts are underway to move forward legislation with lawmaker reconvene in January.

“We already have laws that deal with communicable diseases, and the fact that HIV/AIDS gets this special treatment and these enhanced sentences is so draconian,” Red Wing said. “A communicable disease is a communicable disease is a communicable disease, and there should be nothing special and no enhanced sentences for people living with AIDS/HIV.”

The potential for discovering a cure for the disease has also received significant attention amid new developments from the Obama administration as part of the goal of achieving an “AIDS-free generation.”

Last week, President Obama announced he’s redirecting $100 million over the course of three years at the National Institutes for Health to an initiative with the goal of developing a cure for the disease.

“The United States should be at the forefront of new discoveries in how to put HIV into long-term remission without requiting live-long therapies, or better yet, eliminate it completely,” Obama said.

A NIH official later clarified for the Blade the $100 million will be on top of another $60 million previously directed toward the effort and comes from grants for other initiatives that have expired at the agency.

But the prospects for a cure were dealt a blow last week, following media reports that two men who had hoped they were cured of HIV after bone marrow transplants found they still had the virus.

After the two men underwent life-threatening procedures intended for cancer, they initially were virus-free as of July in four months in one case and two months in another and stopped taking their HIV medication. But doctors announced last week that virus has reemerged in their systems.

Despite the reemergence of the virus in the systems of the two men, doctors said they learned from the procedure that even if you make HIV seemingly disappear, it can hide in the body — possibly held up in the organs and inside the intestines — and reactivate.

Strub said while efforts to eliminate the disease are important, changing the way society looks at HIV/AIDS should also be a priority.

“The advocacy needs are immense, but one of the most important — to which we in the LGBT community can contribute to greatly — is in reducing stigma by supporting and empowering people with HIV and refocusing on the human rights approach, rather than just a biomedical approach, to HIV prevention.”

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Peru

Peruvian activists react to Pope Leo XIV’s election

American-born pontiff was bishop of Chiclayo

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Pope Leo XIV (Photo via Vatican News/X)

Pope Leo XIV’s election has sparked global reactions, but his appointment has struck a deeper chord in Peru.

The now-pontiff served for years as bishop of Chiclayo, a city in northern Peru. For LGBTQ leaders and activists in the country, Leo represents a figure who, while unlikely to overhaul church doctrine, could signal a shift towards a less hostile and more open Catholic Church.

“The fact that the new pope lived and served pastorally in Peru is no small thing,” said George Hale, director of Promsex, an advocacy group that is based in Lima, the Peruvian capital. “Leo XIV is deeply familiar with inequality, abuses of power, popular religiosity, and the pain of a society scarred by classism and exclusion. His support for victims of the Sodalitium scandal showed a courageous figure willing to listen when others remained silent.”

The Sodalitium of Christian Life, a Peruvian Catholic lay group implicated in cases of sexual and psychological abuse against minors, became one of the church’s worst scandals in Latin America. Leo’s direct involvement in sanctioning those responsible — and his central role in the group’s eventual dissolution — was widely viewed as a sign of his commitment to reform from within.

Former Congressman Alberto de Belaunde, one of Peru’s few openly gay political figures, also welcomed Leo’s election, describing his trajectory as “good news within the Vatican.” De Belaunde emphasized Leo’s time at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, where he served on the university’s assembly as the church’s representative.

“Unlike other pontifical universities, the PUCP is progressive and diverse,” De Belaunde said. “Monsignor Prevost always demonstrated a remarkable ability to dialogue and showed respect for differing views. That speaks volumes about both his intellectual and pastoral approach.”

The question still remains: How much could the church change under Leo’s papacy when it comes to LGBTQ rights?

“Sometimes, even just a change in tone makes a difference,” De Belaunde noted. “I grew up under the influence of Pope John Paul II and Bishop Cipriani, both known for confrontational rhetoric. When the pope says things like ‘Who am I to judge?’ — it doesn’t change doctrine, but it humanizes the discourse. And that matters.”

De Belaunde specifically referred to Pope Francis’s 2013 comments about gay priests. (The Vatican’s tone on LGBTQ and intersex issues softened under Francis’s papacy, even though church teachings on homosexuality did not change.)

“There are very conservative factions within the church, outright enemies of our rights,” said Congresswoman Susel Paredes, who is a lesbian. “But there’s also space for love of neighbor, as Jesus taught. Even if Pope Leo XIV were to chart a path toward full inclusion of LGBTQ people, resistance would remain. These things don’t change overnight.”

Paredes also highlighted Francis’s legacy — especially his vision of a synodal church. The Argentine-born pontiff who died on April 21 was Leo’s direct mentor.

“Pope Francis spoke of a church where ‘everyone, everyone, everyone’ walks together without distinction,” she said. “Leo XIV was already part of that vision when he worked in some of Peru’s poorest areas. That gives us hope and reason to watch his papacy with expectation.”

Peruvian Congresswoman Susel Paredes. (Photo courtesy of Susel Paredes)

Activists, however, are clear-eyed about the limits of symbolic change.

“He (Leo) doesn’t appear to be a hostile figure,” Hale said. “But he’s not pushing for radical reform either. He won’t lead the fight for same-sex marriage or trans rights. But his more humane tone — his closeness to those on the margins — can help de-escalate hate speech, especially in a country like ours.”

Hale also pointed to a recent gesture from the new Leo that raised concerns: His public support for the Peruvian bishops’ statement opposing a court ruling that granted Ana Estrada, a woman with a degenerative disease, the right to die with dignity through euthanasia.

“By endorsing that statement, he reaffirmed official doctrine. And while he may be compassionate, he’s still aligned with traditional positions on some key issues,” Hale said. “That’s why we insist: We’re not expecting a revolution, but a shift in tone matters.”

Peru does not recognize same-sex marriages, and transgender people lack legal protections. Expectations about Leo’s papacy remain measured because church rhetoric remains a roadblock to civil rights.

“Rights are granted by laws, and the separation of church and state must remain fundamental,” said Paredes. “That’s where progress happens, in secular legislation.”

“Yes — it’s a breath of fresh air to have a pope who doesn’t slam the door shut, who has walked with Peru’s most excluded,” she added. “That gives us encouragement to keep going.”

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Uruguay

Former Uruguayan president José Mujica dies at 89

One-time guerrilla fighter signed marriage equality law in 2012

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Then-Uruguayan President José 'Pepe' Mujica, left, and then-President Barack Obama meet in the Oval Office on May 12, 2014. (Screen capture via the Obama White House YouTube)

Former Uruguayan President José “Pepe” Mujica died on Tuesday. He was 89.

Mujica, a farmer, was a member of Tupamaros National Liberation Movement, a leftist guerrilla group that carried out bank robberies and bombings and kidnapped politicians and businessmen in the South American country during the 1960s and 1970s.

Mujica spent nearly 15 years in prison. The right-wing military dictatorship that governed Uruguay from 1973-1985 tortured him and held him in solitary confinement for a decade.

Mujica in 1989 joined the Movement of Popular Participation, a party that is part of the Broad Front, a leftist political coalition. Mujica was Uruguay’s president from 2010-2015.

Laws that extended marriage rights to same-sex couples and legalized abortion took effect in 2013 and 2012 respectively. Mujica in 2013 also signed a law that legalized recreational marijuana in Uruguay.

An LGBTQ-friendly gym near the Uruguayan Congress in Montevideo, Uruguay, on April 8, 2025. Uruguay under President José “Pepe” Mujica’s presidency became one of the most LGBTQ-friendly countries in the world. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

Mujica earlier this year announced he would not undergo further treatment for esophagus cancer that had spread to his liver. The AP notes he died in his small house outside of Montevideo, the Uruguayan capital.

“With profound pain we announced that our friend Pepe Mujica has died,” said Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi, who currently leads the Broad Front, on X. “President, activist, guide, and leader. We are going to miss you very much, dear old man. Thank you for everything that you gave us and for your profound love for your people.”

Esteban Paulón, a gay congressman in neighboring Argentina, celebrated Mujica as a “guide” for “Latin American progressivism.”

“He made humility, honesty and austerity his hallmarks,” said Paulón on social media.

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District of Columbia

Oral arguments held in Casa Ruby civil suit appeals case

Alston Foundation urges judges to overturn dismissal of ‘negligence’ lawsuit

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Ruby Corado pleaded guilty in to a single charge of wire fraud. (Washington Blade file photo by Ernesto Valle)

A three-judge panel of the D.C. Court of Appeals heard oral arguments May 7 on whether a 2023 decision by a D.C. Superior Court judge dismissing a lawsuit against seven of the eight former board members of the now-defunct Casa Ruby LGBTQ community services center should be overturned.

The Wanda Alston Foundation, an LGBTQ youth housing services group that assumed control over the operations of Casa Ruby in August 2022 under a court appointed receivership role, filed its lawsuit against the former board members in December 2022 under the Casa Ruby name.

It accuses them of violating D.C.’s nonprofit corporations’ law by failing to “hold regular meetings/or maintain official records – thereby exercising no oversight or governance over the organization.” 

Among other things, the lawsuit said the former board members failed to take steps to prevent Casa Ruby’s founder and former executive director, Ruby Corado, from embezzling large sums of Casa Ruby funds for personal use.

Corado, who was arrested in March 2024 on multiple embezzlement related charges, pleaded guilty in July 2024 to a single charge of wire fraud under a plea agreement with prosecutors. She is scheduled to be sentenced on July 29, 2025.

The lawsuit called on the court to require Corado and the former board members to pay “restitution, compensatory damages, punitive damages, receivership fees and expenses, court costs, attorneys’ fees and expenses and any other relief the court deems necessary and proper.”

In May 2023, at the request of defense attorneys, D.C. Superior Court Judge Danya A. Dayson dismissed the lawsuit against seven of the eight former board members but did not dismiss the case against Corado and one of the board members who allegedly received improper financial benefits from Corado.

Dayson stated in her dismissal decision that it was based on her interpretation of a D.C. law that members of an organization’s board of directors can only be held liable for harming an organization like Casa Ruby if they “intentionally, rather than negligently, inflicted harm on Casa Ruby.”

According to Dayson, the law in question also says board members can be held responsible for harming an organization if a “board member intentionally violated a criminal law or that the board member received some amount of money to which they were not entitled.” She states in her decision that the Alston Foundation lawsuit did not provide sufficient evidence that the seven board members committed those types of violations.

Attorneys for the Alston Foundation disputed Dayson’s interpretation of the law in their initial legal brief filed before the D.C. Court of Appeals in February 2024. Among other things, the brief argued that the Alston Foundation’s Third Interim Report in its role as Casa Ruby receiver provides sufficient evidence that the former board members are legally liable for harming Casa Ruby.

That and follow-up briefs and their oral arguments at the May 7, 2025, hearing state that the appeals court can find that the former board members “were deliberately indifferent’ or ‘willfully blind’ to the alleged wrongful conduct of the nonprofit’s executive director amounting to actual knowledge on their part that inaction would harm the non-profit, ultimately and forcibly leading to its financial inability to continue operating.”

A follow-up brief filed by Alston Foundation attorney Theodore Howard argues that the former board members violated Casa Ruby’s by-laws by conducting only one board meeting in six years.

According to the brief, that “allowed Ms. Corado to maintain complete authority over the organization, including by allowing her to unilaterally appoint new Board members” and allowed her “to maintain sole control over Casa Ruby’s bank and financial accounts, even after Ms. Corado cut off access to those accounts to anyone but herself.”

An opposing brief filed by attorney Marlin Grifith, who is representing former board member Miguel Rivera, states that the decision dismissing the lawsuit correctly interpreted the law pertaining to nonprofit corporations.

“The Superior Court did not err…,” the brief states, adding “there are no facts alleged that support a conclusion of reasonable inference that the individual board members acted with actual knowledge that their inaction would cause harm to the organization.”

Howard, the attorney representing the Alston Foundation in its role as Casa Ruby receiver, said the attorneys on both sides of the case are now waiting for the three-judge appeals court panel to issue their decision. 

If they rule in favor of Casa Ruby/Alston Foundation, the case will be sent back to the Superior Court for further proceedings on the lawsuit, Howard said. He said negotiations would likely begin for a possible out-of-court settlement.

If the appeals court rules in favor of the former board members by finding they did not intentionally and knowingly inflict harm to Casa Ruby, “then the case, at least as between Casa Ruby [via the Alston Foundation] and the former board of directors, will be over,” Howard said.

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