Connect with us

District of Columbia

Racine leads attorneys general challenge of Fla. ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed statute earlier this year

Published

on

D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine (Photo courtesy of the Racine campaign)

D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine announced that he is leading a coalition of 18 other states’ attorneys general opposing Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law.

Racine, alongside New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the attorneys general from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington, filed an amicus curiae brief last week in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Division of Florida.

The brief makes two main points

  • Floridaā€™s law is unconstitutional. Although Florida claims the act is intended to protect children and preserve parental choice, the attorneys general have curricula in place that allow for age-appropriate discussion of LGBTQ+ issues while respecting parental views on the topic.  
     
  • The law is causing significant harms to students, parents, teachers, and other states. Non-inclusive educational environments have severe negative health impacts on LGBTQ+ students, resulting in increased rates of mental health disorders and suicide attempts. These harms extend to youth not just in Florida, but throughout the country. 

ā€œMy office has a strong track record of fighting for LGBTQ+ rights in the District and across the country to make sure that everyone can simply be who they are and love who they love,ā€ said Racine in a press release. ā€œFloridaā€™s law offers no benefit to anyone and in fact puts children and families in harmā€™s way. We will continue to use all of our authority to help strike down this law and any other hateful, discriminatory policies that threaten peopleā€™s fundamental freedoms.ā€ 

The attorneys general also contend that the ā€œDonā€™t Say Gayā€ law is causing, by example, significant harm to students, parents and teachers in other states.

This brief challenges the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which outlaws ā€œclassroom instructionā€ on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade entirely.

The law also requires that the state education agency write new classroom instructions for standards that must be followed by grades 4-12. But the law does not define many of its key terms, like ā€œclassroom instruction,ā€ so Florida teachers are already censoring themselves out of fear of the law. Indeed, the law allows a parent to bring a civil claim against a school district to enforce its vague prohibitions.

 

Advertisement
FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM
SIGN UP FOR E-BLAST

District of Columbia

Whitman-Walker names new CEO for Health System unit

Heather Aaron credited with advancing LGBTQ health for seniors

Published

on

Heather Aaron (Photo courtesy Whitman-Walker)

Whitman-Walker Health, D.C.ā€™s longtime LGBTQ and HIV health services provider, announced on March 26 that it has appointed Heather Aaron, a health care educator and executive for more than 30 years, as the new CEO for Whitman-Walker Health System.

Whitman-Walker Health System, a division of Whitman-Walker, among other things, advances the mission of Whitman-Walker through expanding its financial and fundraising capacity through the Whitman-Walker Foundation; the Whitman-Walker Institute, which conducts HIV-related research; and the Whitman-Walker Health System Real Property Holdings, according to a write-up on the Whitman-Walker website.

In a press release announcing the appointment, Whitman-Walker Health System Board Chair Ann Bonham called Aaron a ā€œdynamic and collaborative leader that will help us to realize the vision and full potential of our health system ā€¦ building revenue and growth opportunities that will further Whitman-Walkerā€™s care, advocacy, education, and research goals in partnership with Naseema Shafi, CEO of Whitman-Walker Health.ā€

The Whitman-Walker Health System CEO position became open in April 2023 when former Health System CEO Dr. Ryan Moran left the position to become Deputy Secretary of Health and Healthcare Finance for the State of Maryland. Whitman-Walker named Cindy Lewin, a healthcare specialist with nonprofit organizations, as interim CEO while it conducted a national search for a permanent CEO.

ā€œHeather has spent her entire career in health care, making a difference for the communities where she has served as Health Care Executive and Educator for more than thirty years,ā€ the Whitman-Walker announcement of her appointment says. ā€œShe has worked tirelessly to develop diversity, equity, and inclusion in all her work,ā€ it says, adding that her work experience includes services for members of the LGBTQ community and people with HIV/AIDS.

ā€œIn Connecticut, she operated the only continuum of care model which included a nursing home, independent living apartments and case management in one centralized community,ā€ the announcement continues. ā€œThe care model was specifically designed for people living with HIV and AIDS,ā€ it says. 

ā€œIā€™m thrilled to be joining the Whitman-Walker family in service to the community,ā€ Aaron said in the announcement press release. ā€œI look forward to getting to know staff, patients, and engaging with D.C. in a meaningful way,ā€ she said. 

Continue Reading

District of Columbia

Howard University, Gilead working to encourage HIV prevention

ā€˜A strategic, community-centered approach to address systemic disparitiesā€™

Published

on

Howard University earlier this month hosted an event to support efforts in the Washington, D.C. area to spread HIV/AIDS awareness.

The event highlighted a collaboration between Howard University and Gilead Sciences’ new Setting the P.A.C.EĀ  (Prevention ā€“ Arts and Advocacy ā€“ Community ā€“ Education)Ā  initiative, which addresses HIV prevention, health equity and anti-stigma efforts for both cisgender and transgender Black women and girls.Ā 

ā€œBy taking a strategic, community-centered approach to address systemic disparities and improve overall health outcomes, Gilead continues its commitment to advancing health equity for Black cisgender and transgender women and girls in the U.S. who continue to be disproportionately impacted by the HIV epidemic,ā€ said Deborah H. Telman, executive vice president of Corporate Affairs and General Counsel, Gilead Sciences. 

Gilead’s Setting the P.A.C.E. Initiative is a three-year, $10 million commitment to increase HIV prevention, anti-stigma and health equity efforts for Black cisgender and transgender women and girls in the United States. Howard is one of Setting the P.A.C.E.ā€™s grantees and through the program, it conducts HIV prevention training and informational resources, arts and advocacy, community and nonprofit capacity building, and education.

In 2021, Black women accounted for 53% of new HIV diagnoses among women aged 16 and older in the United States, despite comprising only 14% of the women living in the country, according to the Centers for Diseases Control & Prevention. Additionally, Black transgender women are likelier to be diagnosed with HIV and are likelier, more than their peers, to go undiagnosed and untreated. 

Through Setting the P.A.C.E., high-impact organizations and projects working to improve the HIV landscape receive specialized help that assists them in tackling barriers to equitable HIV health outcomes, and in receiving funding to support a variety of impactful projects to expand programs that provide culturally responsive HIV care training and leverage arts and media to engage local communities and address stigma. 

Because of the urgency of HIV awareness in the Black queer community, more than 75% of the organizations selected for P.A.C.E grants are led by Black women. Funding is directed toward initiatives spearheaded by Black women.

ā€œGileadā€™s Setting the P.A.C.E. initiative will help empower organizations to expand custom programs tailored toward fighting stigma and expanding access to HIV care in their communities,ā€ said Telman. 

Continue Reading

District of Columbia

D.C. Council member proposes LGBTQ senior housing in Ward 2

Calls on mayor to include funding for project in FY 2025 budget

Published

on

D.C. Council member Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) seeks to establish the cityā€™s ā€˜first affordable housing for LGBTQQIA+ seniors in Ward 2.ā€™

D.C. Council member Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) is calling on Mayor Muriel Bowser to include $22.9 million in the cityā€™s Fiscal Year 2025 budget to establish what Pinto calls the cityā€™s ā€œfirst affordable housing for LGBTQQIA+ seniors in Ward 2.ā€

In a Feb. 27 letter to Bowser proposing specific amounts of city funding on a wide range of issues, including the Councilā€™s recently passed crime bill, Pinto told Bowser the need for affordable housing for LGBTQ seniors is pressing.

ā€œHaving faced decades of workplace and healthcare discrimination and been barred for most of their lives from marrying or having children, our LGBTQQIA+ seniors are more likely to face financial and health challenges and need housing and social supports as they age,ā€ Pinto states in her letter.

ā€œAs the Council-funded task force meets to identify a site for a Ward 2 Senior Center, we should endeavor to locate a building that serves a dual purpose: a Ward 2 Senior Center as well as LGBTQQIA+ senior housing,ā€ Pinto states. DHCD [D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development] should leverage federal Community Development Block Grants funding to produce at least 80 affordable units for low-and-moderate-income seniors and provide meals and other supportive services,ā€ she wrote.

Pinto was referring to legislation passed by the D.C. Council and signed by the mayor creating a Wards 2 and 3 Senior Wellness Center Feasibility and Planning Task Force, which is assigned to ā€œadvise and guideā€ the mayor, the Council, and other city government agencies in the development of  senior wellness centers in Wards 2 and 3.

The task force, whose members are appointed by the mayor and the Council, has already met twice and has discussed one possible building in the Dupont Circle area that could be considered for a seniors wellness center and residence for seniors, according to John Fanning, a member of the staff of D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At-Large). Bonds serves as chair of the Councilā€™s Committee on Executive Administration and Labor, which oversees city programs pertaining to senior citizens.

Fanning, who is gay and a longtime D.C. LGBTQ rights advocate, and gay D.C. civic activist and former Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Mike Silverstein, are among those who have been appointed to the senior wellness center task force.

Silverstein said LGBTQ community members in the Dupont Circle area are suggesting the task force and the mayor consider arranging for the city to purchase a building owned by Baltimoreā€™s Johns Hopkins University at 1740 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., for the senior facility.

The university used the building for many years for its various educational programs before it moved its programs and offices into a newly renovated building on Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., near the U.S. Capitol.

ā€œSince the mayorā€™s budget hasnā€™t been released yet, thereā€™s no telling whether thereā€™s dedicated funding included for the purchase of this property,ā€ Fanning told the Washington Blade.

A spokesperson for Johns Hopkins Universityā€™s D.C. office couldnā€™t immediately be reached to determine the price the university is asking for the building, which it announced last year it was planning to sell. The D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue states on its website that the 8-story building has been assessed for 2024 at a value of $35,894,220.

ā€œCouncil member Pintoā€™s request to the mayor is a vitally important first step toward establishment of LGBT+ affirmative housing in the historic epicenter of our community,ā€ Silverstein told the Blade. ā€œThe need is clear, as so many of our seniors are struggling to age in place with soaring rents and inflation eating away at savings or just dealing with the effects of social isolation that comes with the loss of a partner or close friends,ā€ Silverstein said.

ā€œThereā€™s no question the Districtā€™s budget is very tight and this project as envisioned would be a very heavy lift,ā€ Silverstein added. ā€œBut just putting this request on the table and perhaps setting up a task force to seek a way forward is a giant step forward,ā€ he said.

Silverstein noted that a city-funded senior housing facility under existing law would have to be open to all city seniors, not just LGBTQ seniors, but he said it would be ā€œLGBT+ affirmative,ā€ making it an important and welcoming place for LGBTQ seniors.

News surfaced this week that Bowser, who had planned to release her budget proposal to the Council this week, needed more time to finalize the budget and it would be released sometime later.

Mayoral spokesperson Daniel Gleick told the Blade last week that ideas like the Pinto LGBTQ-supportive housing proposal would be part of the budget process discussions by the mayor and the Council in the coming weeks. 

Pintoā€™s proposal for an LGBTQ-supportive senior housing facility in Ward 2 comes six months after Mayor Bowser and other city officials participated in a groundbreaking ceremony launching the construction of Maryā€™s House for Older Adults, which is expected to be the cityā€™s first home for LGBTQ seniors. The Maryā€™s House facility, which is located in the cityā€™s Fort Dupont neighborhood in Ward 7, will include 15 single-occupancy residential apartments, compared to the 80 apartments that Pintoā€™s proposal calls for.

LGBTQ rights advocates nevertheless have called the Maryā€™s House Project, which is receiving city funds as well as support from private donors, an important project organized and founded by longtime LGBTQ community advocate Imani Woody, who is expected to operate the facility when it opens. 

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement

Sign Up for Weekly E-Blast

Follow Us @washblade

Advertisement

Popular