National
Will Obama speak at Int’l AIDS conference?
President hasn’t yet responded to invitation to attend
Advocates are calling on President Obama to deliver remarks on combatting the HIV/AIDS epidemic at the upcoming International AIDS Conference in Washington, noting the White House hasn’t yet to responded to an invitation for him to speak at the event.
Those calling on Obama to speak at the 19th International AIDS Conference for 2012 — which will take place in D.C. starting the week of July 22 — say the president should take the opportunity to highlight his administration’s work to combat the disease.
Whether the president will make an appearance remains in question. Adina Ellis, a spokesperson for the conference, said Obama has been officially invited to speak at and said the White House has acknowledged the invitation, but as of Monday conference officials “still have not received confirmation” on whether he’ll attend.
Carl Schmid, deputy executive director of the AIDS Institute, said he wants the president to take the opportunity to speak and “announce to the world that we are going to begin to end AIDS” and the ways in which that will happen.
“I think it would be very important for the president of the United States … to make a strong announcement that it is the policy of the United States that we’re going to end AIDS in the United States, and this is what I’m going to do to do it,” Schmid said. “We are looking for his strong affirmation. This is the place to do it; the eyes of the world are looking at this International AIDS conference.”
Schmid acknowledged the president has “a lot of competing interests” for his time.
“I don’t see why there should be any reluctance for them to attend,” Schmid said. “I think most people are expecting him and wanting him to attend, and I think it would be not a good sign if he did not come.”
The conference is taking place within the United States for the first time since 1990 thanks in part to the work of the Obama administration. The lifting of the HIV travel ban, which previously had prevented foreign nationals with HIV from coming into the United States, enabled international participants who may have HIV to come into the United States for the conference.
Brian Hujdich, executive director of the AIDS non-profit HealthHIV, said he wants Obama to speak at the conference to discuss ways in which health care reform will help HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment now that the Supreme Court has upheld the law’s constitutionality.
“I think the president could speak very meaningfully to what access to health insurance really means to people with HIV, including preventing HIV by having prevention programs and testing efforts in primary care settings, so that we can be both helping prevent HIV as well as ensuring the best quality care for all those with HIV,” Hujdich said.
Hujdich said he doesn’t know why Obama has yet to accept the invitation, but would be “shocked” if the president didn’t attend and speculated the administration was waiting for the Supreme Court ruling on health care “so the messaging and communication on [health care reform] implementation would be enhanced” before confirming attendance.
Last week, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said under questioning from the Washington Blade that he has no updates on Obama’s schedule when asked if the president would speak at the conference in D.C.
“I appreciate the question, but I do not have a scheduling update for you,” Carney said.
High-ranking members of the Obama administration are slated to address the conference, including Secretary of Health & Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and Eric Goosby, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator. Other high-profile speakers include former President Bill Clinton, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and singer Elton John, who founded the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
Despite general praise for his work on HIV/AIDS, Obama’s record isn’t without criticism, particularly in the global fight against the epidemic — an area where some critics have questioned whether former President George W. Bush accomplished more than his successor.
In his budget request for fiscal year 2013, Obama bumped up domestic spending for HIV/AIDS work, including a $102 million increase in funds for the Ryan White AIDS Drug Assistance Program from the previous year’s allocation of $1 billion. But the request cut the administration’s signature program in the global AIDS fight, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, by more than a half billion dollars, or almost 13 percent.
Bush established PEPFAR to provide anti-retroviral treatment to people with AIDS overseas. The HIV Medicine Association criticized the cut when the request was made public, saying the amount allocated “falls short” of support needed, although the White House contended at the time the administration was doing more with less funding and the cost of providing treatment for AIDS patients has fallen 50 percent since 2008.
Carney denied any connection between the cut in PEPFAR funds and any apparent hesitation in accepting the invitation to speak at the conference out of fear the president wouldn’t be well-received by global AIDS activists during his speech as a result of these cuts.
“Again, you’re connecting things, and I just don’t have an update for you on the president’s schedule,” Carney said.
Hujdich, who’s been at each conference since their start in Amsterdam 20 years ago, said attendees may take the opportunity to push Obama to do more in the global AIDS effort because the purpose of the conference is to mobilize people, including the president, to act — even though the president’s record on HIV/AIDS is considered substantial.
“I’m sure there will be some that will feel the need to criticize the president and be negative, but I firmly believe that would be a minority of the attendees,” Hujdich said.”That would come with the territory, but I still believe, all things considered, he is well regarded by the HIV community domestically and internationally.”
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly spelled the name of Brian Hujdich and called HealthHIV an AIDS research organization. The Blade regrets the error.
Federal Government
US Census Bureau testing survey on LGBTQ households
Agency proposing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity
The U.S. Census Bureau is seeking public comment on a proposed test of sexual orientation and gender identity questions on the American Community Survey. The test would begin this summer and continue into next year.
The Census Bureau published the request as a Federal Register notice. In its press release the agency noted that the ACS is an ongoing survey that collects detailed housing and socioeconomic data. It allows the Census Bureau to provide timely and relevant housing and socioeconomic statistics, even for low levels of geography.
As part of the process for adding new questions to the ACS, the Census Bureau tests potential questions to evaluate the quality of the data collected.
The Census Bureau proposes testing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity to meet the needs of other federal agencies that have expressed interest in or have identified legal uses for the information, such as enforcing civil rights and equal employment measures.
The test would follow the protocols of the actual ACS — with one person asked to respond to the survey on behalf of the entire household. These particular questions are asked about people 15 years of age or older. Households are invited to respond to the survey online, by paper questionnaire or by phone.
The current Federal Register notice gives the public a final opportunity to provide feedback before the Census Bureau submits its recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget for approval. The public may provide feedback through May 30 online.
The White House
Judy Shepard to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Nancy Pelosi is also among this year’s honorees
Beloved LGBTQ advocate Judy Shepard is among the 19 honorees who will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the U.S., the White House announced on Friday.
The mother of Matthew Shepard, who was killed in 1998 in the country’s most notorious anti-gay hate crime, she co-founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation with her husband Dennis to raise awareness about anti-LGBTQ violence.
The organization runs education, outreach, and advocacy programs, many focused on schools.
In a statement shared via the Human Rights Campaign, Shepard said, “This unexpected honor has been very humbling for me, Dennis, and our family. What makes us proud is knowing our President and our nation share our lifelong commitment to making this world a safer, more loving, more respectful, and more peaceful place for everyone.
“I am grateful to everyone whose love and support for our work through the years has sustained me.
“If I had the power to change one thing, I can only dream of the example that Matt’s life and purpose would have shown, had he lived. This honor reminds the world that his life, and every life, is precious.”
Shepard was instrumental in working with then-President Barack Obama for passage of the landmark Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009, which was led in the House by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who will also be honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom during the ceremony on Friday.
Also in 2009, Shepard published a memoir, “The Meaning of Matthew: My Son’s Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed,” and was honored with the Black Tie Dinner Elizabeth Birch Equality Award.
“Judy Shepard has been a champion for equality and President Biden’s choice to honor her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom is a testament to what she’s done to be a force of good in the world,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a statement.
“A mother who turned unspeakable grief over the loss of her son into a decades-long fight against anti-LGBTQ+ hatred and violence, Judy continues to make a lasting impact in the lives of the LGBTQ+ community,” she said.
“It is because of her advocacy that the first federal hate crimes legislation became law and that countless life-saving trainings, resources and conversations about equality and acceptance are provided each year by the Matthew Shepard Foundation,” Robinson said. “We are honored that Judy is a member of the HRC family and know that her work to create a more inclusive and just world will only continue.”
Other awardees who will be honored by the White House this year are: Actor Michelle Yeoh, entrepreneur and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Jesuit Catholic priest Gregory Boyle, Assistant House Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), former Labor and Education Secretary and former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), journalist and former daytime talkshow host Phil Donahue, World War II veteran and civil rights activist Medgar Evers (posthumous), former Vice President Al Gore, civil rights activist and lawyer Clarence B. Jones, former Secretary of State and U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), former U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) (posthumous), Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, educator and activist Opal Lee, astronaut and former director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center Ellen Ochoa, astronomer Jane Rigby, United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero, and Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe (posthumous).
National
United Methodist Church removes 40-year ban on gay clergy
Delegates also voted for other LGBTQ-inclusive measures
The United Methodist Church on Wednesday removed a ban on gay clergy that was in place for more than 40 years, voting to also allow LGBTQ weddings and end prohibitions on the use of United Methodist funds to “promote acceptance of homosexuality.”
Overturning the policy forbidding the church from ordaining “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” effectively formalized a practice that had caused an estimated quarter of U.S. congregations to leave the church.
The New York Times notes additional votes “affirming L.G.B.T.Q. inclusion in the church are expected before the meeting adjourns on Friday.” Wednesday’s measures were passed overwhelmingly and without debate. Delegates met in Charlotte, N.C.
According to the church’s General Council on Finance and Administration, there were 5,424,175 members in the U.S. in 2022 with an estimated global membership approaching 10 million.
The Times notes that other matters of business last week included a “regionalization” plan, which gave autonomy to different regions such that they can establish their own rules on matters including issues of sexuality — about which international factions are likelier to have more conservative views.
Rev. Kipp Nelson of St. Johns’s on the Lake Methodist Church in Miami shared a statement praising the new developments:
“It is a glorious day in the United Methodist Church. As a worldwide denomination, we have now publicly proclaimed the boundless love of God and finally slung open the doors of our church so that all people, no matter their identities or orientations, may pursue the calling of their hearts.
“Truly, all are loved and belong here among us. I am honored to serve as a pastor in the United Methodist Church for such a time as this, for our future is bright and filled with hope. Praise be, praise be.”
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