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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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13 years ago

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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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District of Columbia

Bowser, Office of LGBTQ Affairs announce LGBTQ+ History Month events

High Heel Race to take place Oct. 27

Published

8 hours ago

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October 5, 2026

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The annual 17th Street High Heel Race will take place in Dupont Circle on Oct. 27, 2026. It is one of the city's events that will celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs have announced they will join the local LGBTQ community in celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month throughout October.

An Oct. 2 joint statement from Bowser and the Office of LGBTQ Affairs says the celebration will include several events in partnership with D.C. LGBTQ organizations and LGBTQ businesses. It says among the events will be a “Birthday Bash” celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Office of LGBTQ Affairs.

“Throughout October, Washingtonians are invited to honor the people, places, movements, and milestones that have shaped the District’s LGBTQIA+ community and the community’s ongoing contributions to Washington, D.C.,” the statement says.

“LGBTQIA+ History Month is a reminder that our history is not simply something we look back on — it is something we continue to make,” Japer Bowles, director of the Office of LGBTQ Affairs said in the statement.

Bowles added that in celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Office of LGBTQ Affairs “we honor the generations of advocates, artists, organizers, businesses, and residents who built our community and continue to shape its future. This milestone is an opportunity to celebrate how far we have come while continuing to build a more welcoming, inclusive and connected Washington, D.C.”

Equality Forum, the Philadelphia-based group that initiated the nationwide annual LGBTQ+ History Month in October, has said it recognizes the history, achievements, and contributions of LGBTQ people and the organizations they have led to advance the rights of LGBTQ people.

The statement released by Bowser and the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs says these are among the upcoming events planned for October:

The Relationship Lab: A Healthy Relationships Series 

Join us for an engaging series exploring what makes relationships healthy and how to recognize the signs when they’re not. Facilitated by DC SAFE in partnership with MOLGBTQA (The Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs.)

MOLGBTQA Birthday Bash 
Join us for the 20th Anniversary Celebration! We will be hosting an upbeat gathering, highlighting community leaders, advocates, artists, and institutions who have advanced LGBTQIA+ progress in Washington, D.C. over the last two decades. This event will highlight key milestones and the contributions of LGBTQIA local community partners with live entertainment and free refreshments.

Mayor’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee 

Come get to know the newest members of the Mayor’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee. This diverse group of leaders, business owners, and advocates advise the mayor and Director Bowles on issues relating to DC’s LGBTQIA+ community and the Office of LGBTQ Affairs.

39th Annual 17th Street High Heel Race 

Join us for the High Heel Race, cheering the queens, kings, and our community members as they sprint down 17th Street in heels, creativity, and pure D.C. spirit. From lively drag performances to thousands of neighbors filling the street, don’t miss this D.C. night!

  • When: Tuesday, Oct. 27, 6-10 p.m.
  • Where: 17th Street between R and P Streets, N.W.
  • RSVP: s.dc.gov/2026HHR 

What appeared to be the first LGBTQ+ History Month-related event to take place in D.C., called PRIDEtoberfest, was held Saturday, Oct. 3 from noon to 11:30 p.m. at the city’s Wunder Garten outdoor beer garden and event facility at 1101 First St., N.E. A flyer announcing the event says the Capital Pride Alliance and the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs were among the event’s participants.

“We proudly attended, tabled, and I gave remarks at the Pridetoberfest this weekend,” Japer Bowles, director of the LGBTQ Affairs Office told the Blade.”

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Brazil

Transgender woman elected to Brazilian Chamber of Deputies

Thabatta Pimenta is first trans person from northeast Brazil elected to Congress

Published

10 hours ago

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October 5, 2026

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Thabatta Pimenta will represent Rio Grande do Norte state in the Brazilian Chamber of Deputi

SÃO PAULO — Voters in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Norte state on Sunday elected a transgender woman to the country’s Chamber of Deputies.

Natal Municipal Councilwoman Thabatta Pimenta, who is a member of the Green Party, won with 92,743 votes. She is the first trans woman from northeast Brazil elected to the country’s Congress.

Pimenta became emotional when she was speaking to her supporters after she won. Her brother Ryan, who has cerebral palsy, was by her side.

“This victory belongs to the people of Rio Grande do Norte,” she said. “It is a victory built from the ground up … the people themselves rose up, and you saw the result: today they elected the first female travesti federal deputy from northeast Brazil.”

Pimenta will join Erika Hilton, a travesti member of the leftist Socialism and Liberty (PSOL) party who was a sex worker before her election to the São Paulo Municipal Council, and Duda Salabert, a trans woman and fellow PSOL member from Minas Gerais state, in the Chamber of Deputies.

Hilton on Sunday won re-election with 1,596,472 votes, the most any female member of Congress has received in Brazilian history. Dudabert also won re-election with 215,192 votes.

“Thank you Minas Gerais,” said Dudabert on social media after she won re-election.

Five openly bisexual Chamber of Deputies candidates also won their races on Sunday.

• Guilherme Cortez, a PSOL member in São Paulo state

• Dandara Tonatzin, a member of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s Workers’ Party in Minas Gerais

• Anielle Franco, a Workers’ Party member in Rio de Janeiro state

• Maria Marighella, a Workers’ Party member in Bahia state

• Giovana Mondardo, a Brazilian Communist Party member in Santa Catalina state

Fabio Félix, a gay PSOL member of the Chamber of Deputies who represents the Federal District in which Brasília, the country’s capital, is located won re-election with 224,224 votes. Rick Azevedo, a gay PSOL member from Rio de Janeiro state, won his Chamber of Deputies race.

Daiana Santos, a lesbian Brazilian Communist Party member who represents Rio Grande do Sul state in the Chamber of Deputies, won re-election with 114,315 votes.

Two lesbian women won their Chamber of Deputies campaigns.

• Rosa Amorin, a Workers’ Party member from Pernambuco state

• Bella Gonçalves, a Workers’ Party member from Minas Gerais who is a member of the Belo Horizonte Municipal Council

Samanda de Lula, a lesbian Workers’ Party member, will represent Rio Grande do Norte in the Brazilian Senate.

Rio de Janeiro Municipal Councilwoman Mônica Benício, who is a PSOL member, came up short in her bid for the Senate. Her then-partner, Rio de Janeiro Municipal Councilwoman Marielle Franco, and her driver, Anderson Gomes, were assassinated on March 14, 2018.

Fabiano Contarato, a gay senator from Espíritu Santo who is a member of the Workers’ Party, also lost his re-election bid.

“I receive the election results with respect and serenity,” he said on social media. “The popular will is sovereign, and democracy must always be respected.”

Jean Wyllys is a gay former member of the Chamber of Deputies who previously represented Rio de Janeiro state. He resigned in 2019 and fled Brazil after he received death threats. Wyllys this year ran to represent São Paulo state in the Chamber of Deputies, but he did not win his race.

VoteLGBT, an organization that seeks to increase LGBTQ representation in Brazilian politics, noted 529 openly LGBTQ candidates ran in the election. The group on Sunday said 35 of them won their races across the country.

Natasha Ferreira, a Workers’ Party member, became the first travesti elected to public office in Rio Grande do Sul when she won a seat in the state’s Legislative Assembly. Voters in other states across the country also elected more than 20 LGBTQ candidates to their respective Legislative Assemblies.

• Keka Bagno, a bisexual PSOL member, was elected to the Federal District Legislative Chamber

• Açucena, a lesbian Workers’ Party member, was elected to the Espíritu Santo Legislative Assembly

• Fabricio Rosa, a gay Workers’ Party member, was elected to the Goiás Legislative Assembly

• Iza Lourença, a bisexual PSOL member, was elected to the Minas Gerais Legislative Assembly

• Tiago Botelho, a gay Workers’ Party member, was elected to the Minas Gerais Legislative Assembly

• Flávio Brasileiro, a gay Workers’ Party member, was elected to the Paraíba Legislative Assembly

• Dani Balbi, a trans Brazilian Communist Party member, was elected to the Rio de Janeiro Legislative Assembly

• Verônica Lima, a lesbian Workers’ Party member, was elected to the Rio de Janeiro Legislative Assembly

• Dani Monteiro, a bisexual PSOL member, was elected to the Rio de Janeiro Legislative Assembly

• Jean Volpato, a gay Workers’ Party member, was elected to the Santa Catarina Legislative Assembly

• Linda Brasil, a trans PSOL member, was elected to the Sergipe Legislative Assembly

• Sofia Favero, a trans PSOL member, was elected to the São Paulo Legislative Assembly

• Paula Nunes dos Santos, a bisexual PSOL member, was elected to the São Paulo Legislative Assembly

• Ediane Maria, a bisexual PSOL member, was elected to the São Paulo Legislative Assembly

• Monica das Pretas, a bisexual PSOL member, was elected to the São Paulo Legislative Assembly

• Duda Hidalgo, a bisexual Workers’ Party member, was elected to the São Paulo Legislative Assembly

• Rodrigo Mar, a bisexual Workers’ Party member, was elected to the São Paulo Legislative Assembly

• Thainara Faria, a bisexual Workers’ Party member, was elected to the São Paulo Legislative Assembly

• Keit Lima, a bisexual PSOL member, was elected to the São Paulo Legislative Assembly

Lula and Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, whose father is former President Jair Bolsonaro, will face off in the presidential election’s second round on Oct. 25.

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Brazil

Lula, Flávio Bolsonaro to face off in second round of Brazilian presidential election

Neither man received at least 50 percent of the vote on Sunday

Published

23 hours ago

on

October 4, 2026

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From left, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro. (Photo of Lula by Celso Pupo via Bigstock; screen capture of Bolsonaro via TV Celular Flavio Bolsonaro/YouTube)

SÃO PAULO — President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will face off against Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro in the second round of Brazil’s presidential election on Oct. 25 after neither man received more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round that took place on Sunday.

Bolsonaro was ahead of Lula by a 47.03-45.16 percent margin with 100 percent of the vote counted.

Lula in 2022 defeated Bolsonaro’s father, then-President Jair Bolsonaro, in that year’s presidential election.

The Brazilian Supreme Court last year sentenced Bolsonaro — who repeatedly targeted LGBTQ Brazilians and other groups while in office — to more than 27 years in prison for his role in an attempted coup that saw thousands of his supporters storm the Congress, presidential palace, and the Supreme Court itself on Jan. 8, 2023. Bolsonaro is currently serving his sentence at his home in Brasília, the country’s capital, because of his poor health. His son has pledged to pardon him if he becomes the country’s next president.

Lula, who leads Brazil’s leftist Workers’ Party, was Brazil’s president from 2003-2010.

Sergio Moro, a judge who Jair Bolsonaro later tapped as his government’s Justice and Public Security Minister, in 2017 sentenced Lula to 9 1/2 years in prison after his conviction on money laundering and corruption charges that stemmed from Operation Car Wash. 

The Supreme Court in November 2019 ordered Lula’s release.

A Brazilian Workers’ Party supporter campaigns outside a Metro station in Rio de Janeiro’s Ipanema neighborhood on Oct. 3, 2026. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva heads the party. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

VoteLGBT, an organization that seeks to increase LGBTQ representation in Brazilian politics, noted 529 openly LGBTQ candidates ran in this year’s election. More than 100 of them are either transgender or travesti.

The Washington Blade will cover the results of these races when they become available.

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