Lou Chibbaro JR, Washington Blade | Rebecca Armendariz | Oct 30
President Obama on Friday signed a bill extending for four years the Ryan White AIDS Care Act, the largest federal program providing assistance to low-income people with HIV or AIDS. At a White House ceremony attended by members of Congress and AIDS activists, the president also announced that his administration would
D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty announced Monday that Attorney General Peter Nickles has opened an investigation following reports of widespread misspending of city funds by a number of local AIDS organizations that were responsible for helping low-income people with HIV and AIDS. The announcement came after the Washington Pos
For Jodi Handin Goldman, participating in AIDS Walk Washington is a way for her to pay tribute to her late brother, Mitchell Handin, who died in 1996 of AIDS complications. It validates to me -- and then it helps me to validate to American society -- that he was a vibrant, young man and was alive and well at one time,
The Obama administration has taken a new step toward lifting the ban on HIV-positive foreign nationals entering the United States in a possible indication that a full repeal is coming soon. A memo issued last week by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services instructs officers to place on hold any green card applicatio
AIDS Walk Washington, a 5K fundraising walk to benefit the Whitman-Walker Clinic, is set for Oct. 3. Money raised from the walk helps Whitman-Walker provide health care and other supportive services to people living with HIV/AIDS. For more information about the event, including registration forms, visit www.aidswalkwas
There were several memorable moments at Monday s White House-hosted community discussion forum on HIV and AIDS in an auditorium at the University of the District of Columbia -- a young man who is thriving who contracted HIV via a blood transfusion when he was an infant, a homeless woman who dissolved into tears upon sp
Lawmakers scramble to complete bill before looming Sept. 30 expiration Democratic and Republican members of the influential House Subcommittee on Health promised this week to work out the details for reauthorizing the Ryan White federal HIV/AIDS treatment and care act before the multi-billion dollar program expires Sep
Chris Johnson, Washington Blade | Rebecca Armendariz
Judge says TGI Friday s violated Alexandria s Human Rights Code A Virginia court has ruled in favor of a gay man who says he was fired from his job at TGI Friday s because he s HIV-positive. Alexandria Circuit Court Judge Nolan Dawkins handed down the decision the decision Sept. 2, affirming the unanimous decision reac
In 1982, Richard Berkowitz, Michael Callen and Dr. Joseph Sonnabend endured being called the Jerry Falwells fo the gay community for daring to suggest that promiscuous gay men needed to modify their sexual behavior in the face of a new epidemic that was decimating the community. Berkowitz and Callen, who died of AIDS i
Having lost patients and even my partner to AIDS, I wonder why the U.S. won t fight epidemic at home NEW GOVERNMENT statistics show startling increases in HIV estimates. Shame and blame won t fix this, action and funding will. I started treating AIDS patients in the early days of the epidemic, helping so many young, fr
D.C. Appleseed, a local AIDS watchdog group, is praising Mayor Adrian Fenty s administration for continuing the city s efforts to improve its response to the AIDS epidemic, which experts say has hit the city harder than any other jurisdiction in the United States . In its fifth annual D.C. AIDS report card, released th
A high court decision handed down last week in India could decriminalize homosexuality throughout the country, whose residents comprise about 16 percent of the world s population. The ruling, issued July 2 by the High Court of New Delhi, triggered celebration among advocates of LGBT rights who believe further advances
The Obama administration has taken the first official step in lifting the regulatory ban preventing HIV-positive foreign nationals from entering the United States . The Department of Health & Human Services last week issued a proposed regulation that would end the ban. The regulation was to be posted in the Federal
An organization billing itself as Northern Virginia s largest provider of HIV/AIDS care is opening a new clinic in Arlington, Va. Inova Health System s Juniper Program was set to commemorate the opening of its new facility with a ceremony Wednesday, according to a June 11 statement from the organization. The address of
STONEWALL Karen: Let s talk a little about Stonewall. This is the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots and I am in a city where Stonewall does not exist and there are folks in this room who were not born when the Stonewall riots took place, but it is one of those mythic touch points in the timeline of our movement.
RIDE REPRESENTS AS good a time as any to pause and evaluate the state of the LGBT movement and although it’s been a momentous year (Obama’s election, marriage rights in six states) it appears that the year ahead will be a tough one. Last year, many LGBT activists, donors and voters were focused on electing Barack Obama
A national company that sells advertising to movie theater chains recently rejected an ad from Whitman-Walker Clinic because the clip included a reference to HIV, Clinic officials said this week. But National CineMedia later reversed its decision and approved the ad for distribution to D.C.-area theaters. The Clinic ad
The national AIDS advocacy group Housing Works says the D.C. HIV/AIDS Administration has failed to take adequate steps to reduce a growing waiting list for people with AIDS who qualify for subsidized housing under a joint federal-D.C. government program. Christine Campbell, Housing Works’ director of national advocacy
U.S. immigration officials have granted political asylum to a gay man from Cuba who said he would face anti-gay persecution and internment in an AIDS sanatorium because of his HIV-positive status if forced to return to his homeland. It has been determined that you are eligible for asylum in the
ATLANTA -- After decades of attempting to hide his pain in alcohol, drugs and expansive stage personalities, Elton John admits he is an expert at denying reality. Now he s accusing government and industry of ignoring the realities of the HIV pandemic. There is no question that it can be the hardest thing in the world t
Rodger McFarlane, a past leader of the nation s first organization to provide services for people with AIDS, committed suicide in New Mexico on May 15 after suffering from a debilitating back ailment and heart condition. An official with the Denver-based Gill Foundation, where McFarlane worked from 2003 to 2007 as exec
FOR GENERATIONS, THE nation s capital has proudly been home to vast numbers of black lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals. Many of these men and women have become highly influential, contributing to local and national politics, heading up socioeconomic advocacy efforts and inspiring scores of young people
Raul Hernandez, a gay man who defected from Cuba in 1993 to live in Brazil , had hoped to obtain permanent U.S. residency under the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act after he arrived in 2000. Congress passed the Cold War-era act to provide an expedited and mostly automatic approval process for Cubans seeking refuge in the
Rodger McFarlane, a leader in the 1980s of New York s Gay Men s Health Crisis, the nation s first organization to provide services for people with AIDS, took his own life in New Mexico on May 15 after suffering from a debilitating back ailment and heart condition. An official with the Denver-based Gill Foundation, wher
When the last rider finishes the AIDS Vaccine 200 on May 17, the bike ride will have collected over $500,000 in seven years. The fundraiser for AIDS research has grown every year since 2002, and with leadership from Bret Bush and several new board members, this year s 200-mile bike ride should be the largest and most s
WAS IT THE tweet heard around the world? Probably not. But it is one that has been repeated over and over again on blogs and re-tweeted literally thousands of times on Twitter. Don t believe me? Do a Google search. Mrs. Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore herself, (@mrskutcher) actually re-tweeted an iteration of it. Two weeks
President Barack Obama s proposed fiscal year 2010 budget calls for a $107 million increase in funding for domestic AIDS programs carried out through the Ryan White AIDS CARE Act and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Figures released Thursday by the Office of Management & Budget show that $53 m
President Barack Obama Monday nominated internationally recognized AIDS physician Eric Goosby of San Francisco to serve as U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator. Goosby replaces gay physician Mark Dybul, who was appointed by President George W. Bush and who has been credited with putting in place the multi-billion dollar U.S. g
Cherry Weekend used to be a weekend of decadent dances and purposeful partying to raise money for HIV/AIDS awareness and treatment. But with a economy in recession and a demographic with a wider array of interests, Cherry Weekend board members are diversifying their approaches to fundraising, outreach and programming.
Obama administration officials, including the gay director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, announced Tuesday the start of a $45 million, five-year campaign to remind Americans about the risk of HIV infection in the United States . Jeff Crowley, the White House AIDS office director, and Dr. Kevin Fent
Long after the last episode of The Real World San Francisco aired, the life of cast member Pedro Zamora comes to life once again in MTV s biopic Pedro, which premiered Wednesday. The first HIV-positive character on TV, Zamora captured the hearts of millions of viewers as a cast member of Real World, allowing cameras to
Cable Positive, an organization that uses the cable and telecommunications industry to spread awareness about HIV/AIDS, has a new project in the works. The Youth AIDS Media Institute University (YAMI-U) involves 17 young adults, ages 16 - 23, that were found through community-based service organizations in the northeas
IT SHOULD COME as no surprise to anyone that we have an HIV/AIDS epidemic in the District of Columbia. One can t fight an epidemic without a willingness to step up and speak out - every day and to every person and group. Mayor Adrian Fenty ran on a platform to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic. He kept his promise to hold a
Craig Shniderman, executive director of Food & Friends, which provides meals and nutritional services for homebound people with HIV/AIDS in the Washington, D.C. area, had the highest salary among the heads of the nation s most prominent LGBT advocacy groups and groups that provide AIDS-related services in Los Angel
The head of the D.C. region s largest provider of food services to homebound people living with AIDS received a nearly 7 percent increase in salary and benefits last year - after drawing public criticism for his pay. Craig Shniderman, executive director of Food & Friends, received $382,200 in salary and benefits in
JUST THIS WEEK, the D.C. Department of Health HIV/AIDS Administration released estimates on the number of District residents living with HIV. The numbers are jaw-dropping. According to HAA, 15,120 District residents, or 3 percent of the population, are HIV positive. To place that number in context, if D.C. were an inde
The number of reported HIV or AIDS cases in D.C. jumped 22 percent between 2006 and 2007, according to a report this week from the city s HIV/AIDS Administration. Similar to past reports on AIDS in D.C., the latest report shows that men who have sex with men, referred to in epidemiological studies as MSM, accounted for
The heads of two national LGBT civil rights groups and three national AIDS organizations joined representatives of other advocacy groups at the White House last week in expressing support for President Obama s plans for overhauling the nation s health care system. Obama s administration invited the advocacy groups alon
Two new studies show the national HIV epidemic is growing - and the numbers are especially bad locally for men who have sex with men. A report from the Centers for Disease Control & Prev-ention says Washington has the highest HIV death rate in the country, though the city s infection rate improved slightly from 200
Whitman-Walker Clinic CEO Donald Blanchon, in an exclusive interview with the Blade this week, sounded an upbeat note in the face of withering criticism from the D.C. City Council over his stewardship of the LGBT health care facility. Blanchon defended his tenure as CEO, citing the recession and other factors that have
President Barack Obama has released a summary of his proposed $3.6 trillion federal budget for fiscal year 2010 that calls for an unspecified increase in funding for domestic AIDS program, including HIV prevention efforts. The White House said the administration would release the full details of the budget, including a
Intensifying a review of operations that began last month, gay D.C. Council member David Catania is demanding new information from the financially ailing Whitman-Walker Clinic. Catania (I-At Large) sent several pages of questions to Clinic CEO Donald Blanchon on Feb. 18, less than one month after he publicly grilled Bl
President Obama today announced that he has selected a gay man to lead the White House Office of National AIDS policy. Jeffrey Crowley, a senior research scholar at Georgetown University s Health Policy Institute, will lead federal efforts in HIV/AIDS policy and help guide the administration s development of disability
Before they were laid off from the Whitman-Walker Clinic, Barbara Chinn, 64, and Pat Hawkins, 68, had contributed more than 40 years of combined service to the Clinic. To recognize their work following an abrupt Clinic exit in December, community leaders have teamed up to thank Hawkins and Chinn, both of whom are lesbi
Congressional negotiators last week agreed to drop a House-approved provision from President Obama s polarizing economic stimulus package that allocated $335 million for prevention programs to counter HIV and other communicable diseases. But officials with AIDS advocacy groups said they were hopeful that funding for HI
Obama administration officials are in the process of selecting a director for the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, a position once known as the nation s AIDS Czar. We are actively interviewing to begin hiring for the Office of National AIDS Policy, said Melody Barnes, director of the White House Domestic Pol
Some see an HIV diagnosis as an ending, but Justin Smith saw his as a beginning. Smith, who lives in Laurel, Md., used the opportunity to launch Justin s HIV Journal blog - at justinshivjournal.blogspot.com - a public and honest description of what life with HIV entails. Smith said he hopes the blog will curtail people
ONE OF THE changes Americans got when we put Barack Obama in office was increased attention to HIV/AIDS. And President Obama has been swift to act; he has included as a goal in his agenda the adoption of a comprehensive national strategy for fighting AIDS within the first year of his administration. This is the first t
PRESIDENT OBAMA PLANS a massive two-year stimulus to save jobs, develop alternative energy and repair our failing infrastructure. America s domestic HIV epidemic merits the same high level of commitment. The U.S. is at war with AIDS on the home front. We are losing this war. In the gay community, among blacks, and in W
Responding to mounting pressure from Republicans, Senate Democratic leaders and the Obama administration agreed last Friday to drop a $400 million spending provision from the president s economic stimulus plan that would have funded HIV prevention programs. The provision was packaged by supporters as a sexually transmi
After accusing Whitman-Walker Clinic CEO Donald Blanchon of exhibiting gross negligence in running the health care facility, gay D.C. Council member David Catania is preparing to publicly grill Blanchon a second time. Catania (I-At Large) joined other Council members last week to aggressively question Blanchon regardin
Whitman-Walker Clinic s chief executive officer took a beating Wednesday from D.C. Council member David Catania (I-At-Large) during a contentious public oversight hearing. Catania pointedly accused Donald Blanchon, the Clinic s chief executive officer, of demonstrating gross negligence during his time at the helm of th
The State Department confirmed Friday that President Barack Obama has decided to replace gay physician Mark Dybul, coordinator of the U.S. Global AIDS office. The development comes just a week after Dybul, whose position holds the status of an ambassador, reportedly was asked to rescind his resignation and stay in his
President Barack Obama has decided to remove Mark Dybul from his position as the coordinator of the U.S. Global AIDS office, according to two sources who spoke to the Blade on condition of anonymity. The sources claim that Obama s senior advisers were concerned about the negative reaction from some AIDS activists and r
Editor s note: This Q&A with Barack Obama was originally published in September 2008. Washington Blade: What personal experiences or friendships in your life have shaped how you view gay issues? Barack Obama: Michelle and I have been blessed with many openly gay and lesbian friends and colleagues whom we have been
The history books will likely remember George W. Bush as a president who disregarded any personal support he may have had for equal rights for gays by siding with the anti-gay, socially conservative wing of the Republican Party for purposes of political expediency. That s the assessment of a number of key players in th
President-elect Barack Obama will retain physician Mark Dybul, the Bush administration s gay coordinator of the U.S. Global AIDS office, and soon name at least three other gays to high-level administration jobs, according to sources familiar with his presidential transition team. Dybul, who holds the rank of a U.S. amb
President-elect Barack Obama has asked gay physician Mark Dybul to remain in his job as U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator for an undetermined period of time, according to an e-mail message Dybul sent to his staff on Jan. 9. Dybul, who holds the rank of a U.S. ambassador, became one of President Bush s highest ranking gay ap
This information is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.