Local
Will health reform make AIDS groups obsolete?
HIV clinics face new competition as clients obtain insurance by 2014
‘Health care reform has been a real motivator around us improving the quality of what we do because we know we’re going to have to get better,’ said Don Blanchon, executive director of Whitman-Walker Clinic. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
When the AIDS epidemic burst on the scene in the 1980s, a cadre of volunteers –many from the LGBT community — emerged to provide compassionate and dedicated care for the sick and dying, services that government agencies and existing charitable groups were not providing.
Since that time, the mostly volunteer-driven, community-based AIDS clinics and advocacy groups created back then have evolved into professionally run facilities receiving millions of dollars in state and federal funds. Like the Whitman-Walker Clinic in D.C., many of the clinics and advocacy groups provide a vast array of services for people with HIV and AIDS, most of whom can’t afford private health insurance.
But in March, Congress approved and President Obama signed into law a sweeping health care reform measure called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Obama administration officials say it will result in more than 94 percent of all Americans being covered by some form of private or public health insurance by 2014.
Although most AIDS activists and officials with local and national AIDS organizations have hailed the health care reform measure as an unprecedented benefit to people with HIV and AIDS, some believe the law could prompt large numbers of patients to leave the community-based clinics and seek medical care elsewhere.
With a possible loss of clients, community AIDS clinics would be in jeopardy of losing government funding, which is based on the number of clients served. It would be ironic, some have said, if the benefits of healthcare reform result in the closing of community institutions that have served people with AIDS during a time of need.
“The LGBT community and people living with HIV are going to have options that they may not have now,” said Don Blanchon, executive director of the Whitman-Walker Clinic, which has served people with HIV and AIDS since the epidemic began.
“And so for us, health care reform has been a real motivator around us improving the quality of what we do because we know we’re going to have to get better,” Blanchon said. “We know at some point in time almost every District resident is going to have some type of public or private insurance, which means they, in theory, are going to be able to go to a lot of different places for their care.”
Blanchon noted that a financial crisis that Whitman-Walker faced four years ago forced it to take steps that have placed it in an excellent position to flourish under the health care reform law. The Clinic’s board hired Blanchon, a managed care expert, to help the Clinic survive at a time when private donations and fundraising efforts were faltering.
With the board’s full approval and over the objections of some of the Clinic’s longtime supporters and volunteers, Blanchon transformed the Clinic from a volunteer model operation into a managed care type facility with the status known as a “federally qualified health center look alike.”
According to Blanchon and other Clinic officials, the new status enables the Clinic to accept a greater number of Medicaid patients as well as patients with a wide range of private health insurance. Patients covered by these programs allow the Clinic to obtain reimbursement for its services by doctors, its own pharmacy, and other service providers, eliminating the need to rely more on private donors.
Unlike other community-based AIDS clinics, Whitman-Walker will be in an excellent position to take on new patients or retain its existing ones as the new health care reform measure enables the majority of patients to obtain private insurance or Medicaid.
Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, all lower income individuals, including people with HIV, will be eligible for Medicaid coverage if they fall below 133 percent of the federal poverty level, where an individual has an income of about $15,000 a year or lower.
Under current federal law, low-income people with full-blown AIDS are already eligible for Medicaid coverage. For years, Congress has declined to pass legislation proposed by AIDS advocacy groups calling for Medicaid coverage for low-income people with HIV, with the intent of providing medical services to prevent them from advancing to AIDS.
The new law makes that legislation unnecessary after 2014, when the Medicaid provision takes effect.
Jeffrey Crowley, director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, calls the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act one of the nation’s most significant advances for the care and treatment for people with HIV/AIDS.
“It will fundamentally expand access to insurance coverage for people living with HIV,” he said. “Much of that will be through the mandatory expansion of the Medicaid program.”
He said that similar to all Americans, people with HIV will also be eligible for private insurance coverage through a variety of options based on their income. Among the options will be the purchase of insurance coverage through competitive insurance exchanges. He noted that by 2014, no insurance company can deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions such as HIV or other illnesses.
Keith Maley, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which will administer most of the provisions of the new health care law, said people with HIV and other illnesses could be immediately eligible for private insurance coverage through high-risk pools.
Those eligible for the immediate coverage must show that they have had no health insurance coverage for six consecutive months, have a chronic health condition, and are not eligible for employer provided insurance or Medicaid.
Crowley noted that the new law has other immediate benefits for people with HIV and other chronic health conditions. As of July 1, private health insurers can no longer use a rescission, a practice that cancels a policy when someone gets sick and needs expensive treatment.
He said the law also immediately prohibits insurers from imposing a lifetime “cap” on insurance benefits. Annual limits on coverage or benefits will end in 2014, he said.
Crowley, a gay man who previously worked for the National Association of People with AIDS before joining the White House staff, said he expects most community-based AIDS clinics and local and national AIDS advocacy organizations to continue to exist after the health care law is fully implemented in 2014. However, he said most will have to change the way they do business.
“I think we know from our experience with HIV that we’ve built up a great HIV workforce,” he said. “We have a lot of expertise. I want to make sure as we build and expand an insurance system through the Affordable Care Act that these HIV medical providers are making sure that they’re part of this new system.”
“Some of them might only receive funding through the Ryan White programs, and I would say they need to look at their future and say that they need to be part of the new insurance system,” he said. “But there’s no question that we’re going to need their expertise and commitment at providing medical care going forward.”
Crowley’s reference to the Ryan White CARE Act, the largest existing federal program created to provide care for low-income people with HIV/AIDS, is expected to change significantly following the full implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to officials with a number of national AIDS groups.
Nearly everyone, including Crowley, agrees that the Ryan White program should remain, but most likely in a scaled back form. Congress passed the act in the 1990s as a means of helping cities and states that were grappling with the enormous burden of providing care for people with HIV/AIDS who lacked health insurance coverage and were overwhelming local and state hospitals and health care facilities.
Carl Schmid, director of federal affairs for the AIDS Institute, a national advocacy organization; Michael Weinstein, executive director of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the nation’s largest AIDS-related medical care provider; and Jose Zuniga, executive director of the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care, each said they believe the Ryan White program will be needed for at least some services the new law does not provide.
“It will not solve all of our access issues,” said Schmid of the new health care measure.
Weinstein said that state programs to expand health insurance have been slow to enroll as many people as expected for a variety of reasons, some bureaucratic in nature.
“So I wouldn’t expect an overnight change in 2014,” he said, pointing to a need to keep the Ryan White program operating for some time after 2014.
Weinstein said that in some states, including California, Medicaid reimbursement for medical services is far lower than that provided by private insurance companies. He predicted that people with HIV or AIDS who obtain coverage under the new law through Medicaid might be turned away by private doctors who declined to take all Medicaid patients.
“The reimbursement that we receive from Medicaid or from private insurance is far below our cost and far below what we get from Ryan White,” he said of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “So we will suffer a hit in that regard as well as most providers.”
Weinstein said his organization has a wide variety of income streams and the lower reimbursements under the new law “won’t be a fatal blow to us.”
Blanchon of Whitman-Walker said the benefits of the new law greatly outweigh its possible shortfalls.
“Health care reform is going to be a real help to our patients and clearly to the Clinic because more of our patients are going to be insured under more comprehensive benefit programs,” he said.
“And what that means at the end of the day is the Clinic is not going to have to shell out as much free care. So we’re going to be in a position to be able to offer more services to more patients and keep them healthy, and ultimately that’s what we’re here for.”
District of Columbia
Over 2,000 turn out for Hands Around the Kennedy Center protest
Drag performer Tara Hoot serves as MC, Gay Men’s Chorus of DC performs, attendees shout for Trump to keep ‘hands off’ Kennedy Center
More than 2,000 supporters of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts turned out on Sept. 18, for a rally in support of the performing arts center and a vocal protest against President Donald Trump’s threats to permanently close the center and possibly demolish it.
The event was organized by a group called Hands Off the Arts, which initially called for participants to form a “human chain” around the Kennedy Center’s main building following a rally on the plaza in front of the building.
However, due to a decision by the Trump-controlled Kennedy Center’s board of trustees to close the center earlier in the week and install fencing around part of the building, participants could only form the chain around part of the building, according to organizers.
Drag performer Tara Hoot, who co-organized the event and served as master of ceremonies for the rally preceding the “human chain,” said the large turnout could have fully surrounded the building at least twice had the fencing not prevented a full encirclement.
Among the musicians and singing groups that performed at the rally was the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, which, like other rally performers, had performed at the Kennedy Center in past years. They drew loud applause after singing one of their favorite songs from the Broadway musical show Ragtime, which includes the lyrics, “Will justice be demanded by 10 million men? Make them hear you. When they hear you, I’ll be near you again.”
View on Threads
Prior to their performance, Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington’s artistic director, Thea Kano, spoke at the rally, reminding participants that shortly after the Trump takeover of the center last year, Kennedy Center officials cancelled a concert the chorus was scheduled to perform there for World Pride 2025.
A Kennedy Center spokesperson said the cancellation was due to a scheduling conflict, but chorus members and LGBTQ activists believe it resulted from policies put in place by Trump and his leadership team at the Kennedy Center following Trump’s statements that he would end controversial “woke” performances that he claimed the majority of Americans disapprove of.
“Now this building sits empty in silence,” Kano told the crowd at the rally. “Let us raise our voices together and bring back the Kennedy Center as it was intended, a place where American culture could be celebrated and elevated, embracing the vibrancy with the spectrum of identify without censure and without politics,” she said.
Among the others who spoke at the rally were U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), and D.C. Councilmember Robert White (D-At-Large).
Most speakers, along with LGBTQ participants in the hands-around-the-building event expressed strong opposition to Trump’s demand that the Kennedy Center name be changed from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
At Trump’s request, his appointed board initially made that name change and placed Trump’s name on the front wall of the building along with the Kennedy name. But following legal action taken by opponents who pointed out that Congress must approve such a name change, a judge ordered the removal of Trump’s name from the building. Trump has said he will take steps to reverse that order and has said he will stop plans to renovate the Kennedy Center building and possibly demolish it if his name is not restored in the Kennedy’s Center’s official name.
Throughout the Sept. 18 rally, LGBTQ participants repeatedly responded to the Trump threats by shouting, “Hands Off!”
Chris Raleigh, one of the founders of Hands Off the Arts and a lead organizer of the Sept. 18 event at the Kennedy Center who spoke at the event told the Washington Blade that more similar events are being planned and he welcomes the support the event has received from the LGBTQ community.
“The LGBTQ community was here first, and we’re following them,” he said. “They’ve been the spearhead; they’ve been the vanguard. And I’m so thankful for heroes like Tara Hoot,” he said, adding, “It’s because they know what it means and how this is a safe place – the theater – for many LGBTQ people.”
The DMV’s own furry group was on full display on the Metro on Sept. 12.
Shutterpaws is a volunteer-led 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Maryland.
The furry group has been doing the FurRide event since 2024 and has blown up in popularity for furries around DMV. They showcased themselves on the Silver and Blue Lines near the Smithsonian on Sept. 12.
“A lot of careful planning goes into running these events, with the goal being a seamless and enjoyable experience for everyone who attends,” says Zayre, a Shutterpaws staff member. “There’s a lot that you learn just by trial and error, and as Shutterpaws hosts more and more events, our team of event organizers continues to learn and refine our approach to keep things running smoothly and finding new ways to engage with our community.”
With a larger growth of participation in the community comes many challenges with the group, especially when it comes to the Metro rides and organizing.
“The biggest challenge that we face as organizers is keeping things fresh and finding new and engaging venues to host events,” says Zayre. “Recently we saw a lot of success hosting a meet at On Target Battlezone, an indoor NERF gun battle arena where our crew was welcome to show up and play both with and without a fur suit.”
Nevertheless, Shutterpaws receive overwhelming support from the community and partners.
“Across the DMV there are so many amazing places to host a Shutterpaws event so we can pursue our mission of helping connect fur suiters and photographers, and we’re blown away with the amount of support we’ve received from our community partners,” says Zayre.
Shutterpaws plans to do more events for anyone in the DMV who is interested.
Their next event in collaboration with DC Fur Meet will take place at Pitchers (2317 18th St., N.W.) on Saturday. Visit Shutterpaws’ website for more information.
Delaware
Republican challenger misgenders McBride during forum, forced to leave
Jewish Federation of Delaware hosted event on Thursday
Republican “Dr. Joe” Arminio, the Republican nominee for the First State’s at-large U.S. House of Representatives seat, attempted to misgender the the country’s first and only transgender member of Congress while at a forum on Thursday.
This story was first broken by WDEL out of Wilmington, Del.
Arminio used the terms “his” and later “gentleman” when referring to U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) during his time on the mic before he was asked to leave the forum, hosted by the Jewish Federation of Delaware at the Siegel Jewish Community Center in Talleyville on Thursday night.
At that point, the crowd of about 100 people largely started booing Arminio, who then finished, “I would like to show respect to the speaker, that would be nice.”
The first time Republican US House candidate “Dr. Joe” Arminio referred to Rep. Sarah McBride (D) as a man during Thursday’s debate at the Siegel Jewish Community Center in Talleyville. He was warned for his comment. #netde https://t.co/j4EaMOL84W
— Sean Greene (@SeanGreeneWDEL) September 18, 2026
Moderator Ken Grant waited until Arminio was finished, then said, “this is your final warning, if you fail to show respect to anyone else on this stage, you’ll be asked to leave.”
During the answer to his next question at the forum, Arminio responded to what he called an “error.”
“I committed an error before, and I do acknowledge it,” Arminio said. “It’s not the first error I’ve made in this campaign, or at any point in my future life.”
Despite the apology and acknowledgement that he had committed what was, at the very least, a social taboo, he did it again 12 minutes later.
While talking about rising healthcare costs being a “catastrophe,” Arminio pointed to U.S. Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and McBride.
“The reason it is is because gentlemen like the two up here with me in the Democratic Party, and the Republican Party … ” Arminio said.
Despite his direct attacks on McBride’s gender identity, she responded to the situation with grace, attempting to intervene to allow Arminio to still have a chance to speak despite not heeding the moderator’s warnings.
“I don’t want this gentleman to not have the ability … ,” McBride began.
However, Republican Senate candidate Michael Katz interrupted her shortly before Arminio was removed from the forum, which was meant to inform the Delaware electorate on the candidates’ issues.
Katz had his opening statement next and directly condemned Arminio’s comments.
“I would like to apologize to everybody here and everybody else on this stage. As a physician, I believe in our common humanity and respect for each other. I feel that pain over those comments, and my apologies.”
Following the forum, Katz called for Arminio to exit the race via social media.
“Those who seek to represent Delaware must demonstrate integrity, judgment, decency, and respect — even toward people with whom they profoundly disagree,” Katz’s post read on Facebook. “For these reasons, I am calling on Joseph Arminio to withdraw his candidacy for the United States House of Representatives.”
This is not the first time McBride has been the victim of misgendering.
In 2025, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas) introduced the sole representative from Delaware as “Mr. McBride” during a meeting.
This is also not the first time McBride has faced vitriol from the other side of the aisle — both in terms of personal and legislative attacks on her trans identity.
In 2025, the House voted to ban trans girls and women from playing school sports with other girls, while U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) pushed for legislation barring trans women from using women’s bathrooms.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) instituted a similar rule barring McBride — and all other trans women — from women’s restrooms on Capitol Hill.
McBride has also been a vocal opponent of Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” signed by President Donald Trump on his first day in office. The directive prohibits the federal government from recognizing the gender identity of trans people.
She has criticized Executive Order 14183, “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” which would ban trans service members from serving in the Armed Forces. The directive is still being challenged in the courts to determine its constitutional legitimacy, but it has been allowed to remain in effect as the judicial system considers its legality.
The Washington Blade sat down with McBride in May to reflect on a tense year for LGBTQ politics, where she, in typical McBride fashion, answered questions about the hate she has received.
“Our politics are too often defined by hate,” McBride told the Blade. “I’m glad Delaware and Delawareans are showing that a different kind of politics is possible.”
White House press pool pushes back after Trump bars three outlets
PHOTOS: Shenandoah Valley Pride
Long-time DignityUSA executive director announces retirement
PHOTOS: Walk and 5K to End HIV
PHOTOS: Wanda Alston Foundation Fall Reception
Gun reform is an LGBTQ rights issue
All the queer things to watch this fall
Parties, dinners, concerts and more on tap for fall nightlife
Jeremy Moss looks to bring LGBTQ advocacy from Lansing to Capitol Hill
