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Rachel Levine and AVP on approaching anti-LGBTQ hate as ‘public health threat’

White House LGBTQI+ Safety Partnership ‘ramping up’

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Beverly Tillery, executive director of the New York City Anti-Violence Project. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez; courtesy The Raben Group)

Admiral Rachel Levine, assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, told the Washington Blade in a statement: ā€œWe know that hate ā€” whether fueled by homophobia, transphobia, or racism ā€” is a public health threat.”

ā€œI look forward to a day in the future where hate-fueled violence, is an unwelcome memory of the past and no longer incites fear amongst LGBTQI+ people, and all people who live in America,” she said, adding, “We all deserve to live in communities safe from violence.ā€

A pediatrician and four-star officer who serves as the highest-ranking openly transgender official in U.S. history, Levine’s statement came in response to an inquiry about her meeting on Thursday with New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP) Executive Director Beverly Tillery.

Also in attendance were the assistant secretary’s senior adviser on LGBTQI+ health equity, Adrian Shanker, and Lynn Rosenthal, director of Sexual and Gender-based Violence at the agency.

“We talked about some of the recommendations we have developed specifically for HHS,” Tillery told the Blade during a phone interview on Friday.

These focused on three areas, she said: “more work that will approach hate violence as a public health issue”; incorporating this approach and addressing “the needs of safe spaces on the ground” when implementing the White House LGBTQI+ Community Safety Partnership; and exploring “opportunities for funding and technical assistance for safe spaces.”

Tillery said that “it was a real honor to be able to have a conversation directly with” Levine, adding that during their meeting, the assistant secretary explained she had made a point of visiting LGBTQ spaces in person.

HHS understands that these groups provide and administer the services it funds, like legal aid and referrals to affirming healthcare providers, she said.

The agency “prioritizes those spaces,” with the knowledge that “we’re talking about a really critical infrastructure in our community,” a network of organizations that “holds our community together in terms of physical and mental health,” Tillery said.

Noting the escalation of violence encountered by LGBTQ individuals and spaces, the White House in June announced plans to create an LGBTQI+ Community Safety Partnership led by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice and HHS.

“We are now looking to the beginning of next year, kind of having a plan in place for what we think needs to be happening for next Pride season, really early, and also thinking about the election,” Tillery said. “This is a really critical time where we need to make sure that we get as much information and resources and boots on the ground so they can be actively thinking about safety in a bunch of different ways.”

The White House explained the Partnership will “Provide dedicated safety trainings for LGBTQI+ community organizations and increase federal threat briefings for LGBTQI+ organizations,” “protect health care providers who serve the LGBTQI+ community,” and “support LGBTQI+ communities to report hate crimes and build cross-community partnerships to address hate-fueled violence” ā€” all while working “to build trust between LGBTQI+ organizations and federal law enforcement agencies.”

So far, Tillery said, “the bulk of the work right now that has been done rests in” the Department of Homeland Security, but “I do feel like, right now, they’re ramping up and figuring out [questions like] ‘who is going to be responsible for this thing and what is it going to look like?'”

She added that during Thursday’s meeting, “One of the things that we asked HHS to think about and help us think about is, ‘could there be some very public, regular cadence of meetings between organizations and the agencies specifically about this Partnership'” such that the public might be kept apprised of its progress?

“We are really hoping,” Tillery said, “to make sure that there’s a process for AVP and other organizations to be in regular communication with [the agencies] involved in the White House Community Safety Partnership.”

Tillery said she also talked with Levine and the other officials about ways that HHS, which unlike DHS and DOJ does not represent law enforcement, can contribute ā€” such as by “having them play a role in data collection,” especially provided how the agency is already “paying attention to” data on sexual orientation and gender identity “across the board” and is well positioned to identify gaps.

The full spectrum of hate incidents targeting all types and sizes of LGBTQ spaces

For the past few months, Tillery has met with the White House, HHS, and members of Congress to discuss the first of its kind survey conducted by AVP and its corresponding report published in July, ā€œUnder Attack: 2022 LGBTQ+ Safe Spaces National Needs Assessment.”

The document contains feedback from LGBTQ groups of all types and sizes from all 50 states on the hate incidents they have experienced and “the critical needs they have for future safety.”

AVP discovered that nearly nine in 10 LGBTQ community centers experienced hate incidents in person or over the phone. The findings are consistent with the increase, from 2021 to 2022, in hate crimes motivated by bias against the victim’s sexual orientation and, especially, gender identity that were reported by the FBI on Oct. 16.

What distinguishes AVP’s report, Tillery told the Blade during a previous interview on Sept. 13, is that “nobody had really looked at this issue of what’s exactly happening with [LGBTQ] spaces across the country.”

She noted the importance of broadening the focus on anti-LGBTQ hate incidents to include not just acts of violence like last year’s the mass shooting at Club Q, but the full range of ways in which LGBTQ people are targeted or made to feel unsafe, and in all types of community spaces from book stores to bars and beyond.

When discussing the report and its findings in meetings on Capitol Hill, Tillery said “people are surprised” to learn the extent of anti-LGBTQ violence as well as “the range of different kinds of incidents that are happening across the country” and “the way these attacks are happening.”

About half of the surveyed LGBTQ groups said they did not report hate incidents to the police, with many respondents explaining that when their spaces were targeted with anti-LGBTQ protests led by white nationalist groups like the Proud Boys, they felt local law enforcement was more closely allied with or sympathetic to the extremists, Tillery said.

She noted the “overlay of gun violence with this as well,” especially in communities that do not have strong gun safety laws; places where, in many cases, anti-LGBTQ protesters showed up heavily armed.

Understanding intimate partner violence within the LGBTQ community

Tillery said she was encouraged by how much of her conversation with Levine, Shanker, and Rosenthal concerned issues of intimate partner violence within the LGBTQ community within the context of anti-LGBTQ violence more broadly.

She explained that victims are often made vulnerable by their sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV status, and targeted not just with physical violence but also other forms of intimate partner abuse such as forced “outing,” blocking access to medication, or isolation from community and support networks.

The problem was exacerbated by the Covid pandemic, Tillery said, which caused many people to be “stuck at home with people who might be causing them harm.” Likewise, she said, LGBTQ youth who do not live in affirming, supportive homes in many cases “had to relive some of the homophobia and transphobia while they were in isolation with family members.”

The conversation about intimate partner violence dovetailed into other matters Tillery discussed with HHS, such as areas in which there is a deficit in data collection, she said.

For example, she pointed to the results of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey that were published in April, which had “great data” about experiences with intimate partner violence among gay and bisexual men and women but very little with respect to transgender and gender nonconforming respondents, Tillery said.

Tillery added that strong data is crucial for the Partnership’s work and beyond, carrying implications “down the road for funding and resources and congressional action.”

Looking ahead to prepare for next year’s Pride and election seasons

Another topic addressed on Thursday, Tillery said, was how best to “get out in front” with the work that must be done on matters of community safety and securing LGBTQ spaces ahead of not just the next Pride season but also the 2024 elections.

She said AVP will continue working with the Biden-Harris administration and other partners on implementing measures to protect the various groups, activists, organizers, and volunteers who will be running voter registration programs, participating in “get out the vote” efforts, and campaigning on behalf of candidates.

“We are now looking to the beginning of next year, kind of having a plan in place for what we think needs to be happening for next Pride season, really early, and also thinking about the election,” Tillery said.

“This is a really critical time where we need to make sure that we get as much information and resources and boots on the ground so they can be actively thinking about safety in a bunch of different ways,” she said.

Tillery added, “Hopefully we can get out in front of it, so that we can provide some groups with some resources and tools before they start doing a lot of those activities as the election season heats up,” she said.

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Federal Government

Mass HHS layoffs include HIV/AIDS prevention, policy teams

Democratic states sue over cuts

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HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Tuesday began a series of mass layoffs targeting staff, departments, and whole agencies within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who reportedly plans to cut a total of 10,000 jobs.

On the chopping block, according to reports this week, is the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy. A fact sheet explaining on the restructuring says “a new Administration for a Healthy America (AHA) will consolidate the OASH, HRSA, SAMHSA, ATSDR, and NIOSH, so as to more efficiently coordinate chronic care and disease prevention programs and harmonize health resources to low-income Americans.”

The document indicates that “Divisions of AHA include Primary Care, Maternal and Child Health, Mental Health, Environmental Health, HIV/AIDS, and Workforce, with support of the U.S. Surgeon General and Policy team.”

“Today, the Trump administration eliminated the staff of several CDC HIV prevention offices, including entire offices conducting public health communication campaigns, modeling and behavioral surveillance, capacity building, and non-lab research,” said a press release Tuesday by the HIV + Hepatitis Policy Institute.

The organization also noted the “reassignments” of Jonathan Mermin, director of the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, and Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Both were moved to the Indian Health Service.

ā€œIn a matter of just a couple days, we are losing our nationā€™s ability to prevent HIV,” said HIV + Hepatitis Policy Institute Executive Director Carl Schmid. “The expertise of the staff, along with their decades of leadership, has now been destroyed and cannot be replaced. We will feel the impacts of these decisions for years to come and it will certainly, sadly, translate into an increase in new HIV infections and higher medical costs.”

The group added, “We are still learning the full extent of the staff cuts and do not know how the administrationā€™s announced reorganization of HHS will impact all HIV treatment, prevention, and research programs, including President Trumpā€™s Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative,” but “At the moment, it seems that we are in the middle of a hurricane and just waiting for the next shoe to drop.”

A group of 500 HIV advocates announced a rally planned for Wednesday morning at 8 a.m., at the U.S. Capitol lawn across from the Cannon House Office Building, which aims to urge Congress to help stop the cuts at HHS.

“Over 500 advocates will rally on Capitol Hill and meet with members of Congress and Hill staff to advocate for maintaining a strong HIV response and detail the potential impact of cuts to and reorganization of HIV prevention and treatment programs,” the groups wrote.

The press release continued, “HHS has stated that it is seeking to cut 10,000 employees, among them 2,400 CDC employees, many doing critical HIV work. It also seeks to merge HIV treatment programming into a new agency raising concerns about maintaining resources for and achieving the outstanding outcomes of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program.”

On Tuesday a group of Democratic governors and attorneys general from 23 states and D.C. filed a lawsuit against HHS and Kennedy seeking a temporary restraining order and injunctive relief to halt the funding cuts.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention withdrew approximately $11.4 billion in funding for state and community health departments during the COVID-19 pandemic response, along with $1 billion to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

ā€œSlashing this funding now will reverse our progress on the opioid crisis, throw our mental health systems into chaos, and leave hospitals struggling to care for patients,ā€ New York Attorney General Letitia James said.  

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Trump ‘culture war’ complicates HUD’s distribution of $3.6B in housing grants

Senate Dems call for new agreements

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U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The disbursement of more than $3.6 billion in federal grants to housing providers has been paused for weeks while the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development seeks to condition receipt of the funding on compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive actions targeting DEI and transgender and immigrant communities.

March 4 was the statutory deadline for the agency to distribute the funds, which come through the Continuum of Care Program in support of local governments and nonprofit organizations working to promote “a community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness.”

On March 13, a group of Senate Democrats led by U.S. Sens. Adam Schiff (Calif.) and Tina Smith (Minn.) wrote to HUD Secretary Scott Turner urging him to move quickly on distributing the grants and warning of the consequences that recipients are now facing and the harm they will encounter in the future if delays persist.

“To keep the lights on, providers are now being forced to draw on lines of credit at significant cost and risk to their organizations,” the senators said. “These projects enable homeless service providers to help veterans, families with children, youth, seniors, and vulnerable individuals access permanent and temporary housing, crisis counseling, and other supportive services.ā€

HUD subsequently disseminated grant agreements ā€” and Schiff published an example on his office’s website ā€” that included, among other provisions, language stipulating that the awardee (1) “shall not use grant funds to promote ‘gender ideology,’ as defined in E.O. 14168, Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” (2) certifies that it does not operate any programs promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws, and (3) agrees not to use “that funding in a manner that by design or effect facilitates the subsidization or promotion of illegal immigration or abets so-called ‘sanctuary’ policies that seek to shield illegal aliens from deportation.”

On March 14, the 4th U.S. Court of Appeals stayed a nationwide injunction enjoining three parts of Trump’s executive order on DEI, and the following day, HUD rescinded the CoC contracts and said to expect new agreements within a week as the agency was “working to revise its CoC grant agreements to be consistent with Federal law and compliant with applicable court orders.”

Schiff then led a second letter to Turner on March 19 with the Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Mazie Hirono (D- Hawaii), and Richard Blumenthal (Conn.).

“We urge the department to immediately issue new CoC grant agreements consistent with longstanding practiceā€” free of the aforementioned conditionsā€” to ensure all individuals experiencing homelessness receive protection and support, regardless of gender identity, location, or other characteristics,” they said, requesting a response by March 31.

“The initial FY2024 grant agreements issued to CoC funding recipients contained new requirements that are deeply problematic, and likely unlawful, requirements,” the senators argued. “These mandates, such as barring shelters from serving transgender people, prohibiting DEI initiatives, and certifying that they do not support ‘sanctuary’ policies protecting noncitizens, conflict with federal civil rights, fair housing, and immigration laws, raising serious legal and constitutional concerns.”

The lawmakers noted “the harm caused by these delayed and unfulfilled CoC grant agreements will fall disproportionately on our most vulnerable populations, including women, families with children, youth, veterans, survivors of domestic and intimate partner violence, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ individuals.” They added, “Women experiencing homelessness ā€” many of whom are fleeing domestic abuse ā€” already face significant barriers to safety and stability, and restricting access to critical housing services will only further endanger their lives and well-being.”

Citing research that nearly one in three transgender Americans has experiences homelessness in their lives, Schiff and his colleagues stressed that “Transgender and nonbinary people in the U.S. face significant barriers to securing safe housing, with many experiencing homelessness and high rates of mistreatment and violence in shelters.”

With respect to the language in the agreements about “sanctuary” policies, the senators wrote “The organizations receiving CoC funds exist to provide critical, non-discriminatory aid to those in need, regardless of their immigration status. These organizations do not set or enforce immigration policy ā€” they simply fulfill their legal duty to provide life-saving and life-changing care.”

Later on March 19, HUD began issuing new contracts that did not contain the provision concerning DEI but did include the same language about “gender ideology” and “sanctuary” policies.

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RFK Jr. debuts anti-trans webpage, public guidance at HHS

Agency advances Trump’s anti-trans executive orders

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

On Wednesday, less than a week after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the agency rolled out a webpage promoting the Trump administration’s anti-trans executive orders and issued a public guidance asserting that a person’s sex is “unchangeable.”

The webpage for HHS’s Office on Women’s Health highlights President Donald Trump’s executive actions defining sex in a manner that excludes transgender, nonbinary, and intersex populations, prohibiting trans women and girls from participating in competitive sports, and restricting people younger than 19 from accessing medically necessary gender affirming healthcare interventions.

ā€œThis administration is bringing back common sense and restoring biological truth to the federal government,ā€ Kennedy said in a statement announcing the guidance and the new HHS page. ā€œThe prior administrationā€™s policy of trying to engineer gender ideology into every aspect of public life is over.ā€

The webpage is headlined by a video featuring Riley Gaines, the former NCAA swimmer-turned-right-wing, anti-trans activist. ā€œThe executive order keeping men out of womenā€™s sports ensures the next generation of girls has the fair opportunity to compete with the safety, privacy, and equal opportunity theyā€™re entitled to,ā€ she said in the clip.

The Trump-Vance administration’s narrow definition of sex and position that gender affirming care for minors constitutes “child abuse” is disputed not just by the health officials serving under the Biden-Harris administration, but also by the mainstream scientific and medical community.

Multiple federal judges have also weighed in. During a hearing on Tuesday challenging Trump’s efforts to bar trans people from serving in the military, Judge Ana Reyes of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said the White House’s assertion that gender is an immutable trait determined only by birth sex was not “biologically correct.”

ā€œThere are anywhere near 30 intersex examples,” she said. “Anyone who doesnā€™t have XX or XY chromosomes is not just male or female, theyā€™re intersex.ā€

Additionally, last week, two federal judges issued orders temporarily blocking the enforcement of Trump’s executive order restricting medical interventions for transgender youth.

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