National
Bracing for cuts after supercommittee’s failure
LGBT, HIV/AIDS programs could face reductions
LGBT and HIV/AIDS advocates are bracing for potential cuts as a result of the congressional supercommittee’s failure this week to come up with a deficit reduction deal.
On Monday, members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction — comprised of six Democrats and six Republicans — announced that they were unable to come up with an agreement on $1.5 trillion in budget cuts by the Wednesday deadline as established by legislation signed by President Obama in August.
As a result of the supercommittee’s failure to come up with a plan for deficit reduction, a sequester will kick in that will lower spending by $1.2 trillion beginning in fiscal year 2013 by $109.3 billion in cuts per year. Half of the cuts — $54.7 billion — will come from the Defense Department and the other half from mandatory and discretionary domestic spending — including HIV/AIDS programs and certain government programs that help LGBT people.
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According to the Congressional Budget Office, reductions in discretionary appropriations for non-defense programs — including HIV/AIDS programs — would range from from 7.8 percent in 2013 to 5.5 percent in 2021, resulting in savings of $294 billion.
AIDS Institute Deputy Executive Director Carl Schmid (Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Carl Schmid, deputy executive director for the AIDS Institute, said the mandatory cuts that will occur in 2013 “will certainly impact funding levels” for discretionary HIV/AIDS programs such as the Ryan White Care Act, AIDS Drug Assistance Programs and research spending.
“We’re going to try to work to make sure that doesn’t happen, but if it does happen, there’ll be less money for prevention, less money for drugs to keep people healthy, less for care and treatment and less money for research,” Schmid said.
Schmid added the potential cuts are of particular concern because the number of people living with HIV/AIDS continues to grow.
“There’s more and more people living with HIV than ever before,” Schmid said. “There’s more accessing the AIDS Drug Assistance Program than ever before, so it’s at a time when there’s more and more people with HIV, and at a time that we know treatment is a way to cut transmission.”
According to a CDC report published in August, HIV in the United States continues to disproportionately impact young gay and bisexual men, although as a whole, infection rates have been relatively stable in recent years. New infections among among young men who have sex with men increased 34 percent between 2006 and 2009, while infections among young, black men who have sex with men increased 48 percent from 4,400 in 2006 to 6,500 in 2009.
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Brian Hujdich, executive director for HealthHIV, also said the failure of the supercommittee may jeopardize federal programs on which low-income Americans depend for medical coverage.
“We are disappointed but not surprised at the supercommittee’s inaction,” Hujdich said. “They had both the latitude and responsibility to make hard decisions, but once again chose to do nothing. The weight of congressional indecision now falls on the backs of the most vulnerable and medically under-served communities, whose health care coverage may be impacted in 2013.”
Other programs at risk could include some that LGBT Americans rely on in greater numbers than their straight counterparts.
Last week, Kellan Baker and Zach Britt of the Center for American Progress wrote a report that detailed how either action or inaction by the supercommittee could have significant impact on programs affecting LGBT people.
“Gay and transgender communities most at risk include families with children and gay and transgender people who are doubly marginalized in American society, such as gay and transgender people of color, those living in poverty, immigrants, homeless youth, elders, and those with disabilities,” Baker and Britt wrote.
Among the programs identified that could be cut include planned data collection by the Department of Health & Human Services on sexual orientation and gender identity; mental health services that help LGBT youth and adults cope with depression, bullying and discrimination; and programs that support out-of-home gay and transgender youth.
Despite the failure of the committee, many were unhappy with plans the committee was proposing and thankful an agreement wasn’t made on any one of them.
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According to the CAP report, Democrats proposed cutting $400 billion from Medicare, $75 billion from Medicaid and $1.3 trillion in discretionary spending — while increasing revenue by $1.3 trillion. Republicans, on the other hand, proposed to cut $500 billion from Medicare and $185 billion from Medicaid, with $1.2 trillion more in discretionary cuts and only $40 billion in revenue increases.
Laurie Young, director of aging and economic security at the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, said the plans the supercommittee was proposing were “really not good” and the failure to come up with a plan is better than an agreement on a bad one.
“No deal today is better than them having agreed upon a bad deal that would have cut benefits to people who are already receiving them and relying on them,” Young said.
Moreover, the two largest programs providing HIV/AIDS care to low-income people — Medicare and Medicaid — won’t see immediate cuts as a result of the supercommittee’s failure. Social Security and Medicaid are immune from cuts under the sequester. Medicare would see, at most, a 2 percent reduction in payments, but those cuts would only affect providers and would not raise co-pays or premiums on people covered under this program.
Young said the exemption of these programs is important because LGBT people are particularly dependent on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security as they age.
“We don’t have the same ability to access economic security and retirement that our heterosexual counterparts do,” Young said. “And so, we’re twice as likely to age alone and four times less likely to have children who would take care of us.”
But Schmid said the protection of Medicare and Medicaid from the sequester “doesn’t mean all the problems are solved” and those programs could be affected as Congress makes the decisions for cuts.
“There’s still going to be pressure to cut Medicare and Medicaid in the future, so we have to remain vigilant,” Schmid said.
Since the cuts won’t begin until Jan. 2, 2013, Congress has the opportunity to come up with an alternative for deficit reduction rather than the sequestration imposed the supercommittee’s failure to come up with a plan.
Young predicted Congress would work to come up with an alternative because Republicans won’t want to see drastic cuts to defense and Democrats won’t want to see drastic cuts to domestic programs.
“We’re going to have to work over the next year to make sure that we get a balanced plan that doesn’t depend on just slashing benefits or slashing cuts in federal agencies, but also really looks to raising revenues,” Young said. “The chore for next year is making sure that we can get a balanced plan, which was never really considered by the supercommittee.”
Schmid said advocates are going to fight to include HIV/AIDS among the programs that won’t receive cuts, but acknowledged they’re facing an uphill battle.
“These are supposed to be across the board cuts, but there are some other low-income programs that are exempt by the law to sequestration and, I think, we will fight to be included in them as well,” Schmid said. “That will be our job over the next year before these cuts take place in 2013.”
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Congratulations to Gil Pontes III on his recent appointment to the Financial Advisory Board for the City of Wilton Manors, Fla. Upon being appointed he said, “I’m honored to join the Financial Advisory Board for the City of Wilton Manors at such an important moment for our community. In my role as Executive Director of the NextGen Chamber of Commerce, I spend much of my time focused on economic growth, fiscal sustainability, and the long-term competitiveness of emerging business leaders. I look forward to bringing that perspective to Wilton Manors — helping ensure responsible stewardship of public resources while supporting a vibrant, inclusive local economy.”
Pontes is a nonprofit executive with years of development, operations, budget, management, and strategic planning experience in 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), and political organizations. Pontes is currently executive director of NextGen, Chamber of Commerce. NextGen Chamber’s mission is to “empower emerging business leaders by generating insights, encouraging engagement, and nurturing leadership development to shape the future economy.” Prior to that he served as managing director of The Nora Project, and director of development also at The Nora Project. He has held a number of other positions including Major Gifts Officer, Thundermist Health Center, and has worked in both real estate and banking including as Business Solutions Adviser, Ironwood Financial. For three years he was a Selectman, Town of Berkley, Mass. In that role, he managed HR and general governance for town government. There were 200+ staff and 6,500 constituents. He balanced a $20,000,000 budget annually, established an Economic Development Committee, and hired the first town administrator.
Pontes earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.
Kansas
ACLU sues Kansas over law invalidating trans residents’ IDs
A new Kansas bill requires transgender residents to have their driver’s licenses reflect their sex assigned at birth, invalidating current licenses.
Transgender people across Kansas received letters in the mail on Wednesday demanding the immediate surrender of their driver’s licenses following passage of one of the harshest transgender bathroom bans in the nation. Now the American Civil Liberties Union is filing a lawsuit to block the ban and protect transgender residents from what advocates describe as “sweeping” and “punitive” consequences.
Independent journalist Erin Reed broke the story Wednesday after lawmakers approved House Substitute for Senate Bill 244. In her reporting, Reed included a photo of the letter sent to transgender Kansans, requiring them to obtain a driver’s license that reflects their sex assigned at birth rather than the gender with which they identify.
According to the reporting, transgender Kansans must surrender their driver’s licenses and that their current credentials — regardless of expiration date — will be considered invalid upon the law’s publication. The move effectively nullifies previously issued identification documents, creating immediate uncertainty for those impacted.
House Substitute for Senate Bill 244 also stipulates that any transgender person caught driving without a valid license could face a class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. That potential penalty adds a criminal dimension to what began as an administrative action. It also compounds the legal risks for transgender Kansans, as the state already requires county jails to house inmates according to sex assigned at birth — a policy that advocates say can place transgender detainees at heightened risk.
Beyond identification issues, SB 244 not only bans transgender people from using restrooms that match their gender identity in government buildings — including libraries, courthouses, state parks, hospitals, and interstate rest stops — with the possibility for criminal penalties, but also allows for what critics have described as a “bathroom bounty hunter” provision. The measure permits anyone who encounters a transgender person in a restroom — including potentially in private businesses — to sue them for large sums of money, dramatically expanding the scope of enforcement beyond government authorities.
The lawsuit challenging SB 244 was filed today in the District Court of Douglas County on behalf of anonymous plaintiffs Daniel Doe and Matthew Moe by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Kansas, and Ballard Spahr LLP. The complaint argues that SB 244 violates the Kansas Constitution’s protections for personal autonomy, privacy, equality under the law, due process, and freedom of speech.
Additionally, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a temporary restraining order on behalf of the anonymous plaintiffs, arguing that the order — followed by a temporary injunction — is necessary to prevent the “irreparable harm” that would result from SB 244.
State Rep. Abi Boatman, a Wichita Democrat and the only transgender member of the Kansas Legislature, told the Kansas City Star on Wednesday that “persecution is the point.”
“This legislation is a direct attack on the dignity and humanity of transgender Kansans,” said Monica Bennett, legal director of the ACLU of Kansas. “It undermines our state’s strong constitutional protections against government overreach and persecution.”
“SB 244 is a cruel and craven threat to public safety all in the name of fostering fear, division, and paranoia,” said Harper Seldin, senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project. “The invalidation of state-issued IDs threatens to out transgender people against their will every time they apply for a job, rent an apartment, or interact with police. Taken as a whole, SB 244 is a transparent attempt to deny transgender people autonomy over their own identities and push them out of public life altogether.”
“SB 244 presents a state-sanctioned attack on transgender people aimed at silencing, dehumanizing, and alienating Kansans whose gender identity does not conform to the state legislature’s preferences,” said Heather St. Clair, a Ballard Spahr litigator working on the case. “Ballard Spahr is committed to standing with the ACLU and the plaintiffs in fighting on behalf of transgender Kansans for a remedy against the injustices presented by SB 244, and is dedicated to protecting the constitutional rights jeopardized by this new law.”
National
After layoffs at Advocate, parent company acquires ‘Them’ from Conde Nast
Top editorial staff let go last week
Former staff members at the Advocate and Out magazines revealed that parent company Equalpride laid off a number of employees late last week.
Those let go included Advocate editor-in-chief Alex Cooper, Pride.com editor-in-chief Rachel Shatto, brand partnerships manager Erin Manley, community editor Marie-Adélina de la Ferriére, and Out magazine staff writers Moises Mendez and Bernardo Sim, according to a report in Hollywood Reporter.
Cooper, who joined the company in 2021, posted to social media that, “Few people have had the privilege of leading this legendary LGBTQ+ news outlet, and I’m deeply honored to have been one of them. To my team: thank you for the last four years. You’ve been the best. For those also affected today, please let me know how I can support you.”
The Advocate’s PR firm when reached by the Blade said it no longer represents the company. Emails to the Advocate went unanswered.
Equalpride on Friday announced it acquired “Them,” a digital LGBTQ outlet founded in 2017 by Conde Nast.
“Equalpride exists to elevate, celebrate and protect LGBTQ+ storytelling at scale,” Equalpride CEO Mark Berryhill said according to Hollywood Reporter. “By combining the strengths of our brands with this respected digital platform, we’re creating a unified ecosystem that delivers even more impact for our audiences, advertisers, and community partners.”
It’s not clear if “Them” staff would take over editorial responsibilities for the Advocate and Out.
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