The global fight against AIDS was faltering even before the COVID-19 pandemic, and this newly emerged viral disease is now threatening to put progress against HIV back by 10 years or more, the United Nations said on Monday.
“The global HIV targets set for 2020 will not be reached,” the U.N.’s AIDS agency said in a report. “Even the gains made could be lost and progress further stalled if we fail to act.”
Latest data from 2019 show that 38 million people worldwide are now infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS, the report said, a million more than in 2018.
Some 25.4 million HIV positive people were on antiretroviral treatment in 2019 – a huge advance on a decade ago, but one that still leaves 12.6 million not getting medicines that can keep the virus at bay and prevent its spread.
The report also found the world is far behind in preventing new HIV infections, with 1.7 million new HIV cases in 2019.
“Every day in the next decade decisive action is needed to get the world back on track to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030,” said Winnie Byanyima, UNAIDS’ executive director.
The worst regions for HIV’s spread were eastern Europe and central Asia, which together have seen “a staggering” 72 percent rise in new HIV infections since 2010, UNAIDS said.
New HIV infections also rose in the Middle East and North Africa, by 22 percent, and by 21 percent in Latin America.
The report said the COVID-19 pandemic, which emerged in China in January, has already “seriously impacted” the AIDS fight, with lockdowns and travel and trade disruptions delaying or halting HIV treatment and testing services.
It said a six-month complete disruption in HIV treatment could cause more than 500,000 extra deaths in sub-Saharan Africa over the next year, bringing the region back to levels of AIDS death rates last seen more than a decade ago, in 2008.
California prison officials are staring down yet another lawsuit from a transgender woman who says she was abused in custody.
C. Jay Smith, 59, filed a federal lawsuit last Monday alleging that staff members at San Quentin State Prison, just north of San Francisco, refused to investigate reports she had filed after having been sexually abused and that they retaliated against her. Smith alleges that the campaign went so far that guards falsely accused her of serious violations, potentially adding 10 years to her sentence.
C. Jay Smith.Medina Orthwein LLP
A 36-page complaint filed in U.S. District Court for Northern California claims that staff members at the prison “used threatening and coercive tactics to try to get her to withdraw her allegations.”
“Ms. Smith’s case demonstrates that the ‘Me Too’ movement and the protections it has provided to women needs to also find its way to the violence and state-initiated torment transgender people face behind CDCR’s prison walls,” the suit says, referring to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Smith has lived almost her entire life as a woman, according to the complaint. She knew she was transgender at 10 years old and started to transition as a teenager, the suit states. But after she was sentenced to 25 years to life with the possibility of parole, she has spent the entire term — now more than two decades — housed in men’s prisons.
Her complaint alleges that from the time she arrived at a CDCR Reception Center in 1998, officers “allowed multiple men in custody to rape Ms. Smith repeatedly over four consecutive days.” Research has found that sexual abuse of transgender women in prison, especially those housed in men’s facilities, is not uncommon: A 2010 study published in Justice Quarterly, which was cited in Smith’s complaint, found that 59 percent of trans women in men’s lockup facilities had experienced at least one instance of sexual assault.
The 1998 assaults weren’t the only time Smith says she was a victim of sexual violence. Smith said she was again violently raped in 2013, shortly after she arrived at San Quentin, by an unknown assailant who “attacked from behind,” according to the lawsuit.
Not knowing the identity of her attacker “caused her to subsequently experience even more severe symptoms of PTSD,” the complaint alleges, referring to post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Ms. Smith has been the target of indecent exposure and lewd sexual acts by many men in custody,” her complaint states. “She has also been verbally harassed and called homophobic and transphobic slurs by staff — including medical and custody staff — on numerous occasions. The repeated sexual assaults and harassment aggravated Ms. Smith’s PTSD, resulting in her placement in outpatient or inpatient mental health treatment for the majority of her incarceration.”
Smith said she became the target of a campaign of harassment by officers at San Quentin when she tried to speak up about the violence. Her cell was “ransacked” and guards left the doors open to allow “other people in custody to steal her property,” the lawsuit says.
“Defendants then caged Ms. Smith like an animal, verbally berated her, threatened her with physical assault, sexually harassed and assaulted her,” the complaint alleges, adding that she was targeted with false reports of rules violations.
Among them was a charge of possession of a deadly weapon after officers reported her for having a graduation statue in her cell, her complaint says. The statue, she claims, had been a gift from a friend years earlier as motivation to complete her GED program. If she is found guilty, Smith could face 10 more years behind bars.
According to the suit, the “campaign of torture and retaliation” alleged against Smith “sent a message” to transgender women who are sexual assaulted in prison: “Do not report sexual violence or safety concerns or you, too, will be targeted.”
Smith’s lawsuit partly hinges on the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act, or PREA, a 2003 law to stop sexual assault behind bars. It requires state prisons to house transgender prisoners case by case with either men or women after asking them where they would feel the safest. It also mandates that prison staff members immediately report and document knowledge or suspicion of sexual harassment or assault.
Smith’s attorneys, Jen Orthwein and Felicia Medina, argue that cases like Smith’s illustrate why many transgender survivors do not report sexual assault behind bars.
The CDCR “knows that there’s widespread PREA violations, and what it does is it uses [disciplinary] process[es] against folks who are the most impacted, such as C. Jay, who is a transgender woman of color, because she reported sexual assault,” Medina said in an interview. “She was set up.”
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Smith is at least the sixth transgender or gender-nonconforming prisoner to have sued the state or its officials in recent years. Candice Crowder, a trans woman, sued in 2017, alleging that guards isolated her in solitary confinement after she reported having been raped at Corcoran State Prison. Crowder’s case was settled for an undisclosed sum. Isaac Medina, a trans prisoner at Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, sued the state last year claiming that corrections officers regularly sexually harassed and threatened him. The case is ongoing.
Three gender-nonconforming people sued the state in November 2017, alleging that the CDCR refused them medical treatment and denied them the opportunity to file grievances after they were sexually assaulted. An amended complaint was filed in 2019, and the case is still being adjudicated.
In a statement to NBC News, a spokesperson said the department “cannot comment on pending litigation.”
“CDCR is committed to providing a safe, humane, rehabilitative and secure environment for all people housed in the state’s correctional facilities and has policies, practices and procedures in place regarding the screening, housing and treatment of incarcerated transgender people,” Deputy Press Secretary Terry Thornton said in an email. “CDCR maintains a zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment, sexual violence, and staff sexual misconduct. This policy applies to all offenders, all CDCR employees, all volunteers and all contractors.”
Thornton said the department “has not been served with this lawsuit.”
Data show that transgender people face extraordinary rates of violence in prisons and jails. A 2015 report by the Justice Department found that 35 percent of transgender prisoners said they had been sexually assaulted by staff members or other prisoners in the past year. And an NBC News investigation this year found that of 10 trans women interviewed at the California Institution for Men in Chino, nine reported having been sexually assaulted while incarcerated.
Grab the remote, set your DVR or queue up your streaming service of choice! GLAAD is bringing you the LGBTQ highlights on TV this week. Check back every Sunday for up-to-date coverage in LGBTQ-inclusive programming on TV.
Documentary Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado premieres on Wednesday. Every day for decades, Walter Mercado — the iconic, non-conforming TV personality— mesmerized 120 million viewers with his extravagance and positivity. Then he vanished from the public eye. The film takes a look into his life, that mystery, and his enduring legacy. Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado: Wednesday, on Netflix.
A new Netflix film, The Old Guard, will be released on Friday. The film follows a group of mysterious group of immortal mercenaries who have fought to protect the world for centuries. But when their extraordinary abilities are suddenly exposed, it’s up to Andy and Nile to help the group eliminate the threat of those who seek to replicate and monetize their power by any means necessary. The group includes Joe and Nicky, two men deeply in love. The Old Guard: Friday, on Netflix.
Californian lawmakers are aiming to introduce the CAREN Act which would impose criminal charges on people who file false, racially-charged police reports.
The ordinance, which tactically stands for Caution Against Racially Exploitative Non-Emergencies, was sparked by a recent incident in San Fransisco in which a white woman phoned the police on a gay Filipino manfor stencilling “Black Lives Matter” with chalk on his own property, FOX16reported.
With Black Lives Matter protests inspiring people, businesses and authorities to reckon with racial biases, a steady drumbeat of encounters with Karens (no, it is not a slur) have been reported across the US, as citizens use mobile phones footage to expose (largely) white women perceived as entitled or discriminatory.
The San Francisco ordinance was introduced by San Francisco supervisor Shamann Walton and Matt Haney which makes calls to law enforcement solely to discriminate on the basis of gender, race, sexuality or religion illegal.
Walton tweeted: “Racist 911 calls are unacceptable that’s why I’m introducing the CAREN Act at today’s SF Board of Supervisors meeting.
“This is the CAREN we need. Caution Against Racially Exploitative Non-Emergencies.”
It comes only weeks after James Juanillo was harangued by Lisa Alexander, CEO of cosmetics company LaFace Skincare for stencilling “Black Lives Matter” on the front-retaining wall of his residence.
Footage of the confrontation went viral, showing Alexander approach the home-owner.
“Respectfully,” Alexander began, according to video footage, “absolutely, your [Black Lives Matter] signs and everything, that’s good, but this is not the way to do it. It’s private property.”
Indeed, it was private property – Juanillo’s property. Having lived there for the last 18 years, he even married his husband in the backyard.
Politely, he did not engage and implored her to call the police. When an officer arrived, he greeted Juanillo as a friend and congratulated him on his artwork, however such incidents do not always end happily.
Reflecting on the exchange, Juanillo said: “You can presume that she knew by calling the police that I could possibly die. She was OK with that.
“Even knowing that I was just working with chalk, she’s willing to call men with guns.”
Hamilton has publicly apologised and acknowledged that her actions were racist.
We are living in a historical moment for Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people — a moment that is on par with the Compton’s Cafeteria riot (1966) and Stonewall (1969). In both instances, trans women and queer people of color led the charge against constant police brutality and street harassment. The scenes of 2020 mirror those iconic actions, as Black LGBTQ people are still leading the way in the face of constant violence, harassment and discrimination.
In June 2020, during nationwide protests organized by Black transgender women and queer folks, tens of thousands of people came out to march, sing and dance, declaring not only that “BLACK LIVES MATTER” but that “BLACK QUEER, TRANS, LIVES MATTER.” This rallying cry of justice is rooted in the intersectional experiences of Black LGBTQ people. Intersectionality, a framework designed by Black feminist scholar and lawyer Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989, takes into account the fact that people with multiple marginal identities face compounded challenges. This is true for Black LGBTQ people like myself, as we facedisproportionate obstacles accessing equitable opportunities and outcomes in healthcare, criminal justice, education, housing, employment and other essential services necessary to survive and thrive.
Pioneers & the Present
As we continue the march forward, we must be committed to looking back to the pioneers such as Marsha P. Johnson, Miss Major, James Baldwin and Bayard Rustin, who paved the way for us, while simultaneously looking forward to the fights on the horizon. We continue to fight, because the reality is that Black LGBTQ people are still being killed at disparate rates, are still being economically exploited, and are still being harassed by police simply for existing in the world.
To learn more about the history of Black LGBTQ leaders, and where the movement for Black queer and trans lives is headed next, join us for a “Fighting Back” panel on July 22 entitled “The Evolution of Black Leadership” (see the events section below for more information or register here).This panel will feature six Black LGBTQ movement leaders who will share their own personal experiences, critical historical context and social commentary on racial and LGBTQ justice in America.
Author’s note: This article is written in memoriam of all those who have come before us whom we have lost too soon. Rest in power Nina Pop, Tony McDade, Dominique Fells, Riah Milton, Titi Gulley and so many others.
Bryce J. Celotto, M.A.T., is a proud Black, queer, transgender policy advocate, DEI strategist, historian and educator in Oakland.
Summer Taylor, a non-binary 24-year-old, was hit and killed by a car at a Black Lives Matter protest on Saturday night.
Taylor was participating in a peaceful protest against racism and police brutality in Seattle on July 4 when a car ploughed into the crowd, striking two of the protesters.
Summer Taylor was rushed to Harborview Hospital and later died of their injuries.
The other person who was hit, Diaz Love, 32, remains in the intensive care unit in a serious condition.
Both were taking part in the Black Femme March, which had closed down a section of Interstate 5.
At around 1.40am, Dawit Kelete, a Seattle local, drove his car around the vehicles that were blocking off I-5 and sped into the crowd of protesters, according to a police report released by the Washington State Patrol.
A video posted to social media shows a white car accelerating into a small crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters who are running to get out of the way.
In the video, the car hits two people whose bodies are then thrown over the windscreen and into the air, before landing on the freeway.
After speeding into the crowd, Kelete drove off. Another protester followed in a car and was able to force Kelete to stop.
Police arrived and took him into custody, with the police report describing him as sullen and reserved.
Kelete has been charged with two counts of vehicular assault, and a judge will decide today (July 6) whether to grant bail.
Police have yet to say whether they believe it was a targeted attack, but have ruled out impairment as a cause.
A GoFundMe set up by Taylor’s friends, which has raised more than $60,000, describes them as an ” incredibly strong and independent spirit”.
“They are a bright and caring person whose presence elicits joy and laughter in others,” The GoFundMe page says.
“Summer works at a veterinary clinic and takes pride in their community and supporting others.”
LGBT+ activists in Mumbai have launched a petition to legalise same-sex marriage and adoption as an “urgent call for justice and equality”.
The Humsafar Trust, an LGBT+ rights organisation in Mumbai, started the petition at the end of Pride Month.
While LGBT+ acceptance is growing in the country, the petition states: “We, the LGBTQ+ people of India believe that there can not be a right time to ask for equal rights which are already enshrined in the Indian constitution but cannot be accessed by the LGBTQ+ community.”
The Humsafar Trust is calling for the “recognition of same-sex marriage, adoption rights for LGBTQ+ community, anti-discrimination laws and gender-neutral rape laws that recognise sexual violence on gay men, and transgender persons equally”.
It is also demanding “inheritance rights for LGBTQ+ persons who are cohabiting with their partners but cannot inherit their same-sex spouse’s property” and the “right to jointly own property, take housing loans, insurance, and employment benefits to the same-sex spouse”.
India has made some progress on LGBT+ rights.
India has seen its Supreme Court deliver two historic rulings for the LGBT+ community within the last decade, but true equality is a long way off.
Gay sex became legal in India in September 2018, when the Supreme Court scrapped Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, branding it “unconstitutional”.
Co-founder of the Humsafar Trust, Suhail Abbasi, told the Times of India that the petition was “an urgent call for justice and equality”.
Vivek Anand, the CEO of the trust, added: “In the last two years since decriminalisation and reading down of Section 377, our experience shows that the number of reported instances of violence against LGBTQ+ has gone up.
“Many young LGBTQ+ have come out openly, but that has also increased their vulnerability to extortion, bullying and violence.
“It is imperative that our civil rights be given to us.”
Donald Trump and his administration have given millions of dollars intended to protect small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic to anti-LGBT+ hate groups and homophobic televangelists.
According to the US Small Business Administration, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) “is a loan designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll”.
While the Trump administration initially resisted releasing information on which companies had been given PPP loans, on Tuesday, July 7, it released a list of companies that had been given more than $150,000.
According to LGBTQ Nation, the entire list contains just two prominent LGBT+ organisations – the National LGBTQ Task Force was approved for a loan between $350,000 and $1 million and the LGBTQ Victory Fund was given between $150,000 and $350,000.
But, according to the Trump administration data, religious groups and churches were given a total of $7.3 billion, anti-LGBT+ hate groups and homophobic televangelists were given up to $16 million in loans.
Which anti-LGBT+ hate groups were given loans by the Donald Trump administration?
The American Family Association (AFA), a Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) designated hate group committed to “combating the homosexual agenda”, was approved for a loan of up to $2 million. The group describesbeing gay “unnatural” and “unhealthy”.
Bryan Fischer, AFA director of issue analysis for government and public policy, has called for the criminalisation of gay sex, and said in 2010: “Homosexuality gave us Adolph Hitler, and homosexuals in the military gave us the Brown Shirts, the Nazi war machine and six million dead Jews.”
He has also claimed that gay people are “rarely monogamous and have as many as 300 to 1,000 sexual partners over the course of a lifetime”.
Liberty Counsel, another hate group described by the SPLC as “a legal organisation advocating for anti-LGBT+ discrimination under the guise of religious liberty”, was granted a loan of up to $1 million by the Trump administration.
The Pacific Justice Institute, whose founder said that failing to stop same-sex marriage in America was like failing to stop Adolf Hitler, was approved for up to $350,000.
The megachurch of Robert Jeffress, an Islamophobic and anti-LGBT+ televangelist, was given between $1 million and $5 million.
Joyce Meyer, another televangelist who once said people “chose” to be gay because they had been “hurt by somebody from the opposite sex, and they don’t know how to function right in those relationships”, was approved for a massive loan of between $5 million and $10 million.
For the first time Norway will prioritise LGBT+ asylum seekers as part of a new post-coronavirus refugee scheme.
Announced on July 5 by the Storting, Norway’s federal government, the new policy will give LGBT+ refugees priority both as individuals and as a group.
The three-year scheme was introduced in coordination with the UN after the outbreak of coronavirus disrupted the international settlement of many refugees.
“Unfortunately, in many countries, it is not so that you are free to love who you want,” said the state secretary for integration affairs in the ministry of education, Grounds Kreek Almeland, in a press release.
“In nearly 70 countries, homosexuality is a criminal offence and those who violate gender and sexuality norms may be subject to persecution and discrimination in their home country.
“We are now changing the guidelines for the work of transfer refugees so that persons who are queer should be given priority.”
The scheme applies only to transfer refugees — individuals who have been registered by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and transferred from one asylum country to another for permanent resettlement.
With the exception of a few urgent cases, the pandemic forced the UNHCR and the United Nations International Organisation for Migration to temporarily halt all refugee travel.
Norway will now kick-start the resettlement with a yearly quota of 3,000 transfer refugees. The quota is flexible, meaning that that if fewer refugees are settled in a one-year period then more can be accepted in the years after.
Like much of Scandinavia, Norway prides itself on being one of the most LGBT-friendly countries in the world.
In 2012 Norway reformed its asylum policy with a Supreme Court ruling which stated that potential LGBT+ asylum seekers did not have to be living in the closet in their home country to be considered for resettlement.
