The Trump administration on Wednesday sued Gilead Sciences, a pharmaceutical company that sells H.I.V.-prevention drugs that can cost patients up to $20,000 a year, accusing the company of earning billions from research funded by taxpayers without paying taxpayers back.
The government said the company infringed upon patents owned by the Department of Health and Human Services, and had refused attempts by the department to license its patents and collect royalties. The company sells two drugs, Truvada and Descovy, that can be taken once daily to prevent H.I.V. infection, a strategy called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP.
Wider access to PrEP is central to the government’s goal, announced in February, to reduce new H.I.V. infections by 75 percent over five years, and to “end the H.I.V. epidemic in America” by 2030. Critics have said the drug’s lofty price tag has limited its accessibility to high-risk people with low incomes, thwarting the government’s efforts.
Gilead is already facing a separate class action anti-trust suit filed by six AIDS activists including Peter Staley.
Plans for forced HIV tests for people whose bodily fluids come into contact with police – despite there being no record of this ever happening – has been widely slammed by lawmakers and activists.
New South Wales’s Labor party, Australia, signalled its intent to introduce a scheme that will allow for mandatory testing of HIV and other blood borne viruses (BBV) of those who assault police and frontline workers.
The proposed model would also give authorities the power to determine when testing occurs.
HIV experts as well as lawmakers have slammed the move, branding it unscientific and “dangerous” while urging parliament to stymie it, Star Observerreported it.
Sydney lawmaker: Plans for forced tests are ‘fear-mongering’.
Alex Greenwich, an independent member of parliament and Australian Marriage Equality co-chair has urged for lawmakers to block the proposed plan.
He described how the Labor-led policy would force citizens to submit to blood tests despite there being no realistic chance of acquiring HIV, lambasting the plan as “fear-mongering”.
Alex Greenwich from Australian Marriage Equality. (Brook Mitchell/Getty Images)
“This proposal has no basis in medical evidence to back it up and risks vexatious targeting of the LGBTI community and other vulnerable groups,” Greenwich explained.
“The LGBTI community has worked hard in recent years to develop a good working relationship with the police.
“Given the history of police violence towards us, this hasn’t always been easy, and progress has been hard won.
“This proposal jeopardises not only our relationship with law enforcement, but decades of progress in de-stigmatising the LGBTI community and winning equality in the eyes of the law.
“It is fear-mongering, pure and simple,” he concluded.
Bill aims to stop people acquiring HIV in a way that hasn’t happened in nearly two decades.
Opposition leader Jodi McKay said Labor would introduce the bill to test offenders for viruses such as HIV and hepatitis C.
In 1978 a young artist named Gilbert Baker (1951–2017) created a flag to represent the LGBTQ community at that year’s San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade. Over the subsequent 40 years, the rainbow flag has become an internationally recognized symbol of the LGBTQ community and an icon of contemporary design. In 2017, shortly after Baker’s death, his estate selected the GLBT Historical Society to preserve his personal archives, artwork and memorabilia.
These precious materials are at the heart of a new exhibition, “Performance, Protest and Politics: The Art of Gilbert Baker,” opening November 1 at the GLBT Historical Society Museum. Co-curated by Jeremy Prince, who has overseen many exhibitions at the museum, and Joanna Black, the archivist who oversaw the donation of the Gilbert Baker Collection, the exhibition positions the rainbow flag as a starting point for exploring Baker’s artistic endeavors, showcasing how Baker deployed his talents in service of his activism. History Happens interviewed Prince and Black to discuss their curatorial approach to the exhibition.
How has the concept for this exhibition evolved since the GLBT Historical Society received the Gilbert Baker Collection two years ago?Prince: It was always intended to explore Baker’s life and artistry beyond the rainbow flag, including his drag personas. But the more Joanna and I explored the treasures in the collection, the more amazed we were by the sheer depth and breadth of his artistic output. From his “Pink Jesus” persona to the recreated concentration-camp prisoner uniforms, Baker’s artistic oeuvre was shocking, provocative and expressed his opposition to the injustice he witnessed in the 1980s and 1990s. That’s what led us to focus the theme of the exhibition on art and performance as protest.
Black: As I arranged the transfer of the collection to the society’s archives, I sorted through exquisite costumes, large-scale paintings, silk-screened posters and bedazzled footwear, but also protest banners, fliers and provocative photographs. I came away deeply moved and knew that we had to share this aspect of Baker’s life with the public. One constant of the exhibition has been to provide a sense of Baker’s artistic range and his unique personality. But it wasn’t until later in the process that Jeremy and I decided to incorporate quotes from Baker’s posthumously published memoir, Rainbow Warrior, into the curation. It’s comparatively rare to be able to include an artist’s own words alongside examples of their work; Baker tells his own story, and the exhibition helps bring those words to life.
What aspects of Baker’s artwork do you think viewers will find surprising?Prince: I think they’ll be struck by the facets of Baker’s personality — artist, provocateur, diva. And they’ll be impressed by his achievements: Designing and overseeing construction of the two original flags for the 1978 San Francisco Gay Freedom Day parade was a groundbreaking accomplishment, but sewing a mile-long flag — and later a 1.25-mile-long flag — is recordbreaking.
Black: I think viewers will be most surprised by aspects of Baker’s drag personas. For example, “Pink Jesus” is pretty shocking, and Baker ownedthat persona entirely. He crashed the 1990 Pride Parade nearly naked, covered in hot-pink body paint and carrying a giant cross — now that’s a statement! And it wasn’t out of vanity. He was always guided by the desire to press for social and political change.
What do you hope visitors will take away from the exhibition?Prince: Exploring the history of the rainbow flag and contextualizing it really underlines its significance. This is an American story about a gay boy from Kansas who designed a wildly successful symbol — and then spent his life deploying his artistic talents as a weapon to fight for rights, equality and dignity against institutions actively trying to erode them.
Black: I hope viewers bear witness to what a multifaceted, complex, passionate and compassionate human being Baker was. His struggle to exist and live his truth openly is universal. Without the courage of artists like Gilbert Baker, we’d all be living in a less free society than we do.
NOTE: “Performance, Protest and Politics” is on display at the GLBT Historical Society Museum through March 8, 2020.
Charles Beal is a lifelong social activist and an award-winning art director for film and television. He was a close friend of Gilber Baker.
The data, released last week, shows police recorded 14,491 crimes committed against people because of their sexual orientation in 2018-19.
Police recorded a further 2,333 offenses against transgender people because of their gender identity.
Every year, the UK government releases police data on hate crimes on the basis of race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Offenses are recorded as hate crimes if the victim or witnesses believe the motivation is one of these things because of, for example, slurs shouted during the attack. The term “hate crime” can cover verbal abuse, intimidation, threats, harassment, assault and bullying, as well as damage to property.
This year reported figures were up across the board, something the Home Office says is largely due to improved reporting and recording methods. According to Stonewall UK, only one out of five hate crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people is reported to police.
But despite an increase in reporting, the number of cases that lead to prosecutions has actually fallen.
One way to help reduce the vitriol aimed at LGBT people could be to teach children about inclusion and acceptance from a young age.
But attempts to add more LGBT-inclusive curriculum have caused some parents to pull their children out of school in some cases on faith grounds.
Protests targeted the No Outsiders program, which is taught at a group of schools in Birmingham and encourages children to accept differences in, among other things, families and relationships.
The UK plans to make “relationship” education compulsory by 2020, which is great news for future generations of LGBT children. But for adults facing intolerance now, the police should send a clear message that hate crimes will not be tolerated and will be investigated.
Vulnerable LGBT+ migrants are being kept in Mexican border cities to face violence and abuse, despite the fact that they are supposed to be excluded from Trump’s Remain in Mexico program.
Remain in Mexico, technically know as the Migrant Protection Protocols program (MPP), was implemented in January 2019 and means that asylum seekers and migrants waiting to be processed by the US government must wait on the Mexican side of the border.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that “individuals from vulnerable populations” would not be subject to the Remain in Mexico, and that it would only send back those who were “not to be more likely than not to face persecution or torture in Mexico”.
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees found in 2017 that 88 percent of Central American LGBT+ migrants had been victims of sexual and gender-based violence in their home countries, and two thirds had experienced the same violence in Mexico.
The newspaper spoke with one 24-year-old trans migrant from Honduras, Katherine Hernandez, who was placed in Tijuana while she waits for US authorities to process her case.
While Hernandez faced violence in her own country that forced her to flee, but now in Mexico she is still in huge danger.
She said that last year, armed men robbed the shelter she was staying in with other LGBT+ people. Around the same time, someone wedged the door shut with a mattress and set it on fire. She said she rarely leaves her room now.
In a recent assessment of the Remain in Mexico process, DHS said the Trump administration had returned more than 55,000 migrants to Mexico, and had completed just 13,000 cases. It estimates that 20,000 people are currently held in Mexico, which is says proves that MPP works because “a significant proportion of the 55,000+ MPP returnees have chosen to abandon their claims”.
Migrants who express fear of torture or persecution if returned to Mexico are subjected to a “fear screening”. The assessment states that just 13 percent were judged as adequately fearful, and not returned to Mexico.
It added that the administration thinks the “result is unsurprising, not least because aliens amenable to MPP voluntarily entered Mexico en route to the United States”.
Ursela Ojeda, a policy adviser at the Women’s Refugee Commission, told The Guardian: “When you see people not showing up for their court hearing in Remain in Mexico, you have to wonder what happened to the people who aren’t there.
“There is no way to know why they just missed court – they could have been kidnapped, they could have been killed, they could have been put on a bus by the Mexican government and shoved to another part of the country with no way to get back.”
The Philadelphia Police Department has confirmed to PinkNews they are investigating the death of Alicia Simmons, a trans woman.
Simmons, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was found dead in her apartment on Sunday night.
According to trans activist Ashlee Preston there were no signs of “foul play”, she wrote on Facebook.
Nevertheless, trans activists remain weary around the cause of her death which, if proved to be malicious, would make Simmons the 22nd trans person killed in the US this year alone.
Local community leaders and investigators are scrambling to piece together what happened to Simmons.
Officers stated she was found in an apartment in the 4900 block of Walnut Street, in the northwestern Walnut Hill neighbourhood. A diverse patch of the city packed with coffeeshops and young professionals.
Preston added that Simmons was found “unresponsive in her bed with no signs of forced entry into her apartment” at 8:47pm.
Before announcing their judgement on three critical LGBT+ rights cases, US Supreme Court justices Brett Kavanaugh and Samuel Alito chose to meet with the leader of a notorious anti-LGBT+ hate group.
Both groups actively campaign against basic LGBT+ rights in the US and beyond. Brown himself has long organised against LGBT+ communities, promoted harmful laws and emboldened other hate groups and extremists.
Worryingly, the two Supreme Court judges seemed to indicate which side they’re likely to be on as they proudly posed for a photo alongside Brown on Tuesday, October 29.
Although the tweet doesn’t state what the meeting was for, it was probably in connection to a major brief NOM has just filed with the US Supreme Court.
According to NOM’s website, the brief is “urging SCOTUS to protect people of faith from governmental discrimination because of their belief that marriage is the union of one man and one woman”.
This directly relates to the cases currently being considered by the Supreme Court, which will determine whether LGBT+ people are covered by existing federal laws that protect against discrimination.
It’s not the first time Brian Brown and NOM have tried to pressure the Supreme Court on LGBT+ rights – in 2010, NOM was involved in successful efforts to oust three Iowa Supreme Court judges who had ruled in favour of same-sex marriage in the state.
A day after being pictured with the Supreme Court justices, Brown was in Ghana for a two-day conference hosted by the WCF, where he and other anti-gay extremists sought to influence African political and religious leaders against LGBT+ rights.
Brian S Brown at a WCF conference in Verona, Italy (FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/ Getty)
Speakers at the conference are said to have advocated for the adoption of public policies supporting so-called “conversion therapy” and an understanding of LGBT+ people as “deviant.”
“We urge allies to help us shine a spotlight on the group’s hateful agenda and hold the World Congress of Families accountable by sharing news on social media about the group’s harmful messages and amplifying the positive work of local LGBTQ communities and their allies,” the HRC warned.
Conservative lawmakers in Texas, Georgia and Kentucky are calling for laws to prohibit minors from receiving gender transition-related health care such as puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy. Providers who administer these treatments, which are in some cases used to treat gender dysphoria in youth, could face a felony charge under a Georgia lawmaker’s proposal.
The proposals come on the heels of a controversy in Texas spawned by a bitter custody battle between two parents who disagree on whether their 7-year-old is transgender. The Dallas case electrified conservative and far-right media in October and spilled over into state and national politics, with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Sen. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump Jr. all weighing in on the issue.
Trump Jr. accused the mother of “child abuse,” and soon after, Texas’ attorney general sent a letter to the Texas Department of family and Protective Services demanding that it investigate to protect the child from “permanent and potentially irreversible harm by his mother.”
Republican Texas Rep. Matt Krause said he would introduce a billthat “prohibits the use of puberty blockers in these situations for children under 18” in the next legislative session. Kentucky Rep. Savannah Maddox, also a Republican, announced on Facebook that she was drafting a similar bill for her state. She referenced the Texas custody case in her announcement.
“I am a strong advocate for parents’ rights — but it is not the right of a parent to permanently alter a child’s gender or identity, even when based upon certain behaviors or the perceptions of a child’s mind which has not yet had time to fully develop,” Maddox wrote, in part.
Georgia Rep Ginny Ehrhart.Dash Photography / Georgia House of Representatives
Ginny Ehrhart, a Republican member of the George House of Representatives, said the Texas case is one reason why she plans to introduce the “Vulnerable Child Protection Act” in Georgia’s 2020 legislative session. A statement announcing the forthcoming bill said it would “make it a felony to perform radical surgery on, or administer drugs to, a minor child for the purpose of attempting to change a minor’s gender,” which Ehrhart called “a form of child abuse.”
The statements made by Ehrhart and a number of other lawmakers, however, perpetuate the false notion that transgender and gender-expansive children are routinely subjected to, as Erhart put it, “life-altering, irreversible surgeries and drug treatments that render them sterile and permanently disfigured.” In fact, medical guidelines call for treating gender dysphoria in pre-pubescent youth with a social transition, like the use of new pronouns, names and attire. Ehrhart said her bill would not impact social transitions.
Once a child starts to experience puberty, and if the child continues to strongly identify with the gender of their social transition, transgender health experts recommend a puberty blocker, as experiencing puberty when suffering from gender dysphoria can be traumatic for trans and gender-nonconforming youth. With age, gender-expansive youth can explore other options such as gender-affirming hormones and surgery. The World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH) recommends deferring genital surgery until a person is at least 18 years old. Even so, only a quarter of transgender people have had some sort of gender-affirming surgical procedure, according to the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey.
“The key approach to gender-expansive children who might be transgender is to follow their lead in terms of how they want to present and dress,” Joshua Safer, executive director of the Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery, told Endocrine Today. “There are no medical treatments for children before puberty of any sort, and there are no surgeries.”
Historically, puberty blockers have been used to treat cisgender (non-transgender) children diagnosed with precocious, or early, puberty. However, Ehrhart clarified that her bill targets the use of puberty blockers “solely for the purposes of transgenderism.”
“This does not affect the ability to use these drugs for other conditions,” Ehrhart told NBC News.
The promised bills from Ehrhart and other conservative lawmakers were widely panned by transgender health experts, LGBTQ advocates and endocrinologists. Even the The Houston Chronicle’s editorial board spoke out against the Texas proposal, writing Wednesday that “Right-wing media spread false information about the case and about the transition process for trans children.”
The Dallas Morning News speculated that these bills may be part of a new effort for conservative lawmakers to rally their base voters ahead of the 2020 election, after efforts to pass so-called bathroom bills — legislation that would proscribe transgender people from using the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity — failed in several states.
Gillian Branstetter, a spokesperson for the National Center for Transgender Equality, said it would not be “hyperbole to say each of these bills would carry a body count.”
“They would criminalize health care saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of transgender adolescents across the nation,” she told NBC News. “Such an extreme rejection of the scientific consensus would not only destroy lives; it would end lives.”
