National Equality March: A Call to Action at the AIDS Rally & Vigil
This past weekend, tens of thousands (some estimates have it at hundreds of thousands) of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied people from across the nation converged on Washington, DC for the National Equality March (NEM), the first national LGBT rights march in DC since 2000.
On Saturday, October 10th, 15+ organizations hosted a rally and vigil for HIV/AIDS on the Ellipse, not even a block away from the White House. Cleve Jones, one of the co-chairs of the NEM and founder of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, said of the rally, “The weekend of course is about achieving full equality for LGBT Americans. We need to be using that political power to underscore that the AIDS epidemic continues. We believe a great many young people will be attending the march, and they need to continue the fight.”
Ronald Johnson, Deputy Executive Director of AIDS Action Council, one of the co-sponsoring organizations, spoke at the rally. Below is a copy of his remarks, highlighting in particular the HIV/AIDS community’s recent success in having the President agree to develop a National HIV/AIDS Strategy. As Johson points out, our job now as a community of people living with HIV/AIDS and affected by it is to ensure that the process for developing the National HIV/AIDS Strategy and its outcomes are driven by the very people whose lives it’s meant to improve.
REMARKS AT HIV/AIDS RALLY & VIGIL
October 10, 2009
Ronald Johnson
We are here tonight in the 29th year of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
There are an estimated 1.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States, including nearly 500,000 living with AIDS.
21% of people believed to be infected don’t know they are infected.
50% of people with HIV are not in care.
There are over 55,000 new HIV infections a year; more then half of the new infections are among gay and bisexual men.
People and communities of color are hardest hit. African American and Latina women are especially impacted by HIV and AIDS.
HIV/AIDS cases are increasing rapidly among adults 50 years and older. Many older adults are at risk of becoming newly infected.
Here in the District of Columbia, 3% of residents are living with HIV/AIDS.
Over half a million people have died of AIDS.
After 28 years, HIV disease is still a crisis in our country.
We need a national HIV/AIDS strategy.
Over 500 organizations and over 1500 individuals responded to the Call to Action and sent that message to our elected officials. And our message was heard.
In his first month in office, President Obama made a personal commitment to develop a national HIV/AIDS strategy. The Obama Administration, through the Office of National AIDS Policy, has begun the work to develop a strategy.
We commend the President for moving on a national HIV/AIDS strategy but we, the HIV/AIDS community, cannot rest on our success.
We must make sure that a national strategy is not just words on paper on in some official’s computer. We don’t need another glossy report that is more notable for the dust that it collects than for the lives that are saved. We need a national strategy that will lead to concrete action to end the epidemic.
We need a strategy that spells out the leadership that is needed to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS.
We need a strategy that has clear outcomes that lead to ending the epidemic.
We need a strategy that states clearly who is accountable for achieving those outcomes.
We need a strategy that details the resources, including funding, that it will take to end the epidemic.
We must demand a strategy that will increase access to care and treatment. Full health care coverage, adequate housing, and support services for all people living with HIV disease should be non-negotiable.
We must demand a strategy that will decrease new HIV infections. 55,000 new infections is 55,000 too many.
We must demand a strategy to eliminate racial, ethnic, and social inequities. People of color, especially women of color, gay and bisexual men of all races, and low-income people of all races must be targeted for action.
We must continue to raise our voices and we must stay involved.
But as important as the development of a national HIV/AIDS strategy is, we must not forget that there are things that should be done now.
We need some down payments on a national strategy and one down payment would be ending the ban on federal funding for syringe exchange programs. It is shameful that that ban has been in place for so long. The scientific evidence on the effectiveness of syringe exchange programs in reducing HIV transmission among injecting drug users and linking them to care and treatment is clear. We are close to ending that shameful ban. President Obama has said that he supports lifting the ban. We need your voice. We need your action. Tell the President to show his support. Tell your Representative, and tell your Senators to vote for lifting the ban on federal funding of syringe exchange now and without restrictions that would cripple syringe exchange programs.
28 years of the HIV/AIDS epidemic is too long. We cannot passively accept this epidemic. We must work to end the epidemic. That’s why we must demand a meaningful national HIV/AIDS strategy. That’s why we must demand lifting the ban on federal funding of syringe exchange programs.
We are fighting for our lives.
Thank you.
