Press

Tomorrow, December 1, communities around the globe will mark World AIDS Day. The following is a statement from National Gay and Lesbian Task Force executive director Kerry Lobel commemorating this day.

World AIDS Day is a grave and important occasion for all people. Well into the second decade of this bitter epidemic, we have no cure and our nation is still wanting for more resources and less ignorance. New drug therapies have made a difference for so many people and for this we are thankful. However, there are many people who do not have access to these therapies or for whom these therapies do not work. There are also many new cases of HIV infection every day. The epidemic has not gone away for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community or any other community. Indeed, the Congressional Black Caucus this year called upon Donna Shalala, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to declare HIV/AIDS a public health emergency in the African American community.

All too often public policy makers have allowed the politics of fear and timidity prevail, and as a result so has HIV and AIDS. This year the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS had to take the extraordinary step of rebuking President Clinton and Secretary Shalala for their "almost complete silence and continued inaction" on needle exchange policy. According to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately half of all new HIV infections each year are from contaminated needles. The preponderance of research on needle exchange indicates that such programs reduce the rate of HIV infection. Yet, great resistance to needle exchange programs remain.

Our work is clearly cut out for us, and not just here but the world over. AIDS/HIV is devastating counties throughout the world ­ in Africa, in the former Soviet Union, in Southeast Asia. Today, we take time to honor the many warriors who have dedicated their lives to the fight against HIV/AIDS. We also remember the many friends, family, and colleagues we have lost in these past two decades to this disease. And we uphold our commitment to work for the eradication of ignorance, intolerance, and HIV/AIDS. This year, according to an upcoming report from the Task Force, there were dozens of bills in state legislatures throughout the country that would serve to impede efforts to counter AIDS. We call on lawmakers at the state and federal level to put people over politics. We call on them to increase resources for education, prevention, and care and to put a stop to legislation that would block effective treatment and prevention efforts, such as names reporting requirements and bans on needle exchange.

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The mission of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is to build the political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from the ground up. We do this by training activists, organizing broad-based campaigns to defeat anti-LGBT referenda and advance pro-LGBT legislation, and by building the organizational capacity of our movement. Our Policy Institute, the movement’s premier think tank, provides research and policy analysis to support the struggle for complete equality and to counter right-wing lies. As part of a broader social justice movement, we work to create a nation that respects the diversity of human expression and identity and creates opportunity for all. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., we also have offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis and Cambridge.