The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday rejected the presidential administration’s proposed termination of the CDC’s HIV prevention and surveillance efforts as well as massive proposed funding cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), advancing a measure that would increase the agency’s budget by $400 million.
The White House budget called for slashing NIH funding by $18 billion, a decrease of 40 percent. The committee rejected those cuts and others addressing HIV prevention, treatment and care, advancing the bill with overwhelming bipartisan support on a 26-3 vote.
“This committee has had multiple hearings over the last several months and heard from patients, families and researchers about the importance of NIH funding,” said out Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) in remarks after the vote, The Hill reported. “This committee has, in a bipartisan manner, prioritized NIH and the research it supports to develop life-saving treatments and cures for devastating diseases.”
Earlier this month, both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees rejected the presidential administration’s proposal to eliminate the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS program. While the House proposed maintaining the current $505 million budget, the Senate proposed to increase it by $24 million.
The committee also rejected funding cuts and block grants to states for prevention efforts focused on hepatitis and other STIs.
Senate appropriators preserved those parts of the administration’s budget that had maintained funding addressing HIV and PrEP programs, including $542 million for the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative launched by the president in his first term. The initiative’s funding includes PrEP in community health centers and enhanced HIV prevention and treatment programs.
Most of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program was preserved, as well.
The committee also rejected the administration’s plan to revamp the way the NIH pays universities, medical schools and other research centers.
“To the scientists wondering if there will even be an NIH by the end of this administration: this committee’s resounding message is yes,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the committee’s vice chair.
“Congress has your back — we’re not going to give up the fight against cancer, Alzheimer’s, or rare diseases,” Murray said.
Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, was cautiously optimistic following the committee’s bipartisan rebuke of the president’s funding priorities.
“We are pleased that senators of both parties recognize the critical importance of preventing HIV in the United States and the value of nationwide surveillance, testing, education, and PrEP programs,” he said in a statement.
“The president’s proposed elimination of HIV prevention and surveillance programs, along with on and off staff and grant cuts and delays, have left HIV prevention in disarray. We hope the Senate’s vote of confidence for HIV prevention will start to bring the stability we need so that state and local health departments, other grantees, and staff can get back to doing their work.”
Today (June 27, 2025), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) membership structure and its recommendations for preventive services made after passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in March 2010.
These services—including the HIV prevention medicine PrEP, breast cancer screenings, depression screenings, Hepatitis B and C and other STI counseling and screenings—must be covered by nearly all private insurance plans at no cost to enrollees as mandated by the ACA. This decision in Kennedy v. Braidwood overturns a portion of the Fifth Circuit’s ruling and will have numerous benefits for Americans nationwide, including the LGBTQ+ community who disproportionately rely on PrEP, which when taken as prescribed, reduces the chance of HIV transmission by close to 100%.
Human Rights Campaign’s President Kelley Robinson released the following statement:
“This decision means millions of Americans, for now, can breathe easier, knowing that critical preventive care remains within reach—not a luxury reserved for the privileged few.The LGBTQ+ community has historically faced societal and economic barriers that have worsened health outcomes and widened gaps in healthcare inequality–barriers that have only grown worse as anti-equality lawmakers continue to attack our healthcare. While we’re pleased that the Supreme Court has blocked this attempt to create even more burdens on people seeking lifesaving care, we must remain vigilant. The HHS, under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, has exhibited an open hostility toward the health needs of LGTBQ+ people and has already undermined critical protections against HIV. We must continue to work to ensure everyone, no matter your sexual orientation, gender identity, race, income or location, can access the care they need to thrive.”
The fear includes having to hide who you are, if you become ill, or as you age in Connecticut.
Now, the state Senate passed legislation in a 26-10 vote that prohibits long-term care facilities and their staff from discriminating against residents including those in the LGBTQ+ community and also requires cultural competency training focused on residents who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or gender nonconforming or are living with HIV.
“This bill is part of our ongoing efforts to ensure that Connecticut remains a place where seniors feel safe and respected as they age,” said Sen. Jan Hochadel, D-Meriden in a statement. “No one should fear being treated differently or unfairly based on who they are. This law will send a clear message that everyone in Connecticut deserves dignity and compassion in their later years.”
Several Republicans cited concerns with the bill, particularly about how cases of discrimination would be adjudicated, with Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott, proposing an amendment to remove the DPH from the bill in being the final arbitrator of the penalties of facilities.
That amendment failed along party lines.
“The language that is included in here has an intent to politicize the notion of discrimination, almost like a DEI bill frankly,” said Sen. Rob Sampson R-Wolcott.
“Almost in an effort to try to dig us into the discussion about DEI once again and frankly I don’t want to go there. I am just as much against discrimination as anyone else is but to try and go ahead and create these training materials that will ultimately force people that work in these institutions to have to accommodate other people’s worldviews I think is offensive frankly,” he said. “The desire to impose penalties on facilities and maybe individuals because they participate in a training where they are exposed to different worldviews they disagree with and have them imposed upon them and adjust and respond to a woke understanding of the world is quite frightening frankly.”
Sen. John Kissel, R- Enfield, also spoke against the bill and his disappointment that the amendment failed.
“I have great concern when we turn too much power over to a commissioner,” he said. “We do not want discrimination. I got to be honest if I am dealing with some 85-year old woman that is in frail health and if she feels uncomfortable in a room because someone next to her is having a lifestyle choice that impedes and interferes with her quality of life, that is an interesting question. By this underlying bill we are saying we are always going to side with the person that is being overly expressive in asserting themselves in their sexual determinations.”
One couple hoping for the bill’s passage is Janet Peck and her wife, Carol Conklin. The couple faces a tough transition as they consider long-term care facilities for Conklin, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
Peck said she is concerned that the couple, who celebrate 50 years together this September, will no longer be able to live openly, fearing discrimination at a long-term facility after hearing stories from friends in such facilities.
“We have never lived in the closet and we do not ever intend to and it would be pretty awful if (Carol) would have to feel she would have to do that and if I visit her that we would feel like we would have to hide that we are together,” she said.
“I think this bill helps to ensure that at least there is training for staff about LGBTQ+ cultural issues,” she said. “I think the biggest concern is that we would not be comfortable if staff is not trained. We would not be comfortable to be out.”
While transitioning Conklin to a long-term care facility is not immediate, Peck said it is not far fetched as she was diagnosed with cancer.
“Although I am doing well and hope to continue, it may be contrary to what we have been planning for if she outlives me,” she said. “My dying wish is that Carol would be able to get the care that she is due like anyone else and that people would understand that she is a lesbian and that she be treated respectfully.”
HB 6913 passed the House 124-19 on May 8 after the adoption of a bipartisan amendment negotiated by Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, co-chair of the Judiciary Committee. The amendment struck a provision stating a transgender patient has a right not to be refused a room due to gender identity and to not be forcibly transferred.
Peck said she was disappointed that the bill “got rid of the rights of trans people.”
Rep. MJ Shannon, D-Milford, a 24-year-old gay man, said during the debate on the bill in the House, another change included is that it broadly refers to prohibiting discrimination against anyone, not just those in the LGBTQ+ community as the bill was originally written.
“The biggest pushback was (questioning) why this certain group gets to have a special law made for them,” Shannon said, explaining that lawmakers could not get over that hump so they revised the language to include everyone.
Shannon said the bill is crucial, especially the training component. He said he has also heard about discrimination of LGBTQ+ individuals in long-term care facilities from Mairead Painter, the state’s long-term care ombudsman.
“As a young gay person I know that these folks in these facilities have literally been fighting their entire lives for equal rights and equal opportunities for themselves and now that they are at the end of their life they should be able to be an old person and be in a nursing home,” he said. “They are facing discrimination just because of who they are and that is just not right.”
Shannon continued: “It is important that our LGBTQ+ elders or anyone living in these homes be treated with the respect and dignity they deserve and they age the rest of their lives gracefully and without fear of anything.”
Painter told the Courant that the state’s long-term care ombudsman’s office was looking to see this bill passed in order to ensure that “individuals receiving long-term services and supports know that in a very forward way their rights will be protected if they are in these settings.
“We really want to see them have the opportunity to live their best life and be their authentic self,” she said.
Painter said her office has seen some cases related to discrimination, harassment and isolation faced by LGBTQ+ residents within skilled nursing facilities.
“We have not seen an increase in these cases but just the fact that they have come up and part of it is a lack of awareness on some individuals’ part,” she said. “With education, outreach and by ensuring that people know that they have these rights and are protected, we are hoping as a package all around it will support the ability for everyone to live a high-quality life with respect and dignity in a long-term care setting.”
She added that surrounding states have passed similar bills.
Matt Blinstrubas, executive director of Equality CT, cited nationwide reports of incidents of discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals in skilled nursing facilities including incidents of isolation, shunning and misgendering of people.
“I have talked to couples who have had to go back in the closet effectively and are worried about what happens when one partner is in a facility and the other is visiting,” he said. “I have heard reports of trans folks being isolated by other residents and staff and I think in one case somebody actually left Connecticut and moved to a facility in New York City as a result of this. It is also a huge concern for same-sex couples where one partner needs to enter long-term care and (fear of discrimination) makes that decision difficult and complicated. There is palpable fear about how they might be treated.”
Blinstrubas continued: “This bill is a crucial step in providing the training and guidance necessary to providers to help them meet their needs and the needs of residents and to make sure nursing homes and long-term care facilities are welcoming to everybody.”
Waterbury Alderman Bilal Tajildeen, who also serves on the board of Equality CT, said he knows of cases of older adults in long-term care facilities in Waterbury that do not disclose that they are gay or lesbian because they fear discrimination.
He said the bill is critical.
“We are talking about a group of people, a specific age of older LGBTQ+ adults who have spent almost the majority of their life experiencing discrimination,” he said. “The challenge with long-term care facilities is you have so many employees that come from so many different lives and traditions that the risk of having a caretaker that has very adverse reactions to your lifestyle is actually quite high.”
Peck recalled a story of a friend whose partner was dying in a long-term care facility and told her partner not to show affection to her in the open.
“In the end state of an illness, you do not feel comfortable that your wife can show affection to you,” she said. “That should never happen.”
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) signed legislation on Tuesday that decriminalizes HIV. The Carlton R. Smith Act – named for a local HIV activist who died last year – eliminates criminal penalties based on one’s HIV status. Maryland is the 5th state to decriminalize HIV, with North Dakota making the move just last month.
Until now, it was a misdemeanor in Maryland to “knowingly transfer or attempt to transfer” HIV to someone else. The law did not require intent to transmit, actual transmission, or conduct that would transmit the virus. Penalties included up to three years incarceration and a fine of up to $2,500.
Laws like this can deter people from being tested and treated for HIV. In addition, Maryland’s law has been disproportionately used to target Black people.
The Williams Institute found that from 2000 to 2020, Black people accounted for 82% of HIV-related criminal cases in the state, despite only making up 30% of the population and 71% of the people living with HIV. The study also found that Black men make up 68% of people accused in HIV-related criminal cases, despite being 14% of the state’s population and 44% of the population living with HIV.
When the study was released, Williams Institute HIV Criminalization Project Director Nathan Cisneros explained that the law was put in place “at the height of the AIDS crisis before we had effective treatments for HIV.”
“We now have medical treatments that wholly eliminate the risk of transmitting HIV through sex,” Cisneros explained, “yet these advances are not reflected in Maryland law despite several reform attempts in recent years.”
In a statement, Phillip Westry, director of the state LGBTQ+ organization FreeState Justice, celebrated the passage of the Carlton R. Smith Act, calling it “a testament to the power of education, research, and courageous leadership.”
“It sends a clear message,” Westry continued, “Maryland is committed to evidence-based policymaking and to ending the criminalization of people living with HIV. We honor the memory of Carlton R. Smith by continuing the work of building a more just, inclusive, and informed society.”
The top administrative court in Greece, the Council of State, has overturned a 2022 decision by the nation’s Health Ministry that lifted the ban on gay men donating blood. As such, the ban – which Greece originally instated during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s – has effectively been reinstated.
The court ruled that the ministry did not provide scientific evidence to support its decision and did not follow the recommendations of two health advisory panels that suggested deferral periods for high-risk donors, reported Athens-based publication Kathimerini.
Greece is often considered to be at the forefront of progressive legislation moving LGBTQ+ rights, but lately it seems to be making moves to the contrary. In addition to reinstating the donation ban, the country’s justice minister recently said that proposed changes to Greece’s civil code will clarify that only women will be able to start a family through surrogacy, preventing single straight men, single gay men, and same-sex male couples from benefiting from the procedure.
“We are now clarifying unequivocally that the concept of inability to carry a pregnancy does not refer to an inability arising from one’s gender,” Giorgos Floridis told reporters.
In 2017, the Greek Parliament passed the Legal Gender Recognition Law, which allows transgender people to change their legal gender without needing prior medical interventions or tests.
The United States loosened its own blood donation restrictions in 2023, mostly benefiting monogamous men who aren’t taking any HIV treatment or HIV prevention medications.
The new FDA guidelines focus on specific criteria rather than anyone’s gender or the genders of their partners. They require a three-month pre-donation celibacy period for anyone who has had sex with a new sexual partner, more than one sexual partner, or anal sex, as well as for anyone taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medication. A two-year abstinence period is required for users of injectable PrEP, which can mask the presence of HIV in blood.
The policies are meant to reduce the likelihood of donations by people with new or recent HIV infections, the FDA said. Blood donation organizations test all donated blood for transfusion-transmitted infections, including HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.
Virginia’s anti-LGBTQ+ Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) vetoed a bill seeking to ban health and life insurance companies from discriminating against people taking the HIV prevention drug regemin PrEP.
H.B. 2769 amends the current insurance anti-discrimination law by explicitly stating a company cannot “Refuse to insure, refuse to continue to insure, or limit the amount or extent of life insurance or accident and sickness insurance coverage available to an individual or charge an individual a different rate for the same coverage based solely and without any additional actuarial risks upon the status of such individual as having received pre-exposure prophylaxis for the prevention of human immunodeficiency virus”.
Both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly have Democratic majorities. The bill passed the state Senate 24-15 and the House of Delegates 53 to 44. The veto was one of 157 bills the governor vetoed on Monday as part of what the Virginia Mercury called his “veto storm to drown progressive legislation.”
He also vetoed a bill that would have incrementally raised the minimum wage to $15 per hour and one that sought to expand voter turnout by making state and local elections at the same time as the presidential primary during election years.
Youngkin did, however, sign a landmark campaign finance reform bill that passed with bipartisan support. H.B. 2165 bans personal use of campaign funds.
Youngkin has supported numerous policies attacking LGBTQ+ students under the guise of so-called “parents’ rights” in education. His policies for trans youth in schools include the forced misgendering or deadnaming of kids who don’t have parents’ permission, allowing youth to “opt-out” of being near trans kids in gendered spaces, and forced outing of trans kids to their parents.
In an October 2021 interview with the Associated Press, Youngkin said he didn’t personally support same-sex marriage. In 2024, however, he signed a bill codifying same-sex marriage in the Commonwealth.
The U.S. State Department has issued a memo stating that the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program to prevent HIV in low- and middle-income foreign countries, can only offer HIV-preventing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medications to pregnant and breastfeeding women (PBFW) rather than to LGBTQ+ people, sex workers and other groups at high-risk for contracting HIV.
The memo circulated by the State Department’s Global Health Security and Diplomacy program states, “People other than PBFW who may be at high risk of HIV infection or were previously initiated on a PrEP option cannot be offered PEPFAR-funded PrEP during this pause of U.S. Foreign Assistance or until further notice.”
The “pause” mentioned in the memo refers to a 90-day hold on all foreign aid issued by President Donald Trump’s executive order on “reevaluatig and realigning” U.S. foreign aid. The State Department added that Trump’s order is “rooting out waste” and “blocking woke programs” to ensure that funding only benefits efforts “fully aligned” with Trump’s foreign policy.
“We are outraged by the Trump Administration’s puritanical distribution of life-saving medication that brazenly discriminates against anyone not having sex exclusively for procreation,” said Wayne Besen, executive director of the LGBTQ+ advocacy organization Truth Wins Out. “This… could cruelly lead to the infection, and eventual death, of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.
“There is no other explanation for these guidelines other than cruel, vindictive behavior meant to cause pain and suffering to vulnerable communities disfavored by President Trump’s right-wing base,” Besen continued, adding, “Aren’t conservatives supposed to be pro-life, or do they only care about ‘life’ for those who are just like them?”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a waiver for lifesaving medicines and medical services affected by the pause, but his memo explained that PEPFAR funds will be restricted in various ways. In addition to denying PrEP medications to all but PBFW, Rubio’s restrictions also prohibit surveys and systems tracking the spread of HIV and child abuse in regional populations, as well as any projects scheduled beyond December 31 of this year.
As a result, the program’s HIV-prevention drugs are reportedly still not reaching their intended recipients, many clinics have ceased offering services, and healthcare workers haven’t been paid, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) reported. These all increase the likelihood of rising HIV rates, outbreaks, and HIV-related deaths abroad, KFF and Besen said.
The freeze and restrictions on PEPFAR funding have coincided with the dismantling of USAID – the independent U.S. international development agency that implements most U.S. global health programs – by Trump’s unofficial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). DOGE, which is not an official federal department created through required congressional approval, is headed by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk.
Musk has made the elimination of the agency a top DOGE priority, stating, “USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die,” without citing any evidence. Although USAID is the primary source of funding for HIV/AIDS relief for over 25 million people in 54 countries, the agency’s website has since been disabled.
A large portion of USAID’s personnel have been furloughed or fired; PEPFAR recipients have been left with no way to reach longtime contacts or access guidance. The Trump administration announced its intention to remove almost all USAID workers from their jobs and out of the field worldwide. Rubio said recipient organizations would have to apply for waivers to restart the funding.
Opponents have called Trump and Musk’s actions against PEPFAR and USAID illegal and unconstitutional. Lawsuits against the dismantling of the agency have been filed by USAID contractors – who say that the Trump administration owes them millions in unpaid bills that had been pledged in the last congressional budget – and also by a pair of nonprofit organizations, including the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC), an HIV-prevention nonprofit.
Jan 31 (Reuters) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal health agencies on Friday took down webpages with information on HIV statistics and other data to comply with Trump administration orders on gender identity and diversity, raising concerns among physicians and patient advocates.
CDC webpages that appear to have been removed include statistics on HIV,among transgender people and data on health disparities, among gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth. A database tracking behaviors,that increase health risks for youth was offline.
The Office of Personnel Management gave agencies more specific guidance on how to comply with the orders in a Jan. 29 memo,saying they were to be completed by 5 p.m. ET (2200 GMT) on Jan. 31.
It specified that agencies must end all programs that promote or reflect “gender ideology extremism” by recognizing a self-determined gender identity rather than biological sex. The measures include removing references to gender identity online.
A spokesperson for the Health and Human Services Department, which oversees the CDC, said any changes to websites follow this guidance.
“There’s a lot of work going on at the agency to comply,” said a source who was not authorized to speak publicly, adding that the CDC is “taking down anything on the website that doesn’t support this executive order.”
Deletions from the CDC’s site include pages with data on HIV in the United States in general, as well as pages with statistics on HIV in Hispanic/Latino people, women, by age, and by race and ethnicity.
The elimination of such data “creates a dangerous gap in scientific information and data to monitor and respond to disease outbreaks,” the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the HIV Medicine Association said in a joint statement.
For example, a page with information about how people can get HIV tests was offline on Friday, according to the Internet Archive, as was a page for doctors with information about testing for HIV and treating patients.
“This is very alarming,” said John Peller, head of the AIDS Foundation Chicago. “In many cases, basic health information is going dark.”
Timothy Jackson, senior director of policy and advocacy at the group, said they are going through the CDC website and printing out information used to educate people about HIV that may not be accessible after Friday.
Also missing from the CDC’s website was the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, which tracks trends in tobacco use, teen pregnancy, unsafe sexual behavior and other aspects of teen health.
At the National Institutes of Health, a senior employee this week urged agency leaders to refuse to implement the Trump administration’s guidance in an email to acting NIH Director Matthew Memoli and other top officials that was seen by Reuters.
The employee, Nate Brought, director of the NIH executive office, said Trump’s orders ran contrary to years of NIH research and findings about sexuality and gender.
“By complying with these orders, we will be denigrating the contributions made to the NIH mission by trans and intersex members of our staff, and the contributions of trans and intersex citizens to our society,” he wrote.
“These policies will lead to mental health crises or worse for tens of thousands of Americans who contribute productively to our communities.”
Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago and Ted Hesson in Washington; Additional reporting by Jaimi Dowdell in Los Angeles and Brad Heath in Washington; Editing by Leslie Adler and Bill Berkrot.
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