When then-Vice President Mike Pence stepped up to a podium on World AIDS Day in 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term, he sparked anger when his remarks did not mention the LGBTQ community. Now the second Trump administration is going a step further by completely ditching World AIDS Day, which has been observed annually since 1988 to raise awareness about the fight against HIV/AIDS and to honor those who have lost their lives to the epidemic. The US State Department ordered employees and grantees to avoid using government funds to commemorate World AIDS Day, according to the New York Times, which reported that employees were told “to refrain from messaging on any commemorative days, including World AIDS Day.” Workers can still “tout the work” in the administration to “counter this dangerous disease and other infectious diseases around the world,” but they were told to “refrain from publicly promoting World AIDS Day through any communication channels, including social media, media engagements, speeches or other public-facing messaging,” the New York Times reported. While the administration claims it is working to “counter this dangerous disease,” the president has pushed to cut much-needed services to end the epidemic after already slashing significant chunks of HIV/AIDS funding earlier this year. At the domestic level, the GOP-led House Appropriations Committee earlier this year issued a FY26 funding bill seeking to reduce domestic HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs by nearly $2 billion, which goes beyond the president’s proposal to cut more than $1. 5 billion. The State Department did not immediately respond to Gay City News’ request for comment and clarification on Nov. 26. A spokesperson for the State Department brushed off World AIDS Day entirely, telling the New York Times that “an awareness day is not a strategy” and that the State Department “is working directly with foreign governments to save lives and increase their responsibility and burden sharing.” The president’s abandonment of World AIDS Day comes just one year after then-President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden publicly commemorated the day on the South Lawn of the White House, where the grass was adorned with sections of the AIDS Memorial Quilt.
https://gaycitynews.com/trump-administration-bars-employees-world-aids-day/
Trump administration bars employees from recognizing World AIDS Day
