Global LGBT Activists on Trump

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Published: 20 December 2016

Naomi Brussel brings us voices from global LGBT activists from the Outright Summit taliking about what will a Trump administration mean for their struggles. LGBTIQ activists from Iraq, Lebanon, South Africa, Sri Lanka, St. Lucia, Sweden, Thailand, and USA gathered at the office of OutRight Action International, formerly the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, in New York City, to discuss the impact of the incoming Trump Administration and urge the President-elect and his administration to maintain US commitment to protecting the human rights of LGBTIQ people globally.

Under the Obama administration, the United States has shown unprecedented commitment to promoting the human rights of LGBTIQ people internationally, including by issuing a presidential memorandum to advancing LGBT human rights globally, creating the Global Equality Fund to financially support LGBTIQ rights internationally, and by appointing the first-ever Special Envoy for LGBTI Rights.

Activists commented that support from US Embassies to LGBTIQ groups in countries often hostile towards LGBTIQ rights has been especially important to increasing visibility and understanding of human rights for vulnerable communities. Jessica Stern, Executive Director of OutRight Action International said,

“I have hope and confidence in the American people to continue elevating and responding to the struggles of people beyond US borders and investing in protecting the lives of activists around the world. There is a framework of international solidarity in place, one that cannot be easily broken. We have stepped up into this brilliant, strong, and resilient global LGBTIQ movement and we will not move backwards.”

Voices to be broadcast include: Amir Ashour, founder of Iraq’s only LGBT+ organization, IraQueer; Rosanna Flamer-Caldera, of Equal Ground in Sri Lanka,  Steve Letsike, Co-Chair of the South African National AIDS Council and more.

11 AIDS Activists Arrested Blocking Congressman Ryan's DC Office

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Published: 06 December 2016

Tune in tonight for John Riley's coverage of a recent World AIDS Day Protest. More than a month before the new Congress meets and 7 weeks before the 2017 presidential inaguration AIDS activists kicked off a campaign to resist cuts to the healthcare system called for by congressional republicans and Donald Trump.

 On December 1st in Washington, D.C. eleven AIDS activists were arrested while staging a sit-in at the office of Speaker of the House Paul Ryan in protest of his and Congressman Tom Price’s plans to dismantle the U.S. healthcare system that the global HIV response depends on.

 People living with HIV, students, nurses, and others took over the hallway outside Ryan’s office, holding signs and banners reading “Ryan & Price’s Healthcare Dream is a Nightmare for People with HIV.”

AIDS activists delivered a letter to Ryan’s office and to the office of Congressman Price, who is the incoming Trump administration’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).