HIV Activists Mobilize to Save Lives as Funding and Rights Are Gutted
Across the United States, dedicated HIV activists are once again mobilizing, facing a familiar and devastating threat: significant federal funding cuts and proposed budget reductions under the Trump administration. These actions jeopardize decades of progress in combating the epidemic, particularly impacting marginalized communities already disproportionately affected by HIV.
The proposed cuts aren’t abstract; they translate directly into diminished testing, outreach, prevention programs, and vital support services like housing and mental healthcare. For activists like Cedric Sturdevant, who founded Community Health PIER in the Mississippi Delta to address deep-seated health disparities, this moment feels like a critical turning point requiring renewed vigilance and resistance.
Targeting Lifesaving Programs
The Trump administration has initiated substantial clawbacks of federal public health grants, totaling over $11 billion, and abruptly terminated millions in funds designated for U.S. HIV work. The proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 escalates this threat, aiming to severely curtail Medicaid, a program providing essential health coverage for approximately 40% of adults living with HIV and crucial for accessing lifesaving treatments.
Perhaps most alarming is the proposal to eliminate all HIV prevention programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). One analysis grimly predicts this single cut could lead to an additional 14,600 HIV-related deaths within the next five years. Further proposals seek to cancel major grants for housing assistance for people with HIV and end strategic initiatives focused on expanding services in minority communities and supporting the mental health of people of color living with or at risk of HIV.
The administration’s stated justification for these cuts, as noted in a White House addendum and termination letters, centers on eliminating “radical gender and racial ideologies,” explicitly targeting words like “diversity,” “equity,” and “gender minorities.” Activists and public health experts argue that this language is a politically motivated attack on the very concepts that guide resources to where they are most needed. Black and Latino people account for approximately 70% of new U.S. HIV infections, and targeted initiatives for these and gender minority communities have been proven effective. This rhetoric also aligns with broader political attacks on marginalized communities, including the LGBTQ+ community, framing the cuts not just as fiscal policy but as part of a wider effort to dismantle protections and support for vulnerable populations.
Ground Zero: The South and the Weight of Stigma
The impact is already tangible, especially in the American South, which accounts for over half of all HIV diagnoses. Testing and outreach efforts are faltering. In Mississippi, a small clinic stopped HIV testing due to funding cuts and delays, and health departments have issued stop-work orders to community groups because federal grants are stalled. People living with HIV are gripped by fear of losing their life-sustaining treatments and housing assistance.
Cedric Sturdevant’s story embodies the personal and systemic challenges. As a gay, Black man living with HIV in the Mississippi Delta – one of the nation’s poorest and most medically underserved regions, marked by historical disenfranchisement rooted in sharecropping, Jim Crow, segregation, and gerrymandering – he understands the complex barriers beyond accessing medication. Stigma is a formidable foe. When Sturdevant was diagnosed in 2005, fear of judgment led him to hide his status and delay treatment until he became severely ill. This personal experience fuels his resolve to support others.
Beyond Medication: The Need for Comprehensive Support
Effective HIV care demands more than just access to powerful drugs that can suppress the virus to undetectable levels, preventing transmission. It requires addressing fundamental needs like stable housing, food security, and mental health. CDC surveys initiated in 2012 confirmed what activists like Sturdevant knew intuitively: people at risk or not virally suppressed disproportionately struggle with these issues, alongside pervasive internalized and perceived stigma.
These data previously underscored the necessity of funding grassroots groups embedded within marginalized communities. Community-based interventions, including partnerships with Black churches recognized as vital community hubs, have demonstrated significant success. For example, Black churches involved in HIV education and outreach in Kansas City more than doubled the likelihood of congregants getting tested. These holistic, community-driven efforts contributed to a 12% drop in new HIV infections from 2018 to 2022. Now, these successful programs and the essential data collection they rely on (like the in-depth CDC surveys) are under threat from funding cuts and staff layoffs.
This pattern of undermining data-driven public health efforts appears broader. Experts note that funding cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have also hindered research into critical public health emergencies like intimate partner violence and elder abuse, suggesting a systemic de-prioritization of certain public health challenges.
Organizing, Strategizing, and the Call for Civil Society
In response to the unfolding crisis, HIV activists are actively organizing and devising strategies to mitigate the damage. They are rallying in Washington D.C., sharing experiences, and formulating plans.
Strategies emerging include:
Partnerships: Larger, established HIV organizations collaborating with nascent groups in underserved areas to help manage funding and attract private donations.
Coordination: Working closely with other nonprofits and churches focused on providing basic needs like food, housing, and mental health support, recognizing the necessity of “civil society stepping up” when government support falters.
- Advocacy: National groups are pressing Congress and engaging with corporate and philanthropic funders.
- kffhealthnews.org
- www.statnews.com
- truthout.org
Despite these efforts, the financial reality is stark. Philanthropy cannot bridge the gap left by federal cuts; in 2023, non-governmental funders provided $284 million for U.S. HIV efforts, compared to approximately $16 billion in annual federal funds in recent years. Experts fear that new infections will rise within 18 months if the cuts proceed unchecked.
Compounding the challenge is the rhetoric emanating from figures like HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has expressed skepticism about established HIV science without citing evidence. This stance creates an environment where traditional public health expertise and data-driven approaches face undue scrutiny and potential marginalization within the administration itself.
Yet, the spirit of resilience prevails. Activists, many of whom have fought for decades against neglect, stigma, and insufficient resources, refuse to be defeated. They are channeling the energy of survival, drawing strength from community and faith, and resolving to “keep fighting for those who don’t have the fight in them.” This moment demands that activists, allies, and communities come together, drawing on historical lessons of resistance and mutual aid to build a defense against policies that threaten to unravel critical progress and endanger vulnerable lives.
