HARD COPY: Trump administration continues its gutting of health research – targeting LGBTQ people
This story by Benjamin Ryan and Aria Bendix speaks for itself, and what it says is nothing short of surreal and terrifying. The executive orders by the Trump administration that target transgender people and DEI initiatives are proving catastrophic for queer communities as well. Cutting health funding for entire groups of people is an act of violence – there is no other way to view it. The war that this administration is waging against institutions of higher education is also contributing to these slashes in research grants. Trump’s brand of anti-intellectualism that deems scholars and progressives as part of the same menacing problem of wokeness is more than the stuff of faux-populist political rhetoric. Institutions are being dismantled and careers tanked, and the long-term consequences of this on people’s lives will be devastating. Ryan and Bendix report that recent “mass layoffs across the Department of Health and Human Services included the gutting of programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that surveil the HIV epidemic among gay men in particular, according to a CDC official who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.” It is crucial that sexual subjects keep tabs on such losses so that when the time comes to build back not a minute will be wasted. Support your local journalist! They are needed on the front lines.
–
