On the heels of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's recent inaccurate statement at Nancy Reagan's funeral that the first lady and husband President Ronald Reagan started "a national conversation" about HIV/AIDS, a group of 70 HIV/AIDS advocates sent a letter to Clinton.
"[A]t Nancy Reagan's funeral, I said something inaccurate when speaking about the Reagans' record on HIV and AIDS," Clinton said in the March 12 statement/apology. "To be clear, the Reagans did not start a national conversation about HIV and AIDS. That distinction belongs to generations of brave lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, along with straight allies, who started not just a conversation but a movement that continues to this day."
The letter urges Clinton to appoint an HIV advisor to her campaign, to meet with HIV community leadership, announce a commitment to end the AIDS epidemic in the United States by 2025 and support ending the global AIDS pandemic.
The letter was delivered to Clinton campaign headquarters on March 15. Similar letters are being delivered to all of the 2016 presidential candidates, and Clinton opponent Bernie Sanders has posted an HIV/AIDS plan on his website.
Those signing the letter include:
Jose Abrigo, Staff Attorney, LGBTQ/HIV Advocacy Project, Queens Legal Services
ACRIA
ACT UP New York
African Services Committee
AIDS Action Baltimore
AIDS Alabama
AIDS Foundation of Chicago
Albany Damien Center
Amida Care
AVAC
Bailey House
John Barry, LMSW, Executive Director, Southern Tier AIDS Program
BOOM! Health
Rebecca Botting
Bronx Parent Housing Network
Reginald T. Brown, M. Ed., Unity Fellowship of Christ Church, VOCAL-NY Community Leader
Central New York HIV Care Network Coalition for Homeless Youth
JD Davids, TheBody.com
Sharen I. Duke, Executive Director and CEO, AIDS Service Center NYC ( ASCNYC )
Sergio Farfan, Louisiana Latino Health Coalition for HIV/AIDS
Ingrid Floyd, Executive Director, Iris House
Miasha Forbes, Human Rights Activist and Founder, Just for Us: Gender Diversity Project
GMHC
Health GAP
Health People
Hispanic Health Network
HIV Prevention Justice Alliance
Housing Works
Brian Hujdich, Pozitively Health Coalition
Human Rights Campaign
Hyacinth AIDS Foundation
Carine Jocelyn, CEO, Diaspora Community Services, Brooklyn, NY
Marsha Jones, the Afiya Center
Howard Josepher, LCSW, President & CEO, Exponents
Jacquelyn Kilmer, CEO, Harlem United
Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn
Latino Commission on AIDS
Latinos in the Deep South
LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York
Matthew McMorrow, former Director of Government Affairs, Empire State Pride Agenda
David Ernesto Munar, CEO, Howard Brown Health
National Black Justice Coalition
National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS
NMAC ( formerly known as the National Minority AIDS Council )
OASIS-Latino LGBTS Wellness Center
Chuck Peterson, Executive Director, Clare Housing, Minneapolis, MN
Michael Emanuel Rajner, Wilton Manors, FL
Kyle Rapinon, Esq., Director of Survival and Self-Determination, Sylvia Rivera Law Project
Elana Redfield, Attorney and LGBTQI Activist
Dr. Margaret S. Reneau, Director of Programs, National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS
Eric Sawyer, Founding Member—ACT UP, Co-Founder Housing Works, Inc. & Health GAP, Inc.
Virginia Shubert, Shubert Botein Policy Associates
Southern Tier AIDS Program
Peter Staley
Rev. Moonhawk River Stone, M.S., LMHC, RiverStone Consulting, Schenectady, NY
Daniel W. Tietz, Chief Special Services Officer, NYC Human Resources Administration/Department of Social Services
Treatment Action Group
Trillium Health/Rochester
Peter Twyman, CEO, Keep a Child Alive
Andrew Velez, ACT UP New York
VillageCare
Tom Viola, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS
VOCAL New York
Washington Heights CORNER Project
David W. Webber, Attorney
John Wikiera, Central NY HIV Care Network
Terri L. Wilder, MSW
Doug Wirth, President/CEO, Amida Care
Young Black Gay Leadership Initiative ( YBGLI )
