On Wednesday, February 19, AIDS Foundation Chicago, the National Urban League, and the National Fair Housing Alliance sued the Trump administration over three executive orders related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and transgender people. The lawsuit was filed by Lambda Legal and the Legal Defense Fund (LDF). Read more about the case on Lambda Legal's website, or explore the full complaint.
According to the official press release, "The three executive orders being challenged terminate equity-related grants, and forbid federally-funded entities from engaging in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs, and from recognizing the existence of transgender people. Together, these orders reverse decades of civil rights progress and pose an existential threat to the organizations that advocate for the civil rights of transgender people, and provide them shelter, services, and support."
An AFC client, Will, submitted a statement in support of the lawsuit, and AFC President & CEO John Peller provided comments during a media call.
“As a Black man living with HIV who has experienced homelessness, for years, I have relied on the lifesaving services of organizations like AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC), who understood my intersectional identities. Now, as I work in the HIV field, I am deeply concerned about the threat these orders represent to AFC’s ability to serve our communities if they can’t even name the issues our people are facing.” said Will, an AIDS Foundation Chicago program participant.
Peller's remarks to the media emphasized that the HIV epidemic cannot end without a focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, and engagement with transgender communities. His full statement is below.
"I am the President & CEO of AIDS Foundation Chicago, a position I have held for over ten years. I have been an advocate in the HIV sector for over two decades. AIDS Foundation Chicago has been serving the HIV community for 40 years. Since long before the term DEI emerged, AIDS Foundation Chicago has known that culturally competent care is our best tool in the fight to end the HIV epidemic. Because HIV disproportionately impacts Black men, Latine men, transgender people, and Black women, we must be able to prioritize these populations in our work - through outreach and engagement initiatives, staff training, and allocation of resources. The HIV epidemic is fueled by structural inequity - including lack of access to medical care and prevention, and lack of access to housing, due to structural racism and gender bias - the same inequity that DEI work aims to address. We cannot end the HIV epidemic without addressing inequity specifically for Black, Latine, and LGBTQ+ people, including transgender women. For many years, our work has received bipartisan support and federal funding that has led to breakthroughs in combating the HIV epidemic. In fact, we are now at a point where we can realistically end the HIV epidemic in Illinois within the next handful of years. We can do that precisely because we have been able to prioritize populations most impacted by HIV and successfully advocate for policies that support health equity. It would be a devastating loss to be unable to prioritize people most impacted by HIV, and that would make our goal, which is finally in our sights after 40 years, unattainable. Yet, these executive orders deny the HIV sector that ability and put our clients’ health and our broader community’s health at risk. The executive orders jeopardize the decades of progress we have made toward ending the HIV epidemic through culturally competent care and the pursuit of health equity."
Media inquiries about AFC's involvement in the case can be sent to Patty Conway, Director of Communications: [email protected].
