LA LGBT Center HIV Programs Face Major Blow in Trump Administration’s Latest Move

Editor’s Note: On Thursday, February 12, a federal judge in Illinois blocked the Trump administration’s plan to rescind $600 million in public health funds from California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota. Judge Manish S. Shah of the Federal District Court in Northern Illinois ruled that the plaintiff states provided enough evidence the cuts were “based on arbitrary, capricious or unconstitutional rationales” to halt the funding cuts while legal arguments continue. The ruling temporarily protects the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s $383,000 in HIV prevention funding described below.

Los Angeles LGBT Center Faces $383,000 Loss in Federal HIV Prevention Funding

The Los Angeles LGBT Center is among several local organizations being targeted in the Trump administration’s latest round of health funding cuts, with the Center set to lose $383,000 in community HIV prevention programs, a potential blow to West Hollywood’s queer community and LGBTQ+ populations throughout Southern California.

The Los Angeles LGBT Center is among several local organizations being targeted in the Trump administration’s latest round of brutal health funding cuts. The Center is set to lose $383,000 in community HIV prevention programs, dealing a blow to West Hollywood’s queer community and LGBTQ+ populations throughout Southern California.

The cuts are part of a broader $600 million reduction in public health grants to four “Blue” states: California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota. California will be hit the hardest with nearly two-thirds of the total coming from unspent funds already allocated to state and local health departments.

The Center runs programs throughout LA that provide HIV testing, prevention medications and treatment. West Hollywood residents have relied on these services for years, and the funding loss threatens the organization’s ability to keep up with demand in one of the country’s largest LGBTQ+ communities.

“These decisions are not guided by public health evidence, but by politics — and the consequences are real,” Brian De Los Santos, spokesperson for the Center, told the LA Times. “Any reduction in funding directly affects our ability to provide care, prevention and lifesaving services to the people who rely on us.”

What’s getting cut

The Department of Health and Human Services said Monday the grants being terminated “do not reflect agency priorities.” Congressional committees got a list of affected programs this week, with some cuts being finalized within days and others rolling out over the coming weeks.

The grants come through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and fund staff hiring, data system upgrades and disease outbreak management. Around two dozen of the targeted programs deal specifically with HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

The CDC updated its website last September to outline new agency priorities, which include moving away from a focus on diseases that predominantly affect certain populations. The previous approach “has not translated into measurable improved health for minority populations, and in many cases has undermined core American values,” according to the agency’s current website.

This isn’t the first time

The Center hasn’t gotten official word about the funding cut yet, but officials say it will disproportionately hurt LGBTQ+ communities and other underserved populations across the region.

This isn’t new territory for the Center when it comes to Trump administration funding threats. Last June, California congressional Democrats had to push the administration to release $19.8 million in frozen HIV prevention grants to the LA County Department of Public Health. The freeze forced the county to end contracts with 39 community health providers and almost shut down HIV testing at the Center, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The administration backed down after Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Burbank) and 22 other House Democrats kept up the pressure. “These grants save lives,” Friedman told the Times. “They connect homeless people to care, they support front-line organizations fighting HIV, and they build the public health infrastructure that protects my constituents.”

The Center managed to block similar grant cancellations last year that stemmed from the president’s executive orders. Lambda Legal got a court to restore more than $6.2 million in grant funding to nine LGBTQ+ organizations nationwide after securing a preliminary injunction in federal court.

Pushback from California officials

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) didn’t hold back about the cuts. “These cuts will hurt vital efforts to prevent the spread of disease,” Schiff said Tuesday, according to the LA Times. He called them dangerous and deliberate.

Public health experts warned the funding cuts could damage California’s main early-warning systems for HIV outbreaks, which would leave communities exposed to disease spread that might otherwise get detected, the Times reported.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said President Trump’s latest threats to public health funding follow “a familiar pattern” and questioned whether they’ll hold up legally.

“The President publicly claims he will rip away public health funding from states that voted against him, while offering no details or formal notice,” Newsom said, according to the Times. “If or when the Trump administration takes action, we will respond appropriately. Until then, we will pass on participating in his attempt to chase headlines.”

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach) wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last year about Kennedy’s track record on HIV and AIDS. Garcia said Kennedy’s motivations are “grounded not in sound science, but in misinformation and disinformation you have spread previously about HIV and AIDS, including your repeated claim that HIV does not cause AIDS,” the LA Times reported.

Trump’s awful approach to HIV and AIDS funding isn’t news. Back in December, we talked about Trump’s silence on World AIDS Day, when the State Department told federal employees not to promote the day “through any​​​​​​​​​​​ communication channels.” That directive came as the administration was cutting HIV funding globally, including to PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

The bigger picture

The cuts reach beyond the Center to hit several other California organizations. They include $876,000 from the Prevention Research Center at UC San Francisco that was going toward reducing social isolation among older LGBTQ adults. The California Department of Public Health stands to lose nearly $180 million meant for updating its data systems.

Other states got hit too. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago will lose $5.2 million for HIV prevention therapy programs focused on Black women. The Colorado Health Network is losing $371,000 it used to engage Latino and African American men who have sex with men.

Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) called what the administration is doing reckless and irresponsible. “This funding supports core public health functions that keep communities safe — from HIV prevention and disease surveillance to outbreak response and modernized data systems,” Pelosi said in a statement. “In California alone, these cuts threaten local health departments and trusted partners like UCSF that serve vulnerable populations and protect public health for everyone.”

Health and Human Services told state health departments last month it was pausing public health infrastructure grants totaling $5 billion and needed to review them to make sure they aligned with administration goals.

The Trump administration’s announced cuts will probably face legal challenges from states and grant recipients. The Center’s success blocking similar cancellations before suggests these new cuts could wind up in court too.