HIV/AIDS activists hold ‘funeral’ protest against PEPFAR freeze
To the tune of a haunting drumbeat, HIV/AIDS activists staged a “funeral” protest in front of the State Department in Washington on April 17 to condemn the Trump administration’s decision to halt funding for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a decades-long initiative launched under President George W. Bush to combat HIV/AIDS on … Read More
To the tune of a haunting drumbeat, HIV/AIDS activists staged a “funeral” protest in front of the State Department in Washington on April 17 to condemn the Trump administration’s decision to halt funding for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a decades-long initiative launched under President George W. Bush to combat HIV/AIDS on an international level.
Housing Works, a New York City-based non-profit fighting HIV/AIDS and homelessness, teamed up with the international HIV advocacy group Health GAP to deliver 200 full-sized coffins to the State Department, with each coffin depicting 100,000 people whose lives would be at risk if the federal government does not restore PEPFAR. Six of the coffins represented children already facing the fallout stemming from the frozen funds, which covered both treatment and prevention.
[caption id="attachment_56472" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
The first of many coffins are placed in front of the Harry S. Truman building.@current.noise on IG[/caption]
According to the US government, the US has saved at least 25 million lives since launching PEPFAR in 2003, but that all came to a screeching halt earlier this year when Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a 90-day freeze on foreign aid. The Trump administration has also moved to dismantle other programs critical to prevention and treatment, including a recent move to gut the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA), according to Reuters.
The World Health Organization announced in March that the Trump administration's pause on foreign aid could lead eight countries — Haiti, Kenya, Lesotho, South Sudan, Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria, and Ukraine — to run out of HIV treatment medication within the coming months.
Housing Works CEO Charles King, who joined activists at the demonstration, credited longtime HIV/AIDS activist Peter Staley with coming up with the idea to use coffins, which made for a “gripping image,” King said.
Emphasizing the urgency of the funding freeze, King said around 20 million people in low-income countries received their antiretroviral treatment through PEPFAR.
“They will run out of drugs if they haven’t already run out of their treatment regimen,” King said in an interview with Gay City News after the demonstration. King also said millions of people were receiving the HIV prevention medication known as PrEP through PEPFAR, but he said “that has been completely upended, as well.”
The demonstration at the State Department was a continuation of a series of actions held by both Housing Works and Health GAP, along with some other organizations, King said.
“The estimate is that in the remaining months of 2025, over 100,000 people will die if PEPFAR funding is not fully restored,” King added. “And what we will see is three to five million new infections between now and 2030, and up to three million deaths that would be needless.”
[caption id="attachment_56471" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
More and more coffins are stacked near drummers in front of the State Department.@current.noise on IG[/caption]
On the domestic side, though, multiple federal judges have granted preliminary injunctions to block the Trump administration from halting US-based federal funding already earmarked by Congress.
“Those funds have continued to flow,” said King, who said Housing Works has not been significantly impacted since Trump took office for his second term. The non-profit has only lost one small outreach grant with just a few months remaining on it, King said.
“Were it not for litigation, I think we would see significant cuts,” King explained. “Our principle source of revenue is Medicaid, so we’re working diligently even now to get representatives in the Senate and the House to oppose any cuts to Medicaid."
King expressed some relief after several House Republicans, including New York's Andrew Garbarino, Nick LaLota, and Nicole Malliotakis, sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson and other GOP leaders on April 14 warning them that they would not support legislation "that includes any reduction in Medicaid coverage for vulnerable populations."
Despite the activists' urgent pleas, none of them have garnered any sort of response from the State Department, King said. The State Department’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.
The first of many coffins are placed in front of the Harry S. Truman building.@current.noise on IG[/caption]
According to the US government, the US has saved at least 25 million lives since launching PEPFAR in 2003, but that all came to a screeching halt earlier this year when Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a 90-day freeze on foreign aid. The Trump administration has also moved to dismantle other programs critical to prevention and treatment, including a recent move to gut the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA), according to Reuters.
The World Health Organization announced in March that the Trump administration's pause on foreign aid could lead eight countries — Haiti, Kenya, Lesotho, South Sudan, Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria, and Ukraine — to run out of HIV treatment medication within the coming months.
Housing Works CEO Charles King, who joined activists at the demonstration, credited longtime HIV/AIDS activist Peter Staley with coming up with the idea to use coffins, which made for a “gripping image,” King said.
Emphasizing the urgency of the funding freeze, King said around 20 million people in low-income countries received their antiretroviral treatment through PEPFAR.
“They will run out of drugs if they haven’t already run out of their treatment regimen,” King said in an interview with Gay City News after the demonstration. King also said millions of people were receiving the HIV prevention medication known as PrEP through PEPFAR, but he said “that has been completely upended, as well.”
The demonstration at the State Department was a continuation of a series of actions held by both Housing Works and Health GAP, along with some other organizations, King said.
“The estimate is that in the remaining months of 2025, over 100,000 people will die if PEPFAR funding is not fully restored,” King added. “And what we will see is three to five million new infections between now and 2030, and up to three million deaths that would be needless.”
[caption id="attachment_56471" align="aligncenter" width="700"] More and more coffins are stacked near drummers in front of the State Department.@current.noise on IG[/caption]
On the domestic side, though, multiple federal judges have granted preliminary injunctions to block the Trump administration from halting US-based federal funding already earmarked by Congress.
“Those funds have continued to flow,” said King, who said Housing Works has not been significantly impacted since Trump took office for his second term. The non-profit has only lost one small outreach grant with just a few months remaining on it, King said.
“Were it not for litigation, I think we would see significant cuts,” King explained. “Our principle source of revenue is Medicaid, so we’re working diligently even now to get representatives in the Senate and the House to oppose any cuts to Medicaid."
King expressed some relief after several House Republicans, including New York's Andrew Garbarino, Nick LaLota, and Nicole Malliotakis, sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson and other GOP leaders on April 14 warning them that they would not support legislation "that includes any reduction in Medicaid coverage for vulnerable populations."
Despite the activists' urgent pleas, none of them have garnered any sort of response from the State Department, King said. The State Department’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story. What's Your Reaction?
