Petrelis Files

Person With AIDS at White House Signing?

(From the left, the second person is Frank Oldham.)

Earlier today, President Barack Obama signed the Ryan White CARE Act 's reauthorization and legislation lifting the HIV immigration and travel ban, and his remarks are here. I have no problem with honoring the late Ryan White and his bravery, but I also would have appreciated if Obama had spent an equal number of words on a person living with the disease.

As a person with AIDS, and a client of CARE Act-funded services, I'm pleased he signed the reauthorization and removed America's shameful HIV travel ban, but I wasn't sure if a publicly-identified person with AIDS was present at the signing, so I emailed White House spokesperson Shin Inouye and replied with this list of names of who was supposed to be there. Not all were present:

Stage participants:
* Jeanne White-Ginder, Ryan White's mother
* Senator Tom Harkin, D-IA
* Senator Mike Enzi, R-WY
* Senator Tom Coburn, R-OK, not confirmed
* Representative Henry Waxman, D-CA
* Representative Frank Pallone, D-NJ
* Representative Joe Barton, R-TX
* Speaker Pelosi, D-CA, not confirmed
* Ernest Hopkins, Policy Chair, Communities Advocating for
Emergency AIDS Relief (CAEAR); Federal Affairs Director, San Francisco
AIDS Foundation
* Frank Oldham, Jr., President and CEO, National Association of
People with AIDS (NAPWA)
* Julie Scofield, Executive Director, National Alliance of State
and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD)

The head of NAPWA, Oldham, was standing behind the President as HIV history was made and that is something I applaud. It always helps when a person living with HIV is out there at high-profile events, representing the PWA community.

But Oldham's presence at the White House today is not being heralded in any way at the NAPWA web site, which is indicative of his tenure at the helm of this organization. He's just not a very visible leader, generates no attention for the NAPWA agenda or that of PWAs, and his organization, which represents lots and lots of PWAs who can't be out as pozzies because of the tremendous stigma, can't be bothered today with a simple release about the signing.

At the same time, the White House has not published a photo from the signing on its site. I asked Inouye about this omission. His reply:

The event was pooled press, so you'll have to go to the wires for a photo.

I found the photo at Towleroad.com.

Hey, Frank Oldham, how about getting a little bit a lively interaction from you and NAPWA when representing the PWA community? We need more engagement from you on that national stage. Simply standing behind Obama for a few minutes ain't effective leadership.

Can anything be done to reinvigorate NAPWA?