Petrelis Files

In my note yesterday accompanying the text of President Bush's speech on AIDS delivered in Philadelphia, I mentioned his omission of gay men and men who have sex with men, despite the fact that such men comprise the largest communities affected by HIV/AIDS in America.

To my surprise, the Human Rights Campaign, Health GAP, and ACT UP/Philadelphia utterly failed to call attention to Bush's omission. While all three groups are critical of Bush for various reasons, none cared enough about gays and MSM to say something about our HIV prevention and treatment needs.

On the opposite side of the political spectrum, conservative gay writer Andrew Sullivan both praises Bush for some matters, but also criticizes him for his failure to talk about gay men.

Something is desperately wrong when a Birkenstock-wearing queer Nader voter and AIDS patient in San Francisco, along with a right-wing gay pundit in Washington, both chastise Bush for his gay omission, and at the same time, the mainstream HRC and the leftist Health GAP and ACT UP/Philadelphia are silent about the omission.
^^^

www.andrewsullivan.com

BUSH ON AIDS: He spoke movingly and powerfully yesterday. History will credit him for caring about this issue far more than his predecessor, Bill Clinton. Maybe because it was my eleventh anniversary of finding out I got HIV but I was moved by his words. Except, of course, for his usual exception in his compassionate conservatism: gay men. The president managed to give an entire speech and - again - never mentioned one of the biggest groups in the country affected by it. Amazing. How do his speech-writers do it? To a black audience, he had a chance to help them confront the homophobia that has crippled the black community's ability to confront the epidemic. But, of course, Bush didn't. Imagine what James Dobson would say. He also said the following:
The second part of a domestic strategy to fight AIDS is prevention. I think it's really important for us to focus on prevention. We can learn from the experiences of other countries when it comes to a good program to prevent the spread of AIDS, like the nation of Uganda. They've started what they call the A-B-C approach to prevention of this deadly disease. That stands for: Abstain, be faithful in marriage, and, when appropriate, use condoms. That's what A-B-C stands for. And it's working. I like to call it a practical, balanced and moral message.
And yet, in one of the populations most at risk from this disease, Bush opposes any measures that would encourage marriage. In fact, he is waging a war to ban such marriages, and erase any incentives for gay men to stick together. Is Bush aware of this lacuna? If marriage cannot be a strategy for prevention among gays, then what is his prevention policy? He has none, because in order to have one, he would have to acknowledge that gay people exist - and that he is their president too. That he cannot and will not do. It's too depressing for words.

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For Immediate Release
Wednesday, June 23, 2004

Contact: Steven Fisher
Phone: (202) 216-1547
Cell: (202) 431-7608

Contact: Mark Shields
Phone: (202) 216-1564
Cell: (202) 716-1637

HRC RESPONDS TO PRESIDENT BUSH'S HIV SPEECH: PREVENTION IS KEY

"Giving Americans the unvarnished truth about HIV/AIDS is the only way
to stop it," said HRC President Cheryl Jacques.

WASHINGTON - The Human Rights Campaign responded today to President Bush's
speech on HIV/AIDS by underscoring the importance of prevention and
education. While we are heartened that the President acknowledged the
urgency of the domestic HIV/AIDS crisis, the only way to stop HIV/AIDS is
to give people - especially young people and communities of color - the
truth about prevention.

"Giving Americans the unvarnished truth about HIV/AIDS is the only way to
stop it," said HRC President Cheryl Jacques. "That unvarnished truth must
start with real education. While we laud the President's attention to
HIV/AIDS and his promise to allocate some funds to key programs, the
President supports abstinence-only-until-marriage education - programs
that time and again have been proven ineffective in stopping the spread of
sexually transmitted diseases."

Added Jacques: "Even the Ugandan programs that President Bush cited today
incorporated information about condoms as an essential part of the A-B-C
model - that is, Abstain, Be Faithful, Condoms."

During a speech in Philadelphia, the President promised to immediately
release $20 million to alleviate the crisis conditions that exist in many
state AIDS Drugs Assistance Programs (ADAPs). The Human Rights Campaign
applauds the provision of these critically-needed funds.

"We hope that this is just the beginning of increased financial support
for state ADAPs," added Jacques. "Experts estimate that more than double
that sum is needed to eliminate the emergency conditions faced by
thousands nationwide who are on waitlists for life-saving drug therapies."

The Human Rights Campaign is the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender political organization with members throughout the
country. It effectively lobbies Congress, provides campaign support and
educates the public to ensure that LGBT Americans can be open, honest and
safe at home, at work and in the community.

-


Health GAP Press Release

AIDS Activists Reject President Bush's Global AIDS Victory Claims:
Lies on Speed of Spending, Lies on Prevention, and Lies on Access to
Cheap Medicines

For Immediate Release: June 23, 2004
Contact: Sharonann Lynch: 646 645-5225, Asia Russell: 267-475-2645

(Philadelphia) President Bush claimed dramatic victories and
programmatic enhancements in the battle against HIV/AIDS in a speech
at a Philadelphia church. According to Health GAP, these claims are
dangerously misleading - rather than responding proportionately to
the worldwide AIDS pandemic, the Bush Administration continues to
under-fund global need, to impose failed prevention policies, and to
place road-blocks on access to the cheapest AIDS medicines.

"President Bush claims that he has mounted an emergency response, but
4.5 million people have died of AIDS since his State of the Union
Address in Jan. 2001," said Sharonann Lynch of Health GAP. "Rather
than investing heavily in immediate treatment and prevention services
and in expanding health care capacity in poor countries, Bush has
adopted a go slow approach which thus far has only disbursed a
fraction of promised resources, less than $350 million of the paltry
$2.4 billion appropriated for FY2004," Lynch continued. "Although
he's promising to release another $500 million 'shortly,' in the
meantime real people are dying," Lynch concluded.

Activists claim that the $15 billion promised by Bush over a five
year period represents only half of the U.S. fair share of $30
billion needed to meet global need. They also claim that he is
bypassing the multilateral Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and
Malaria, which will be functionally bankrupt as of 2005 because of
dramatic reductions in U.S. donations (down to $200 million/year).
"Bush is not investing in medical infrastructure in Africa or
elsewhere," said Paul Davis of Health GAP. "Moreover, his five year
plan to treat only 2 million people means that 13-15 million people
with AIDS while die during that same time period. How is that a
compassionate and emergent response?" Davis asked.

In addition to criticizing Bush's delayed spending, Health GAP
challenged the efficacy of Bush's emphasis on abstinence only
prevention messages. "Each and every scientific discovery conducted
thus far has found that abstinence-only messages are less effective
in preventing HIV and STDs than more balanced messages that also
promote proper use of condoms," said Asia Russell of Health GAP.
"Couples in Africa have access to 4.6 condoms a year - how can we
argue that condoms aren't effective, when we refuse to supply them in
meaningful quantities?"


The U.S. choice of Vietnam as a 15th focus country is also
controversial according to Health GAP. "The U.S. focuses most of its
resources on just handful of countries rather than the hundred
worldwide that tottering toward disaster," said Laurie Wen of Health
GAP. "There's nothing wrong with addressing the escalating HIV
epidemic in Vietnam, but what about India which has 50 times as many
people living with HIV or what about China or Thailand? It makes no
sense for the U.S. to bypass multilateral institutions like the
Global Fund that countries like Vietnam rely and then to superimpose
its own unilateral programs with all their conditionalities and
restrictions," Wen said. "The pandemic in Vietnam, like that in
Thailand is largely driven by intravenous drug use and infection
among sex workers. Yet, the U.S. program, unlike the Global Fund,
prohibits harm reduction programs like needle exchange and restricts
condom use. If we're going to choose countries, let's at least do
something that actually helps."

Also, the activist group disputes the claims made by the White House
fact sheet released today, concerning U.S. plans to allow expedited
access to low-cost, easy to use AIDS medicines. "The WHO
Prequalification Process has already approved nearly 90 AIDS drugs
nearly half of which are manufactured by Indian generics. Rather
than authorize purchase of these pre-qualified drugs, the U.S. has
set up a redundant process and took 18 months to do even that," said
Brook Baker of Health GAP. "Moreover, the FDA process will not be
open to the newest AIDS medicines because of data protections rules
that prevent even tentative approval during the first five years of a
new proprietary medicine," continued Baker, a law professor at
Northeastern University School of Law. "Finally, the U.S. is
negotiating intellectual property protections in its free trade
agreements with developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin
America which prevent countries from using cheaper generic medicines
- expanded patent rights and enhanced protection of proprietary
companies' clinical data will deal a death knell to treatment
access," according to Baker.

Bush's AIDS speech comes three weeks before the XV International AIDS
Conference in Bangkok and just one day before a Global Day of Action
against U.S. AIDS Policies called by the Treatment Action Campaign of
South Africa. Tomorrow, activists in a dozen countries and a dozen
U.S. cities will be protesting U.S. policy and challenging Bush's
claim to leadership on the AIDS issue.
-

ACT UP Philadelphia Press Release

Pennsylvanians w/ AIDS & Supporters Confront Bush at Campaign HQ,
TEAR UP $15 bn CHECK FOR BUSH AIDS PROGRAM

Part of a Global Day of Protest Against Bush AIDS Polices Around the World
and Across the Country -- one day after AIDS speech in Philadelphia

1 pm Thurs 24 June * 116 Pine St @ Bush/Cheney Campaign HQ, Harrisburg, PA
[bus leaves Philadelphia at 9:30 AM from Broad and Walnut]

For Immediate Release: June 22, 2004
Contact: Paul Davis, 215 833 4102 (mobile)

(Harrisburg) On June 24, AIDS activists will march on the Harrisburg PA
Bush/Cheney Campaign Offices as part of demonstrations across the country
and world protesting the President global AIDS policies. The worldwide day
of protest was called for by AIDS activists in South Africa and other Bush
AIDS funding recipients. The protests come one day after a Bush Address in
Philadelphia about global AIDS.

In his State of the Union address in January 2002, President Bush made
headlines when he pledged $15 billion to fight global AIDS. Two years
later, only $350 million towards his new initiative have been disbursed.
However, he cut funds to the already-operating Global AIDS Fund, and the
Administration is still in the process of setting up its new, unilateral
initiative.

More than six million people have died since the 2003 State of the Union
Address.

Waheeda al-Shabazz of Project Teach and ACT UP is disgusted by the
President¹s visit. She said, ³I can¹t believe President Bush has the
audacity to come to North Philadelphia to talk about his AIDS policies and
pose as a compassionate leader in a black church.²

³President Bush has stopped payment on his $15 billion pledge. So we are
returning this check to its sender,² continued al-Shabazz. ³We demand a real
$30 billion program that uses affordable generic drugs and science ­ not
ideology ­ base prevention programs. The strings attached to the Bush
program amount to a noose.²

³The Bush Campaign is using the global AIDS crisis to appear compassionate
during an election year, but he is still pandering to Republican special
interests,² reports ACT UP member Jose DeMarco. ³The Bush Administration is
forcing the poorest of countries to use expensive, patented drugs instead of
affordable high-quality generics, disregarding international drug quality
standards and forcing generic companies to jump through new FDA hoops.² The
Bush Administration hired Eli-Lilly CEO Randall Tobias to run his global
AIDS program.

³President Bush Campaign is also pandering to social conservatives by using
his AIDS initiative to push disproven abstinence-only programs,² continues
DeMarco. ³Ambassador Tobias claims that condoms are ineffective, and this
Administration is pushing prevention policies that will accelerate
infection.²

The Bush visit ­ and protest ­ come one day before a global day of protest
against Bush AIDS policies, called for by South Africa¹s Treatment Action
Campaign. People with AIDS in dozens of countries -- including many
countries that receive Bush AIDS funding, will recipient across the globe
plan protests at US Embassies. In the US, activists will return the Bush
AIDS check to Bush campaign headquarters in seven swing states, including PA
(Harrisburg), OH (Columbus and Cleveland), NH (Manchester), WA (Seattle), MI
(Detroit) as well as NYC and the national campaign office in Arlington VA.