Dennis Veite, executive director of the Gays United Network, a national not-for-profit grassroots organization, has informed SoCal Voice that on Wednesday, June 10, Asian Pacific Islander Wellness Center, Project Inform, STOP AIDS Project, Positive Force, Shanti, San Francisco AIDS Foundation, AIDS Housing Alliance, Women Organized to Respond to Life-threatening Diseases (WORLD), STOP the HIV Cuts Los Angeles and other HIV/AIDS service agencies from around the state will be rallying at the State Capitol in Sacramento to speak out against recently proposed budget cuts to HIV/AIDS services.
HIV/AIDS Services organizations have secured buses that will transport individuals to the main protest rally that is happening in Sacramento on Wednesday, June 10th.
If you live in Los Angeles, please RSVP for a seat on the bus by Friday, June 6th by calling (213) 639-6709 or email to saveourlivescaliforniahiv@gmail.com.
Also, there’s a rally and protest on Friday, June 6th at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery at 5pm. Meet on Santa Monica Blvd.
If you live in San Francisco, see below for more details about a rally in your city and a caravan to Sacramento:
WHAT: Rally at San Francisco City Hall followed by bus trip to Sacramento to Protest Massive HIV/AIDS Budget Cuts
*Food and Transportation will be provided
Where: 1st Stop – San Francisco City Hall, Polk Street steps at 10 am
2nd stop – California State Capitol, Sacramento, CA
WHEN: Wednesday, June 10th,
10 am – SF Rally at City Hall
10:45 busses depart for Sacramento
1:30 pm – Sacramento Rally
3:30 pm – Busses leave Sacramento to return to SF around 5 pm
Please come out and join us at this rally so that we can increase visibility and let the government know that we will not stand for them taking the lives of our people in the wake of their grossly negligent and incompetent management.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing to slash $80.1 million in state funding for critical HIV/AIDS services and prevention.
California will cut $12.3 million from the AIDS Drug Assistance Program and $67.8 million in general fund support for Office of AIDS programs. ADAP is the program that assists people living with HIV/AIDS get their medicines. These same medicines keep people with AIDS living healthy longer. In advanced cases, they are literally the key to life.
Proposed cuts also include $24.6 million to be eliminated from California’s HIV prevention efforts. Targeted services include Early Intervention Programs, HIV counseling and testing programs and HIV education and prevention programs.
In many cases, these cuts further jeopardize direct services for Californians living with HIV because they limit the Office of AIDS ability to fulfill the federal grant requirements. The Governor’s plan could result in the state losing a portion if not all of it’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program and CDC grants. The cuts will also impact local jurisdictions with local Ryan White grants based on case reports from surveillance, which is proposed to be eliminated.
If the State Legislature approves these proposed HIV budget cuts, life-sustaining HIV/AIDS programs and services could be eliminated and this will not cost the state more in the long run but will literally threaten the lives of thousands of Californians.
California is facing disaster but the solution cannot be to balance the State budget on the backs of those most vulnerable and those who can least afford it.
This Time It’s Real: The time for Action is NOW! Come in Red Shirts!
Thanks for posting, I’ll definitely be subscribing to your blog.
Hi,
I was at the LA June 5th protest and the Sacramento protest. Do you know when we’re planning to do anymore protests? I have a friend in San Francisco who’s also interested in participating, do you know who he should be in contact with?
Thanks in advance and I hope to hear from you soon,
Army C
Hi Amy – Sorry it’s taking to so long to get back with you. As far as we know there are no other protests planned concerning this issue. We believe the deadline today was the deadline that most organizations have set to contact State senators and Assemblymembers concerning the cuts. However, Dennis Veite of the Gays United Network is based in San Francisco and he’s expressed interest to us in doing something about this and he was one of the organizers of the protest last Wednesday in SF and there was a caravan that went to Sacramento. You may look him up on facebook. Please let us know if you need additional information.
any updates coming ?