NEW YORK – GLAAD have responded after President Donald Trump released the administration’s 2018 fiscal year budget, which highlights their key objectives and priorities in the upcoming fiscal year. The budget includes proposed slashes to programs and departments critical to the LGBTQ community, including Medicaid, Planned Parenthood, and the Center of Disease Control’s HIV and AIDS programs.
Further, the Trump Administration proposed additional cuts in the FY 2018 Budget that could also endanger policies geared to assist transgender women of color and their access to quality HIV-related health care.
“This budget would pull the rug from under some of America’s most marginalized communities, including transgender women of color, at a time when they need our help the most,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD. “President Trump’s budget is heartless and the latest example of the Administration working to systematically erase LGBTQ Americans from the fabric of this nation.”
Moreover, the proposed budget also slashes dollars to the Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights. This office is charged with helping marginalized communities, including LGBTQ Americans, gain access to health care and human services providers without discrimination. Roger Severino, who has a long history of anti-LGBTQ activism and remarks, was appointed to lead the Office of Civil Rights earlier this year.
GLAAD has been documenting the administration’s systematic erasure of the LGBTQ community and policies intended to support LGBTQ Americans. Click here to visit GLAAD’s Trump Accountability Project.
