Article and Photos by: Al Ballesteros
The federal administration is proposing policy changes along with budget cuts which will affect the LGBTQ+ community in adverse ways and will take back gains made over the years. With all the challenges in this country along with opportunities to make things better for people, why are they focusing their attacks on us?
Gay civil rights icon Harvey Milk’s name is being deleted from a Navy Ship. The Defense Secretary decided that the USNS Harvey Milk will be renamed. This announcement was made during this year’s Pride Month, which is our time to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements and contributions of our community. Seems they made this announcement at this time just to be mean-spirited.
“We are heartbroken to hear that there is a recommendation at the Pentagon to remove my uncle’s name from the USNS Harvey Milk,” said his nephew Stuart Milk. “Uncle Harvey did not set out to have a US Naval Ship, or anything else, named after him. He did not set out in pursuit of glory or fame. Rather, guided by passion, commitment, and hard work, he did set out to be a messenger of hope for all who had been marginalized and even criminalized, just for being who they authentically were.” “Harvey Milk’s legacy is certainly enhanced and celebrated by a US Naval Ship, however his legacy will not be silenced or diminished by the renaming of that Naval ship.” Stuart made these comments on his social media.
Harvey Milk was an openly gay activist in San Francisco and across California and became one of the country’s first openly gay elected officials, winning a position on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. In 1978, he and Mayor George Moscone were shot and killed. His killer, Dan White, a former city supervisor, was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to less than eight years in prison in 1979.
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., who has offices in San Francisco, characterized the renaming as an attempt to “undermine” LGBTQ+ contributions. “Harvey Milk’s legacy will not be erased by Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth’s petty culture wars and attempts to undermine the tremendous contributions and service of the LGBTQ+ community to our country,” Padilla said in a statement.
Harvey Milk served in the Navy from 1951 to 1955 according to the National Archives. On the USS Chanticleer and the USS Kittiwake, he was an operations officer during the Korean War.
In January, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth instructed the Pentagon and U.S. military services to abandon any cultural or awareness months, to make things worse. This included Women’s History Month, LGBTQ Pride Month and Black History Month.
They are cutting out the LGBTQ+ Option on the national Suicide Hotline. The Trump administration announced it will shut down the national LGBTQ+ youth suicide line on July 17.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced that the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline will no longer use its LGBTQ+ youth service, also known as the “Press 3 option,” effective July 17.
In a statement from the administration, they say the agency said it will “no longer silo LGB+ youth services”. They removed the “T” representing the trans community in the initials when they sent the notice. Another mean-spirited action to be sure.
The Press 3 option rolled out as a pilot program in 2022 in a government contract with the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ people. Those in need of help would call 988 and be given the option to “press 3” to connect with counselors trained to assist people up to age 25. This specialized service was started under legislation which President Donald Trump signed during his first term that acknowledged disproportionately high suicide rates among LGBTQ youths. Go figure.
SAMHSA insists that affected youths can still receive help, but from the general hotline number. “Everyone who contacts the 988 Lifeline will continue to receive access to skilled, caring, culturally competent crisis counselors who can help with suicidal, substance misuse, or mental health crises, or any other kind of emotional distress. Anyone who calls the Lifeline will continue to receive compassion and help,” the agency said.
Trevor Project CEO Jaymes Black called the decision “devastating,” adding, “Suicide prevention is about people, not politics.” He said the program has provided lifesaving services to more than 1.3 million LGBTQ young people.
“The administration’s decision to remove a bipartisan, evidence-based service that has effectively supported a high-risk group of young people through their darkest moments is incomprehensible. The fact that this news comes to us halfway through Pride Month is callous — as is the administration’s choice to remove the ‘T’ from the acronym ‘LGBTQ+’ in their announcement. Transgender people can never, and will never, be erased,” Black said in a statement posted on the Trevor Project’s website on July 17, 2025.
Asked for comment about that proposed cut, Rachel Cauley, a spokesperson for the White House Office of Management and Budget, said the proposed budget wouldn’t “grant taxpayer money to a chat service where children are encouraged to embrace radical gender ideology by ‘counselors’ without consent or knowledge of their parents.”
Children’s Hospital cuts Gender Affirming Care under Pressure from Trump Administration: Under mounting pressure from the Trump administration, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles will stop its longstanding healthcare program for trans children and young adults this summer, according to reports in the Los Angeles Times.
Children’s Hospital is said to be significantly more reliant on public funding than any other pediatric medical center in California — a situation that leaves it particularly exposed to the Trump administration. Roughly 40% of pediatric beds in Los Angeles are at Children’s.
Protests erupted in February after the hospital paused hormone therapy for some patients under 19, in response to President Trump’s executive order. That move was reversed a few weeks later, amid pressure from patient families, LGBTQ+ civil rights groups and the state Department of Justice.
“Let me be clear: California law has not changed, and hospitals and clinics have a legal obligation to provide equal access to healthcare services,” Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta wrote on Feb. 5, days into the pause.
Activists say the closure sets a dangerous precedent. Speaking to the LA Times, “CHLA needs to be a leader in this and stand up to the Trump administration, because other hospitals are taking note of what they’re doing,” said Maebe Pudlow, a trans nonbinary activist and Silverlake Neighborhood Council member who helped lead the protests when care was paused this winter.
The Proposed Federal budget significantly cuts prevention and care services in the United States and this will hurt Los Angeles. Los Angeles County ranks as the nation’s second largest HIV center with an estimated 60,000 people living with the disease. Of this figure, 91% are aware of their status but at least 5,200 are believed to be infected with the virus and unaware of it as of the beginning of 2023. Sadly, each year as many as 1,400 are believed to become infected with the virus which is entirely preventable.
To fight the epidemic and address the statistics, Los Angeles County conducts tens of thousands of HIV tests each year, identifies HIV positive cases and provide linkage of these individuals to medical care and effective anti-retroviral treatments. Outreach and wide-spread HIV testing are key because finding these cases in a population center of more than 10 million people requires a substantial effort. But this effort is paying off because when people with HIV are identified, linked to treatment and take effective drug regimens, their health is preserved or improved due to the virus in their bodies being suppressed. At the same time, HIV prevention is fostered because people who achieve sustained viral load suppression do not spread the virus. HIV testing also helps high risk people obtain PREP or pre-exposure prophylaxis, which is a biomedical intervention which protects people from contracting HIV in the first place.
These services are at risk because the President’s and House budget cuts funding. Hundreds of millions of dollars in nation-wide HIV funding is slashed in the proposed federal budget beginning in fiscal year 25-26. $793.7 million dollars is proposed to be cut from HIV prevention.
A good amount of this funding goes to all parts of California and is distributed by the State. $19.3 million comes directly to the LA County Health Department for distribution to local non-profits. Still other components of this funding are given directly to non-profit organizations from the CDC for HIV testing and prevention work.
Health experts warn that shutting down the CDC division of HIV prevention could trigger a public health HIV crisis like in the 1980s. Adolescents and young adults make up about 19% of all new infections and this action could lead to many more youth and adolescents becoming infected with the virus.
HIV disease disproportionately impacts minorities, LGBTQ people, youth, women, low-income and the uninsured. It has always been this way. Even as treatments have improved and PREP has become available, new HIV infections are still concentrated among these groups and the same populations federal budget cuts will hurt most.
If we are to keep this epidemic under control, we must have the proper funding to continue these efforts and make sure our most vulnerable community members have access to medical care and comprehensive prevention. Unfortunately, the proposed federal budget reductions will set us back decades and cause the epidemic to move quickly out of control.
The President’s and the House proposed budget also eliminate funding for the Minority AIDS Initiative (MAI), which aims to improve health outcomes for people of color at risk or living with HIV. This funding provides resources for HIV prevention, care, and treatment within minority communities. Huge cuts to dental care are proposed for people with HIV through elimination of the Ryan White Part F program.
The elimination of MAI, along with other proposed cuts to HIV programs, has drawn strong criticism from advocacy groups who warn of detrimental impacts on public health and the potential resurgence of the HIV epidemic.
Back in the 1980’s and 1990’s, HIV was a new disease affecting our community and there was not a lot of support from our federal government. There was widespread discrimination against people affected and almost no programs for medical care, support services, HIV testing and prevention. Activists took to the streets and did actions which led to groups like Act-Up being formed. This activism made the difference and caused major shifts in public policy and led to CDC and Federal dollars being invested that began to help communities deal with the crisis. This type of advocacy is needed again.
Across the country, community groups and concerned people are writing letters, attending rallies and doing what they can to call attention to these cuts and changes in policy. If we have any chance to turn around these reckless decisions and call attention to the negative policy changes being proposed, we need the public to get involved.
Please call your Senators and Representatives and tell them to do everything they can to stop these cuts. Find your elected officials by calling the US Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 (Senate) and 202-225-3121 (House).