December 19, 2025

HIV AND LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY MEMBERS CALL ON GOVERNOR HOCHUL FOR

LEADERSHIP IN THE FACE OF UNPRECENTED THREATS

(Albany, New York) Advocates delivered a Petition signed by over 400 members of New York State’s HIV and LGBTQ+ communities to Governor Kathy Hochul this afternoon calling for concrete action in her Fiscal 26-27 Executive Budget to demonstrate New York

State's ongoing commitment to Ending the HIV Epidemic in the face of unprecedented federal attacks.

This December 1st, for the first time since the global commemoration was established in 1988, the United States federal government chose not to recognize World AIDS Day–which for 37 years has provided a critical opportunity to recommit to ending the HIV epidemic and to remember lives lost.

This follows a series of federal attacks on Medicaid and realized or threatened funding cuts to the national public health infrastructure and programs key to achieving the end of the epidemic (healthcare, housing, harm reduction, among others) and federal actions targeting the LGBTQ+ and other communities disproportionately impacted by the Epidemic.

New York State, always at the forefront in the fight against AIDS, must meet federal threats to our national HIV response by demonstrating renewed commitment from leadership to Ending our New York HIV Epidemic in every community and population.

The Petition calls for concrete action in the Executive Budget to:

• Ensure the critical NYS funding required to sustain the State’s HIV response and robust Ending the Epidemic efforts. Continued investments by the State in the programs and services that have driven our progress towards ending our HIV epidemic have never been more critical during this time of federal attacks on insurance coverage and the public health system.

• Act to afford all NYS communities the option to provide rental subsidies to public assistance eligible households with HIV experiencing homelessness or housing instability. Since the statewide HIV Emergency Shelter Allowance benefit was established in the 1980s, it has been available only to people with HIV facing homelessness in NYC. As a result, as many as 2,800 households living with HIV outside NYC remain homeless or unstably housed—overwhelmingly LGBTQ, Black, and Hispanic New Yorkers disparately impacted by HIV and poverty.

• Invest in strategies to realize the full potential of HIV prevention by advancing equity in access and uptake of all PrEP modalities, including new long-acting injectables. Despite PrEP’s proven effectiveness, access and uptake remain deeply unequal, with Black and Hispanic New Yorkers representing 76% of new HIV diagnoses in 2023, but only 22% of PrEP prescriptions. New York must ensure broad, equitable access to all PrEP options, including one-a-day pills and bimonthly injections, to strengthen HIV prevention efforts statewide. Ultra-long-acting injectable PrEP, approved by the FDA this year, holds particularly transformative promise, requiring only two injections a year for 96% to 100% effectiveness in preventing HIV infection.

"I am proud to sponsor and champion equitable access to HIV housing assistance in the New York State Assembly," said Assembly Member Harry Bronson of Rochester. "There has never been a more important time for New York State to sustain and advance our efforts to end HIV as an epidemic and to stand with the HIV and LGBTQ communities as we face unprecedented challenges posed by actual and threatened federal funding cuts and Attacks."

“Our HIV and LGBTQ communities are facing many-layered threats to Medicaid, systems of care, and Ryan White and other federal funding sources that have been fundamental to the U.S. and New York HIV responses—in addition to attacks on the essential rights of members of our community,” said Charles King, Chief Executive Officer at Housing Works, and Co-Chair of the NYS AIDS Advisory Council Ending the Epidemic Sub-Committee. “We urgently need to know that the Governor and the State are committed to sustained progress towards our Ending the Epidemic goals.”

"At Evergreen Health in Buffalo we know that we can count on the continued commitment from New York State's leadership to advance our Ending the Epidemic goals," said Mike Lee, Chief Operating Officer at Evergreen Health. "Our state has made historic progress but much remains to be done to end this epidemic in every New York population and community."

“While New York has made measurable progress toward Ending the Epidemic, stark disparities in HIV outcomes persist for Black and Latino New Yorkers,” said Shirley Torho, President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Black Health Leadership Commission on Health (Black Health). “In the face of a federal retreat from health equity, sustained and proactive New York State leadership is essential to advance equitable HIV prevention, care, and treatment for all affected communities.”

“We have long understood that housing is healthcare for people with HIV, and that without a safe, stable place to live it’s not possible to fully benefit from HIV treatment, sustain health, or prevent new infections,” said Perry Junjulas, Executive Director of the Albany Damien Center. “Continuing to deny this benefit in Albany and other communities outside NYC is fundamentally unfair, perpetuates HIV health inequities, undermines the State’s ability to end our HIV epidemic, and costs the State millions in avoidable Medicaid spending on crisis care and new HIV infections.”

“HIV prevention is an essential component of our plan to end New York’s HIV epidemic,” said Kimberleigh Smith, Executive Vice President of Public Policy and Communications at Callen-Lorde Community Health Center. “We simply can’t realize the potential of PrEP – including game-changing long acting injectables – until we invest in the culturally tailored PrEP education, navigation, and services needed to reach the communities most vulnerable to HIV infection.”

"In Rochester we are fully committed to ending our HIV epidemic," said Mary Beth Walker, Trillium Health’s Vice President of Marketing, Government Relations, and Public Relations. "New York State has long been a leader in our HIV response and we look forward to sustained New York State funding for the prevention and care efforts critical to our continued progress."

“Here in Syracuse and across Central New York, we see how sustained state leadership saves lives and strengthens communities,” said Lisa Alford, Chief Executive Officer at ACR Health. “As federal support becomes increasingly uncertain, New York must reaffirm its commitment to Ending the HIV Epidemic by protecting core HIV programs and investing in innovative prevention strategies like long-acting injectable PrEP, paired with the education and access needed to reach the communities most impacted.”

The petition was circulated by the End AIDS New York Community Coalition, a group of over 90 health care centers, hospitals, and community-based organizations across the State committed to realizing the goals of our historic New York State Blueprint for Ending the Epidemic (EtE), a set of evidence-based recommendations for ending AIDS as an epidemic in all New York communities and populations.

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