#hiv

Pretty incredible news to hear during tough times

Referred to as "the Dusseldorf patient" to protect his privacy, researchers said he is the fifth confirmed case of an HIV cure. Although the details of his successful treatment were first announced at a conference in 2019, researchers could not confirm he had been officially cured at that time.

Source

"North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein (D) has vetoed several anti-diversity bills, including one that would ban gender-affirming care for transgender inmates in the state prison system.

The bill is H.B. 805, which bans the state from paying for gender-affirming hormone replacement therapy and surgeries for transgender inmates. It would have also required the state to keep a copy of a transgender person’s original birth certificate if they have the gender marker on it updated, and it included language saying that there are only two genders, male and female...

The other three bills that Stein vetoed on Thursday [July 3, 2025] were related to diversity measures. One of the bills would have cut funding to schools that engage in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Another bill would have banned diversity training and staff positions at state agencies, and it also would have banned state funds from being used for diversity initiatives at those agencies."

-via LGBTQ Nation, July 7, 2025

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"A three-judge panel for the Ohio Tenth District Court of Appeals ruled that gender-affirming care for minors constitutes an essential medical treatment for trans youth and that the ban on gender-affirming care is in violation of a state constitutional amendment. Originally passed by Republicans to undermine Obamacare, the amendment is now being used to prevent federal or state intervention in denying any form of essential healthcare...

In a smart move, the plaintiffs argued that gender-affirming treatment be considered essential medical treatment, pointing to the numerous medical studies proving its effectiveness in treating gender dysphoria and improving the mental health and well-being of transgender adolescents. For that reason, they argued, it should protected under Ohio’s Health Care Freedom Amendment.

...In [passing the constitutional amendment], they inadvertently gave Ohioans broader constitutional protections around healthcare because the amendment prohibits any law from banning “the purchase or sale of health care or health insurance” or even imposing a fine on such purchases."

-via LGBTQ Nation, March 19, 2025

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"Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) vetoed three anti-transgender bills passed by her state’s Republican legislators. Though the bills passed largely along party lines, Republicans are unlikely to override Hobbs’ veto since their numbers in the state House and Senate fall short of the required two-thirds majority votes needed to do so. Arizona is largely considered a red state...

Of the three bills, H.B. 2438 would have prevented any gender marker changes on people’s birth certificates (even if they underwent gender-affirming surgeries), S.B. 1694 would have denied funding to any college or university teaching about “gender identity,” and H.B. 2062 would have ended all legal recognition of trans people in the state...

Transgender journalist Erin Reed noted that, in 2023, Hobbs signed executive orders requiring state employee healthcare plans to cover trans-related gender affirming surgeries, extending LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination protections to state employees and contractors, and banning conversion therapy, the widely debunked pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change someone’s gender identity or sexual orientation. Republicans threatened to sue her over the anti-discrimination protections..."

-via LGBTQ Nation, May 6, 2025

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"An anti-trans measure in US president Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act has been dropped at the last minute in a small victory for the LGBTQ+ community. 

The legislation struck the ban on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care after the Senate parliamentarian found it did not comply with the Byrd Rule.

Named after Senator Robert Byrd, the Byrd Rule aims to prevent irrelevant matters from being included in budget reconciliation legislation...

In earlier drafts, the so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill” included a provision that would have ended Medicaid payments for “gender transition procedures” for people of all ages, and introduced narrowly rigid definitions of “sex,” “female,” and “male” that some experts believe would have far-reaching implications, beyond access to healthcare. However, amid a flurry of revisions and amendments, the controversial ban on gender-affirming care was removed shortly before Senate Republicans voted to pass the legislation on Tuesday. 

Though there are many other aspects of the bill that will severely limit millions of Americans’ access to healthcare, trans rights advocates see the removal of the ban on Medicaid coverage of gender-affirming care as a win. [Note: Over 20% of trans people are on Medicaid Source]

-via Rolling Stone, July 1, 2025

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"Billie Butler, a transgender woman who ran for the New Hampshire House of Representatives as a Democrat, defeated her opponent, Republican Ken Hilton, in a special election held this past Tuesday. Butler won with 964 votes to Hilton’s 774. Butler will be representing the Strafford 12 district.

Strafford 12 is a multi-member district in Strafford County, consisting of two towns: Rollinsfield and Somersworth. Of the registered voters in the districts, 33% identify as Democrats, 27% identify as Republicans, and 41% are unaffiliated...

According to this map created by independent journalist Erin Reed, New Hampshire is a high-risk state for legislation that could harm transgender people... For this reason, Butler’s win is considered a step towards increased trans representation in politics."

-via LGBTQ Nation, June 26, 2025

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"Delaware’s Democratic governor on Friday signed an executive order protecting recipients and providers of gender-affirming care in the state.

The order, signed by Gov. Matt Meyer at an LGBTQ+ community center in Rehoboth, makes Delaware a “shield state” for trans people and bans state agencies from providing “medical records, data or billing information, or utilizing state resources” that could help any criminal or civil investigation against someone receiving or providing gender-affirming care.

California, New York, and 12 other states, and Washington, DC, have similar protections for trans people and their medical providers. Residents, along with patients traveling to shield states, can receive care without fear of retribution.

“In Delaware, we cherish privacy, dignity and the right to make personal medical decisions,” Meyer said at the signing ceremony. “Everyone deserves the freedom to access healthcare rooted in science and compassion.”"

-via LGBTQ Nation, June 24, 2025

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"The number of out LGBTQ+ elected representatives in the U.S. rose in the last year, continuing a steady upward trend that has lasted through the Trump era, according to a new report.

On Tuesday, the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute released its annual Out for America report, which tracks the number of out LGBTQ+ elected representatives nationwide and at all levels of government. This year’s report showed an overall 2.4% increase in out LGBTQ+ representation between June 2024 and May 2025 and a 198% increase since the organization, which provides training and support for out candidates, first launched the report in 2017 (during President Donald Trump’s first term in office).  

“This year’s Out for America report shows the resilience of our LGBTQ+ elected leaders,” LGBTQ+ Victory Institute President and CEO Evan Low said in a statement. “Despite hateful rhetoric plaguing the 2024 election cycle, LGBTQ+ elected officials won at the ballot box and made history.” ...

According to the 2025 report, the number of out LGBTQ+ elected officials of color rose by nearly 7% since last year. The number of out Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) elected officials grew the most (32.6%), while the number of multiracial officials increased by 28.6%, and the number of Black representatives grew by just over 4%. LGBTQ+ Latinx representatives remain the largest non-white group of out elected officials, holding steady at 193, the same as last year’s total..."

-via LGBTQ Nation, June 25, 2025

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"The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Yeztugo (aka. lenacapavir or LEN), a twice-a-year injection that stops HIV from replicating inside cells, thereby reducing the risk of transmitting the virus to other people by 96%. HIV advocates hope it will help reduce national transmission rates because the medication is easier to take than the many current once-a-day medications.

“This is the single best opportunity in 44 years of HIV prevention,” said Mitchell Warren, executive director of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC), an HIV advocacy nonprofit group, according to NBC News. The FDA approved the drug after Gilead Sciences, the drug’s developer, found it to be overwhelmingly successful early into Phase 3 clinical trials last September.

“The approval of LEN is a much-needed boost for HIV prevention, given the strength of the science and the simultaneous disruption in HIV programs globally,” Warren added."

An epidemic that's been sustained for 44 years might finally be quelled, with the milestone approval of the first HIV drug that offers 100% protection with its twice-yearly injections. It's a landmark achievement that stands to save millions of lives across the globe. The makers are also providing affordable access to the drug in the US and beyond, signing royalty-free licensing agreements with six generic manufacturers to produce and supply it. In the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the novel lenacapavir – sold under the brand name Yeztugo – a class of drugs known as capsid inhibitors, which provide almost 100% protection against HIV infection, which currently affects 1.3 million people every year. In 2024, the journal Science named lenacapavir the Breakthrough Invention of the Year, and we've extensively covered it on its way to market. The pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) provides HIV-negative individuals around 99% protection from contracting the devastating virus through sex.

A Toronto man could soon join a small club of people in the world considered cured of HIV following a bone marrow transplant to treat cancer that left the immunodeficiency virus in remission. The 62-year-old man, identified by the health officials only as the “Toronto patient,” had developed acute myelogenous leukemia in 2021 and underwent a bone marrow transplant at University Health Network’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. The procedure involved donor stem cells that were selected because they contained a rare genetic mutation called “delta-32.”

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