Aug. 5 Rally to Demand California Lawmakers Restore Funding to AIDS Prevention and Care
What: Bay Area HIV/AIDS service providers and people living with HIV will hold a lunchtime rally to protest Gov. Schwarzenegger’s decision to reduce funding for the state Office of AIDS by $52 million on top of the more than $30 million already cut by the state Legislature when approving the state budget.
When: Noon to 1 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 5
Where: Front steps of the State Building, 350 McAllister, San Francisco.
Who: Speakers at the rally will include Cecilia Chung, chair of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission; Mark Cloutier, CEO of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation; Carley Flores, a member of Bay Positives, and Matt Sharp, director of Treatment and Prevention Advocacy at Project Inform; and Laura Thomas of the Drug Policy Alliance, in addition to clients from the Mission Neighborhood Health Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s Black Brothers Esteem program.
Why: Gov. Schwarzenegger’s deep cuts to HIV/AIDS programs will have a devastating effect on California's ability to prevent new HIV infections ability and to adequately care for people living with the disease. The governor’s action eliminates state funding for HIV/AIDS education and prevention, therapeutic monitoring, counseling and testing, early intervention, home and community-based care, and housing.
Contact: Debra Holtz, media relations manager at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, (415) 487-3071 or
dholtz@sfaf.org.
Page last updated:
8/3/2009