UPDATE: John Aravosis at AMERICAblog reports the "White House website pledge to support repeal of the federal ban on needle exchange appears to be gone."
Can't say you didn't see this coming. Capitol Hill Police arrest 26 HIV/AIDS who shut down the Capitol Rotunda to protest the Obama Administration's reversal on campaign promises to overturn the ban on funding needle exchange programs.
[Police] said the group entered the rotunda, located beneath the Capitol dome, and linked themselves together with a white chain at about 10 a.m. The area is usually crowded with tourists, but police restricted the traffic while they made arrests. The activists carried signs in support of funding for needle exchange, HIV/AIDS housing and programs aimed at fighting AIDS. They chanted, "Fight global AIDS now," and, "Clean needles save lives." They marched in a circle before lying down on the floor.
Omolola Adele-Oso of DC Fights Back questioned why lawmakers were bailing out financial institutions instead of devoting more dollars to AIDS programs. "HIV is not in a recession," Adele-Oso said in a written statement from the coalition about the demonstration.
As soon as two weeks after the election of President Barack Obama, Rod 2.0 reported the new Administration was backing away from campaign promises to overturn the ban. In May, the Administration reversed itself and banned federal funding for needle exchange programs in the FY 2010 budget this year.
Far from a recession, HIV/AIDS has dramatically increased in the inner cities and the South. Black gay men are the most likely to become infected with the virus. Perhaps the White House and Congress are just waiting for a "better time" and are "too busy" to fund needle exchange programs "now"?
kudos!
i miss these kinds of rebel warriors!
if only we could all wake up and act up so...
Posted by: alicia banks | 10 July 2009 at 09:05
Another important discussion gone to waste. People are still more concerned with Terell Carter, I suppose.
Great to see them be vocal about this important issue.
Posted by: Kevin Perez | 10 July 2009 at 09:26