In This Issue

June is Pride month for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender community. The LGBT community has a lot to be proud of. We have made tremendous progress toward LGBT equality over the last few years. Marriage equality is the law of the land in 19 states. Being homophobic is officially politically incorrect in much of the country—witness Jonah Hill's heartfelt apology on the Tonight Show. And the lock on the closet door in professional sports has been broken. We've come a long way since that night when drag queens in the Village decided that they had just had enough.

But still we have a lot of work to do—ironically, much of it internal. Like most of America, we still have work to do on the questions of race and class. Some would argue that the racial divide in the LGBT community is even more severe than the rest of our society. And if you spend much time on Fire Island, in West Hollywood or in New Town, or do a roll call of openly gay characters on primetime television, you might agree.

We still have not finished the work of ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Fortunately our community is getting reengaged in that battle. The LGBT community will be critical to achieving an AIDS-free generation. One of the issues we will need to confront is the rising HIV stigma in our community. You can be fired for making a homophobic slur—just ask Alec Baldwin—but it is perfectly okay to call people living with HIV "dirty" or proudly declare "DD free, you be too" or "Neg Only!" on gay dating sites. I was reading an article yesterday about "Truvada whores". I keep wondering why people who take PrEP are labeled "Truvada whores" and people who use condoms are not "Trojan Whores"? We can do better.

Pride month is a good time to both acknowledge our accomplishments and confront our shortcomings. LGBT America is very different today than it was on June 28, 1969, when the Stonewall Riots occurred. But I don't think we have done the drag queens proud yet. We should continue leaning forward until we do.

In this issue we'll tell you about the Alabama Testing Tour that kicks off in Montgomery next Wednesday, followed by stops in Selma and Birmingham. The Department of Health and Human Services reminds the LGBT community of the new benefits available courtesy of Obamacare, as well as a reminder that it's now illegal for insurance companies to discriminate against anyone because of their sexual orientation. Last week the CDC released results from the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, including updates on young people's sexual behaviors. In our nation's capitol The Women's Collective is developing a comprehensive digital communications strategy to reach low-income Washington, D.C., women of color impacted by HIV/AIDS. And the deadline to sign up for the African American HIV University's 2014 Science and Treatment College that will be held in Los Angeles this August is drawing near.

Yours in the struggle,

Phill