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What Trump Left Out on World AIDS Day
On the eve of World AIDS Day 2017, the White House issued a "proclamation" decreeing that December 1 is, unequivocally and under Donald J. Trump's authority, World AIDS Day.
By the end of the proclamation, our "president" has done the unthinkable. He has written (or approved) seven paragraphs about the HIV/AIDS epidemic, remembering "those who have died and those who are suffering" and celebrating the decrease in HIV infections from 2008 to 2014 for "saving an estimated $14.9 billion in lifetime medical costs," all without once mentioning LGBT people.
He did so without mentioning the countless gay deaths, the countless deaths of trans women of color, and the countless communities his administration targets that are at greater risk of infection since he stepped in the Oval Office.
Since silence still equals death, let's remedy this situation. Here are 21 truths Trump erased on World AIDS Day.
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Alexander Cheves
Alexander Cheves is a memoirist, sex columnist for Out Magazine, and author of My Love Is a Beast: Confessions from Unbound Edition Press, which won the 2022 Geoff Mains Nonfiction Award from NLA International.
He received an Excellence in Journalism Award from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and, in 2021, was named to the Out 100. He has been a guest on many radio shows and podcasts, including Loveline and Dan Savage’s Savage Lovecast. He has spoken on panels at SXSW, The International AIDS Conference, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and others. His second book will come out in 2025.
As a contributing editor at The Advocate, Cheves launched the “Sexy Beast” column for Advocate.com in 2016. To date, it has generated the site's best traffic on record. He now writes the "Last Call" column in print editions of Out Magazine. His bylines include VICE, Them, Document Journal, Out Traveler, and more.
Originally from the American South, he now lives in Berlin and is a member of the Berlin Queer Writers Circle.
Alexander Cheves is a memoirist, sex columnist for Out Magazine, and author of My Love Is a Beast: Confessions from Unbound Edition Press, which won the 2022 Geoff Mains Nonfiction Award from NLA International.
He received an Excellence in Journalism Award from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and, in 2021, was named to the Out 100. He has been a guest on many radio shows and podcasts, including Loveline and Dan Savage’s Savage Lovecast. He has spoken on panels at SXSW, The International AIDS Conference, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and others. His second book will come out in 2025.
As a contributing editor at The Advocate, Cheves launched the “Sexy Beast” column for Advocate.com in 2016. To date, it has generated the site's best traffic on record. He now writes the "Last Call" column in print editions of Out Magazine. His bylines include VICE, Them, Document Journal, Out Traveler, and more.
Originally from the American South, he now lives in Berlin and is a member of the Berlin Queer Writers Circle.