Inside Florida’s Republican Death Panel

How Florida Conspired To Set Up an ADAP “Drop Dead List”

Florida’s mostly Republican leadership has conspired with private conservative advocacy groups like AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) to defund and demoralize people receiving their HIV medications through a Federal/State program called ADAP (AIDS Drug Assistance Program).

People who receive ADAP medication are generally low-income members of the workforce. The ADAP programs were originally set up as a partnership between the Federal Government and States to address the problem of HIV drugs being too expensive for the average person to afford out-of-pocket coupled with the “pre-existing conditions” clause in most health insurance programs which would deny coverage for HIV drugs.

Over the past decade, it has been customary for the Federal Government to increase ADAP funds by about 13.33% per year. Both George W. Bush and Barack Obama have done that (although Bush only increased ADAP funding to appropriate “catch-up” levels when a Democratic Congress took over during the latter part of his Presidency as he had previously cut domestic HIV spending in favor of global HIV spending). But according to Michael Weinstein, President of AHF “Obama has done very little to support domestic HIV/AIDS funding” and “he’s only good at making nice speeches on the subject” which don’t solve the funding problem.*

This is the message being transmitted to the mostly gay and African American communities affected by HIV/AIDS in South Florida. Both Weinstein and Joey Wynn of The Broward House (another state-funded HIV care and advocacy organization) snarl Obama’s name through pursed lips as if they are speaking about a fascist dictator and their message isn’t any kinder when it comes to parting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.**


In fact, Michael Weinstein and his highly paid employees at AHF routinely protest the Federal Government with picket lines and chants like “Hey Feds, Give Us Back Our Meds”. One such stunt had them all carrying faux coffins and crosses and dressed like Grim Reapers while walking in circles around Nancy Pelosi’s California office.

But what AHF and the Broward House absolutely will NOT tell you, is that Obama and the Congress have done business as usual on ADAP and that it’s actually Florida’s Republican legislature that has made the cuts to the program which resulted in the infamous “ADAP waiting list” and ultimately, the far worse “ADAP drop list” which FL Health Department officials like Tom Liberti swore just a couple of months ago would not occur…

When AHF protests outside of Pelosi’s office (invariably at the peak of her re-election campaign) with signs and displays indicating that people are dying because of her actions, a subtle lie is being communicated to passers-by. California has no “waiting list” for ADAP medications and is better-funded than South Carolina where at least three people have already died waiting for medication. California is better funded because their Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger eventually stepped up to the plate and delivered the $27 million in funds. So it’s intellectually dishonest for Weinstein and his merry crew of tea-party style “deathers” to imply that this is a Nancy Pelosi problem. South Carolina’s Republican government completely de-funded its own contributions to ADAP voluntarily. That is what killed people – not Pelosi.

Weinstein does not seem to care that his message is based on a false notion of the Obama Administration supposedly “cutting funds”*** for HIV. He is working with the State of Florida on a number of proposals which would elevate his organization’s stature and authority in the United States. One such proposal would allow him to police the pornography industry for safer sex practices and allow him access to confidential medical information which he is currently not given access to.

Another proposal is one by where AHF works with Pharmaceutical companies to negotiate prices and “freebies” called PAP’s (Patient Assistance Programs) so that the “free market” can step in and take care of what the big, bad Federal Government supposedly would not.

Weinstein’s Republican favoritism shows itself quite readily when you look at his supposed solution to the ADAP crisis. His protests are meant to draw negative attention to Democrats while drawing positive attention to a bill drawn up by far-right Republican Senators called the “Access ADAP Act” (S. 3401).

The bill, which was introduced by Sen. Richard Burr R-NC (whose last campaign was funded by BlueCross/BlueSheild), aims to take a huge chunk of Obama’s stimulus package and divert it toward ADAP. In essence, the withdrawn funds would damage the effectiveness of the stimulus (sending them into a category which does not produce a return on the investment) but it would also alleviate Republican-controlled states from their fair share of a national burden.

Incidentally, 3 of the co-signing Republican Senators on the bill (which has already died in committee and was never expected to be plausible) have anti-gay legislation languishing in various committees too. In fact, all 5 of the Senators who co-sponsored the legislation that AHF’s Michael Weinstein is urging his followers to support were also co-sponsors on a Senate Bill last year which would have outlawed individual states from making their own marriage laws – in direct conflict with the United States Constitution.

The sunshine state is not exactly forthcoming with information on exactly which aspects of healthcare funding were cut and by whom specifically. Florida has a set of what are called “Sunshine Laws” (transparency laws that make legislation available and accessible online) which sound just brilliant but are not very effective at all in this situation. Browsing the budget reports from over the last 10 years, it shows that decisions like this are made in sub-committees. Sub-committees in Florida are allowed to, for whatever reason; block their procedures and committee notes on “certain items” from view by the public. This is of course what has happened with the specific itemized budget cuts that resulted in the ADAP Drop List.

Mysteriously, not a single high-ranking Florida official has addressed this issue to the public or responded to media inquiries on the subject. Governor Charlie Crist (R) and his Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink (D) have talked about every issue under the sun during their expensive political campaigns for higher office this year. Hundreds of millions of dollars were spent by Crist, Sink, Rick Scott and Allen West in the last election cycle and even a small fraction of that would solve the problem that HIV positive persons face in being dropped from the program. Even according to AHF, the amount that is needed is only 17 million dollars.

Even some Democratic State legislators who claim to care deeply about the crisis have been unwilling to go to the Republican legislature in Florida and either ask or demand an increase in state level funding for HIV care. Frederica Wilson, a State Senator at the time, scoffed at the idea and pretended that it was simply impossible. This was after she told her audience that she and Health Department official Tom Liberti had gone to Washington “way back during the AIDS crisis” and tearfully pleaded with congress for funds and concern. Evidently to Florida Democrats, mountains are moveable but not molehills.

* These are actually sentiments from Michael Weinstein who I interviewed and audio-recorded with his permission. The statements about Obama’s supposed uselessness were made two days after Obama released the comprehensive National HIV/AIDS Strategy which is meant to coincide with healthcare reform. The strategy is the culmination of years of research and studies conducted nationwide and abroad and was hailed by many activists as a trailblazing and enlightened approach to the care of persons with HIV/AIDS and prevention for those whom are not yet affected.

** According to Joey Wynn from The Broward House at an AHF-sponsored town hall meeting, he told a bystander that Obama had actually “not increased” funding for ADAP, that he had “kept it the same”. That is untrue as well. The concept that Wynn was twisting around was the fact that Obama had not increased funding by any more than he did the previous year or the last year that Bush was in office. But Obama did, in fact, increase funding for ADAP to the tune of +13.33% in his last 3 annual budgets which are available to browse at the Kaiser Institute website.

*** In my work as a journalist covering the ADAP crisis in Florida, I’ve encountered many concerned people with HIV who have been misled by AHF and Joey Wynn at the Broward House to believe that Barack Obama has personally slashed the budget on their ADAP funds… This is NOT true. However, these organizations buy plenty of advertising in every newspaper, magazine, charity event and venue in South Florida. This is not done because they need to advertise; it’s done in order to harness the media and overpower any voice of dissent that dares to disagree with their rhetoric.

Alex Sink Cites "Religious" Reasons For Not Supporting Gay Marriage

On Thursday June 10, speaking to a group in St. Petersburg, Gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink contradicted her pro-equality image by saying “I don’t support gay marriage. I think that is entirely a religious decision that individuals can make. I do support civil unions.”

“That’s not good news for gay marriage proponents hopeful that a new governor would make changes,” writes Christina Silva who broke the story for the St. Petersburg Times.

This is in contrast to what the LGBT community might expect from the winner of Equality Florida’s esteemed “Voice of Equality” award for the year 2009. At the reception gala she garnered standing applause from about 200 of South Florida’s gay community leaders. She spent approximately 10 minutes giving a stump speech about how “every American deserves to be treated equally” but mostly she gave the audience her resume from her days at Bank of America. She did not, however, talk about Florida’s controversial ‘Amendment 2’ which bans LGBT persons from participating in both marriage and civil unions.

At the beginning of that November 2009 gala, director Nadine Smith introduced Alex Sink by saying “when you look around at these galas… you see the backbone of the gay community.” Alex Sink took to the podium soon after where she made a total of eight pleas for campaign money while saying nothing about specific actions she would take as Governor in favor of the LGBT community

“I know that together, we can make equality for ALL Floridians a reality,” Sink said to the guests at the 2009 Equality Florida event, “that is - with the right officers in place."

“Tonight I stand before you as a candidate for Governor – a position for which no woman has ever been elected. And in 2010, with all your support and encouragement, and maybe some of your money, I intend to put Florida under new management.”

Update: Director of Equality Florida, Nadine Smith issued the following statement: "I disagree with all candidates of both parties who do not respect full legal equality for LGBT families including equal protection under our country'smarriage laws. "

Darrin McGillis, also a candidate in the Democratic Primary has expressed that his position is for FULL Marriage Equality. His campaign website is McGillis4Governor.com

Sink Is Running... And The Drain Is Open

"Voice For Equality" Singing The Same Old Song...

UPDATE: Sink has finally made her position against the adoption ban solid. She can be seen in this video saying the same thing that the Herald quoted her as saying at the Equality Florida event. But it should be considered that this video was made after Sinks appearance in Broward, not before and that Sink really was misquoted by the newspaper... Therefore, I am not an asshole, she just didn't tell the crowd what she obviously told individuals. And the rest of the following post still stands true as well. However, it must be known that she DOES stand on the right side of the adoption ban and that she has now been willing to discuss it specifically.

I have condensed this post to its raw points, since it was getting way too long and boring to deal with:

1. Alex Sink (D), is a candidate for Governor of Florida in 2010.
2. She had not, until recently, been firm nor clear on any gay rights issues.
3. She was recently given an award by Equality Florida called "The Voice of Equality" where she gave a campaign speech even though, supposedly, Equality Florida was only giving her an award as CFO and not technically as a candidate for Governor (read as: an endorsement without the red tape of having to ask her to commit to her stance on the issues).
4. I went to the gala to get her opinion on the gay adoption ban and hopefully a statement of how she would work to remove it.
5. She did not specifically support repealing the ban in her speech at Equality Florida's gala even though a Miami Herald reporter wrote a misleading article which claims she did.
6. Her campaign staff ordered me not to record her on my digital video recorder and blocked my access to her. They did not want me to get her on record and made it known that I would not be able to ask the candidate any questions. (of course, I have all of this on video).
7. I raised a big stink about that.
8. Later, Alex Sink told a Florida TV news channel that she does support repealing the gay adoption ban in Florida.
9. So far, Alex Sink has specifically and verbally supported just that one agenda item for gays and lesbians, and I give myself some amount of credit for that because I really put pressure on her campaign and Equality Florida to be more specific and to actually express support on repealing the ban and not just let Sink get by with saying that she "looks forward to working with Nan Rich".
10. I am not really impressed with Alex Sink (D) and think of her as a noncommittal, political chameleon. Therefore, I will still be voting for Michael E. Arth (D) for Governor of Florida in the primary election.

Queer As Broke

I feel the need to explain why I’ve been such a bitch lately: cigarettes are too expensive and I don’t wanna quit.

Ok, let me explain.

I’m broke – not broke as in “OMG, I really shouldn’t have bought those $100 jeans” but more like broke as in “wow, am I really digging between the couch cushions for change to fill my gas tank?”. And if you only know one thing about gay people, it should be that we get really ugly when we don’t have any money. My financial demise started a long time ago but it recently came to a head when I was fired from a gay retail outlet, in part, because I took the weekend off to go to the National Equality March and fight for my civil rights. I’ll just let the irony of that sink in for a moment… yeah.

Now, add to that that I’m a college student and something of a local political activist and you have a recipe for disaster. I’m not completely unlike those teabaggers on the right – the ones with mullets and high-top basketball shoes that beg the question “what Aerosmith concert in Indiana did you just escape from and how did you afford to get to Washington DC?”

While I have no moral objection to prostitution, something tells me that the high earners in this arena spend a little more time at the gym than I do. So that leaves me with getting a real job – which I will probably boast on my facebook feed when it finally happens.

I suppose that I can take some comfort in the fact that I’m not alone. State funded services are tapped out and you can always spot some other “fabulous” folks in line at the unemployment offices. My friend Gordon rides his bike 7 miles a day to work as something just above apprenticeship at a local tattoo parlor. He found that there are cigarettes which market themselves as “cigars” that only cost $2.50 per pack!

But the biggest problem with being out of money is that it marks the end of your political voice. My Live Feed on Facebook is littered with invitations to pricey dinner parties where our pandering political candidates are expected to solicit our votes in upcoming elections and I can’t go to any of them. So, for the most part, I have to hope that the South Florida Blade will ask the tough questions at these events and not become as easily waxed & wooed as they have in the past.

Let’s take for example, the upcoming gala for Equality Florida where Alex Sink is expected to speak. This was announced on my Facebook Live Feed as “a chance to meet Florida’s Next Governor” (for $175). There was supposedly an opportunity to attend the gala for free by volunteering for the event, but those links all lead to a dead end. Now, I really like the people at Equality Florida and they do some very important work but I have a real problem with this because not only does it blur the lines between an endorsement and a speaking engagement, but Ms. Sink has not really said anything about gay rights or why gay people should vote for her. (Update: Equality Florida has recently removed the “Florida’s Next Governor” tagline from their invitations.) Are we expected to wait for second-hand information to trickle down to us from those who frequently pay extravagant amounts of money to listen to bullshit? The worst part of this situation is that there is an incredibly nice guy who is running for Governor against her who clearly states on his website that he is all for gay rights. But the Gay Democratic Establishment has decided that Michael E. Arth is a “fringe liberal” and therefore we must accept a career politician (as usual) who has “republican appeal” according to Equality Florida.

Then there was the Dolphin Democrats Awards reception ($75) at which I could have interviewed Sheriff Lamberti about why Craig Cohen’s murder was not charged as a hate crime if I had the money. That way, I could have avoided 5 interviews with less connected persons and 2,000 words of blather on my blog. We should not have to pay for information from our political leaders. It’s so sanctimonious and pompous the way these organizations assist politicians in collecting funds and to avoid stating their positions on important matters.

Pam Spaulding, on her blog, recently came under fire for suggesting that gay people stop playing this game of giving up their political dollars and then waiting to see what the results might be. She advocates only donating to candidates and organizations that you truly believe in and who have given you definitive results and specific promises. Spaulding brilliantly subtitled this new approach as “GayTM out of order for Democrats”. But it seems that some people are really addicted to the kool-aid that the Democrats have been selling lately.

In Florida, this has become extremely problematic because we have created an environment where it’s “too dangerous” for a Democrat to discuss Amendment 2 in their campaign. Amendment 2 is far worse than Proposition 8 because it has far-reaching effects like the absolute ban of civil unions and the enhancement of the gay adoption ban – things that California will probably never have to deal with. Yet the gays with means in Florida are so easily hornswaggled that they practically piss their pants if you give them a rainbow button and tell them to have a nice day. And I should know – because that is exactly how we got Barack Obama elected in Florida. I worked on the campaign for change and it was my task to go around convincing Hillary’s voters that Obama was gay-friendly too by handing them “Obama Pride” propaganda and talking about repealing DADT and DOMA. We’ve now seen the President (and other Democrats) do a 90 degree turn on those issues and I’ve learned my lesson: No more Mr. Nice Gay.