Across the Country LGBT Community Benefits from a Week of Stunning Legislations

Ryan White Act extended to 2013; Sexual Orientation Protections; Non-Discrimination in Housing; LGBT Included in Census

By Antoine Craigwell

In one week, the U.S. Congress has by majorities, which definitively demonstrates the will of its constituents, passed significant laws in favor of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. 

 

 
On Monday, Oct 19, the Senate passed S. 1793, the "Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009" and on Wednesday, Oct 21, the House passed its version of the Senate bill. The House Energy and Commerce and the Senate Health Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committees collaborated to ensure the passage of the legislation.

Although passed on Oct 19, the Ryan White Act is retroactive to its 2009 sunset clause, Sept 30, and is extended for four years, until 2013. Telling in the Senate version is the amount of money being committed to a section devoted to the Minorities AIDS Initiative over the next four years.

In the Senate version, the table below details the amount of money, in millions, which is intended to be spent on HIV/AIDS programs until 2013:

Reauthorization of HIV Health Care Services Program 2009
 ($ in Millions)          
Program Grants  FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 Total
Part A $649,500 $681,975 $716,074 $751,877 $789,471 $3,588,897
Part B 1,285,200 1,349,460 1,416,933 1,487,780 1,562,169 7,101,542
Part C 235,100 246,855 259,198 272,158 285,766 1,299,077
Part D 0 75,390 79,160 83,117 87,273 324,940
 Total $2,171,809 $2,355,690 $2,473,376 $2,596,944 $2,726,692 $12,314,456
Demonstration and Training Grants         
HIV/AIDS COMMUNITIES, SCHOOLS, AND CENTERS - Section 2692 (c)  
Paragraph (1)    $38,257 $40,170 $42,178 $120,605
Paragraph (2)  $13,650 14,333 15,049 15,802 58,834
 Total   $13,650 $52,590 $55,219 $57,980 $179,439
MINORITY AIDS INITIATIVE Section 2693  
sub-section (a) $139,100 $146,055 $153,358 $161,026 $169,077 $768,616
sub-para A $0 $46,738 $49,075 $51,528 $54,105 $201,446
sub-paraB 0 8,763 9,202 9,662 10,145 37,772
sub-para C 0 61,343 64,410 67,631 71,012 264,396
sub-para D 0 20,448 21,470 22,543 23,671 88,132
sub-para E 0 8,763 9,201 9,662 10,144 37,770
 Total $0 $292,110 $306,716 $322,052 $338,154 $1,398,132
The bill states that the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services is to develop a formula to determine awarding grants, ensuring that funds are provided that are based on populations disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS.

The House version of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS bill, detailed in a similar table:

Authorization Amounts for the Ryan White Program 
  Authorizations  ($ in millions)
  FY2010 FY2011 FY2012 FY2013 Total
Part A  $682 $716 $751.9 $789.5 $2939.4
Part B  1,349.50 1,417 1,487.80 1,562.20 5,816.50
Part C  246.9 259.2 272.2 285.8 1064.1
Part D  75.4 79.2 83.1 87.2 324.9
Part F: AECTs  36.4 38.3 40.2 42.2 157.1
Part F: Dental  13.7 14.3 15 15.8 58.8
Part F: MAI  146.1 153.4 161 169.1 629.6
Total  $2,550 $2,677 $2,811 $2,952 $10,990.40
According to the House version, the new legislation increases by 5-percent, the authorizations for the Minority AIDS Initiative. Another change is that the funding reverts from competitive funding in Part A and Part B to formula funding, requiring the General Accounting Office (GAO) "to report on Minority AIDS Initiative activities across departmental agencies, including a description of best practices in capacity-building. It will also require the department to prepare a plan for the use of Minority AIDS Initiative funds for capacity-building, taking into consideration the GAO report."

Also on Wednesday, Oct 21, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Renewal (HUD) announced that it is in the process of developing regulations to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and to ensure that members of the LGBT community have access to federally subsidized housing.

According to the Associated Press, HUD intends to commission the first-ever nationwide study to determine the extent of discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing sales and rental programs.

HUD officials said, in the AP report, that while the Fair Housing Act (Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act, 1968) prohibits discrimination in the sale and rental of homes, there is no inclusion of gays and lesbians as protected groups. The department wants to make sure that LGBT people are treated the same as everyone else when it comes to eligibility for housing programs. Additionally, HUD announced new regulations that its housing and voucher programs would include and clarify definitions of "family" as applicable to lesbian and gay couples.

On Thursday, Oct 22, the Senate expanded the hate crimes bill by extending protections to members of the LGBT community who are persecuted in any way because of their gender or sexual orientation. The bill is on its way to President Barack Obama for his signature.

Some commentators have said that this is the single greatest expansion of the anti-discrimination legislation since it was enacted in 1968.

Adding to the list of achievements in one week, the U.S. Census Bureau has announced on Thursday, Oct 22, an a never before entertained effort to include same-sex couples in next year's scheduled census, and hinted that counting the number of people who identify as LGBT could be next.

Census officials said that in future editions of the bureau's annual American Community Survey, categories are likely to be added which would include LGBT; it is too late to include survey questions about sexual orientation or gender expression in the 2010 Census.