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Persons with HIV available for interviews before or after event

Southern Arizonans will gather for a special World AIDS Day community event this Sunday, uniting to share experiences, remember loved ones lost, provide encouragement to people living with HIV, and stand together as a community.

On December 1, 2024, communities around the world will host events to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS as a global pandemic. Current estimates by UNAIDS say 39.9 million people are living with HIV, and 42.3 million people have died as a result of HIV/AIDS.  Here in the United States, an estimated 1.2 million people are now living with HIV. World AIDS Day is a day designated to remind us that HIV remains an issue that impacts community members here in Tucson and around the world.

The Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network (TIHAN), along with El Rio’s Special Immunology Associates, the Petersen HIV Clinics, and the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation (SAAF) are sponsoring this local commemoration of World AIDS Day. The event will be held in the Fellowship Hall on the southeast corner of the church campus of Catalina United Methodist Church (2700 E Speedway) on Sunday, December 1, gathering at 5:00pm, with the program taking place 5:30-6:30pm, followed by a reception and resource tables from 6:30-7:00pm.

This service will feature speakers living with HIV/AIDS, music and interpretive dance, a panel of medical providers sharing their thoughts, and a candle-lighting, bringing together the community in a time of hope and remembrance of all people infected and affected by the HIV/AIDS crisis in our world. Free and open to all.

Catalina’s Fellowship Hall is the site of TIHAN’s first gathering exactly 30 years ago—on December 1, 1994, their public debut which occurred on World AIDS Day.  “TIHAN got its start 30 years ago, on this same night in this same spot, as we began our service to the community helping support people with HIV,” commented Scott Blades, TIHAN’s Executive Director and founder.  “In the 1990’s we were helping support people dying from AIDS-related complications, but today, because of medical progress, we are able to support people in living with HIV disease.  Thinking back to our start on World AIDS Day 1994, we sure didn’t think we’d still be needed 30 years later.  But due to the need and the community support we’ve received, we’ve been able to continue serving the community as the disease has changed and the needs have modified.”

“This year’s World AIDS Day event is an opportunity for people to come together as a community to reflect and remind ourselves of our own responsibility in the fight against HIV/AIDS,” Blades said.  “This year’s theme is ‘In Our Hands’ because we know there is much that each of us can do to be part of the solution. We can educate, we can offer prevention tools, we can support people who have HIV, we can volunteer or donate to the cause.  Despite what some people think, there’s still much to be done, and for World AIDS Day, we need to stand in solidarity.”

For further information about the local event or about World AIDS Day or TIHAN’s 30^th anniversary, contact Scott Blades, Executive Director, at 520-299-6647 (office) or 520-603-7601 (cell).

Thirteenth Edition of HRC’s Municipal Equality Index, Nation’s Most Comprehensive Survey of Cities’ LGBTQ+ Policies, Shows Record Breaking 130 Cities – More Than 25% of All Surveyed – Earned Highest Possible Score As State-Level Challenges Mount

WASHINGTON – Today, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC), the educational arm of the nation’s largest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization, in collaboration with the Equality Federation, an advocacy accelerator rooted in social justice that builds power in a network of state-based LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations, released the thirteenth edition of the Municipal Equality Index (MEI), the only comprehensive nationwide assessment of LGBTQ+ equality in the areas of municipal policies, laws and services. HRC is proud to partner with the City of Tempe, Arizona and Mayor Corey Woods to launch the 2024 index. Tempe is an MEI “All-Star City,” which scores highly on the index despite a lack of state-level non-discrimination laws.

The 2024 MEI shows a record breaking 130 cities scoring the highest possible marks on the index, representing a combined population of approximately 49 million people. This year also marks an increase to the national average score, with cities in nearly every region (except for the Southeast and Great Plains) seeing their averages increase.

This important progress was made even as pressure has continued from states that pass laws and policies that seek to shut transgender people – particularly trans youth – out of public life. Since the first MEI report in 2012, when only five cities offered these vital benefits, to 187 municipalities in 2022, and now more than 240 in 2024, the trend continues to be toward inclusivity. Despite this, state legislatures have enacted discriminatory laws that prevent transgender people from getting certain kinds of medically necessary health care. Cities who have worked to ensure that transgender-inclusive health benefits are covered by their insurance plans are in many cases no longer able to provide that coverage in a meaningful way as a result of discriminatory decisions made by state legislators. This is, unfortunately, reflected in the 2024 MEI report as a loss of points for about 35% of the cities who have attempted to offer this care but have been preempted from doing so.

“Over more than a decade, the Municipal Equality Index has worked with cities and towns in all parts of the country, in all fifty states to advance the fight for lived & legal equality,” said Kelley Robinson, President of the Human Rights Campaign. “For LGBTQ+ people, building community isn’t just a phrase, it’s a way of life. In many important ways, local politics shapes our lives just as much as state or national politics does. Mayors and city councilors who take LGBTQ+ inclusion seriously build stronger communities, and in turn their cities thrive.

130 cities earned the highest possible score in this year’s index – over 25 percent of the cities we surveyed. And many, many more scored highly despite the fact that their states lack comprehensive non-discrimination protections, or even have state houses actively hostile to LGBTQ+ equality. They show the way forward, and we celebrate their hard work.”

Key findings from the 2024 Municipal Equality Index, which scored 506 cities, include:

• This year, a record-breaking 130 cities or over 25 percent of all MEI-rated cities, earned the highest score of 100, which is up from 129 in 2023
  • Only 6 cities scored zero points.
• Across 20 states, 76 cities and towns earned over 85 points despite their state lacking non-discrimination statutes that explicitly protect sexual orientation and gender identity. In recognition of their efforts, the following localities earned the title of “All-Star City.” (A “*” below indicates the city earned all-star status for the first time this year)
  • Alabama: Birmingham
  • Alaska: Juneau
  • Arizona: Chandler, Flagstaff, Glendale, Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Tucson
  • Florida: Coral Gables, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Miami, Miami Shores, Oakland Park, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Tallahassee, Tampa, Wilton Manors
  • Georgia: Atlanta, Decatur
  • Indiana: Bloomington, Evansville, Terre Haute
  • Kansas: Lawrence, Overland Park, Topeka, Wichita
  • Louisiana: New Orleans
  • Missouri: Columbia, Kansas City, St. Louis
  • Montana: Bozeman*, Missoula
  • Nebraska: Omaha*
  • North Carolina: Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro, Winston-Salem
  • Ohio: Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Dublin, Lakewood, Toledo
  • Oklahoma: Norman, Tulsa*
  • Pennsylvania: Allentown, Carlisle, Erie, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Reading, State College
  • South Carolina: Myrtle Beach
  • South Dakota: Brookings, Vermillion*
  • Texas: Arlington, Austin, Dallas, Denton, Fort Worth, San Antonio
  • West Virginia: Charleston, Huntington, Morgantown
  • Wyoming: Laramie
• Nationwide, 65 cities have a policy that prohibits bullying on the basis of sexual orientation in their youth-facing city services and 63 cities offer the same protections for gender identity.
• Unfortunately, fewer cities are providing fully transgender inclusive health benefits to municipal employees in recent years. While more cities are offering those benefits – 244 cities have benefits packages including transgender-inclusive health care – state legislation has gravely impacted the enforceability and accessibility of these benefits with 85 cities, or about 35 percent of cities with trans-inclusive benefits, unable to offer the same benefits to dependent minors due to state laws.
  • 159 cities offer and are able to actually provide health benefits to their municipal employees that include coverage for gender affirming care
• Remarkably, 29 states saw their averages increase since the 2023 MEI, leading to an average score nationwide of 72.
  • Oregon (+9), Maine (+7), and Minnesota (+6) were the highest state average increase
• 121 cities ranked by the MEI now have more comprehensive, transgender-inclusive non-discrimination laws than their state
• 53 cities are testing the limits of restrictive state law, through actions like council resolutions/declarations opposing anti-LGBTQ+ state legislation, engagement with state legislators, executive orders and other actions
  • Comparatively, only 30 cities did so in 2019, nearly doubling over the last five years

“As a community and a people, we are interconnected. While certain federal and state anti-equality politicians continue to single people out to bully based on race or gender, local communities continue showing up for each other and fighting for our freedoms, our families, and our futures,” said Fran Hutchins, Executive Director of Equality Federation Institute. “Local advocates are tirelessly working to shield their communities and affirm the power and strength of queer and trans individuals, even in the face of discriminatory state laws. Yet, while some cities are making progress, the overall landscape remains challenging. The Municipal Equality Index underscores the need to invest in local leaders, on-the-ground capacity, and the fight for local protections wherever possible.”

Every year, the Municipal Equality Index scores the 50 state capitals, the 200 largest cities in the United States, the five largest cities or municipalities in each state, the cities home to the state’s two largest public universities, 75 cities and municipalities that have high proportions of same-sex couples, and 98 cities selected by HRC and Equality Federation state groups, members, and supporters.

Even though local leaders continue to pave the way forward for equality, there remains an unacceptable patchwork of laws for LGBTQ+ people across the country. This reinforces the need for the federal Equality Act – one of HRC’s top legislative priorities – that would provide consistent and explicit non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people across key areas of life, including employment, housing, credit, education, public spaces and services, federally funded programs, and jury service.

The full 2024 MEI report, including detailed scorecards for every city and a searchable score database, is available online at www.hrc.org/mei.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people. Through its programs, the HRC Foundation seeks to make transformational change in the everyday lives of LGBTQ+ people, shedding light on inequity and deepening the public’s understanding of LGBTQ+ issues, with a clear focus on advancing transgender and racial justice. Its work has transformed the landscape for more than 15 million workers, 11 million students, 1 million clients in the adoption and foster care system and so much more. The HRC Foundation provides direct consultation and technical assistance to institutions and communities, driving the advancement of inclusive policies and practices; it builds the capacity of future leaders and allies through fellowship and training programs; and, with the firm belief that we are stronger working together, it forges partnerships with advocates in the U.S. and around the globe to increase our impact and shape the future of our work.