Trump Orders Federal Silence on World AIDS Day

By: Paul Goldberg, Senior Editor | JRL CHARTS – LGBT Politics

WASHINGTON, D.C. — (November 30, 2025) — In a stunning and widely condemned reversal of U.S. public-health tradition, the Trump administration has ordered federal agencies, employees, and grant recipients not to recognize World AIDS Day — a global commemoration observed annually on December 1 since 1988.

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The directive stands in sharp contrast to 2024, when President Joe Biden hosted the first-ever display of AIDS Memorial Quilt panels inside the White House. That event honored the lives lost to AIDS and reaffirmed U.S. leadership in HIV prevention and global relief.

This year, the message from Washington is drastically different.

State Department Orders Federal Silence

A State Department email — obtained by The New York Times and first reported by HIV journalist Emily Bass — instructs U.S. agencies and grantees to “refrain from publicly promoting World AIDS Day through any communication channels”, including:

Social media
Government websites
Press statements
Public-facing speeches
Agency newsletters

The memo claims the directive is part of a new policy to avoid “messaging on any commemorative days,” including World AIDS Day.

Yet, Trump has issued and promoted other awareness days throughout 2025, including observances for autism, manufacturing, and military families — making this sudden restriction appear targeted, not administrative.

CDC Guidance Removes Key Context on HIV as a Deadly Disease

As the World AIDS Day ban circulated through federal agencies, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reportedly sent a follow-up email to its country offices. That message repeated the restrictions but omitted the original memo’s allowance for employees to “tout the work” of HIV programs.

It also removed language describing HIV as a “dangerous disease,” further deepening confusion across federal global health teams.

Advocates say the result is deliberate suppression of lifesaving information..

Administration Justifies Move While Cutting HIV Programs

State Department spokesperson Tommy Piggott defended the ban, saying:

“An awareness day is not a strategy.”

But under Trump’s leadership, the administration has simultaneously:

Cut foreign aid programs targeting HIV/AIDS
Restricted prevention funding
Weakened access to global HIV treatment pathways
Considered dismantling PEPFAR, the groundbreaking HIV relief initiative launched by Republican President George W. Bush¹

World AIDS Day is typically when the State Department reports PEPFAR data to Congress. Officials have not confirmed whether those figures will be released this year.

Footnote 1:

PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), established in 2003, has saved an estimated 25 million lives globally. Trump-aligned policy advisors have pushed to restrict PEPFAR funding tied to reproductive-rights disputes — a move widely opposed by global health leaders.

Advocates: “Silence = Death — Again”

The order sparked intense backlash from HIV activists, LGBTQ leaders, and public-health scholars.

Emily Bass, who broke the story, wrote in her Substack column:

“Even if it is not surprising that the U.S. will remain silent on its own epidemic, it is still shameful. HIV is ongoing in America… Silence = Death.”

Peter Staley, cofounder of PrEP4All and a historic ACT UP activist, told The Times:

“It just seems petty and hostile, frankly. It felt very reminiscent of the Reagan administration.”

LGBTQ lawmakers echoed the outrage.

Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI), chair of the Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus, issued a statement:

“Silence is not neutrality; it is harm. I’m calling on the administration to immediately reverse this decision.”

A Deliberate Step Backward for LGBTQ and HIV Visibility

For decades, Republican and Democratic administrations — from George W. Bush to Barack Obama to even Trump’s first term — recognized World AIDS Day through events, proclamations, or public messages.

This year’s order marks the first time in modern U.S. history that the federal government has refused to acknowledge World AIDS Day entirely.

For LGBTQ communities, public-health experts, and HIV advocates, the message is unmistakable:

The Trump administration is actively choosing erasure at a time when HIV infections in the U.S. disproportionately affect LGBTQ people, Black and Latinx Americans, and Southern states.

The silence sends a dangerous signal — one the community has seen before.

JRL CHARTS EDITORIAL NOTE: A Dangerous Step Backward

JRL CHARTS emphasizes that the decision to block federal recognition of World AIDS Day reflects a deeply concerning return to the politics of silence, undermining decades of progress made through visibility, activism, and global cooperation.

At a time when HIV infections continue, prevention tools remain underfunded, and communities still face stigma, this silence is both dangerous and unacceptable.

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