As Trump pulls HIV funding, L.A. communities feel it

Trump pulls – At the Wall Las Memorias monument in Lincoln Park, advocates and people living with HIV describe how federal budget cuts and shifting priorities are shrinking testing and care in Los Angeles—hitting Latino and queer communities first, and raising urgent fears

In Lincoln Park, past Plaza de la Raza cultural center and under swaying pine trees, a row of 10-foot wooden panels stands etched with names. Richard Zaldivar stood quietly in front of the wall’s dark letters, surrounded by community members holding lit candles as memories of old friends returned.

The panels bear nearly 2,000 names, and more are added every year. Each one represents an Angeleno, mostly Latinos, who died of AIDS. Zaldivar led the movement to erect the monument, named the Wall Las Memorias, which was finalized in 2004.

The vigil was held on the anniversary of the first HIV diagnosis in L.A. on June 4. On that early-June evening. Zaldivar hosted a sunset vigil joined by AIDS Memorial Quilt founder and Harvey Milk mentee Cleve Jones. marking lives lost since AIDS was first diagnosed 45 years earlier. when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report detailing immunodeficiency in five young gay men in Los Angeles.

At Zaldivar’s feet was a poem he wrote in 1995 with his friend Anna Contreras. It reads: “It is here, we free ourselves from the teaching of guilt. We unite as one people in our vision, our teaching, and our truth. Through truth we live, through knowledge we survive.”

Contending with stigma and misinformation has been a constant struggle for people who are HIV-positive. Zaldivar said. and he wants to make that struggle more visible than it has been in previous decades. “Sometimes it feels like there’s no other way to draw attention to this problem than to have a physical reminder. ” Zaldivar said of the monument. “This reminds us of real people, as more than statistics.”.

Zaldivar pointed to statistics showing that, even as the public conversation shifts, HIV does not. The most recent CDC data show 39,000 people across the U.S. received an HIV diagnosis. A Kaiser Family Foundation analysis found that between 2010 and 2022 there was a 24% increase in new cases among Latinos. In 2022 alone, Latinos made up 31% of new diagnoses despite representing 19% of the American population, the KFF study found.

That pressure is showing up close to home. “Just last week. we had two new diagnoses of HIV in our clinic. ” said Bernardo Gomez. assistant manager of HIV resources at the Wall Las Memorias Project. “For context. we had 15 in the past six months. including straight women … I think what we’re seeing is a dangerous loss of support for outreach and education.”.

The latest worry, advocates say, is that federal support for HIV programs is being reduced just as communities are still grappling with the realities of stigma, fear, and access.

Last year, President Trump released his presidential fiscal year budget for 2026, much of which went into effect last October. In it, he revealed significant cuts to HIV health programs—amounting to $1.5 billion.

The budget recommendation signaled the administration’s yearly priorities. and Trump’s fiscal plan and staffing cuts to HIV teams under the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) showed a shift away from HIV prevention and healthcare. advocates say. They argue the changes have led to providers losing jobs and have left fewer places to test and fewer resources to reach people.

In Los Angeles, Zaldivar said, the Latino community is feeling those cuts most intensely.

The biggest cut to HIV care in the 2026 budget affected the CDC, which lost around $3.6 million. Another devastating loss was $1.7 million cut from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program—one that many L.A. resource centers report relying on to fund part of their programming and staffing.

Robert Gamboa, associate director of public policy at the L.A. LGBT Center, said that in Trump’s first term, his “Ending the Epidemic” program created hope for soon seeing the end of HIV in the U.S. That hope, Gamboa said, has been dashed in the second term.

“Now there’s this 180-degree shift in policy. we see these enormous proposals pulling away from funding. and his lack of acknowledgment of World AIDS Day. and Pride in general. ” Gamboa said. “The message of that is loud and clear: [The Trump administration] is telling our LGBT community. ‘We don’t care about you.’”.

Since Trump’s inaugural address last year, Gamboa said executive orders have only solidified Trump’s shift away from LGBT organizations, “challenging the structural integrity of almost everything we’ve done.”

Last spring, Gamboa said, the Department of Public Health, Division of HIV and STD Programs, which supplemented L.A. organizations with substantial HIV funding, sent out a notice that all of their contracts were terminated.

“Well, this caused a massive alarm all across L.A. County. Everyone started freaking out. We had to say. ‘We need an emergency allocation [from state funds] so that we can continue providing HIV services across California. ’” Gamboa said. “We’re used to getting upwards of around $20 million in funding at the county level, and it wasn’t happening.”.

Since then, nonprofit representatives have confirmed that the contracts were restored at reduced rates. But the uncertainty, Gamboa said, still shook the health services community and deepened distrust among Latino patients.

“We’re already seeing [the impact in L.A.]. In the Latino community, there’s so much fear from the ICE raids. People are afraid to even leave their homes,” Gamboa said. “We’ve worked so hard in building trust and relationships with our communities of color. Now, they’re afraid to even come in. Many of the places they’ve gone to in L.A. County have already closed their doors and ceased services.”.

The cuts have kept coming. Most recently, the Trump administration announced plans to cut millions in public health funding. This includes $1.1 million that would be slashed from the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance Project. an early-warning system for HIV outbreaks established by the L.A. County Department of Public Health.

On the White House website. a page called “Cuts to Woke Programs” reads: “President Trump is committed to eliminating radical gender and racial ideologies that poison the minds of Americans.” Gamboa said organizations have been discouraged from using “LGBT” in their programming to avoid being defunded as part of the targeted “woke” programs.

“It really affects me,” Gomez said. “How long will I have medicine?”

Gomez has been living with HIV since 1996. As the breadwinner of his family, he said his monthly supply of medication costs $1,500 a bottle. “It’s so expensive, and I have insurance. For people without insurance, [the Ryan White program] is the only way they can afford treatment,” Gomez said. “I’m afraid of what will happen to them.”.

Gomez takes antiretroviral therapy. described as a lifesaving medication that reduces the number of infected cells. making the disease less transmissible and preventing HIV from developing into AIDS. According to 2024 HRSA data, the Ryan White program provided antiretroviral therapy to 602,000 people, preventing the spread of HIV.

But as the program loses funding, jobs providing HIV care have become more sparse, and programs like the Wall and the L.A. LGBT Center have become more essential for thousands left without life-saving care.

HIV program funds are trickling back into L.A. County for nonprofits this year; the Wall, however, said it is not enough to address the need. Up until last May, the organization shared that the county funded $1 million of its annual HIV reduction efforts. This year, that number was drastically reduced to $100,000 per six-month contract.

“Many of my social worker friends are off the streets [where they helped at-risk communities] due to just not having enough funding to do their jobs. ” said Miguel Rodriguez. program coordinator of HIV testing and prevention at the Wall. “People think only gay men are affected, but basic sexual health for everyone is at risk here. Less [testing] means more infections and transmissions across the board.”.

The sequence is clear in the way people describe it: the names on the wall keep growing, while the resources meant to prevent new losses are being cut or restricted—leaving volunteers and clinics to do more with less, and raising the fear that the timeline will turn back.

As Zaldivar stresses, the only way to protect L.A.’s Latino HIV-positive community is to support remaining HIV services to get tested or donate to local service organizations.

“What we saw in the ’90s, I’m scared that it will repeat. I want people to remember how serious [HIV] is, and to educate,” Zaldivar said. “Keep getting tested. We don’t report your immigration status or sexuality. Just come in.”

HIV AIDS Los Angeles Latino community LGBT Ryan White budget cuts CDC DOGE Wall Las Memorias