HEALTH
Fighting the Lag in Black Gay, Bi HIV Prevention
Resources, expertise needed if Plan to End AIDS is to cross the fi nish line
BY DUNCAN OSBORNE
When the news broke
in November that advocates
for the Plan
to End AIDS were
abandoning the goal of reducing
new annual HIV infections to 750
statewide by 2020, Gary English,
the founder and executive director
of Get It, Get It, an HIV prevention
group that serves African-American
gay and bisexual men, knew
what the problem was.
“There needs to be a paradigm
shift at the Department of Health
with a special emphasis on gay
men of color, and there need to be
resources for it,” English said during
an interview in an East Village
diner last week.
While the plan’s success is
measured with a number of met- DUNCAN OSBORNE
Gary English, founder of Get It, Get It, urges public health offi cials in New York to embrace a “paradigm shift” in reaching out to Black gay and bisexual men
➤ BLACK GAY PREVENTION, continued on p.11 for HIV prevention.
POLITICS
Van Bramer’s Queens BP Run Rallies Progressives
Out gay lawmaker seeking to lead borough gets boosts from Nixon, Teachout, Gentili
BY MATT TRACY
Former insurgent gubernatorial
candidates Cynthia
Nixon and Zephyr
Teachout have endorsed
out gay Queens City Councilmember
Jimmy Van Bramer in his campaign
for borough president.
Nixon, who is an out lesbian,
and Teachout are touting Van
Bramer’s credentials as a progressive
running a campaign based on
challenging the status quo and the
infl uence of big money in politics.
“Whether bringing people together
to defend immigrant communities,
fi ghting for funding for
our precious public libraries, safer
streets, or the MTA, or standing
up against Trump’s hateful rhetoric
and policies, Jimmy is a champion
for the people,” the former
“Sex and the City” star said in a
written statement on December
23. “Queens needs a progressive
fi ghter who won’t be beholden to
political bosses, rich donors, or big
corporations.”
Teachout voiced similar sentiments,
describing Van Bramer as
the “only candidate in this race
who’s proven throughout his career
that he’s not afraid to take on
powerful interests and win.”
“From defeating Amazon, to
defying the party bosses, to organizing
to get money out of politics,
Jimmy is the true progressive
choice for Queens Borough President,”
Teachout said.
Van Bramer has close ties to
Nixon through her wife, Christine
Marinoni, whom Van Bramer has
known since the early 1990s when
they were both involved in the effort
to allow the Irish Lesbian and Gay
Organization to march in Manhattan’s
St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
“We need real progressives like
Jimmy Van Bramer willing to fi ght
back against billion dollar corporations
and put people fi rst,” Nixon
added. “We don’t need more party
politicians beholden to big real estate.”
Nixon received 537,192 votes, or
34 percent, in her long-shot Democratic
primary bid against Governor
Andrew Cuomo in 2018, while
Teachout lost to the governor by a
similar margin in the 2014 primary,
when she earned 33.5 percent
with 192,210 votes. Teachout went
on to run for state attorney general
in 2018 and fi nished nine points
behind the victor, Letitia James,
in a contest that also included out
gay Congressmember Sean Patrick
Maloney, who trailed Teachout in
the fi nal tally.
“These are women who’ve shown
us what’s possible when we have
the courage to reject business as
usual and stand up to the political
interests that have dominated our
democracy for far too long,” Van
Bramer said of the endorsements.
“It’s time for a Queens free from the
infl uence of developers, a Queens
that unites to protect immigrant
communities, a Queens with good
schools, with safe streets, and affordable
housing for all.”
On December 30, transgender
activist and organizer Cecilia
Gentili, who lives in Ridgewood,
Queens, also threw her support
behind Van Bramer. Gentili is a
part of the steering committee with
the DecrimNY coalition, which is
aimed at fully decriminalizing sex
work.
“We need a real progressive like
➤ VAN BRAMER, continued on p.11
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