GLAAD, ALABAMA LATINO ACCESS CENTER RESPONDS TO LT. GOVERNOR WILL AINSWORTH’S INACCURATE STATEMENTS ON IMMIGRANTS, HIV

(New York, NY, September 25, 2024) — GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization, along with Alabama Latino Access Center, a division of AIDS Alabama connecting Latinx people living with HIV/AIDS to vital healthcare in the state, is responding to inaccurate statements by Alabama Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth.

Ainsworth falsely and without evidence correlated a federal immigration program with “soaring” HIV rates in Alabama. Data from the Alabama Department of Health shows no substantial increase in new cases over the last several years, and no connection to programs that allow immigrants to live and work in Alabama.

In a letter addressed to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Director Alejandro Mayorkas on September 17, 2024, and shared on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Ainsworth called for the termination of the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela (CHNV) Federal Parole Program and blamed CHNV for creating “an environment that is ripe for chaos, crime, and the depletion of state resources.”

Further amplifying recent baseless attacks on immigrants, specifically of Haitian descent, by U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH), Ainsworth, without statistical data to support his claims, said, “The HIV rate is soaring,” among a list of grievances he connected with lawful immigration through CHNV, which Ainsworth also claims allows immigrants to “unfairly compete for housing and jobs in our state.” Since 2023, CHNV has allowed certain people from the four countries included in the program who have a sponsor in the U.S. and who pass a background check to enter the country for two years to live and work lawfully.

Ainsworth’s claim that HIV rates are “soaring” in Alabama since the implementation of CHNV is simply untrue. According to quarterly HIV data from the Alabama Department of Health, there has been no substantial increase in new cases over the last several years. The most recent available data for the second quarter of 2024 (January-June) shows 245 newly diagnosed cases of HIV in Alabama. In Black communities, especially in the South, HIV remains a health crisis with high levels of poverty, HIV-related stigma, and STI’s contributing to the ongoing epidemic. In 2021, Black/African American individuals aged 13 and older represented approximately 12% of the U.S. population, but accounted for 40% of people with HIV, according to the CDC. Hispanic Americans accounted for almost 30% of all HIV acquisitions in 2019.

While Ainsworth is elevating a false narrative about immigrants and HIV acquisition in Alabama, his comments reflect a rising anti-immigrant sentiment in Alabama, most recently in Sylacauga, where a City Council meeting was reportedly adjourned after only 20 minutes when speakers angrily demanded to know details of a proposed housing development rumored to be used by Haitian immigrants.

Statement from Alabama Latino Access Center Latinx Program Coordinator Jean Hernandez:
“Inaccurate information fosters stigma around HIV, breeds mistrust, and exacerbates health disparities, further entrenching discrimination against immigrants and those living with HIV. To view immigrants as a drain on resources is to overlook their substantial contributions and the mutual benefits they bring. Focusing on immigrants not only oversimplifies the issue but also overlooks their many invaluable contributions to our communities – enriching the state’s culture and economy as both workers and entrepreneurs and generating millions in business and tax revenue. Embracing their role in our society not only strengthens our economy but also enriches our collective experience as Alabamians.”

Statement from GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis (she/her):
“Ainsworth has a responsibility as Lt. Governor of Alabama to serve all Alabamians and to recognize that each person in his state, regardless of their HIV or immigration status, deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. Ainsworth and other elected officials, at a minimum, should be expected to lead with facts, especially when the lives of people of color and people living with HIV, two of the most marginalized groups in his state, are further stigmatized and increasingly subjected to harm because state officials are following national leaders by choosing to traffic in misinformation and conspiracy theories instead of the truth. HIV is preventable and treatable to the point of undetectable and, therefore, untransmittable (U=U), and people living with HIV can live long and healthy lives. It would serve Ainsworth and his colleagues well to work toward becoming a solution to ending HIV instead of spreading false information that exacerbates the struggle to end the HIV epidemic.”

On September 12, 2024, GLAAD released the 5th Annual State of HIV Stigma Report—the only report of its kind to track Americans’ knowledge, attitudes, and sentiments about HIV and HIV stigma.

Key Findings:

• There has been a significant reduction in the belief that stigma around HIV still exists over five years, from 89% in 2020 to 85% in 2024
• Knowledge of HIV remains stable with nearly 90% of Americans reporting they know at least a little about HIV, with half of Americans feeling knowledgeable.
• Gen Z continues to be among the least knowledgeable generations about HIV. Only 37% of Gen Z adults are knowledgeable about HIV, on par with five years ago.
• The following areas have seen declines over the last five years of tracking:
  • A significant decrease in the belief that everyone should get tested for HIV, from 77% in 2020 to 67% in 2024. This decline is seen across all regions of the country.
  • A significant decrease in the belief that people living with HIV can live long, healthy lives, from 90% in 2020 to 85% in 2024.
• Visibility in the media of people living with HIV is lacking. GLAAD’s Where We Are on TV study showed only one LGBTQ character in primetime scripted broadcast, cable, or streaming programming living with HIV in the most recent television season. The character is not expected to return.
• Fewer Americans report seeing people living with HIV in TV or film, from 39% in 2023 to 35% in 2024.
• Seeing stories of people living with HIV increases comfortability with people living with HIV in various scenarios in life by up to +15%.

About AIDS Alabama:
Since 1986, AIDS Alabama has provided HIV prevention education to the healthcare community. Directly managing over 100 units of affordable housing across the state, we are dedicated to helping residents stay healthy. Through our health and wellness programs, we provide culturally sensitive, LGBTQ-friendly services.