In the First 100 Days,

By David J. Johns, Executive Director, National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC)

All of us have a right to thrive, including those of us who are Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer+/same-gender-loving (LGBTQ+/SGL) people. Thriving is about achieving and flourishing without systemic barriers — it’s about being happy, healthy, and whole. Unfortunately, in 2020 those of us fortunate enough to have made it have had to live in survival mode, and the challenges of the year have cast a spotlight on how many have been living that way for much longer. As the Biden/Harris administration looks to tackle both the immediate problems surfaced by the COVID-19 pandemic and the historic failures of the exiting administration, we urge them to make decisions grounded in equity and justice. In the midst of a global movement for Black lives, we encourage the adoption of intersectionality in all policies, to ensure that the unmet and unseen needs of overlooked communities are centered. A focus on the following priorities during the first 100 days of the Biden/Harris administration could save lives and would, truly, change the world.

It is astonishing to many who survived the height of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the late 80s that, in less than a year, governments and pharmaceutical companies have come together globally to finance and produce, not one, but multiple vaccines for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It has been more than 40 years since the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic – a virus that has killed over 35 million people worldwide and leaves another 38 million people dependent on often prohibitively expensive life-saving medication – but there is no evidence of a comparable multilateral investment in a vaccine or cure. Although there have been improvements in both preventive and life sustaining medicines, awareness of and access to such medication has been disproportionately out of reach for those who need it most – Black cisgender and transgender women and same-gender -loving men. What we see is that the same social and institutional disparities that make COVID-19 more deadly to our communities have been operating in this country for generations with implications for HIV/AIDS. The problem has gone on long enough.

There is also an intersection between COVID-19 and HIV. Scientists have raised the question of how vaccination for the first will impact susceptibility to or treatment for the second. People who are living with HIV/AIDS must receive information on vaccine side effects and must be prioritized in evaluation of each vaccine’s effectiveness and safety. Communities that are disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS must have access to information about any short- or long-term risks to their health that could be increased through COVID-19 vaccination.

The Trump administration undermined both research about HIV/AIDS and funding toward stigma reduction. Those efforts need to be recovered. Also, as the current crisis has shown us that it is possible to produce a vaccine for HIV, the Biden/Harris administration can be the one that oversees elimination of two life-threatening viruses.

When HIV first surfaced generations ago, the United States government refused to acknowledge it or intervene. That was explicitly tied to a sentiment that some lives simply did not matter, particularly Black and LGBTQ+/SGL lives. As efforts to advance reparations to the descendants of enslaved Africans unfold, they must include attention to those of us who were allowed to become sick and die due to federal indifference (and worse). They must attend to those of us who have survived, but remain tethered to a greedy and discriminatory healthcare system in order to do what each of us has a right to do – live.

Living well as a Black LGBTQ+/SGL person also means having access to the resources to participate fully in society. Amidst this global pandemic, we have seen that people need homes and in those homes, they need technology – computers and broadband – in order to live, work, and learn. Our nation’s failure to address its deep-seated social inequities has left Black LGBTQ+/SGL communities doubly disadvantaged, as the combination of identities compounds challenges to access and deepens opportunity gaps. Consider this:

• Among young people undertaking distance learning, nearly a third do not have reliable access to high-speed internet – something that is required for use of nearly anything on the internet. Challenges are worse for Black youth than white or Latinx youth.
• More than a third of these young people are attempting to use a mobile phone as a computer. Imagine trying to type a college application with your thumbs.
• Also, the loss of access to schools and recreational spaces has meant a loss of the only safe havens some Black LGBTQ+/SGL youth had. Identity acceptance is not available in some homes and this takes a profound physical and psychological toll. There are accepting and therapeutic communities online, but they’re of no use without the ability to get online.

Even in all virtual environments, children, youth, and young adults need access to culturally competent educators, therapists, and school counselors. The National Black Justice Coalition was proud to support the Ring The Alarm report, which spotlights increases in suicide among Black youth. The Trevor Project recently released data underscoring increases in mental health needs among Black LGBTQ+/SGL youth, whose suicidal ideation outstrips that of non-Black LGBTQ+/SGL youth. Schools and communities must be supported with guidance and investment so they can respond holistically to young people’s needs, including competent and responsive mental health support, no matter the environment.

We are dismayed that so many school districts have responded to student’s poor virtual academic performance – an issue to be expected considering our national and global challenges – by forcing them to put their own and their families’ lives at risk of COVID-19 exposure by attending school in person. The communities that are already disadvantaged by resource underinvestment and discrimination are the most susceptible to this educational abuse. Responsible districts have found ways to connect students to peer mentors, academic coaches, and counselors without increasing risk. The Biden/Harris administration must make it possible to stay safe first as the nation moves through the pandemic.

The Biden/Harris administration also has an opportunity to ensure Black LGBTQ+/SGL adults are not left out of policies designed to help all people in this country thrive economically. Historically, government funded jobs have provided marginalized and stigmatized communities pathways to the American Dream. The Biden/Harris administration can ensure community awareness of employment opportunities through targeted recruitment and commitment to anti-racist, non-biased hiring processes.

As the Biden/Harris administration moves to root out racial inequity in the federal government, it should begin by removing barriers to federal programs and services. Ensuring that justice is accessible to all Americans is paramount. The Biden/Harris Department of Justice must act in the face of police brutality toward and murder of civilians, hate crimes that disproportionately target Black and Black LGBTQ+/SGL community members (especially Black transgender women), identity-based profiling and harassment for being (or being perceived to be) Black or Muslim, the over-incarceration of Americans rather than rehabilitation and restorative justice, and the entire carceral trap that has been built in this country, including the facing of stiffer sentences due to stigma, bias, and prejudice.

Eliminating racial inequity means addressing the patchwork of civil rights laws in this country that, for far too long, have left out women and LGBTQ+/SGL people. Some of this will require executive action. Some will require legislative action, including passage of: the Equality Act, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, the BREATHE Act, the extension for the Equal Rights Amendment ratification, the act to study Reparations for Descendants of Enslaved Africans, and more.

We celebrate that the Biden/Harris administration has sought to make diverse appointments to date, and expect to see more appointments of Black LGBTQ+/SGL leaders—leaders who continue to spearhead shifts in policy and practice that strengthen both communities and the nation (see the Civil Rights Movement, see Black Lives Matter). Representation in all parts of our government is necessary, but has been woefully insufficient, especially over the last four years. Representation in government is not about checking identity boxes — it is about a true reflection of the diversity in the plurality of experiences throughout the country among the leaders responsible for shaping institutions and access to opportunity.

With this short list of First 100 Days priorities, it is our hope that the Biden/Harris administration will leverage organizations like The National Black Justice Coalition to advance this tough and critically important work so that we can heal and so that we can thrive as a nation.

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@NBJC.ORG