Demonstration today August 11 evening in downtown Los Angeles to protest HIV/AIDS programs cuts

Today evening in downtown Los Angeles, Aids Project Los Angeles (APLA) will held a protest Governor Schwarzenegger’s devastating cuts to California’s HIV/AIDS prevention and care programs.

In late July, the governor stripped more than $80 million from the state’s HIV/AIDS funding, virtually eliminating state general fund support for all HIV/AIDS programs. These cuts are the deepest that California’s HIV/AIDS programs have ever taken, and they will decimate vital services that provide care and treatment, as well as those that prevent new infections.

The CDC now estimates that more than 56,000 new HIV infections occur every year in the U.S. -- one every nine minutes. People of color and gay men continue to be disproportionately impacted. Now more than ever, we cannot afford this kind of retreat in our fight against AIDS.

That’s why APLA urge you to join them for this important demonstration today August 11, 2009 evening in downtown Los Angeles to protest the cuts. The event begins at Pershing Square, where participants will gather at 7:00 p.m. Following is a march to the Ronald Reagan State Office Building for a brief program and candelight vigil. Be sure to wear a red shirt and bring candles or flashlights.

Please encourage friends, family and colleagues to join us -- it's important that people gather the largest possible crowd to publicly condemn these cuts!

When:
Tuesday, August 11, 2009 from 7:00 p.m. (Rally) 7:30 p.m.

(March) 8:00 p.m. (Press Conference)

Where:
Rally: Pershing Square (532 South Olive Street) March: To Reagan State Office Building (300 South Spring Street)

Self-pay parking is available under Pershing Square or, you can take the Metro Red Line to the Pershing Square station.

About APLA:

AIDS Project Los Angeles is dedicated to: improving the lives of people affected by HIV disease; reducing the incidence of HIV infection; and advocating for fair and effective HIV-related public policy.

HIV/AIDS cuts A decade lost‏

LETTER FROM: Craig E. Thompson Executive Director of AIDS Project Los Angeles

It’s like we’re back in the terrible 1990s. That’s just how far back we’ll be in the fight against HIV/AIDS due to Governor Schwarzenegger’s staggering state budget cuts.

The new state budget strips $85 million from California’s HIV/AIDS programs.

These are life-saving programs that provide HIV prevention, counseling, food assistance, home healthcare and more. Here at AIDS Project Los Angeles, we know firsthand what this blow will mean to our 9,600 clients — and to the 60,000 men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS in the county.

Please stand with me to ensure that we can continue to provide vital services to those in need.

Los Angeles County has the second largest AIDS epidemic in the country. For more than 25 years, APLA has been here to assist those in need and to prevent new cases of the disease. Now, as the financial crisis forces more and more people to seek our services, we’re faced with a near-insurmountable loss in state funding.

A small gift, anything that you can afford, will help.

We’re facing a public health disaster. As the state cuts funding for prevention efforts, it will pay dearly for new and needlessly infected Californians entering the system. And as our resources are stretched further, we’ll be unable to assist all those in need in LA County.

We’re not standing for it. And I hope you won’t either. APLA is:

Mobilizing citizen activists to demand that the California legislature go back and find viable solutions to this crisis, and

Reaching out to all of our friends and supporters and requesting a contribution to support our work.

Please make a generous donation today to help ensure that the already vulnerable people in the community we serve don’t slip through the cracks.

For more information visit website at http://www.apla.org/