On Aug. 19 Equality Illinois, Pride Action Tank and AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC) co-hosted a virtual Congressional Forum.
The 9th annual event was hosted by AFC Vice President of Special Projects and Innovation and Pride Action Tank Executive Director Kim Hunt.
Hunt welcomed the approximately 100 people in attendance and noted about various concerns that participants expressed during the registration process. Among those concerns were health care access and affordability, HIV/AIDS funding, LGBTQ+-rights and the preservation of democracy.
Will County Health Public Health Promotion Specialist Kendra Smith Coleman, Peoria Proud Board Member and Vice President of Business Rinley Fuller, Trans Up Front IL parent and advocate Bob Skrezyna and Howard Brown Health CEO Travis Gayles, MD, told impact stories about the ways in which the Trump administration and congressional Republicans are negatively impacting their lives and/or the work that they do.
Coleman spoke about the geographic and systemic barrier challenges that Will County faces, such as “limited access to essential services for our HIV positive and at-risk populations.” She emphasized that most of their HIV-related work is at risk thanks to proposed federal funding cuts, which may lead to increased HIV transmissions in the county.
Fuller spoke about the shame he felt for years as a trans person but added he is now proud because it “has given me power, strength and resilience.” He added that Medicaid has been a lifeline for him for many years including making top surgery available to him in December 2024. Fuller said that living with gender dysphoria “isn’t just a discomfort. It’s an unrelenting mental and emotional pain that can make even basic daily life feel unbearable. Left unaddressed it can lead to depression, anxiety and hopelessness. Addressing dysphoria through-gender affirming care isn’t optional. It’s critical for survival.”
Skrezyna spoke about his trans daughter’s journey that began when she was eight years old and she started “using different pronouns and experimenting with new names.” A few years later, they sought out a therapist and consults with the team at Lurie Children’s Hospital Chicago. He said his daughter was “ecstatic” for the world to finally see who she really is.
But since last November’s election of Donald Trump, Skrezyna has had panic attacks as he has tried to get answers from everyone about his now 15-year-old daughter’s future medical access. He said he’s tried to protect his daughter “from the plain truth. This current administration under Donald Trump would rather she was dead. Even in my sanctuary city, in my sanctuary state, she is no longer safe” due to hospitals in Chicago, including Lurie Children’s, “preemptively canceling all gender affirming care for minors. Literally trading the lives of trans people for money.”
Skrezyna added that his family has been subject to harassment and death threats as well. He called on elected officials to help them fight back against anti-trans forces in America.
“We stand on a precipice where, every day, we come into the office, having to be nimble and flexible, bobbing and weaving, depending upon what actions that the federal administration is taking,” said Gayles of Howard Brown’s current work. “We are taking the approach of controlling what we can control in terms of being able to continue to provide the services that we’ve historically provided and be excellent in in that care. But every day is a new challenge … in terms of having to navigate the decisions that are coming from the federal level that influence science, public health, research and clinical care.”
Illinois Congressional delegation forum participants included Reps. Robin Kelly (2nd District) and Delia Ramirez (3rd District), with AFC Policy and Advocacy Senior Manager Omar Martinez González serving as the moderator. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (8th District) provided opening remarks.
Krisnamoorthi said Democrats in Congress are doing whatever they can to “prevent irreversible damage to numerous programs that have helped LGBTQ+ people for years that are now either being paused, stopped or reversed.” Krisnamoorthi said he is trying to get the Stop Bullying Act passed to help LGBTQ+ youth.
Kelly noted that, due to people speaking out, PEPFAR funding was restored. When Democrats take back Congress, she added, she doesn’t want them to go back to the status quo—they have to make things better for everyone, including people who receive Medicaid health insurance, those on SNAP and protecting trans people from the violence they face.
Both Kelly and Ramirez said they take their responsibility as LGBTQ+ allies seriously and reaffirmed their commitment to defeating the anti-LGBTQ+ poison pills the GOP added to bills during the appropriations process.
Kelly said that she is taking advantage of her status on different committees to speak out against the attacks on trans people. She added that she signed onto a letter demanding that HHS not share private Medicaid data to ICE.
Ramirez said she is “leaning in” and listening to what the trans community wants her to do to fight back. She added, “Terror is the point” when ICE is targets communities and predicted that, “People are going to die” as a result of ICE’s tactics.
“Fascism always requires a public enemy,” Ramirez said. “Today it’s immigrants and tomorrow it is whomever [else] they deem undesirable.”
In a previously recorded video, Rep. Lauren Underwood (14th District) reiterated her full support for the LGBTQ+ community and those living with HIV. She also focused on Trump’s “Big, Ugly Bill” that will remove health care access for many people on Medicaid “which is the largest source of coverage for Americans living with HIV.” Underwood said that although the “fight is exhausting and it can be demoralizing” she is not giving up and “we’re going to get through this together … to do whatever it takes to win in this moment.”
Additional partners for the Aug. 20 event included Brave Space Alliance, Life is Work, Taskforce Prevention and Community Services and Human Rights Campaign Chicago.
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