HIV/AIDS Recommendations for the Obama Administration, The Center for HIV Law & Policy et al. (2009)

These documents set forth recommendations for the incoming Obama administration to address the domestic HIV epidemic. They were drafted by CHLP and other national, state and local organizations representing persons affected by HIV/AIDS. The documents prioritize steps that the administration should take to ensure better delivery of services to those living with HIV/AIDS, enhance prevention efforts, and help reduce stigma and discrimination against those living with HIV/AIDS.

The documents identify issues that should be the Obama administration's focus, as well as specific actions the administration can take to best address those issues. For example, to address federal agencies' discrimination against employees and prospective employees living with HIV, advocates ask that the administration issue an Executive Order reflecting the Rehabilitation Act's requirements by barring agencies from using HIV infection as a basis for a categorical exclusion of applicants, candidates, or employees from any position or training programs. The documents also recommend that the administration direct the Department of Justice to address states' unwarranted exclusion of people with HIV from occupational training schools and licensing by issuing official guidance and a directive letter to state attorneys general and state agency heads, clarifying that such exclusion violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act.

Also included, in addition to an analysis of critical civil rights issues for people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States, are a framework for developing an effective national AIDS strategy in the United States: recommendations for the Administration's first 100 days in office, a proposed strategy for addressing HIV among women in the United States, policy recommendations from the ADAP Coalition and National Black Gay Men's Advocacy Coalition, guiding principles for LGBT inclusion in healthcare reform, an outline of employment and vocational rehabilitation issues for people with HIV/AIDS, and a call to advance reproductive rights and health.