LGBT Center Calls State Funding Rollback a ‘Betrayal’ of Queer and Trans Communities
LGBTQ+ advocates are sharply criticizing Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration following the abrupt elimination of over $17 million in dedicated health equity funding for LGBTQ+ women, transgender men, and non-binary individuals, a move they say threatens access to vital care for some of California’s most underserved communities.
Joe Hollendoner, CEO of the Los Angeles LGBT Center, issued a strong statement denouncing the decision, calling it “a betrayal of queer and trans Californians.”
He added, “We call on the Governor and the State legislature to reverse this harmful decision by honoring the promise made by the legislature in 2019 and renewing this critical funding for next year.”
The cuts affect the LGBTQ Health Equity Fund, a state initiative established in 2019 to address long-documented health disparities in this population. According to Hollendoner, the California Department of Public Health convened an emergency meeting with grant recipients on May 10, informing them that all contracts would be terminated six months early, and that the Office of Health Equity, a division created to serve marginalized gender identities, would be shuttered entirely.
The result, advocates say, will be the discontinuation of services by June 30, leaving patients without access to care designed specifically to meet their needs.
“This is not a simple budget correction,” said Hollendoner. “It is a moral failure that strips life-affirming care from communities already burdened by systemic neglect.”
The Los Angeles LGBT Center had received $1.9 million in 2022 from the fund, in partnership with five organizations, to expand its Audre Lorde Health Program, which provides trauma-informed, gender-inclusive care to LGBTQ individuals. The program has since grown in staffing and services, and has helped rebuild trust among communities often excluded from traditional healthcare.
Hollendoner warned that eliminating this funding would not only halt that progress but also unravel relationships painstakingly rebuilt after years of medical mistrust and marginalization.
The governor’s proposed budget cuts also include a pause in enrollment for undocumented adults in state-funded healthcare programs—another blow to communities navigating intersecting barriers such as racism, transphobia, xenophobia, and poverty.
“Balancing the budget on the backs of vulnerable queer communities is indefensible,” Hollendoner said. “In cutting this funding, Governor Newsom has chosen to sacrifice the health and dignity of those already navigating intersecting barriers of misogyny, racism, transphobia, and xenophobia—including undocumented LGBTQ+ people. These cuts, along with the pausing of enrollment for adult undocumented Californians, are a clear attack on our healthcare system and the people who depend on it.”
“We will not go back,” Hollendoner said.
