Madonna has condemned Donald Trump and his administration’s decision to not acknowledge World Aids Day on December 1st.
In a post to Instagram, the pop star wrote, “Today is World AIDS Day. For four decades, this day has been internationally recognized around the world by people from all walks of life, because millions of people’s lives have been touched by the HIV crisis. People have lost lovers and husbands and wives and girlfriends and boyfriends and mothers and daughters and children to this deadly disease, of which there is still no cure.”
“Donald Trump has announced that World AIDS Day should no longer be acknowledged,” Madonna continued. “It’s one thing to order federal agents to refrain from commemorating this day, but to ask the general public to pretend it never happened is ridiculous, it’s absurd, it’s unthinkable. I bet he’s never watched his best friend die of AIDS, held their hand, and watched the blood drain from their face as they took their last breath at the age of 23.”
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“The list of people that I have known and loved and lost to AIDS is pretty long. I’m sure many of you out there can relate. Let me say it one more time—there still isn’t a cure for AIDS, and people still die from it. I refuse to acknowledge that these people have died in vain. And I will continue to honor World AIDS Day, and I hope you will honor it with me. ”
According to the New York Times, the United States had marked December 1st as World AIDS Day since 1988. However, this year the State Department directed employees not to use federal funds to commemorate the day, and to “refrain from publicly promoting World AIDS Day through any communication channels, including social media, media engagements, speeches or other public-facing messaging.”
A State Department spokesperson defended the decision to the New York Times, explaining that, “An awareness day is not a strategy. Under the leadership of President Trump, the State Department is working directly with foreign governments to save lives and increase their responsibility and burden sharing.”
However, the White House previously issued proclamations this year for World Autism Awareness Day, National Manufacturing Day and World Intellectual Property Day. All the while, the administration has frozen foreign aid to many public health programs dedicated to fighting H.I.V.