Statement: Los Angeles LGBT Center Sounds Alarm on RFK’s Secretary of Health & Human Services Appointment, Citing Dire Threat to LGBTQ+ Health
LOS ANGELES, CA, FEBRUARY 13, 2025– Following today’s U.S. Senate confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as President Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary, the Los Angeles LGBT Center CEO Joe Hollendoner issued the following statement:
“The confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health Secretary is nothing short of a catastrophe for our country’s public health system—inclusive of the FDA, CDC, and HRSA. This appointment elevates dangerous, anti-science extremism to the highest levels of government and puts millions of lives at risk, including those of the LGBTQ+ community members we serve at the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
Our clients rely on life-saving medications like vaccinations, PrEP to prevent HIV, hormone therapy for the TGNBI+ community, and critical treatments for chronic conditions. Undermining trust in medical advancements and proven research, as Kennedy has consistently done, isn’t just irresponsible—it’s malfeasance and deadly.
For more than 50 years, the Los Angeles LGBT Center has fought for health equity for the LGBTQ+ community. We refuse to stand by while political appointees peddle misinformation, dismantle vital healthcare systems, and gamble with people’s lives to push a dangerous agenda.
Our clients, patients, and the broader LGBTQ+ community can rest assured that the Center will continue to fight for policies and funding that protect public health, so that our communities have access to the compassionate, evidence-based care they deserve.”
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About the Los Angeles LGBT Center
Since 1969 the Los Angeles LGBT Center has cared for, championed, and celebrated LGBT individuals and families in Los Angeles and beyond. Today the Center’s nearly 800 employees provide services for more LGBT people than any other organization in the world, offering programs, services, and global advocacy that span four broad categories: Health, Social Services and Housing, Culture and Education, Leadership and Advocacy. We are an unstoppable force in the fight against bigotry and the struggle to build a better world; a world in which LGBT people thrive as healthy, equal, and complete members of society. Learn more at lalgbtcenter.org