The Voting Resource will help LGBTQA voters compare and contrast candidates
BOSTON―With less than a month left before Election Day, Harlem United and Fenway Health have launched a campaign to educate voters about where the presidential candidates and the political parties stand on six key health equity issues: LGBT equality; HIV/AIDS; healthcare ; substance use; mental health; and housing. Past and current positions on health equity issues were compiled from official campaign statements, party platforms, interviews and articles, and records as public servants or public figures. The campaign consists of social media, a website, and an in-depth report on the candidates and party platforms.
“There are some striking―and surprising―differences among the four candidates for president on LGBT equality, HIV, and health equity issues,” said Sean Cahill, Ph.D., Director of Health Policy at The Fenway Institute of Fenway Health. “We encourage voters to consider candidates’ positions on housing policy, health policy, and other critical issues.”
“With the election less than a month away, debate needs to move beyond emails and beauty queens to life and death issues like housing, health care, mental health, substance use, and basic legal and social equality,” said Jacquelyn Kilmer, Esq., CEO of Harlem United. “This new report and online resource will help ensure that voters will consider these issues that matter when casting their vote.”
Voters can visit HarlemUnited.org/vote to find detailed information on the record and positions of Donald Trump and the Republican Party Platform; the record and positions of Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party Platform; the record and positions of Jill Stein and the Green Party Platform; and the record and positions of Gary Johnson and the Libertarian Party Platform. The report also describes the records of the GOP and Democratic Vice Presidential candidates on these issues.
Shareable social media graphics with information about the candidates’ campaign platforms on these issues can be downloaded from the site. Fenway Health and Harlem United are encouraging voters to use the hashtag #AskAbout when they share the graphics to encourage candidates to address these issues in upcoming debates on Sunday, October 9 and Wednesday, October 18. The detailed 40-page report, The 2016 Presidential Candidates On Important Health Equity Issues, is available for download in PDF form.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 8.
Since 1971, Fenway Health has been working to make life healthier for the people in our neighborhood, the LGBT community, people living with HIV/AIDS and the broader population. The Fenway Institute at Fenway Health is an interdisciplinary center for research, training, education and policy development focusing on national and international health issues. Fenway’s Sidney Borum Jr. Health Center cares for youth and young adults ages 12 to 29 who may not feel comfortable going anywhere else, including those who are LGBT or just figuring things out; homeless; struggling with substance use; or living with HIV/AIDS. In 2013, AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts joined the Fenway Health family, allowing both organizations to improve delivery of care and services across the state and beyond.
Founded in 1988, Harlem United is a nationally recognized human services organization that provides full access to integrated health care and social services for individuals experiencing multiple and complex issues, including HIV and AIDS, social stigma, mental illness, chronic substance and alcohol use, homelessness, and extreme poverty — regardless of race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, or gender identity and expression.
[From a News Release]
