Impact of Federal Funding Cuts on Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Support Organizations During Pride Month

CHICAGO (WLS) — Federal funding cuts have affected hundreds of programs across the country.

This Pride Month, the ABC7 I-Team is finding out how those cuts are hurting members of the local LGBTQ+ community.

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June is celebrated as Pride month, but local LGBTQ+ leaders express concern over recent federal funding cuts. These reductions pose financial challenges for community organizations that provide essential support services, such as food, medicine, and other healthcare to those in need.

“As a Black trans woman, it will be affecting me,” Brave Space Alliance client Grace Emery said.

Emery, who lives in the South Shore area, depends on the assistance from the Brave Space Alliance. This organization located in Hyde Park is dedicated to supporting transgender individuals and others within the LGBTQ+ community.

“I just go there for, like, food, clothing, HIV testing and stuff like that,” Emery said.

However, it is one of several LGBTQ+ organizations that the I-Team found is struggling with recent federal funding cuts.

“Our funding for HIV initiatives is particularly affected, along with our STI treatment and prevention efforts,” stated Channyn Lynne Parker, CEO of Brave Space Alliance. “We fear this might just be the beginning of the cuts.”

Parker estimates that her organization has lost more than $500,000 since President Donald Trump took office for his second term, even in the blue state of Illinois.

“The state’s money comes from the feds,” Parker said. “So ultimately, even if it may appear that you’re not receiving federal dollars, you in fact are receiving federal dollars.”

The I-Team found that so far this year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has canceled 24 grants for Illinois institutions related to LGBTQ+ issues such as mental health, HIV and STI prevention, alcohol use and drug use. The grants originally totaled nearly $71.5 million, and now $16.4 million will go unpaid.

“We have clients call me and say, ‘Am I going to lose my housing? Am I not going to have access to get my medication that I need for my health?’” Life is Work program director Maria’h Foster said. “So this is just not something that is just only financial. It is impacting the livelihood of people, the lives of people. And people without these resources could die.”

Foster’s organization in the Austin neighborhood offers housing resources, HIV testing, food and clothing. The group said more than $500,000 in federal money has been yanked from them so far this year.

“I worry about advocacy work that we’re doing. We worry about direct service,” Foster said. “Those STD tests, linking people to care, linking people to prep, linking people to vaccines… getting access to food for our food pantry.”

It’s a similar story at the Onyx Health Collective, which recently opened its doors. The clinic provides health services for anyone, including the LGBTQ+ community.

“A lot of the community-based organizations have had a hard hit,” said Dr. Maya Green, co-founder and Chief Health and Equity Officer of Onyx Health Collective. “We have patients that are nervous. They don’t want to come in. They want… to check and see if we’ll still see them. Because even though we stayed, we’ll see them regardless. They’re feeling the impact of ostracism.”

Pedro Alonso Serrano is a senior project manager at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, and he directs the Chicago Queer Latine Collaborative.

“It’s a gut punch we weren’t expecting,” Serrano said.

He said federal HIV prevention research study grants were terminated early from both organizations, which led to a loss of a total of $10 million.

“We’ve lost these possible new future medicines that are no longer going to be investigated and, you know, brought to market,” Serrano said.

Green said health care costs could skyrocket when people turn to the ER for conditions which could have been prevented.

“We’re supposedly to be going forward, but it seems like we’re going backwards,” Emery said.

The I-Team reached out to The White House. The Trump administration said it “is committed to realigning federal spending to match the priorities of the American people.”

A White House spokesperson added that Critical HIV and AIDS work will continue at the Health and Human Services’ newly-created agency, “Administration for a Healthy America.”

None of the organizations in this story are turning people away. They serve anyone in need, not just the LGBTQ+ community. Many are now trying to get more private donations.

Track all terminated HHS grants here.

A federal judge in Massachusetts ruled last week that directives from the Trump administration that led to the cancellations of several research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) were “void” and “illegal.”

The judge said those cancellations on grants related to LGBTQ+ issues were a violation of law.

READ MORE | Judge rules some NIH grant cuts illegal, saying he’s never seen such discrimination in 40 years

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