02/26/2009
Obama Names Gay Man to Head Office of National AIDS Policy
President Obama announced today that Jeffrey S. Crowley, MPH, Senior Research Scholar at Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute, is the new Director of Office of National AIDS Policy, according to a White House announcement received by Towleroad.
Crowley is gay. According to the Victory Fund, "The LGBT community’s Presidential Appointments Project recommended Crowley for the appointment."
Said Obama: “Jeffrey Crowley brings the experience and expertise that will help our nation address the ongoing HIV/AIDS crisis and help my administration develop policies that will serve Americans with disabilities. In both of these key areas, we continue to face serious challenges and we must take bold steps to meet them. I look forward to Jeffrey’s leadership on these critical issues.”
According to the statement: "The Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) is the White House Office tasked with coordinating the continuing efforts of the government to reduce the number of HIV infections across the United States. The office emphasizes prevention through wide-ranging education initiatives and also helps to coordinate the care and treatment of citizens with HIV/AIDS. The President has made a strong commitment to developing a national AIDS strategy, which will be a top priority for the Office of National AIDS Policy. In addition, ONAP coordinates with international bodies to ensure that the fight against HIV/AIDS is fully integrated around the world. The ONAP is part of the Executive Office of the President’s Domestic Policy Council (DPC)"
In related news, Peter Staley at POZ reported that "tucked away in the massive stimulus package signed by President Obama last week is the largest budget increase in the NIH's history" which will mean a nearly $1 billion increase in the current NIH AIDS research budget of $2.9 billion.
Crowley's bio, AFTER THE JUMP...
Jeffrey S. Crowley, M.P.H., is a Senior Research Scholar at Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute and a Senior Scholar at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University Law Center. In these roles, he is recognized and respected for his capacity to integrate public health research with political strategy to achieve policy changes. He has authored numerous reports and policy briefs, and has testified before various Congressional Committees and the Institute of Medicine on several occasions. His primary areas of expertise are Medicaid policy, including Medicaid prescription drug policies; Medicare policy; and consumer education and training.
Crowley previously served as the Deputy Executive Director for Programs at the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA). While at NAPWA, he helped implement several key initiatives including The National HIV Testing Day Campaign and the Ryan White National Youth Conference.
Crowley has spent the last fourteen years working to improve access to health and social services for people living with HIV/AIDS, people with physical and mental disabilities, low-income individuals, and other vulnerable populations. His writings have been printed in numerous publications and journals.
Crowley received his Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, and his Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from Kalamazoo College. He is also an alumnus of the United States Peace Corps, where he served as a Volunteer/High School Science Teacher at the Nsongweni High School in Swaziland.
Posted 10:47 AM EST by Andy Towle in AIDS/HIV, Barack Obama, Health, Jeffrey Crowley, News | Permalink
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Seriously? I know he was an appointment project recommendation and all, but is it really a good idea to give people who didn't already think so the opportunity to believe the gay men = AIDS falsity? The people who act out their hatred of people with AIDS are going to go bat shit insane with Crowley as director. I hope I'm overreacting and I'm wrong.
Posted by: K | Feb 26, 2009 12:56:54 PM
@K, so what? Those types of people are not going to suddenly drop their hatred if the ONAP director is straight. And Crowley is not just some token gay person - he seems eminently qualified for the job. Kudos to Obama for making another appointment based on merit and ability.
Posted by: RJ | Feb 26, 2009 1:11:26 PM
But no commerce secretary position. I wish that he could create a national bureau of teh gayz and appoint a token gay man to that instead of reverse dadt.
Posted by: TANK | Feb 26, 2009 2:23:20 PM
A Black woman (straight or Gay) would be a much more effective representative.
By putting a gay white guy in the spot it reinforces the lie that HIV?AIDS is a "Gay white thing."
In addition it just says the administration doesn't have the balls to appoint any gays to positions of prominence other than those that somehow are related to so called "gay issues".
Posted by: Derek Washington | Feb 26, 2009 2:39:15 PM
This is fabulous. Obama's three openly gay appointments -- one for HIV, one as the Administration's liaison to the arts & humanities, and one as Michelle's White House interior designer -- show that the President is breaking out of the mold on his understanding on areas of expertise for gay people and what roles we are capable of performing.
Posted by: She Ain't No Lady | Feb 26, 2009 5:48:21 PM
I totally agree with you RJ.
Frankly, some of these comments are completely ridiculous.
Posted by: sam | Feb 26, 2009 6:08:39 PM
RJ and Sam, I know, I know, you're right. I *certainly* didn't mean to imply that it was a "token" appointment, sorry if it came across that way. There *is* concensus that HIV/AIDS is a global/cross cultural/non race-specific/across socio-economic lines, etc., etc., crisis, so I know there are some opportunities there. It just...grrr...I know these things take time but it's hard to keep everything in perspective.
Posted by: K | Feb 26, 2009 6:58:29 PM
Don't agree with RJ and Same. They're apologists for the status quo. This was a token appointment to shut the queers up. What would have mattered would have been the commerce secretary appointment which was ignored after intense lobbying by lgbt lobbying groups. This is nothing.
Posted by: TANK | Feb 26, 2009 7:11:29 PM
While I certainly feel our collective frustration and struggle to be acknowledged as complete equals on national and federal levels, I don't want those negative feelings to cloud something very positive. Obama has choosen an experienced, intelligent, and broad thinker to lead this vitally important program. His being gay only means that he more likely has directly and personally felt depth of this illness. Lets give him a chance and support our own brothers and sisters in this fight. Obama deserves our support on this one.
Posted by: Pete | Feb 27, 2009 12:42:24 AM
It's a very positive thing, indeed.
Posted by: TANK | Feb 27, 2009 1:10:44 AM
The person who was previously in this position was also a white gay man. How come the new appointment couldn't be a black gay man? Why are black gay men ALWAYS invisible?
Posted by: elg | Feb 27, 2009 2:47:05 AM
There are no black gay men, other than on Noah's Arc.
They're all on the Down Low, because all their straight friends are voting for proposition 8.
They will have to get out of the closet first before they can get appointed as gay men.
Posted by: DaddyPro | Feb 27, 2009 12:42:20 PM
DADDYPRO
Please, tell me that was said "tongue in cheek"?
Never mind, I'm sure it was.
Right?
Posted by: Derek Washington | Feb 28, 2009 5:39:01 PM