澳彩开奖

The only thing worse than a drive of that length? Not making the trip at all.

鈥淚 had an individual hit me up on Instagram for help 鈥� he鈥檚 positive,鈥� said Gerald Gibson of a man infected with H.I.V. 听

鈥淚 said, 鈥楥ome to the clinic. If you don鈥檛 have transportation, I鈥檒l send a car.鈥� He said, 鈥業t鈥檚 not that simple. My family thinks I can be healed religiously.鈥欌��

Gibson paused, then explained to Donald G. McNeil Jr. for The New York Times: 鈥淗e鈥檚 not on medication because they think they can pray the H.I.V. away.鈥�

Nationally, gay and bisexual black men , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 鈥� and more than half of all new H.I.V. infections each year .

That鈥檚 due to a lot of factors, including the region鈥檚 history.

鈥淧eople have heard of the ,鈥� Regi Stevenson told McNeil, recalling when the government intentionally withheld treatment from hundreds of syphilitic black Alabamians. 鈥淢y grandfather won鈥檛 go to a doctor until he鈥檚 almost dead.鈥�

Another reason the South is leading the country in H.I.V. infections is legal. In Mississippi, for example, .

鈥淧eople don鈥檛 even want to get tested because if they know their status, they鈥檙e responsible,鈥� Gibson told McNeil.

But perhaps the biggest reason is financial. Mississippi has . If they close, Mississippians could lose the few health care options they have.

Of course, many can鈥檛 access medical care at all. Mississippi has the seventh-highest uninsured rate in the country;. Wages in Mississippi are so low that many full-time workers qualify for Medicaid, but the state rejected the Medicaid expansion offered to states under the Affordable Care Act.

鈥淢edication has become the simple part of H.I.V.,鈥� Dr. Leandro A. Mena, the medical director of the clinic in Jackson, told McNeil. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 been missing is the political will.鈥�

We鈥檙e doing all we can to create that will. We听sued听to stop a Trump administration scheme in Kentucky and Arkansas to strip Medicaid coverage from tens of thousands of people.

The stakes in the South are high, and they鈥檙e even higher for LGBT Southerners. States should be trying to make access to health care easier, not harder.

We鈥檙e committed to making sure they do.

The Editors

P.S. Here are some other pieces we think are valuable this week:听

• by Elizabeth Lopatto for The Verge
• by Julie Turkewitz for The New York Times
• by Laura Thompson for Scalawag
• by Christina Goldbaum for The New York Times鈥�

澳彩开奖's Weekend Reads are a weekly summary of the most important reporting and commentary from around the country on civil rights, economic and racial inequity, and hate and extremism. Sign up to receive Weekend Reads every Saturday morning.