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Dr. Fauci expresses concern about the extreme right’s anti-LGBTQ+ movement

“It's reverting back to the way it was 40 years ago," Fauci said in a recent interview

Senior Culture Editor

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Dr. Anthony Fauci (Al Drago - Pool/Getty Images)
Dr. Anthony Fauci (Al Drago - Pool/Getty Images)

On World AIDS Day, a recent interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci is circulating, in which he expresses concern about homophobic lawmakers turning back the clock when it comes to fair and equal treatment of the LGBTQ+ community, calling the extreme right's antigay attitude as bad as he's ever seen.

“It's reverting back to the way it was 40 years ago, which is terrible. We certainly have got to do something about that and push back against that," Fauci says, with Advocate pointing out that Republicans in Congress are working to strip funding for AIDS research and housing, and holding back reauthorization, after 20 years, of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), George W. Bush and Fauci's signature program.

Encouraging the gay community to organize their efforts to protect their rights, much like they did in the 80s, Fauci added, "We also need to tap experienced activists that are still around and are close friends of mine like Peter Staley, Mark Harrington, and Gregg Gonsalves. We've got to be very, very, very aggressive in pushing back on this nonsense.”

By Kelly McClure

Kelly McClure is Salon's Senior Culture Editor, where she helps further coverage of TV, film, music, books and culture trends from a unique and thoughtful angle. Her work has also appeared in Vulture, Vanity Fair, Vice and many other outlets that don't start with the letter V. She is the author of one sad book called "Something Is Always Happening Somewhere." Follow her on Bluesky: @WolfieVibes

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