Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC)

Since its founding, GMHC has collaborated with other influential LGBT activist groups such as Lambda Legal and secured endorsements from former New York state governors Mario and Andrew Cuomo, as well as former New York City mayor Ed Koch. ³ In addition, the group has received taxpayer-funded federal grants, primarily from the Department of Health and Human Services. ⁴ GMHC has received endorsements and support from numerous top philanthropic, pharmaceutical, and media institutions, including the Bloomberg Family Foundation, the Gilead and Pfizer pharmaceutical corporations, and the film production company Paramount. ⁵

GMHC has pushed for federal health authorities to remove restrictions on blood donation by gay men, who have significantly higher rates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. ⁶ The group has also opposed efforts to discourage promiscuous behavior as a means of preventing the spread of mpox (formerly monkeypox), another illness that can be transmitted by sexual contact. ^{7 8}

History

When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) first issued a warning about HIV, a then-new virus appearing principally in gay men, in 1981, a group of activists met with prominent gay screenwriter Larry Kramer to organize a fundraising drive to combat the disease. The group formally established Gay Men’s Health Crisis the following year. Kramer’s own activism became increasingly belligerent throughout 1982 and 1983, as he started accusing the National Institutes of Health and the New York City municipal government for allegedly failing to devote sufficient resources to addressing the HIV and AIDS epidemic. At the same time, he criticized his fellow homosexual men for their apparent unwillingness to abstain from promiscuous behavior despite the high rates of infection within their population. ^{1 2}

GMHC took issue with his sentiments and eventually stopped inviting him to participate in activism. In response, Kramer resigned. He would later create his own group, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) which engaged in more public and disruptive activism than GMHC. This included a 1989 incident in which activists unlawfully entered the New York Stock Exchange building and chained themselves to a railing to protest a pharmaceutical company’s perceived monopoly on one of the first HIV treatments. That year, ACT UP also staged a protest at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City to protest the Catholic Church’s teachings opposing homosexual activity. ^{1 2}

Activities

Gay Men’s Health Crisis funds the development and distribution of HIV and AIDS treatments. It also provides financial support to patients. The group claims to have assisted more than 4,700 people, more than 90 percent of whom ended up receiving care thanks to its intervention. GMHC also credits its advocacy with having HIV status protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act. ⁹

Leadership

The board of Gay Men’s Health Crisis includes numerous top executives from the media, financial, and technology industries. This includes Tyler Helms, the executive vice president of the advertising agency Deutsch; Richard Companik, the vice president of strategic development at Berkshire Hathaway Home Services New England, New York, and Hudson Valley Properties; and Ed Fogarty, a senior vice president of the media giant Viacom. ¹⁰

Jonathan Mallow is the board chair of GMHC. He also manages media strategy for the TED Foundation. He previously worked as a senior advisor to Swing Left, a Democratic Party-aligned fundraising and voter mobilization political action committee which backs left-of-center candidates and trains liberal activists. He has also worked for Viacom, including as a senior vice president from July 2015 to September 2017. Mallow received a bachelor’s degree in literature from Yale University and a master’s degree in performance studies from New York University. Mallow has been recognized by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, an activist group pushing for the normalization of same-sex relationships and gender transition in popular media. ¹¹

Financials

In 2021, Gay Men’s Health Crisis received more than $19 million in contributions and grants. ¹² One of the group’s most prominent supporters is the Carnegie Corporation of New York, a leading left-of-center grantmaking organization. ¹³ GMHC also receives taxpayer funding from the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In 2020, the group received a total of more than $7.7 million worth of federal grants. ⁴