GPUS Platform Excerpts

The Platform of the GPUS is the party's living commitment to our core values as expressed in the Four Pillars and Ten Key Values. The excerpts below from GPUS Platform are directly relevant to the membership of the Caucus, and were all updated and approved by the membership of the NLGC and the Green Party National Committee (governing body of the GPUS) in 2018. They represent the national Green Party's strong and unwavering commitment to LGBTQIA+ rights and protections, which extend back to the founding of the national party. The second paragraph (in italics) of the preamble to the "Civil Rights and Equal Rights" section of our platform was also updated in 2018 via an amendment sponsored by the National Lavender Greens Caucus. It affirms our Caucus' support for an intersectional approach to civil and human rights. The leadership of the NLGC regularly reviews the Platform for updates relevant to our caucus, and welcomes the participation of our membership in that process.

A. Civil Rights and Equal Rights

The foundation of any democratic society is the guarantee that each member of society has equal rights. Respect for our constitutionally protected rights is our best defense against discrimination and the abuse of power. Also, we recognize an intimate connection between our rights as individuals and our responsibilities to our neighbors and the planet. The Green Party shall strive to secure universal and effective recognition and observance of the principles and spirit expressed in the United National Universal Declaration of Human Rights as an international standard that all nations must meet.

One of our key values is respect for diversity. We are committed to establishing relationships that honor diversity; that support the self-definition and self-determination of all people; that consciously confront the barriers of racism, sexism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, class oppression, ageism, and ableism, and the many ways that our culture and laws separate us from working together. We support affirmative action to remedy discrimination, to protect constitutional rights, and to provide equal opportunity under the law.

Chapter II, Social Justice Section F. Health Care Sub-section 2:

2. AIDS / HIV

The Green Party calls for comprehensive, humane, and competent care of all people with HIV/AIDS.

The AIDS epidemic has not had adequate public health management at all government levels. Drug corporations have a strong profit motive to encourage for medical management of those with HIV by using medication that keeps the virus from being detected in the blood. This means there are guaranteed sales of very expensive drugs. Rather than invest in research for a cure like they have done with Hepatitis C, the drug companies invest in drugs that manage a chronic illness. The Green Party believes that this failure to invest in research for a cure is because mainstream society has the belief that contracting HIV is self-inflicted by "sinful" or "illegal" behavior. The largest groups with HIV/AIDS in the USA are men who have sex with men, including gay, bisexual, and trans men, and men of color, particularly of African and Latinx descent. Persons who share needles are the next largest group of persons with HIV/AIDS in the USA. While HIV drug treatment regimens have saved lives, some people suffer from debilitating side effects where quality of life is poor. There is also the economic side effect due to the high cost of these life-saving medications.

We recommend the following actions:

1. Increased public education in transmission prevention which includes funding for the purchase and distribution of condoms, gloves, dams, and needles & syringes.
   
   
2. Increased funding for age appropriate comprehensive sex education that includes use of barriers for prevention of fluid/blood transmission. We support students having easy access to condoms, gloves, and dams in schools.
   
   
3. Increased funding for research focusing on a cure in addition to chronic disease management.
   
   
4. Creation of a repository for the latest peer reviewed theories, studies, and findings, and to facilitate sharing among research laboratories, schools and universities, medical centers, and public health facilities that would be accessible for common good rather than kept proprietary for profit.
   
   
5. Funding for methods of peer education for sex workers and those who may share needles, and to supply them with condoms, dams, gloves, and needles & syringes.
   
   
6. Educating incarcerated individuals in HIV transmission prevention and supplying them with condoms, dams, and gloves. Additionally, remove barriers to access of medicines for incarcerated individuals with HIV/AIDS, and Hepatitis C.
   
   
7. Increased funding for educating the public about addiction and funding for treatment facilities for addicts, and for transitional housing to help with society re-entry.
   
   
8. Education and funding for addiction harm reduction practices, including available needle exchange programs for those individuals with substance use problems who are not yet ready to enter treatment programs.
   
   
9. Immediate increases in funding for programs that ensure all individuals with HIV/AIDS who want housing or treatment are able to obtain such promptly. No individuals with HIV should ever spend a single night on the streets or be turned away from treatment due to their economic status. We advocate for creating daily HIV medication distribution centers for individuals who are unable to manage the complex daily medication regimen without assistance.
   
   
10. Increased funding for free, anonymous testing of people for the presence of HIV/AIDS. No mandated testing.
    
    
11. Full funding to ensure broad access to Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) programs, which have been proven by researchers to minimize transmission of HIV and reduce public health costs by preventing the need for expensive, lifelong HIV treatment regimens. The Green Party calls for our governments to make every effort to negotiate fair and reasonable prices for associated drugs, rather than allowing manufacturers to extract excessive profits from these life-saving medications.
    
    
12. Funding for outreach and treatment to address the particular circumstances and specific needs of the various communities affected by HIV/AIDS.
    
    
13. More research into better methods of prevention of HIV infection. While we support condom use, better condoms are also required. We support more vaccine research as well as research on prevention methods such as microbicides. People must be provided the means and support to protect themselves from all sexually transmitted and blood & body fluid borne diseases.
    
    
14. A repeal of all HIV criminalization laws and policies and release all prisoners imprisoned solely due to HIV status.
    
    
15. Restore full federal health funding for persons living with HIV.

Chapter II Social Justice, Section A. Civil Rights and Equal Rights 5. Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

5. Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

In keeping with the Green Key Values of diversity, social justice and feminism, we support full legal and political equality for all persons regardless of sex, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity, characteristics, and expression.

1. The Green Party affirms the rights of all individuals to freely choose intimate partners, regardless of their sex, gender, or gender identity.
   
   
2. The Green Party recognizes the full civil rights of sexual and gender minorities. The existing civil rights act prohibits discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, and disability. We will work to add sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression to the existing civil rights act.
   
   
3. The Green Party will be inclusive of language in local, state and federal anti- discrimination law that ensures the rights of intersex individuals and prohibits discrimination based on gender identity, characteristics, and expression as well as on sex, gender, or sexual orientation. We are opposed to non-consenting intersex genital surgery.
   
   
4. The Green Party affirms the right of all persons to self-determination with regard to gender identity and sex. We affirm the right of choosing non-binary and gender fluid identification. We therefore support the right of individuals to be free from coercion and involuntary assignment of gender or sex.
   
   
5. We will pursue legislation where offenders must pay compensation to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual (LGBTQIA) people who have suffered violence and injustice.
   
   
6. The Green Party will end all Federal military aid to national governments whose laws result in the death, other harm, or imprisonment of its citizens and residents who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual (LGBTQIA).
   
   
7. The Green Party will enact a policy that the U. S. Government recognize all same sex marriages or legal equivalents such as civil unions, in processing visitor and immigration visas.
   
   
8. The Green Party would end security surveillance and covert infiltration of organizations that promote rights for sexual and gender minorities.