Let's Kick ASS-Palm Springs

07/07/2026

Your voice matters. Make it part of the public record by July 13.

The federal funding that supports HIV prevention, care, treatment, and community services is facing potential changes — and people living with HIV, HIV long-term survivors, and the organizations that support our communities have an opportunity to speak up.

The federal government is currently accepting public comments on a proposed rule that would change the federal grantmaking process. These decisions affect how resources reach the programs and organizations that serve our communities.

A public comment is your chance to tell the government why HIV services matter and how changes could affect you, the people you love, or organizations you care about.

You do not have to be a policy expert.

Your story matters.

You do not have to write a lot.

Share why access to HIV prevention, care, treatment, community support, and trusted organizations is important to you.

For HIV long-term survivors, we know these programs are about more than services. They are about connection, dignity, and ensuring that people who fought to survive have the support needed to age well.

Let’s Kick ASS Palm Springs has submitted a comment as an organization, and we encourage community members who wish to share their own experiences to consider submitting individual comments as well.

Comments are accepted through July 13.

Together, we can make sure the voices of people living and aging with HIV are heard. Thanks to AIDS United for spearheading this comment action.

https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/OMB-2026-0034-0001?emci=2ebc02c9-2376-f111-ac9c-000d3a14b6d6&emdi=706e011c-5c79-f111-ac9c-000d3a14b6d6&ceid=26520674

04/05/2026

Grateful for an unforgettable evening at the Glitz and Glam “Party for a Cause” hosted by the The Richmond/Ermet Aid Foundation - REAF.

Thank you to Joe Seiler and Ken Henderson for your leadership and continued commitment to our community. Your support of Let’s Kick ASS Palm Springs (AIDS Survivor Syndrome, “LKAPS”) and the Palm Springs AIDS Memorial truly matters.

It was a pleasure to meet the evening’s wonderfully glitzy and glamorous hosts, Camerone Parker, Steve Campbell, and Rock Hall. You brought both heart and energy to a meaningful cause.

Deep appreciation as well to our LKAPS volunteers who showed up, supported the event, and helped make the night a success.

Moments like this remind us why visibility matters. HIV long-term survivors and people aging with HIV cannot be erased. We are here, and we continue to show up for one another.

If you would like to support this work, please visit:
https://LKAPS.org/Donate

02/16/2026

As more than half of people living with HIV in the United States are now over 50, HIV is increasingly part of the national aging policy landscape.

On the "Healthy Desert, Healthy You" podcast of the Desert Healthcare District, Jax Kelly, LKAPS President, discussed what this demographic shift means for service systems across the country.

The conversation explored how HIV services historically attempted to replicate supports already housed within aging infrastructure:

“instead of reinventing them there … it just made more sense to work within the aging services world.”

For decades, HIV services and aging services evolved in parallel, often without meaningful coordination. As a result, older adults living with HIV can fall between systems that were never designed to address their needs.

The discussion also examined how the Older Americans Act distinguishes between “greatest economic need” and “greatest social need.” Social need encompasses equity factors such as stigma, discrimination, and criminalization that continue to affect people living with HIV.

As Kelly noted:

“The case for it to be of greatest social need is probably indisputable.”

Recognition within aging policy frameworks shapes visibility, funding priorities, and cross-sector accountability. Reducing silos and strengthening coordination are national challenges.

Podcast link in comments.

12/28/2025

Thank you to Front Runners and Walkers Palm Springs! Their Palm Springs Pride 5K Run & Walk raised over $50k for local charities including Let's Kick ASS-Palm Springs. Accepting a check from Front Runners President Mark DeAngelis is LKAPS President Jax Kelly. Special thanks to Kenneth Vergonet and the rest of the LKAPS team of runners and walkers!

12/16/2025

🚨 Action Needed: Stand Against the Harmful Public Charge Rule

Let’s Kick ASS Palm Springs (AIDS Survivor Syndrome), “LKAPS,” proudly joins Justice In Aging and advocates across the country in opposing the Trump administration’s proposed public charge rule — a dangerous step backward that would harm older immigrants, disrupt the direct care workforce, and chill access to vital public benefits.

This proposed rule revives and expands past efforts to punish immigrant families for accessing the support they need to survive — including housing, food assistance, and health care. For long-term HIV survivors and older LGBTQ+ adults, especially those in immigrant communities, this policy would deepen existing inequities and create fear where support is needed most.

At LKAPS, we know that aging with dignity and surviving with HIV requires access — not exclusion. We will not stand silent while policies are used to stigmatize need and scapegoat immigrants.

We encourage partners, policymakers, and allies to join us in signing the organizational letter from the Protecting Immigrant Families (PIF) coalition before the December 19 deadline.

🖊️ Sign here: https://justiceinaging.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=727c211cf7b5afb21ea9dada3&id=be8c87cf8b&e=59add635f4

🗣️ Let’s fight back — in community, in coalition, and in solidarity.

12/08/2025

Let’s Kick ASS Palm Springs (AIDS Survivor Syndrome, "LKAPS") stands with our transgender and nonbinary community members. California has enacted a new law, SB 59: The Transgender Privacy Act, which strengthens privacy protections for people who change their legal name or gender marker.

Starting July 1, 2026, all new name and gender marker change court records will be confidential. Anyone who completed this process before that date can request confidentiality through a simplified procedure created by the law. Families of minors can also request confidentiality for earlier filings.

Equality California has released clear, accessible resources that explain how the law works and how to request protection of past records. If you would like the toolkit or webinar materials, email us at [email protected] and we will share them with you.

LKAPS remains committed to supporting the safety, dignity, and rights of all transgender and nonbinary people in our community.

12/07/2025

Let's take action! AIDS United

11/28/2025

A good read.

https://www.ebar.com/story/160644/News/News/Long-term%20AIDS%20survivors%20share%20their%20stories%20in%20%E2%80%98Children%20of%20Lazarus%E2%80%99?fbclid=IwdGRjcAOWDfJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xNzM4NDc2NDI2NzAzNzAAAR47ttM9IjEuKj4f-R3pB1t0vbxR7ujjtEu9UgH8Qk7Z_rK5zIfUE4IgmzIi5w_aem_hHXOEp1iJMb154gFvtYrQQ

There are moments when history tilts, not gradually but all at once, and the change is so abrupt, so without precedent, that those who survive it spend the rest of their lives trying to explain what it felt like – how the air itself seemed altered, how the light went out of familiar rooms.