Donald Trump announced that he’s chosen vaccine denialist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be secretary of Health and Human Services, Trump said on social media Thursday afternoon.
“I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,” Trump wrote. “The Safety and Health of all Americans is the most important role of any Administration, and HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming Health Crisis in this Country. Mr. Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!”
Kennedy, who ended his independent presidential run in August and endorsed Trump, has a long history of embracing conspiracy theories and has been repudiated by his famous family. Among his bizarre theories are that the environment turns children transgender and that vaccines cause autism. He’s also said that HIV does not cause AIDS. It does.
His campaign was marked by many strange stories. He had been “accumulating negative headlines — an allegation that he groped a former family babysitter (to which he responded to by declaring, ‘I am not a church boy’); a revelation that he used a dead bear he found on a roadside to stage a fake bicycle accident in New York’s Central Park; and a claim by Kennedy that doctors found a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, among other things,” NBC News reported earlier. He has painted both himself and Trump as victims of the media and the political establishment, and contended that President Joe Biden and now Vice President Kamala Harris have a dictatorial hold on the Democratic Party.
“The American people should be able to trust that our health care system is led by experts who believe in science and want to safeguard the health and wellbeing of the country,” Brandon Wolf, spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement to The Advocate. “Robert F Kennedy Jr. lacks the qualifications and judgment to manage the Department of Health and Human Services. As an anti-vaccine conspiracist and denier of the medical consensus on health care for transgender youth, Kennedy’s views are dangerous and harmful. Donald Trump is desperately trying to stack the federal government with unqualified loyalists and it’s the American people who will suffer as a result. The Senate must reject this nomination.”
A coalition of LGBTQ+ advocates is taking South Carolina to court over its bathroom law forcing transgender students to use restrooms according to their assigned sex at birth. The law mandates that K-12 schools deny transgenderstudents access to bathrooms aligned with their gender identity or face losing a quarter of their state funding.
The complaint, filed Tuesday, takes aim at Proviso 1.120, a provision enacted in July that advocates say strips trans students of fundamental rights. The law mandates that K-12 schools bar transgender students from restrooms matching their gender identity or risk losing a quarter of their state funding.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of 13-year-old John Doe and the South Carolina LGBTQ+ advocacy group Alliance for Full Acceptance, argues that Proviso 1.120 violates both Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause. “Proviso 1.120 is illegal, plain and simple. Trans students are not political pawns. Their rights are not optional,” Alexandra Brodsky, a senior attorney at Public Justice representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement. “And the human stakes are too high for states like South Carolina to break the law to score political points: Thousands of students are paying the price with their health and educations.”
A memo from the South Carolina Department of Education, issued on behalf of state superintendent Ellen Weaver, outlined strict guidelines for compliance. It called on districts to adjust restroom signage and student records, replacing references to “gender” with “biological sex,” which the state defines as “a person’s biological sex, either male or female, as objectively determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth.” According to the memo, only in exceptional cases—such as medical assistance or natural disasters—can students enter facilities that do not match the sex on their original birth certificate. The memo further directed districts to restrict restroom use to students’ sex assigned at birth under all other circumstances.
According to the lawsuit, John Doe faced suspension at his Berkeley County school after using the boys’ restroom. School administrators allegedly told the student that he could be expelled if he continued to use the restroom aligned with his gender identity, prompting his parents to withdraw him from the school. “I will not allow school officials or lawmakers to dehumanize my child because of their own ignorance. Adults need to educate themselves, read the science, and stop attacking students,” John Doe’s father said in a statement. “All students deserve to feel safe and supported in school, including my son.”
Joseph Wardenski, founder of Wardenski P.C., which is also representing the plaintiffs, warned of the law’s long-term harm to South Carolina’s transgender students. “Every day that Proviso 1.120 remains in effect, countless transgender students across South Carolina are being harmed,” Wardenski said in a statement. “As courts around the country have held, these types of bathroom bans cause trans students to suffer needless and preventable stigma, distress, and physical injuries. To prevent these harms, we will ask the court to intervene immediately to stop South Carolina from enforcing this discriminatory policy.”
The Fourth Circuit Court, whose jurisdiction includes South Carolina, ruled in the Virginia case Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board in 2020 that barring transgender students from bathrooms matching their gender identities is unconstitutional. The plaintiffs argue that Proviso 1.120 blatantly ignores this precedent.
“Lawmakers who continue to target transgender youth with blatantly unconstitutional legislation should take note,” said AFFA executive director Chase Glenn. “If you pass these laws, you will be taken to court.”
The lawsuit seeks an immediate injunction to halt enforcement of the law. If granted, the injunction would allow transgender students across South Carolina to use bathrooms matching their gender identity without the threat of discipline or harassment.
California has confirmed the first case of a new, more lethal strain of mpox in a man who recently traveled to Africa, and public health officials now want to speak with anyone who may met the person.
The new mpox clade I strain has a higher mortality rate than the earlier clade IIb strain that caused a global outbreak in 2022 and greatly impacted gay men. The World Health Organization declared a global public health emergency over the spread of the clade I mpox strain in August after the number of cases exploded in Africa.
“The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has identified through laboratory testing the first known case of clade I mpox in the United States,” the CDPH said in a press release on Nov. 16. “This case was confirmed in an individual who recently traveled from Africa and is related to the ongoing outbreak of clade I mpox in Central and Eastern Africa.”
The CDPH continued, saying the unnamed individual was receiving care in San Mateo County immediately south of San Francisco. The CDPH did not explain how the individual might have contracted mpox, formerly known as monkeypox.
The CDPH is contacting anyone who may have encountered the individual.
“The detection and rapid spread of a new clade of mpox in eastern DRC, its detection in neighboring countries that had not previously reported mpox, and the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying,” general director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference called to announce the PHEIC on Aug. 14.
“In addition to other outbreaks of other clades of mpox in other parts of Africa, it’s clear that a coordinated international response is essential to stop these outbreaks and save lives.”
While more lethal and severe than the clade IIb strain, California officials tried to dampen public concerns about a deadly outbreak of the new clade.
“Historically, clade I has caused more severe illness than clade II, however, recent infections from clade I mpox may not be as clinically severe as in previous outbreaks, especially when cases have access to quality medical care,” the CDPH said in its press release.
The Centers for Disease Control echoed the CDPH’s statements regarding the clade II strain.
“Historically, clade I mpox has caused more severe illness and deaths than clade II mpox,” the CDC said in a press release on Nov. 16. “However, recent data demonstrate that infections from clade I mpox in the current outbreak may not be as clinically severe as in previous outbreaks.”
The CDC recommends the following steps to avoid contracting mpox:
Avoid close contact with people who are sick with symptoms of mpox, including those with skin or genital lesions
Avoid contact with contaminated materials used by people who are sick (such as clothing, bedding, toothbrushes, sex toys, or materials used in healthcare settings)
And if you’re eligible, get both recommended doses of mpox vaccine.
Every election changes the political landscape. These changes will impact the ways we advocate and live our lives, but they do not alter the goals we seek to achieve. Regardless of the outcome of any election, it is our mission to end the HIV epidemic in the United States. But particularly after this election, during these uncertain times, we must remain vigilant and proactive to protect essential funding and ensure that health services remain accessible to those who need them most.
“Now, more than ever, we must act with urgency to ensure that President-Elect Donald Trump and Vice-President Elect JD Vance understand that critical services and resources that people living with HIV depend on are not to be compromised,” said Jesse Milan Jr. JD, President and CEO of AIDS United.
AIDS United stands on its history with its 60 – members of the Public Policy Council of turning challenges into opportunities, driving the conversation forward to protect healthcare access for not just for people living with and vulnerable to HIV but all Americans with pre-existing conditions.
In the wake of President-elect Trump’s first victory in 2016, more than 600 HIV advocates came together in that following year’s AIDSWatch to fight for one another in the largest and most impactful HIV advocacy event in our history. We worked with policymakers to turn a moment of uncertainty into a call for justice and an opportunity for progress, protecting the Affordable Care Act and helping usher in the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative that has significantly lowered HIV transmission rates and provided care to tens of thousands of people living with HIV. We must once again unite in solidarity to protect our communities and forge a new path forward.
To speak to someone from AIDS United’s team or leadership, please contact AIDS United’s Communications Department at communications@aidsunited.org.
About AIDS United – AIDS United’s mission is to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S. through strategic grant-making, capacity-building, and policy/advocacy. AIDS United works to ensure access to life-saving HIV care and prevention services and to advance sound HIV-related policy for populations and communities most impacted by the U.S. epidemic. As of January 2021, our strategic grant-making initiatives have directly funded more than $118 million to local communities, and we have leveraged more than $184 million in additional investments for programs that include, but are not limited to, syringe access, access to care, capacity-building, HIV prevention, and advocacy. Learn more at www.aidsunited.org.
Trusting that they know who they are, standing up for them, and not supporting anti-LGBTQ+ politicians are among the best ways to support transgender and nonbinaryyouth, says a new research brief from the Trevor Project. It’s based on information from the young people themselves.
“With more knowledge about supportive actions and their possible impacts, TGNB youth can be better cared for by parents, caregivers, friends, and community,” the brief says. This support can also help decrease suicide risk, it notes.
When asked how people in their lives can best show support, the top 10 ways reported by respondents were:
Trusting that I know who I am (92 percent)
Standing up for me (85 percent)
Not supporting anti-LGBTQ+ politicians (84 percent)
Respecting my pronouns (82 percent)
Showing support for how I express my gender (77 percent)
Looking up information about LGBTQ+ identities (69 percent)
Asking questions about LGBTQ+ identities (62 percent)
Accepting their partner(s) (56 percent)
Having or displaying Pride flags (48 percent)
Showing support on social media (45 percent)
When asked specifically about parents and caregivers, trans and nonbinary respondents said these actions made them feel supported: being welcoming and kind to their LGBTQ+ friends or partners (74 percent), talking respectfully with them about their LGBTQ+ friends or partners (67 percent), supporting their gender expression (such as buying new clothes or helping them get a haircut (60 percent), using their name and pronouns correctly (49 percent), educating themselves about LGBTQ+ issues (48 percent), respectfully discussing these issues with them (46 percent), encouraging others to respect their identity (41 percent), asking how their identity should be discussed (40 percent, taking them to LGBTQ+ events (32 percent), and standing up for them when they were being mistreated (25 percent).
But 60 percent of the trans and nonbinary participants said their parents or caregivers engaged in less than half of the listed actions, and 17 percent reported experiencing none of these actions. Only 6 percent said their parents or caregivers engaged in all of the listed actions that were applicable to them.
Younger respondents — ages 13-17 — were more likely to report experiencing no or few supportive actions than those ages 18-24. Young people of color experienced less support than white youth.
Greater parent or caregiver support was related to lower suicide risk among trans and nonbinary young people. Those who experienced none or very few supportive actions reported the highest rate of a past-year suicide attempt (19 percent), followed by those who experienced a few supportive actions (14 percent), some supportive actions (13 percent), and many or all supportive actions (11 percent). Ab increase of just one supportive action from parents and caregivers was associated with 6 percent lower odds of a suicide attempt in the past year.
“The data reveal a powerful connection between parents’ and caregivers’ supportive actions, perceived family support, and lower risk of suicide attempts among TGNB young people,” the brief states. The findings also “highlight the need to support TGNB young people and their families at younger ages and in culturally affirming ways,” the document says.
“Ultimately, fostering widespread understanding of TGNB identities and experiences, both within families and communities, is essential for improving mental health outcomes and reducing the risk of suicide among TGNB youth,” it concludes. “This research documents the relationship between specific supportive actions and TGNB youths’ feelings of being supported by family members, which deserves further exploration in future research.”
If you or someone you know needs mental health resources and support, please call, text, or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or visit988lifeline.org for 24/7 access to free and confidential services. Trans Lifeline, designed for transgender or gender-nonconforming people, can be reached at (877) 565-8860. The Trevor Project Lifeline, for LGBTQ+ youth (ages 24 and younger), can be reached at (866) 488-7386. Users can also access chat services at TheTrevorProject.org/Help or text START to 678678.
The Department of Defense’s health insurance plan, Tricare, must cover gender-affirming surgery for transgender dependents of active and retired service members, a federal judge has ruled.
The exclusion of coverage for this care violates the equal protection guarantees of the U.S. Constitution, U.S. District Judge Nancy Torresen ruled November 1.
The suit was brought by two transgender women in their 20s, identified by the pseudonyms Jane Doe and Susan Roe, who are both daughters of retired military members and are covered by Tricare. Doe and her fatherfiled suit in 2022 in U.S. District Court in Maine, and Roe was added to the suit last year. Doe lives in Maine and Roe in Florida. Both of the women’s fathers served more than two decades in the military.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the Defense Department, the department’s health agency, and Tricare were named as defendants.
The women challenged a 1976 federal law that excluded coverage for “surgeries ‘justified solely on psychiatric needs including, … sex gender changes’ and other services deemed ‘not medically necessary,’” Torresen wrote in her ruling.
“Congress considered all ‘cosmetic’ procedures (including ‘sex gender changes’) to be ‘nonmedical’ in the sense that they were ‘psychologically’ or ‘psychiatrically’ justified, and not strictly medically necessary,” she continued. But Torresen found that such surgery is indeed medically necessary and that the Defense Department had not shown that any important governmental interest was advanced by denying the coverage.
In 2016, the Obama administration lifted the ban on military service by trans people, and the Defense Department changed the Tricare rules so that nonsurgical treatments for gender dysphoria could be covered. But department officials said the plan couldn’t cover surgical treatments for dependents unless the 1976 law was changed. Surgical treatments were covered for active-duty service members, however.
While Torresen entered her judgment in favor of the women who sued, she set a deadline of November 15 for the parties in the case to meet and let her know if an injunction barring enforcement of the policy is needed. This means she is “waiting to see whether the government will change its interpretation of the statute and regulation to cure the constitutional problem,” law professor Arthur Leonard wrote in Gay City News.
Torresen was appointed by President Barack Obama, Leonard noted. If the Defense Department appeals her ruling, it would go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, which is “the only federal circuit court with no Republican appointees among its active judges,” Leonard observed.
The plaintiffs are represented by Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, the Columbia Center, and GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders, also known as GLAD Law.
“We’re gratified the court recognized this is simply a matter of providing basic health care,” Ben Klein, senior director of litigation at GLAD Law, told The Advocate via email. “The dedicated individuals who serve in our nation’s military should be able to provide their family members with the essential care they need.”
In the wake of Donald Trump’s election as president, transgender people are left wondering what lies ahead. For this vulnerable community, a Trump administration signals potential disaster: the candidate just won his election after$215 million in anti-trans ads targeting this small minority—a staggering amount that eclipsed spending on other issue-based ads. Now, transgender individuals are searching for ways to protect themselves under a federal government that may view them as top “enemies from within,” a term Trump has used to describe those on the left.
I spoke with experts in transgender care and dozens of transgender individuals to identify steps the community can take now to prepare for a Trump presidency. Trump has pledged numerous actions against transgender people, from investigating educators to banning gender-affirming care for youth and ending legal recognition for transgender individuals. While some of these measures may take time to implement, others could happen swiftly. For instance, the upcoming December budget negotiations are likely to include anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ amendments, which Democrats may accept to avoid a government shutdown.
For transgender people and their supporters, being prepared is essential. Here are practical steps the community should consider in the coming weeks to safeguard themselves against these anticipated challenges.
Obtaining or updating your passport.
Obtaining afederal passport is a crucial step for transgender individuals, as it serves as a valid ID in most places and is necessary for international travel. Passports also let you change your gender marker via a simple selection checkbox, making the process of having your official gender marker hassle-free. This last point is especially important—anticipated federal crackdowns could soon make it impossible to update your gender marker on federal documents and might even affect state IDs. Passports are valid for ten years, and some states allow you to align your gender marker with the one on your passport, making this action essential, even if you don’t plan to travel internationally. And should the need for travel arise, you’ll be grateful you took this precaution.
Many transgender people I’ve spoken to have already begun this process. One family, hoping to secure a passport before federal rules change, opted for the expedited service. Ellie, the mother of a transgender teen, shared, “I’m determined to keep my son safe and alive, and we will do everything humanly possible to make that happen.” She noted that they are researching options for moving internationally if gender-affirming care is banned federally, with Spain as their top choice. For transgender individuals, expedited passports are an important consideration to ensure they receive their documents before Trump’s inauguration. Although they cost a bit more, expedited passports are processed much faster.
Some observed a rise in the number of LGBTQ+ people seeking passports in the election’s immediate aftermath. Andromeda, a transgender woman, noted, “At the post office, there were five people in line for passports. Four of us were trans.” She described the atmosphere as “very sullen,” adding, “We were all very nervous but being very strong about it.”
Updating state documents and IDs.
This step is crucial, as transgender people will need as many documents as possible that reflect their correct gender marker to navigate potential laws and regulations targeting them. Although most anti-trans laws specify that legal recognition of sex must align with the sex recorded at or near birth, enforcing these provisions is often challenging. In practice, having licenses and IDs that display an accurate gender marker can help transgender individuals avoid negative interactions and even defuse tense situations with officials. Additionally, obtaining such documentation may become more difficult in the future—Trump could, for instance, leverage laws like the Real ID Act to push for bans on correct gender markers on driver’s licenses.
Many transgender individuals have started this process quickly, anticipating that their opportunity to do so may soon disappear. One such person in South Dakota, Cole, shared, “I need to get my name and marker officially changed before I am barred from the chance.” In South Dakota, the process is particularly onerous, requiring a court order or a signed affidavit from a physician. Cole is concerned that completing it may become impossible once Trump takes office.
Maintaining a supply of medication.
Some individuals are taking steps to secure their access to gender-affirming medications, though this approach carries potential legal challenges. The Trump administration has indicated plans to sue pharmaceutical companies providing gender-affirming care, making medication access disruption a real possibility. Additionally, federal funding bans, threats, and investigations could further complicate access. States like California have announced intentions to enact laws protecting LGBTQ+ individuals from such federal actions. For individuals, practical methods to maintain a medication supply include underdosing to build an emergency reserve, working with a physician willing to prescribe extra medication, or obtaining hormones through online sources, though it is important to note that these steps are not without legal or personal risks.
Nevertheless, many individuals reported taking these precautionary steps. One person, who asked to remain anonymous, shared that her doctor advised her she could continue using estradiol vials beyond four injections, contrary to prior instructions to discard them after four uses. This adjustment has allowed her to build up a supply that could last through a Trump presidency. Another respondent mentioned underdosing her estradiol to justify higher prescription doses, enabling her to maintain a backup supply in case of disruptions.
Changing your social security office gender marker.
This is a step many people overlook, as they may not realize that the Social Security Administration maintains a gender marker on file. If future policies restrict the ability to update identification documents, updating your gender marker with Social Security could help prevent mismatches that might flag your identification within federal systems. The process is straightforward, with an online portal explaining which form to complete and where to submit it. Most people will need to bring the form to their local Social Security office. Fortunately, changing one’s gender marker is as simple as checking a box—no court orders or medical documentation required—making it a relatively quick step to complete.
Consider moving now, if you want to.
For many, relocating is a significant and complex decision—and it’s important to acknowledge that moving isn’t a viable option for a large portion of the queer community. Financial limitations, legal or personal circumstances, and a desire to stay and fight all keep many people rooted in their home states. However, for those considering a move, this may be an opportune moment to finalize those plans. Anti-trans legislation and actions could escalate quickly, potentially even before Biden’s presidency concludes, especially with looming budget negotiations. While the exact scope of potential executive actions remains uncertain, many of the steps outlined here may become far more challenging once such actions are in place.
Many people I’ve spoken with have already decided to move. Sarah, a mother of a trans child from Texas, shared that she plans to relocate to Denver as soon as her house sells. “We’ve discussed moving for several years, and this is the push we needed, I guess,” she said. When asked why she chose Colorado, she explained, “We’re hopeful that, in a blue state with shield laws, there will be some resistance to any national policies. For instance, when Biden made the Title IX changes, Texas fought back, so we didn’t get those protections. I’m hoping it would be like that, but in reverse. It’s also why we’ll rent instead of buying—if another move is necessary, we want to be able to pick up quickly and go.”
Another individual, Tawj, mentioned that they’ve already formed a small caravan of queer people saving and preparing to move to a blue state before the transfer of power. “It’s a small group of five for now… we’re all pooling money to make the move cheaper.”
For Chelsey, a transgender girl who is planning on moving next year, she spoke of her Grandmother’s experiences in Nazi Germany as a major influencing factor, stating, “My grandmother fled Germany and she saw her sister get shot by the Nazis. The stories that I remember from her were, we were never prepared to flee. We got complacent and even with organizing which is good and important. It’s also important to be prepared to flee.”
A recurring topic in discussions about preparing for a Trump administration is the role that going or staying “stealth” may play in ensuring safety. For transgender individuals, “stealth” refers to living in one’s gender identity without disclosing that one is transgender. For many, this involves extra attention to makeup and voice training to pass as cisgender and blend in. For transgender youth, it often means not informing school officials about their gender identity. Such steps may become critical, as schools could feel pressured by the Trump administration to enforce restrictions on trans youth, even in blue states. For trans adults, staying stealth could also offer a measure of safety in the face of increasingly common bathroom regulations.
Many transgender people I spoke with had mixed feelings about going “stealth” under a Trump administration. Some have concluded that it’s the safest option for them, while others have chosen to remain visible, believing that visibility will be essential in the fight for transgender rights. Still others feel that stealth simply isn’t an option for them.
Relying on local community allies.
One essential action transgender people and allies can take is to support community organizations, legal funds, and other resources. Historically, when restrictive laws have targeted the LGBTQ+ community, it has been crucial to connect with groups of LGBTQ+ individuals who can provide mutual support and safety. When choosing organizations to support, state and local groups are particularly valuable, as they offer the most current information on relevant laws and can advise on the best ways to address new challenges under a Trump administration. These organizations are also well-positioned to navigate the specific legal processes and advocacy opportunities within local communities.
The Trump administration is expected to bring significant legal threats for transgender people, but there are steps that can be taken now to mitigate these risks. With a closing window to act before Trump’s inauguration, these measures are time-sensitive. Early preparation may be the difference between enduring four years of intensified crackdowns on trans and queer communities—or facing the brunt of an administration determined to restrict their rights. Taking steps now is essential for those looking to safeguard their futures.
Each year between November 13 – 19, people and organizations around the country participate in Transgender Awareness Week to help increase understanding about transgender people and the issues members of the community face.
Trans Awareness Week takes place the week before Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20. Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), is an annual observance on November 20 that honors the memory of the transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence that year.
Read more about Transgender Awareness Week (Semana de Concientización Transgénero en espagnol) and Transgender Day of Remembrance below, and find out how you can participate.
What is Transgender Awareness Week?
Transgender Awareness Week is a week when transgender people and their allies take action to bring attention to the trans community by educating the public about who transgender people are, sharing stories and experiences, and advancing advocacy around issues of prejudice, discrimination, and violence that affect the transgender community.
Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) was founded in 1999 by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998. The vigil commemorated the one year anniversary of Hester’s death and all the transgender people lost to violence that year. That initial event began the world-wide observance that is the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. You can participate in TDOR by attending or organizing a vigil on November 20 to honor all those whose lives were lost to anti-transgender violence that year. Vigils are typically hosted by local transgender advocates or LGBTQ organizations, and held at community centers, parks, places of worship and other venues. The vigil often involves reading a list of the names of those who have been killed.
What can I do to become a better ally?
Learn about trans people by educating yourself with credible resources about community, language, issues, stories, and actions.
To find other resources on particular topics related to the trans community, type into the search bar for results. For example, if you’re looking to find out more about transgender healthcare, type “transgender healthcare” into the search bar and relevant results will populate.
For authentic, accurate, and diverse portrayals of transgender people, check out the GLAAD Media Award nominations which include spotlights on TV, movies, video games, journalism, and music that feature outstanding examples of representation.
The public health workforce tasked with fighting what has been a long-losing battle against sexually transmitted infections now finds itself confronted with a new, unfamiliar outlook: hope.
After having surged to record levels practically every year this century, overall diagnoses of the three top bacterial STIs have crested since the Covid pandemic. From 2022 to 2023, total diagnoses decreased by 2%, to 2.46 million new cases, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention STI surveillance report published Tuesday.
And importantly, diagnoses of primary and secondary syphilis — the most infectious stages of the infection — dropped 10% last year, to 53,000 cases.
The decline was driven by a 13% drop in such syphilis diagnoses among gay and bisexual men, who are about 2% of the adult population but have historically accounted for nearly half of such cases.
STIs also spread disproportionately among young people and racial minorities. Just under half of the top three bacterial STIs were diagnosed among 15 to 24 year olds last year. Nearly one-third of cases were among Blacks, who are 13% of the population.
Overall, gonorrhea declined by 7%, to 601,300 cases, last year; that followed a 9% decline the previous year. Among all stages of syphilis, cases increased 1%, to 209,250 diagnoses. Chlamydia remained stable from 2021 to 2023, at about 1.65 million cases.
“I think we’re at an inflection point, and it’s important that we push forward and take advantage of innovations and investment of STI prevention going forward,” said Dr. Laura Bachmann, chief medical officer of the CDC’s STI prevention division.
The half-dozen other infectious disease experts who spoke with NBC News about the CDC report said they believed the sudden turnaround in syphilis diagnoses among gay and bisexual men was likely to be an early signal of such men’s eager adoption of a new, proven protocol in which the oral antibiotic doxycycline is used for STI prevention.
“That is huge cause for celebration. And I am a little surprised we see that trend at the national level already,” said Dr. Julie Dombrowski, a professor of medicine at the University of Washington.
Referring to a recent decline in syphilis among men in Seattle, she added, “We definitely have seen it at the local level.”
Some experts expressed hope that doxycycline use among gay and bisexual men would have a positive spillover effect in women of childbearing age.
Syphilis poses the greatest threat to newborns, among whom it can cause severe congenital defects and death. Whereas cases of the STI in newborns increased by 30% annually in recent years — greatly alarming public health experts — the upward trend has decelerated. Such a promising shift was apparently driven in part by nationwide efforts to increase testing among pregnant women.
In another hopeful development, a shortage that began in early 2023 of the only recommended treatment for syphilis among pregnant women, Pfizer’s Bicillin-LA, has abated.
In recent years, a trio of randomized controlled trials have shown that instructing gay and bisexual men and transgender women to take one 200-milligram tablet of doxycycline within 72 hours of condomless sex lowers cases of chlamydia and syphilis among them by more than 70% and of gonorrhea by about 50%.
Thanks to penicillin, the nation made steady progress in fighting syphilis after World War II. By the mid-1990s, public health leaders were entertaining the possibility that the STI could be eliminated.
But the approval of effective HIV treatment in 1996 reduced the public’s fear of AIDS. That helped trigger a long decline in condom use among gay and bisexual men in particular. The subsequent approval of the HIV-prevention pill — called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP — in 2012 only hastened the decline.
Bacterial STIs soared accordingly.
DoxyPEP offers a promising form of harm reduction. It’s cheap and well-tolerated, and it can easily be folded into many gay and bisexual men’s routines for receiving prescriptions to treat or prevent HIV.
Early analyses suggest doxyPEP is a sleeper hit in that population.
A study published this month in the journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases found that San Francisco’s guidance on the preventive tool was tied to a decline in STIs among local men. A study published in next month’s edition of the journal found that among about 900 gay and bisexual men recruited for a survey through hook-up apps, half had heard of doxyPEP and nearly all expressed interest.
A spokesperson for the PrEP-focused telehealth service MISTR told NBC News that since the company started offering doxyPEP in April, three-quarters of users who have filled PrEP prescriptions since then have also requested and received doxycycline. (The representative declined to provide the number of users that entailed but said MISTR serves “over 450,000 patients in all 50 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico.”) Since then, the overall quarterly STI positivity rate among MISTR users has plummeted from 12% to 6%.
In November 2023, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first at-home tests for gonorrhea and chlamydia, which public health experts hope might also help combat the spread of STIs.
And in July, researchers presented findings at a global HIV conference in Munich of studies in which gay and bisexual men in Canada and female sex workers in Japan were instructed to take 100 milligrams of doxycycline daily. The protocol, called doxyPrEP, demonstrated generally comparable efficacy at preventing STIs compared with doxyPEP studies among gay men.
Research is ongoing to address concerns that increased use of doxycycline to prevent STIs might help fuel the burgeoning drug-resistant pathogen crisis. Thus far, researchers have found reassuring signs.
STI-prevention experts are also concerned that, as with HIV PrEP, doxyPEP will prove disproportionately popular among whites and thus will only widen racial disparities in STI transmission. Research is underway to analyze trends in doxyPEP’s use that could help focus promotion of the intervention where the need is greatest.
Public health experts have attributed this century’s surge in STIs, at least in part, to a steady defunding of state and local public-health clinics.
Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, an infectious disease expert at the University of Southern California who led the first study to demonstrate doxyPEP’s efficacy, called for renewed spending on STI-related care.
“If Trump is going to make IVF — in vitro fertilization — free,” Klausner said of the president-elect’s emphatic campaign pledge, “he should make STI testing and treatment free.”
In December, the verified Facebook page of Adam Klotz, a Fox News meteorologist, started running strange video ads.
Some featured the distinctive voice of former President Donald Trump promising “$6,400 with your name on it, no payback required” just for clicking the ad and filling out a form.
In other ads with the same offer, President Joe Biden’s well-known cadence assured viewers that “this isn’t a loan with strings attached.”
There was no free cash. The audio was generated by AI. People who clicked were taken to a form asking for their personal information, which was sold to telemarketers who could target them for legitimate offers — or scams.
Klotz’s page ran more than 300 of these ads before ProPublica contacted the weather forecaster in late August. Through a spokesperson, Klotz said that his page had been hacked and he was locked out. “I had no idea that ads were being run until you reached out.”
Klotz’s page had been co-opted by a sprawling ad account network that has operated on Facebook for years, churning out roughly 100,000 misleading election and social issues ads despite Meta’s stated commitment to crack down on harmful content, according to an investigation and analysis by ProPublica and Columbia Journalism School’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism, as well as research by the Tech Transparency Project, a nonpartisan nonprofit that researches large tech platforms. The organizations combined data and shared their analyses. TTP’s report was produced independently of ProPublica and Tow’s investigation and was shared with ProPublica prior to publication.
The network, which uses the name Patriot Democracy on many of its ad accounts, is one of eight deceptive Meta advertising operations identified by ProPublica and Tow. These networks have collectively controlled more than 340 Facebook pages, as well as associated Instagram and Messenger accounts. Most were created by the advertising networks, with some pages masquerading as government entities. Others were verified pages of people with public roles, like Klotz, who had been hacked. The networks have placed more than 160,000 election and social issues ads on these pages in English and Spanish. Meta showed the ads to users nearly 900 million times across Facebook and Instagram.
The ads are only a fraction of the more than $115 billion Meta earns annually in advertising revenue. But at just over $25 million in total lifetime spend, the networks collectively rank as the 11th-largest all-time advertiser on Meta for U.S. elections or social issues ads since the company began sharing data in 2018. The company’s failure to block these scams consistently highlights how one of the world’s largest platforms struggles to protect its users from fraud and deliver on its nearly decadelong promise to prevent deceptive political ads.
Most of these networks are run by lead-generation companies, which gather and sell people’s personal information. People who clicked on some of these ads were unwittingly signed up for monthly credit card charges, among many other schemes. Some, for example, were conned by an unscrupulous insurance agent into changing their Affordable Care Act health plans. While the agent earns a commission, the people who are scammed can lose their health insurance or face unexpected tax bills because of the switch.
The ads run by the networks employ tactics that Meta has banned, including the undisclosed use of deepfake audio and video of national political figures and promoting misleading claims about government programs to bait people into sharing personal information. Thousands of ads illegally displayed copies of state and county seals and the images of governors to trick users. “The State has recently approved that Illinois residents under the age of 89 may now qualify for up to $35,000 of Funeral Expense Insurance to cover any and all end-of-life expenses!” read one deceptive ad featuring a photo of Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois state seal.
More than 13,000 ads deployed divisive political rhetoric or false claims to promote unofficial Trump merchandise.
A deceptive ad used the image of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and the state seal. Credit: Screenshot by ProPublica
Meta removed some of the ads after initially approving them, the investigation found, but it failed to catch thousands of others with similar or even identical content. In many cases, even after removing the violating ads, it allowed the associated Facebook pages and accounts to continue operating, enabling the parent networks to spawn new pages and ads.
Meta requires ads related to elections or social issues like health care and immigration to include “paid for by” disclaimers that identify the person or entity behind the ads. But its rules for verifying advertisers and publicly disclosing who paid for such ads are less stringent than those of its main competitor, Google, ProPublica and Tow found. Many of the disclaimers on Facebook ads listed nonexistent entities.
A Meta spokesperson said it invests heavily in trust and safety and uses a mix of humans and technology to review election and social issues ads.
“We welcome ProPublica’s investigation into this scam activity, which included deceptive ads promoting Affordable Care Act tax credits and government-funded rent subsidies,” spokesperson Margarita Franklin said in an emailed statement. “… [A]s part of our ongoing work against scams, impersonation and spam, our enforcement systems had already detected and disabled a large portion of the Pages — and we reviewed and took action against the remainder of these Pages for various policy violations.”
Our analysis showed that while Meta had removed some pages and ads, its enforcement often lagged or was haphazard. Prior to being contacted by ProPublica and Tow, Meta had taken action against roughly 140 pages affiliated with these eight networks, representing less than half of the total identified in the investigation.
By then, the ads on those pages had been shown hundreds of millions of times, resulting in financial losses for an untold number of people.
Meta ultimately removed a substantial portion of pages flagged by this investigation. But after that enforcement, ProPublica and the Tow Center found that four of the networks ran more than 5,000 ads in October. Patriot Democracy alone activated two pages a day on average in the first half of this month.
“Their enforcement here is just super spotty and inconsistent, and they’re not actually attacking root problems,” said Jeff Allen, the chief research officer of the Integrity Institute, a nonprofit organization for trust and safety professionals.
He said networks like Patriot Democracy exploit the fact that a single Facebook page can be connected to multiple ad accounts and user profiles, creating a complex challenge for enforcement. “But these cracks have existed for the past eight years,” said Allen, a former Meta data scientist who worked on integrity issues before departing in 2019.
“There are a lot of gaps in the system, and Facebook’s overall strategy is to play Whac-A-Mole.”
Franklin noted that scammers use a variety of tactics to conceal their activity. Meta constantly updates its detection and enforcement systems and works with industry and law enforcement partners to combat fraudulent activity, she said.
“This is a highly adversarial space, and we continue to update our enforcement systems to respond to evolving scammer behavior,” Franklin said. She added that Meta has taken legal action against several operators.
Meta’s Rules
Misleading election ads have posed a challenge for Meta since at least 2016, when Russian trolls purchased thousands of Facebook and Instagram ads targeting Americans ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Amid public outcry and pressure from Congress, Meta has created special rules for political and social issues advertisers, launched a public Ad Library to archive such ads and hired additional people to review ads. An integrity team has been tasked with enforcing Meta’s community and advertising standards.
In 2022 and 2023, Meta laid off over 20,000 employees, including members of its integrity team. The company said it has more than 40,000 people working on safety and security around the world, an increase since 2020. It declined to say whether it has more people working on election ad reviews this cycle compared with the last presidential election.
One of the team’s key responsibilities is to verify that election and social issues advertisers are who they say they are, and that their ads adhere to the company’s rules. Since 2019, Meta has required political and social issues advertisers to submit an Employer Identification Number, a government or military website and an associated email address, or a Federal Election Commission registration number.
Meta also allowed state and local organizations and candidates who aren’t federally registered to run ads by providing a corresponding website and email address, a “valid” phone number and a mail-deliverable address. It later relaxed the rules to allow advertisers to simply display the name of their Facebook page as the entity that paid for the ad.
Google, Meta’s main U.S. election ads competitor, doesn’t have similar carve-outs for ad disclaimers. It accepts only an FEC registration number, state elections ID or EIN to verify an organization. Google’s political ad disclaimers list the organization name or the name of a person who completed the ID verification process.
Franklin said Meta has rules to ensure that page name disclaimers aren’t abused. The company’s guidelines say that regardless of how much information advertisers disclose, the ads must “Accurately represent the name of the entity or person responsible for the ad.” But more than 100,000 ads identified by ProPublica and the Tow Center did not.
Patriot Democracy
Adam Klotz’s Facebook page and an example of an ad featuring a deepfake version of President Donald Trump’s voiceCredit: Screenshots by ProPublica
The “paid for by” disclaimers on the ads that mysteriously started appearing on weather forecaster Klotz’s hijacked page listed “Klotz Policy Group” as the advertiser. Klotz Policy Group is not affiliated with Adam Klotz, and the email and website address in the disclaimer do not point to a dedicated website. The group is also not listed in OpenCorporates or other business registration databases.
The advertiser disclaimer information for Klotz’s page listed the email admin@patriotdemocracy.com and the website patriotdemocracy.com/klotzpolicygroup. That URL led to a page that promoted dental coverage for Medicare recipients and used the branding of a site called Saving Tips Daily. Similar URLs with the patriotdemocracy.com domain appeared across other pages in the network, which enabled ProPublica, Tow and the Tech Transparency Project to link them to the same network. (For more details on how the ads and networks were identified, see the methodology section at the end of this story.)
Patriot Democracy is the biggest of the eight networks identified during the course of the investigation and has been active on Meta’s platforms for nearly five years. It includes 232 pages that have spent more than $13 million on more than 110,000 ads.
Allen said operations like Patriot Democracy spend millions on Meta ads because it helps them find victims.
“If they gave over $10 million to Facebook, then they may have extracted $15 million from American seniors with this garbage,” he said. “The harms add up.”
The pages often have official-sounding names such as “Government Cash Program,” “US Financial Relief” and “USA Stimulus Fund,” and their ad disclaimers list organization names that do not correspond to registered entities or websites.
Meta also allowed the page owners to falsely identify themselves as affiliated with the federal government. If a user looked up the page details of “Government Cash Program,” they would see a notation showing that it’s a “Government Website.” US Financial Relief is listed as a “Government organization.” More than 20 pages claimed to be a “Public Service.”
The Government Cash Program Facebook page falsely listed itself as a “Government Website.” Credit: Screenshot by ProPublica
One of the most common types of ads run by Patriot Democracy pages is for Trump merchandise, including coins, flags and hats.
One of these ads ensnared Sam Roberson, a 57-year-old Texas resident, last month. While browsing Facebook, Roberson was drawn to an offer for a Trump coin from a page called Stars and Stripes Supply. The coin was embossed with an image of the former president raising his fist after the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania. One click took him to the site patriotprosnetwork.com, where Roberson paid $39.99 for 11 coins that he planned to give to his grandkids. He received the coins. But two weeks later, his card was charged another $29.99.
Roberson told ProPublica that he didn’t realize that he had signed up for a subscription. He contacted customer support to request a refund, but is skeptical the company will follow through.
“With these knuckleheads and how deep they are dug in, I may end up having to cancel the card,” he said.
When ProPublica called the site’s customer service line, a person who did not give their name said that customers who choose the “VIP” checkout option receive a discount on their purchases and are automatically enrolled in a monthly membership. The spokesperson said that customers are informed on the site and by email “how they got involved [in the membership] and how they can cancel.”
They said that someone else from the company could answer questions about advertising but hung up when asked how often they receive customer complaints about the membership fee.
An example of a Trump coin ad run by the Stars and Stripes Supply Facebook page Credit: Screenshot by ProPublica
ProPublica also sent an email with detailed questions about the coin offer and the subscription but did not receive a response.
The Stars and Stripes Supply page spent over $700,000 on Meta ads for Trump merchandise and ran ads as recently as Sept. 28 before it was removed by Meta. The page and the store have received onlinecomplaints about the billing scheme. It’s unclear who controls the page or the store, or how they are connected.
In addition to the billing schemes, the Trump merchandise ads often draw clicks with false claims and divisive language. Stars and Stripes Supply ran ads for Trump and JD Vance yard signs that falsely claimed “liberal activists are ripping Trump-Vance yard signs from the ground, sparking a wave of controversy across the nation.”
A page called Truly American ran a video ad for a “free” Trump flag and coin offer that was narrated by a female voice claiming to be Melania Trump. “Today we see free thinkers and independent voices like gay conservatives and Log Cabin Republicans silenced, censored and bullied by cancel-culture mobs. Donald stood against this and they tried to silence him for good,” the voice intoned, as the ad showed an image of Trump with his bloodied ear.
It’s unclear who ultimately controls the Patriot Democracy pages and associated Instagram accounts or who paid for the ads. Along with listing fake advertiser names, Patriot Democracy ad disclaimers show addresses that often correspond to WeWork co-working spaces or UPS stores. And the phone numbers, which are shared among multiple pages, led to generic voicemail messages — with one exception.
A man who answered one number said he’d never run ads on Meta and didn’t know why his phone number was listed. He said he was on his way to court and asked the reporter to call back later. He did not answer a subsequent call, and the phone number was soon disconnected.
The ownership information for patriotdemocracy.com and its related domains is also private, making it impossible to know who registered the domain. Meta did not answer specific questions about the network.
Before ProPublica and Tow reached out, Meta had removed less than half of Patriot Democracy pages for violating its advertising standards. It also failed to take action against the larger network, even after some of its pages were exposed in earlier reports by Forbes and researchers at Syracuse University.
Of the more than 110,000 ads on Patriot Democracy pages identified by ProPublica and Tow, Meta stopped just over 7,000, or roughly 6%, from running for violating standards. These ads were shown nearly 60 million times before Meta took action. Meta also consistently failed to detect and remove copies of ads it had previously banned due to policy violations, according to the analysis.
Franklin said Meta uses a variety of automated approaches to detect and remove duplicate ads. This includes training systems to recognize the images and videos used in previously removed ads in order to prevent them from running again. It also looks at a variety of signals, including user and payment information and the devices used to access accounts, to restrict or ban people who break its rules, she said.
Two ads run by the Patriot Democracy network falsely promised government subsidy checks. Credit: Screenshots by ProPublica
One of the most popular lures used by Patriot Democracy and other networks is the promise of free government cash.
More than 30,000 ads across the networks identified by ProPublica and Tow falsely claimed that nearly all Americans could receive government subsidies or are eligible for a “FREE Health Insurance Program.” People who clicked were often directed to unethical insurance agents who altered their existing ACA plan details or signed them up for plans they weren’t eligible for, pocketing a commission in the process. These ads were shown to users at least 38 million times.
The scheme has caused victims to lose their existing ACA health insurance or to be hit with unexpected tax bills from the IRS. In those cases, the agent falsely reported a lower income to enroll clients and secure a commission. In response to the surgein fraudulent enrollments, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the federal agency that administers the ACA, implemented stricter rules this summer for insurance agents.
A CMS spokesperson declined to comment on specific ads or platforms. But insurance marketers and other industry experts told ProPublica that Facebook ads are a scammer’s preferred method for ensnaring victims. Meta declined to comment on whether it’s in touch with CMS.
“It’s clear from speaking with a lot of different consumers that were ripped off that the Facebook ads played a big part,” said Jason Doss, an Atlanta lawyer who filed a class-action suit against a group of companies and individuals who allegedly used online ads, high-pressure insurance call centers and other methods to commit mass ACA enrollment fraud. The companies have moved to dismiss the case, citing a lack of jurisdiction and failure to show that any laws were broken, among other defenses. “We deny the allegations made and will be defending the case,” the CEO of one company named in the suit told ProPublica. The suit is ongoing.
Since 2021, Google has required U.S. health insurance advertisers to verify their identity and license status prior to running ads. Meta does not have this requirement. The company did not respond to questions about health insurance advertisers.
Taking on a Network
Meta’s failure to stop deceptive ads about government programs has forced some state and local officials to step in.
In January 2023, investigators in the Alaska Division of Insurance received complaints from consumers who said they were shown misleading ads on Facebook.
The ads used the state seal of Alaska and in some cases a photo of the governor to falsely claim that the state was offering new funeral and burial benefits. “The State of Alaska approved NEW affordable Funeral programs, designed to cover 100% final expenses up to 25,000 or more. Not just a portion,” read one ad.
As with other types of deceptive ads, the burial ads tricked people into filling out a form. In this case, they often ended up on the phone with someone trying to sell life insurance.
Alex Romero, Alaska’s chief insurance investigator, was alarmed. There weren’t any “new” state benefits. It’s also illegal in Alaska, and just about every state, to use a state seal without permission.
Searching the Meta Ad Library, he found hundreds of deceptive ads that used state seals. Romero warned his fellow state insurance investigators on a scheduled conference call soon after his discovery. “There was a proliferation of advertising using the same deceptive marketing,” Romero told ProPublica.
Around the same time, officials in Ventura County, California, were alerted to the unauthorized use of its county seal in Facebook ads. A local news outlet sent the county examples of burial insurance ads that used the Ventura County seal. Tiffany North, the county counsel, began an inquiry. She and Romero connected last spring and realized the same person was connected to the Facebook ads: a lead-generation marketer and insurance broker named Abel Medina.
Officials in Alaska and Ventura County, California, were alarmed by ads that used their seals without permission.Credit: Screenshots by ProPublica
Public records show that Medina, 35, owns companies such as Heartwork Global and Kontrol LLC, which have run election and social issues ads on several Facebook pages.
Romero said his research showed that Kontrol LLC was a key source of Facebook ads with state seals and images of governors. “Practically every state, a bunch of counties, several cities, they’re all getting tagged by this guy Medina,” he said.
Corporate records show that Final Expense Authority LLC is registered to Tiffani Panyanouvong, a 24-year-old former insurance broker. She told ProPublica that Medina registered the entity in her name without her permission when they were dating.
American Benefits & Services LLC is registered in Delaware and does not publicly list an owner. Panyanouvong said that Medina used that company and Final Expense Authority to run ads on Meta and that she “had nothing to do with his lead-generation services.”
“This is all because of him, and I was just his girlfriend at the time,” Panyanouvong told ProPublica in a WhatsApp message. “And he used me as another person to hide behind to get through the Facebook advertising loop holes.”
On his LinkedIn profile, Medina touts his Facebook ad expertise. He says he generated “$1.6 Million in sales in under eight months with only Facebook Final Expense Media Buying and growing other verticals.”
He’s also teaching others how to do it — for a fee. His profile points to a website, Scale Kontrol, which promises to help clients create a “cash cow advertising machine” by using Facebook ads to generate customer leads. The site also assures customers that it knows “work arounds” to avoid having ads “flagged, banned, restricted.”
Medina did not respond to phone messages or to a detailed list of questions sent to three email addresses, his Facebook account and a home address.
ProPublica and Tow found that the four companies have operated at least 40 Facebook pages and spent $2.1 million on more than 21,000 election and issues ads. Thousands of ads reviewed by ProPublica and Tow across pages linked to the companies made deceptive claims and appeared to break one or more Meta rules.
A deceptive ad for car insurance falsely suggested that President Joe Biden was sending government checks to pay for gas. Credit: Screenshot by ProPublica
The pages used deepfake audio of Biden to make false claims about government subsidies, ran deceptive auto insurance ads that promoted nonexistent “Biden Gas Relief Checks” using images of a U.S. Treasury check, and falsely claimed that “The State has approved a NEW Mortgage Protection Plan that protects your home and family in the event of an unexpected tragedy.” No such state plan exists.
Prior to being contacted by ProPublica, Meta had removed about half of the pages. Ten pages connected to these companies ran ads in the last three months.
In March 2023, North sent a cease-and-desist letter to Final Expense Authority. “Your use of the County’s official seal and your actions in misleading the public are unauthorized and unlawful,” she wrote.
The following month, Romero sent a similar letter to Medina, Panyanouvong and three of the companies. It cited five criminal and civil statutes that the state of Alaska believed they had violated and demanded they stop running ads with the state seal and images of the governor.
North and Romero said the ads with their respective seals stopped soon after the letters were sent. (Neither contacted Meta directly, telling ProPublica they focused on the companies running the ads.)
Final Expense Authority, the company registered to Panyanouvong, is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Monterey County district attorney’s office over its use of the California county’s seal. Emily Hickok, Monterey County’s chief deputy district attorney, confirmed the investigation to ProPublica and said her office reported the ads to Meta in February. She declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation.
Panyanouvong’s California insurance license was revoked in January. An attorney for the state Department of Insurance cited the use of Ventura County and Alaska seals in ads, among other alleged violations, state records show. Due to a prior criminal conviction for petty theft, records show that in 2019 Medina received a California insurance license on a probationary basis. It has been inactive since last November. He holds an active license in Texas.
The California Department of Insurance declined to comment on any investigations into the companies. “While we do not comment on open investigations, deceptive advertising on social media platforms can be a cause for licensing action or criminal prosecution,” it said in a statement to ProPublica.
Meta removed all of the active pages linked to the four companies after ProPublica and Tow shared them. It declined to say whether it had taken additional action. But as recently as early October, an ad from American Benefits & Services offered $100K to homeowners: “Claim cash back with these new home owners benefits programs that just became available.”
Still Locked Out
After ProPublica emailed Klotz, the meteorologist, in August to ask about the ads running via his page, his employer, Fox News, contacted Meta to get the ads removed and to restore his access. His verified page continued running ads promising easy money to Americans until early October. As of this week, he still doesn’t have access to his page.
“As far as I know the account is still hacked and in their control,” Klotz said.
Methodology
The pages and networks included in this investigation were identified by searching Meta’s Ad Library for keywords including “benefits,” “subsidy,” “stimulus,” “$6400” and “burial.” The initial keywords were chosen based on examples sourced from reports, FTC investigations and lawsuits. Each page added to the initial seed set was vetted by viewing its ads, advertiser disclaimer information, and page content and manager information.
Using this initial set, we expanded the list of keywords based on ads run by the pages and by searching the Ad Library for websites that the ads linked to. We then used the Ad Library Report interface to identify all pages for each advertiser. We also looked for pages that ran ads using the same advertiser disclaimer information.
Patriot Democracy
In the case of the Patriot Democracy network, we connected the pages and ads together via three domains that were used in “paid for by” ad disclaimers: informedempowerment.com, tacticalempowerment.com and patriotdemocracy.com. The disclaimers that used these domains often used the same phone numbers or addresses. Additionally, a Domain Name System analysis showed that all three domains resided on the same server.
