The Washington Department of Health has required the Seattle LGBTQ+ Center’s HIV/STI testing program to ship its blood samples to a federal facility in Texas for testing, which may raise questions about the risk of personal data collection of Trans and Queer Seattleites by federal and Texas state authorities.
Seattle LGBTQ+ Center Executive Director Nakita Venus confirmed that the DOH has required the center to forgo its partnership with Public Health King County Labs and use a federally run Center for Disease Detection (CDD) facility in San Antonio as its main lab for STI/HIV testing. The DOH’s reported reasoning for the change was due to costs.
The directive also applies to all contracted prevention partners with the Washington DOH. The order went into effect on August 1, 2026.
DOH Public Information Officer Mark Johnson, in response to the changes, said, “Unfortunately, the price differential between the local lab and the CDD is quite significant.” He added that the pricing is “quite competitive and inclusive of shipping costs. To date, DOH has not found a laboratory that can match or beat the Center for Disease Detection’s pricing. In addition, the Center for Disease Detection processes samples and gets results to the ordering facilities with a faster turnaround time, allowing for people who are diagnosed with HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, or hepatitis C to be told their results and linked to care and treatment more quickly.”
Venus, asked if their organization had taken any steps to challenge the changes, such as filing for an injunction, responded that the only efforts taken were to ensure that testing wasn’t paused.
“We did provide pushback, but the option really wasn’t ours, because it was the Department of Health’s contract with King County, and they were the ones to change that contract,” Venus said.
Venus also confirmed that the submitted blood samples included personal identifiable information, such as the patient’s name and sex assigned at birth.
Federal overreach
The recent changes to the DOH’s STI/HIV testing location come at a time when federal agencies under the Trump administration have attempted to collect information on Queer and Trans medical care. In July 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi sent out subpoenas to more than 20 doctors and clinicians across the country that have provided gender-affirming care to Trans youth since 2020.
“Medical professionals and organizations have mutilated children in the service of a warped ideology,” then Attorney General Bondi wrote in a statement.
In August, the US Second Circuit court blocked the subpoena requests made by Bondi and the Justice Department.
In April 2025, Bondi also instructed the Justice Department’s civil division to investigate pharmaceutical companies that sold puberty blockers and other hormone replacement therapy drugs for “misbranding” their products for Transgender patient usages with the FDA.
In recent years, the CDC, under the HHS, has made several cuts to HIV prevention programs, affecting states, including Washington state. The HHS has also threatened to cut federal funding to hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to minors, sparking protests at NYU Langone, Children’s National in DC, UVA in Charlottesville, and CHLA in East Hollywood.
Texas
Texas is a Republican-controlled state that has also attempted to collect personal and medical information on Queer and Trans residents. In March, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the state’s attorney general’s office has the right to compel PLFAG and other LGBTQ+ advocacy groups to hand over documents pertaining to medical care for Trans youth. After prohibiting its Trans residents from changing the gender marker on their driver’s licenses in 2024, the state also created a list of over a hundred Trans Texans.
Seattle has, in response, become a sanctuary for Trans and Queer people fleeing hostile anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation in other states.
Although Venus was overall assured that HIPAA privacy rules would protect patients’ information, they also acknowledged concerns about medical data being sent to Texas.
“I am not a legal expert by any means, but what I can say is [that] I do understand there are legal protections in place like HIPAA that would prevent that information from being spread,” Venus said. “I say that also knowing that there is a big concern around the actual safety of data collection and our data being collected and protected.”
Support the Seattle Gay News: Celebrate 52 Years with Us!
As the third-oldest LGBTQIA+ newspaper in the United States, the Seattle Gay News (SGN) has been a vital independent source of news and entertainment for Seattle and the Pacific Northwest since 1974.
As we celebrate our 52nd year, we need your support to continue our mission.
A monthly contribution will ensure that SGN remains a beacon of truth and a virtual gathering place for community dialogue.
Help us keep printing and providing a platform for LGBTQIA+ voices.
How you can donate!
Using this link: givebutter.com/6lZnDB
Text “SGN” to 53-555
Or Scan the QR code below!
