HRC’s “Equally Speaking” Transcript: 12/3/08

Via the Human Rights Campaign Newsroom:

The following is a transcript of HRC’s morning news webcast “Equally Speaking.” To view the current videos visit the main Equally Speaking page.

12/3/2008

Good morning, and thanks for tuning in to Equally Speaking, your morning dose of LGBT news from the Human Rights Campaign for Wednesday, December 3rd. I’m Brad Mayer.

And I’m Frank November. First up, news from HRC.

Earlier this week, HRC announced that it was joining forces with federal employee groups to urge the Office of Personnel Management to support domestic partner benefits for federal civilian employees. The announcement is timed with the federal government’s “open season,” when federal employees and retirees are allowed to make changes to their health benefit plans. Domestic partners of federal civil servants are not extended health, dental, vision and flexible spending benefits.

Now to news from England, where a lesbian soldier has been awarded over three hundred and eighty thousand dollars in a sexual harassment lawsuit. Lance Bombardier Kerry Fletcher was the subject of long-term harassment from a sergeant who wanted her to have sex with him. The payout was the largest ever imposed by a workers’ rights board in Britain, though the amount was half of what Fletcher sought.

Binghamton, New York town council members are considering comprehensive anti-discrimination laws that would include provisions for sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity. Members of the transgender community and their allies spoke out at a town council meeting earlier this week, encouraging town officials to pass the law, which would apply to employment, housing and public accommodations. It would also protect against discrimination based on height and weight, age, race, religion, and national origin.

And on Monday in Kalamazoo, Michigan, members of the city commission made it illegal to discriminate in housing, public accommodations and employment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression. The measure was similar to one that has already been adopted by fifteen other Michigan cities. The unanimous vote was lauded by LGBT advocates, who said the time has come for more cities to pass similar laws.

In other news, a former police officer in Missouri was convicted on Monday of first-degree murder in the death of a gay college student with whom he was having an affair. Twenty eight year old Steven Rios, a married father, was convicted of killing Jesse Valencia last June. Rios was reportedly concerned that their affair would be made public. He now faces a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Finally this morning, Cyndi Lauper’s world tour, which was set to end in Caracas, Venezuela, has been cut short. Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has reportedly canceled the concert because of Lauper’s support of LGBT rights. In a statement, Chavez said that he feared political protests due to Lauper’s appearance. Lauper, a participant in last spring’s True Colors tour and a friend of HRC, was touring on behalf of her latest album, Bring Ya to The Brink.

That’s the news from us today. Thanks for tuning in to Equally Speaking.

Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow morning.

~ ~ ~
For the entire post, please CLICK HERE.
~ ~ ~

NOTICE: This posting is meant as a courtesy to the LGBT community at large to direct individuals to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender items of interest. We do not post full articles, so if you wish to read an entire story you should follow the link to its original author/publisher. We in no way, stated or unstated, claim to be the authors of any content posted here unless we say so explicitly. All content should be considered intellectual property of the original publisher, and should not be redistributed without full back-links and proper citations.

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT OUR OTHER NEWS LINK SITES:
On WordPress: 1 ||| 2 ||| 3 ||| 4 ||| 5 ||| 6 ||| 7 ||| 8 ||| 9 |||
On Blogger: 1 ||| 2 ||| 3 ||| 4 ||| 5 ||| 6 ||| 7 ||| 8 ||| 9

Bay Area Reporter: Groups push national AIDS strategy

FROM THE BAY AREA REPORTER:

By Matthew S. Bajko

The United States could have a national strategy for combating AIDS by 2010 under a proposal numerous AIDS agencies are pushing President-elect Barack Obama to adopt. It would mark the first time the country had a coordinated policy in place to combat an epidemic that has ravaged the gay community, in particular, for 27 years.

Along with a national AIDS strategy, the groups are also urging Obama to resurrect the White House Office on National AIDS Policy and appoint a new “AIDS czar” to oversee the office. They also want to see the person be given budgetary authority over the more than $23 billion in federal money spent on HIV prevention and care for people living with HIV and AIDS.

The last person to oversee the office, Carol Thompson, stepped down in February 2006 and it has been vacant ever since. At least two names are being floated as a potential AIDS czar: Dr. Helene Gayle, who served as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention between 1995 and 2001; and Jesse Milan Jr., chairman of the Los Angeles-based Black AIDS Institute.

Both Gayle and Milan are African American and have extensive resumes in terms of combating HIV and AIDS. Gayle is now president and CEO of CARE, which focuses on poverty issues facing women throughout the world. A spokeswoman told the Bay Area Reporter that, “Dr. Gayle has not been inclined to speculate about appointments.”

~ ~ ~
For the entire post, please CLICK HERE.
~ ~ ~

NOTICE: This posting is meant as a courtesy to the LGBT community at large to direct individuals to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender items of interest. We do not post full articles, so if you wish to read an entire story you should follow the link to its original author/publisher. We in no way, stated or unstated, claim to be the authors of any content posted here unless we say so explicitly. All content should be considered intellectual property of the original publisher, and should not be redistributed without full back-links and proper citations.

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT OUR OTHER NEWS LINK SITES:
On WordPress: 1 ||| 2 ||| 3 ||| 4 ||| 5 ||| 6 ||| 7 ||| 8 ||| 9 |||
On Blogger: 1 ||| 2 ||| 3 ||| 4 ||| 5 ||| 6 ||| 7 ||| 8 ||| 9

Dallas Voice Film Review: ‘Noah’s Arc’ fans won’t be disappointed with big-screen adaptation

From the Dallas Voice:

By Steve Warren Contributing Film Critic
Nov 26, 2008 – 2:19:48 PM

Essentially a black gay male West Coast version of “Sex and the City,” “Noah’s Arc” ran for two successful seasons on Logo. Now, like “Sex and the City,” “Noah’s Arc” spawns a feature film follow-up.

“Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom” picks up several months after the cliffhanger that ended Season Two and neatly wraps things up — but not so neatly that things can’t fall apart again for a third season.

Series fans will be glad to hear that the film takes place on the weekend Noah (Darryl Stephens) is finally marrying Wade (Jensen Atwood). For a change of scene, the gang heads to Martha’s Vineyard, where Wade’s family owns a house that’s big enough for all of them.

“Life is not a soap opera,” Ricky (Christian Vincent) says. But “Noah’s Arc” is, and five minutes never pass without some individual or couple going through a crisis that’s resolved as quickly as it began. You have to consider an overview of the series to find any depth, because each episode — and this feature is paced like any episode but four times as long — is made up of one shallow moment after another.

Ricky, the ultimate non-monogamist, brings a trick along for the weekend: Brandon (Gary LeRoi Gray), a 19-year-old student of Chance’s (Douglas Spearman), who makes the thirtysomething friends suddenly seem a lot older than they did.

~~~
For the entire post, please CLICK HERE.
~~~

NOTICE: This posting is meant as a courtesy to the LGBT community at large to direct individuals to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender items of interest. We do not post full articles, so if you wish to read an entire story you should follow the link to its original author/publisher. We in no way, stated or unstated, claim to be the authors of any content posted here unless we say so explicitly. All content should be considered intellectual property of the original publisher, and should not be redistributed without full back-links and proper citations.

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT OUR OTHER NEWS LINK SITES:
On WordPress: 1 ||| 2 ||| 3 ||| 4 ||| 5 ||| 6 ||| 7 ||| 8 ||| 9 |||
On Blogger: 1 ||| 2 ||| 3 ||| 4 ||| 5 ||| 6 ||| 7 ||| 8 ||| 9

Sec. of State. Rice Statement on World AIDS Day 2008

Via State Department Press Release:

Statement by Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Washington, DC
December 1, 2008

In 2003, President George W. Bush launched the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) – the largest international commitment by any nation to combat a single disease in history. As a result of this initiative, there are HIV-positive mothers in Zambia giving birth to healthy babies. There are health care workers being trained to provide HIV counseling and testing to their communities in Vietnam. And there is a hospice in South Africa that once mourned the lives lost on World AIDS Day that is now celebrating each life saved by antiretroviral treatment. These stories are replicated in countless communities around the world where HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment services are supported by the American people. It is in this spirit, on World AIDS Day 2008, that we “Celebrate Life.”

During times of economic crisis, some may feel more comfortable turning inward – foregoing our commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS globally. But reneging on our commitments to the world’s poor cannot be an austerity measure, because this effort is more than just an expression of America’s compassion. This effort is a vital investment in the free, prosperous and peaceful international order that fundamentally serves our national interest.

Together, the American people and countries around the world have proven that, by working in partnership, the seemingly impossible is possible.

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT OUR OTHER NEWS LINK SITES:
On WordPress: 1 ||| 2 ||| 3 ||| 4 ||| 5 ||| 6 ||| 7 ||| 8 ||| 9 |||
On Blogger: 1 ||| 2 ||| 3 ||| 4 ||| 5 ||| 6 ||| 7 ||| 8 ||| 9