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National >
HRC gala brings out the stars
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) held its annual Los Angeles Gala dinner on Mar. 15. The theme of the event was “Thousands of Heroes, One Super Night.” HRC president Joe Solmonese was present, and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden from Oregon provided the keynote address. Actress Anne Hathaway, star of “Brokeback Mountain” and “The Devil Wears Prada,” was honored with the Ally For Equality Award.
Other award winners were Cat Cora, culinary star of the Food Network’s “Iron Chef America;” Bravo Cable Television Network; Andrea Myerson, founder of the lesbian social networking site Women on a Roll; National LGBT scholarship fund Point Foundation; and Melissa Crutcher, a high school student who organized a highly successful tribute honoring her late friend and hate crime victim Lawrence King.
Presenters included actors Neil Patrick Harris, Ricki Lake, Judith Light and George Takei; athlete and HRC National Coming Out Day spokesperson John Amaechi; as well as Bravo reality star Christian Siriano (pictured), the fierce fashionista winner of this season’s “Project Runway.”
GLAAD opens online newsroom
NEW YORK, N.Y. — The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has launched “Newsroom ’08,” a website that serves as a resource on media coverage affecting the LGBT community in relation to local, state and national elections in November. The dedicated microsite has a blog, “Read Between the Lines,” where commentary and analysis of election coverage will be posted, as well as resources for both community members and media professionals.
In addition to “Read Between the Lines,” the site will let community members know when GLAAD staff will be in their area conducting Media Essentials Training Workshops, to help advocates become more effective in their media work. The site also features ways to be more involved locally and to access video clips of recent news coverage.
“At GLAAD, we’re in the business of helping to change hearts and minds about issues affecting the LGBT community,” said GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano. “Election years give us increased opportunity to talk about our issues and to hold media accountable for fair, accurate and inclusive coverage. Newsroom ’08 provides a unique analysis and insight on media coverage of the November elections as they pertain to LGBT issues.”
Anti-meth campaign targets MSM
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs (ADP) is currently promoting a new media campaign to fight methamphetamine use in the gay, bisexual and men who have sex with men communities. The $11 million “Me Not Meth” campaign includes television, outdoor and print advertisements designed to curb meth use by highlighting personal losses.
The campaign is being launched as research and data suggest that methamphetamine use and abuse has significant negative public health effects among the G/B/MSM communities. A survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that meth use was more common in men infected with HIV. The odds for becoming infected with HIV double or triple for MSM who use meth compared to those who do not.
With the launch of the campaign, ADP also announced the results of a statewide survey of Californians’ perceptions of methamphetamine use and abuse. The survey showed that: 71 percent of G/B/MSM surveyed have been asked to try meth; 55 percent reported using meth; and, 54 percent have a close friend who uses meth.
Marriage foes launch new effort
MERRIFIELD, Va. — The anti-gay Alliance for Marriage Foundation is calling on both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions to include language supporting the Marriage Protection Amendment in their 2008 platforms. The Parties will write and approve their platforms at their respective national conventions this summer. The proposed amendment would change the U.S. Constitution to limit marriage to one man and one woman.
Last month, AFMF sent letters requesting support to Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean (pictured) and Congressman John Boehner (R-OH), who will oversee platform committee deliberations at the conventions. The 2004 Republican platform included a plank for the marriage amendment. The 2004 Democratic platform observed, “In our country, marriage has been defined at the state level for 200 years, and we believe it should continue to be defined there.”
Sam Rodriguez and Niger Innis are co-chairing AFMF’s Many Voices, One Mission Campaign. Rodriguez is president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, and Innis is national spokesman for the Congress of Racial Equality.
HIV travel ban repeal proceeds
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A provision to repeal the discriminatory travel and immigration ban on HIV-positive individuals was passed Mar. 13 by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. The provision is attached to legislation to reauthorize PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. The bill now moves to the Senate floor for consideration, however a date has not yet been determined.
“We appreciate the support by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and now urge the full Senate to repeal this unjust and sweeping policy that deems HIV-positive individuals inadmissible to the United States,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “There remains no public health rationale for treating HIV more harshly than other communicable diseases. This draconian policy must end.”
The ban was originally enacted in 1987 and explicitly restated in 1993, despite opposition from the public health community. Last December, Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) introduced the HIV Non-Discrimination in Travel and Immigration Act (S. 2486), to repeal the ban.
International >
LGBT rights evolving in Cuba
HAVANA, Cuba — Mariela Castro (pictured), daughter of President Raul Castro, is head of the National Center for Sexual Education. She has made it her priority to change attitudes toward minorities within the island nation. In particular she has championed efforts to convince the Cuban National Assembly to adopt what would be the most inclusive legislation regarding transsexual rights in Latin America.
Other efforts include recognition of same-sex unions, LGBT inheritance rights, free sexual reassignment surgery and the right of transgender individuals to change their legal sex on their ID cards whether physical surgery has been completed or not. Two key missing components are LGBT adoption and the use of the term “marriage.”
“A lot of homosexual couples asked me to not risk delaying getting the law passed by insisting on the word ‘marriage,’” Mariela Castro said. “In Cuba marriage is not as important as the family and at least this way we can guarantee the personal and inheritance rights of homosexuals and transsexuals.”
Mariela has said that her father is supportive of her ideas but has cautioned for a more gradual transition. “I’ve seen changes in my father since I was a child. I saw him as macho and homophobic. But as I have grown and changed as a person, so I have seen him change.” Mariela’s liberal attitudes were formed by her late mother, Vilma Espin, who was a champion for Cuban women’s rights.
Gay couple reunited in Tel Aviv
TEL AVIV, Israel — A Palestinian man has been issued a temporary residency permit by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) so that he can reconnect with his partner who lives in Tel Aviv. Maj.-Gen. Yosef Mishlav issued the document as part of his duties as the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories.
The decision is unprecedented and requires that the permit be renewed monthly until a permanent visa can be acquired through other government channels. The unnamed Palestinian noted in a letter to Mishlav that his life has been constantly threatened ever since his family learned of his gay relationship with an Israeli. The Israeli partner, who remained anonymous, said unsuccessful reunion attempts have been made on a regular basis over the last five years. He added, “I’m suffering from a heart disease and need my partner beside me.”
Study: LGBT couples healthier
LONDON, England — A recent study indicates that same-sex relationships tend to be healthier than heterosexual relationships. The underlying reason for this stems from the fact that same-sex couples are decidedly more flexible in the way they view gender roles, parenting and household responsibilities. It was further discovered that female couples are more emotionally attached than male couples who, in turn, are more emotionally attached than male-female couples.
“It all comes down to greater equality in the relationship,” Robert-Jay Green of Alliant International University’s Rockway Institute told United Press International. “Research shows that lesbian and gay couples have a head start in escaping the traditional gender role divisions that make for power imbalances and dissatisfaction in many heterosexual relationships.”
According to the UPI article, the researchers believe “heterosexual couples could learn from gay couples about sharing housework and child care, using softer communication in conflict, and having more nurturing behaviors toward one another and their children.”
Catholic church fights diversity
VANCOUVER, Canada — The Roman Catholic Church has redoubled its efforts to keep LGBT-inclusive curriculum guides out of the British Columbia school system. The Catholic Civil Right League, a lay group, has denounced the guide and its inclusion amongst discussions of LGBT equality. Their argument is that discussing same-sex marriage and other diversity issues will take time away from instruction in core subject areas.
The guide was published as a result of a 2005 lawsuit by openly gay teacher Murray Corren, who accused the school district of institutionalized discrimination for omitting all references to LGBT people and suppressing LGBT issues in the curriculum. Corren sued to include sensitivity and diversity education for teachers and all students K-12. He also wanted information included in the curriculum about past and present LGBT people who have made contributions to history, culture and technology.
The Catholic League’s efforts are mere gesture, since it has already been decided through the courts that schools must be LGBT-inclusive in their teaching. The guide has already been published and distributed, but has not yet been officially incorporated into classrooms pending review and feedback from educators, parents and administrators.
Kosovars call on U.S. for support
PRISTINA, Kosovo — Gramoz Prestreshi and Korab Zuka (pictured), founders of one of the first LGBT equality organizations in the country, have called upon the U.S. to proclaim its disapproval of homophobic attacks in the wake of serious threats to Zuka’s life and property. The overwhelmingly Muslim nation is in the midst of creating a constitution, the first draft of which contained language supportive of LGBT equality (a precursor to inclusion in the European Union), but the general population is generally intolerant. Prestreshi has gained refugee status in the U.S. after a nearly fatal attack in 2003 while Zuka currently awaits a decision for asylum.
“We are going to make you hold your intestines,” Zuka, 22, said he was told by harassers. “We will rape your mother and we are going to cut your head off.” Zuka has given interviews with foreign media correspondents concerning the deplorable treatment of LGBT Kosovars in an effort to force nations to renounce homophobic violence. “The U.S. is a very respected country in Kosovo… If the U.S. government were to say to the government, ‘This is not OK, how gay and lesbian people are treated,’ I am sure that it would make a difference,” Zuka said.
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