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The Senate is expected to debate the ban on HIV+ travelers this month as part of Bush’s global AIDS relief package. The United States remains one of only 13 nations — including Iraq, Qatar and Armenia — to ban HIV+ foreign visitors and immigrants.
The U.S. has faced harsh criticism internationally for having one of the most restrictive immigration policies for HIV+ foreigners. It prompted a boycott of the U.S. by prominent AIDS advocacy and research groups, which have not held a major international conference in the U.S. since the early 1990s.
Even if Congress removes the anti-HIV language from the immigration law, it would fall to Health and Human Services to decide whether HIV should remain on the list of diseases that bar entry to the U.S., which include tuberculosis, leprosy and gonorrhea.
This story is truly amazing. Thomas Beatie, a transgender man, has decided to carry his child. He is quoted in a recent column as saying, “Wanting to have a biological child is neither a male nor female desire, but a human desire.”
Beatie is transgender, legally male, and legally married to his wife Nancy. His wife had undergone a hysterectomy and was unable to carry a child, so Beatie stopped taking his testosterone injections and got pregnant.
The situation has sparked legal, political, and social opposition. The couple has been turned away from doctors due to religious objections. Even family and friends have abandoned them, with Beatie’s brother even telling him after his first pregnancy turned out ectopic, “It’s a good thing that happened. Who knows what kind of monster it would have been.”
And the right-wing bigots keep coming to McCain’s side…
The latest fundie to join the McCain bandwagon is Janet Folger, the former national director of the Center for Reclaiming America, the ultra right-wing religious group started by the late Rev. James Kennedy. She is currently head of Faith2Action, whose focus is “stopping the criminalization of Christianity by the homosexual agenda.”
Let’s take closer look at crazy-bigot Folger, shall we? Pander away, McCain!
It is another example of why the Advocate no longer represents or advocates for the LGBT community. The magazine ran a ridiculous article in the latest issue by Jamie Kirchick, an editor at the New Republic, stating that the LGBT community should “take a second look” at McCain.
It was called “A President to be Proud of.” Ugh.
I’ve been doing research for an educational project on LGBT activism and came across this picture. I get goosebumps every time I see it. I wanted to share it, especially in light of Women’s History Month.
Four years before the Stonewall riots, in 1965, Barbara Gittings and 25 other gays and lesbians marched in front of the White House to protest employment discrimination in the federal government. The sign she carried — “Sexual preference is irrelevant to federal employment” — is now at the Smithsonian, a gift to the nation last October by fellow activist Frank Kameny.
Gittings passed away in 2007, but her memory and drive lives on. A special thanks to those who have come before us and continue to set an example of how we should continue to fight for our rights…
A group of around 30 LGBT activists and supporters carried picket signs with pictures of hate crimes victims and bearing placards that called for an end to hate speech by public officials outside of the March 13 prayer breakfast hosted by Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle. The protest was organized by the activist groups Fight OUT Loud and Gay American Heroes.
The keynote speaker at the prayer breakfast was Jim Daly, president of the ultra right-wing religious organization Focus on the Family. FOTF is among the most aggressive opponents of the gay rights movement and one of the primary backers of an expansive anti-gay marriage amendment that goes before voters this November in Florida.
Ellen DeGeneres is on a roll! First, she comes out against the murder of Lawrence King on her day-time talk show. Now she’s taking on Sally Kern, the hate-spewing Oklahoma Legislator.
Check out the video HERE…
Mehdi Kazemi, 19, faces what many believe to be a life or death decision in the Netherlands for the gay Iranian teen.
Kazemi traveled to London 2005 from Iran and applied for asylum in Britain after learning that his lover in Iran had been executed for sodomy. This highlights the danger for gays in Iran, as well as how gay asylum seekers are often left with little or no help.
Kazemi’s application was rejected by British authorities. He then fled to Europe to apply for asylum in the Netherlands, where authorities are sometimes more open to helping Iranian gays. However, because Kazemi had already been rejected for asylum in Britain, the Dutch government is refusing to consider his case and insists he must be sent back to Britain.
This could lead to his deportation back to Iran and a deadly situation.
After much outcry from around the country, the City of Fort Lauderdale has removed the “Focus on Fort Lauderdale” newsletter with Mayor Jim Naugle’s bigoted message against the LGBT community from the city’s website. The city also decided that the mayor’s column in Fort Lauderdale’s bi-monthly publication will be permanently removed, giving Naugle one less platform from which to spew hate. A special thanks to Commissioners Hutchinson and Moore for standing up for the respect and equality of all residents.
This shows the power and influence of a united LGBT community. Fight OUT Loud issued an Action Alert to its over 20,000 members, many who have written in to express their outrage over this. Great sites like The Bilerico Project and Pam’s House Blend helped get the word out about the call to action and within 1 day the offensive language was removed from the city website and Naugle’s message were removed from future publications.
