Equally Speaking
The following is a transcript of HRC’s morning news webcast "Equally Speaking." To view the current videos visit the main Equally Speaking page.
Good morning, and thanks for tuning in to Equally Speaking, your morning dose of GLBT news from the Human Rights Campaign for Monday, June 30th. I’m Sarah Birnie.
And I’m Brad Mayer. First up, news from Arizona.
A 16 to 4 vote by the Arizona state Senate Friday night qualified a ban on marriage for gay and lesbian couples for the November ballot. Supporters of the ban say this proposal would protect the sanctity of marriage by preventing judges from overturning an existing state law that prohibits marriage for gay and lesbian couples. Arizona voters rejected a similar state constitutional amendment in 2006.
The Army discharged a decorated medic, who was deployed to Iraq despite acknowledging he was gay, under the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy. Darren Manzella says he revealed his sexual orientation to his military supervisor in August 2006 and has since repeatedly spoken out about being a gay service member. Manzella, who was awarded the Combat Medical Badge, says his case demonstrates how the military has been arbitrarily enforcing its "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy during the war.
The Presbyterian Church’s General Assembly voted Friday to remove discriminatory language from the church constitution that bans the ordination of non-celibate gay and lesbian couples. The proposed change to the church constitution requires approval from a majority of the nation's 173 presbyteries. The nation's presbyteries overwhelmingly rejected efforts in 1997 and 2001 to overturn the gay ordination ban.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced last week that Democratic and Republican leaders seemed to have settled differences over a global AIDS relief bill, which includes a 15-year-old law banning foreign visitors and immigrants with HIV from entering or seeking permanent residence in the U.S. While many disagreed on the allocation of funding the AIDS relief program, there appeared to be little opposition against a repeal of the HIV visitor and immigrant ban. Reid says he is hopeful that a vote on the revised bill will take place before Congress begins its July 4th recess next week.
Detectives in Fort Bend County, Texas are investigating more than a dozen incidents of theft and vandalism involving homophobic and racist words spray painted on homes and vehicles. Police say the vandals spray painted derogatory slurs and offensives images, including pictures of swastikas and male body parts. The incidents were reported last week and the sheriff’s department is still investigating the case.
New York health officials are pushing doctors to offer HIV tests to nearly every patient in New York City communities hit harder than most by AIDS. Last week officials announced an ambitious goal of testing a quarter of a million adults in the Bronx within three years. AIDS killed 357 residents of the borough in 2006, making up about a third of all AIDS deaths in the city.
That’s the news from us today. Thanks for tuning in to Equally Speaking.
Have a great day, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow morning.