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 Friday, June 27th. I’m Sarah Birnie.
And I’m John Greene. First up, news from Congress.
Yesterday, the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions in Congress held a hearing on workplace discrimination against transgender people. The hearing, chaired by Democratic Representative Rob Andrews of New Jersey, focused on educating Members of Congress on transgender issues and laid the groundwork for congressional action to prohibit arbitrary discrimination. To check out full coverage of yesterday’s hearing, check out HRCBackStory.org.
The Arizona state senate on Wednesday rejected a bill that would have placed a measure on the November ballot to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. The 14–11 vote was two shy of what was necessary to send the initiative to voters. Senators have voted to reconsider the bill at a later date.
Memphis Police confirmed yesterday that Officer Bridges McRae, who was caught on tape brutally beating a transgender woman, was fired following an administrative hearing. Memphis Police Association President J.D. Sewell says McRae stated that he did nothing wrong and expected that he would be able to keep his job. Johnson is planning to file a $1.3 million lawsuit against the city of Memphis.
Bill Stewart, the openly gay chief marketing officer for Kmart, resigned this week in order to work as an unpaid volunteer with the Equality for All campaign in California to help defeat a state constitutional amendment that would ban marriage for gay and lesbian couples. Stewart made the decision to switch careers after attending a Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation national board meeting earlier this month. Equality for All is a coalition made up of almost fifty GLBT rights advocacy groups including HRC.
Pastor Jim Garlow of San Diego County, California, organized a conference call Wednesday in which more than 1,000 ministers discussed tactics for passing a ballot initiative to deny marriage for gay and lesbian couples under the state’s constitution. The group is planning to pray for one hundred days and fast for forty of those in the time leading up to the election. While many Catholic and Mormon religious leaders were involved in passing the 2000 initiative, strategists are predicting a much greater involvement by evangelical churches in this election.
Participants in Cuba’s first pride parade were interrupted by police officers Wednesday in Havana’s Don Quixote Park. Many Cuban citizens were beaten and arrested for attempting to march in the parade. Cuban activists with the help of Florida’s Unity Coalition had organized the event.
That’s the news from us today. Thanks for tuning in to Equally Speaking.
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