Equally Speaking
<P><EM>The following is a transcript of HRC’s morning news webcast "Equally Speaking." To view the current videos visit the </EM><A href="http://www.hrc.org/equally_speaking.htm"><EM>main Equally Speaking page</EM></A><EM>.</EM><BR></P>
7/2/2008
<P>Good morning, and thanks for tuning in to Equally Speaking, your morning dose of GLBT news from the Human Rights Campaign for Wednesday, July 2nd. I’m Shelena Williams.</P>
<P>And I’m David Paul. First up, news on Senator Obama’s campaign in California.</P>
<P>Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama announced his opposition to a California ballot measure that would ban marriage for gay and lesbian couples, saying the effort is divisive and discriminatory. Obama announced his opposition in a letter to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, which was read at the group’s annual Pride Breakfast in San Francisco. Senator Obama supports federal benefits and protections for same-sex couples, a fully-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act and hate crimes legislation and a repeal of the military’s "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy.</P>
<P>The conservative Christian law group Liberty Counsel has submitted a brief to the California Supreme Court which asks its justices to toss out a lawsuit that would keep the proposed amendment to ban marriage for gay and lesbian couples off the ballot in November. Last week, lawyers for Equality California filed a petition with the court arguing that the proposed amendment should be invalidated because its impact was not made clear to voters who signed petitions to qualify it before the court legalized marriage for gay and lesbian couples. </P>
<P>A Huntington Beach, California, police officer received a settlement to the tune of two million dollars from the city to drop a lawsuit that alleges his peers harassed him repeatedly because he is gay. The officer said in his suit that he filed several complaints about the inappropriate behavior of his colleagues but was ignored by his supervisors. The officer agreed to go on administrative leave in February 2007 while none of the accused officers have been placed on leave. </P>
<P>Officials in Newport News, Virginia have said they will not bring charges against Justin McCain, 18, and Antonio Blount, 31, who were issued a marriage license in March. McCain, who court employees said appeared to be a woman, filled out the section of the application for the "bride". The terms “bride” and “groom” are not defined explicitly in Virginia law. Newport News now asks for "male applicant" and "female applicant" when applying for a marriage license.</P>
<P>A gay couple filed a discrimination complaint Tuesday with the New York Attorney General after they were barred from posting their profile on Parentprofiles.com. The online adoptive services website has received multiple complaints from gay couples over its eligibility requirements, which states that only a “Qualifying Husband and Wife Couple” can use the adoption service. The couple had obtained certification as Qualified Adoptive Parents from the New York City Surrogate Court and had been positively evaluated by a licensed social worker who had visited their home. </P>
<P>Yesterday, John Sawyer was elected Santa Rosa, California’s first openly gay mayor, replacing Bob Blanchard, who passed away Saturday. Sawyer is part-owner of Sawyer's News, a downtown newsstand founded by his great-grandfather in 1945. His partner, Dan Potts, is his business partner.</P>
<P>That’s the news from us today. Thanks for tuning in to Equally Speaking. </P>
<P>Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow morning.<BR></P>
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