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 LGBT news from the Human Rights Campaign for Tuesday, August 19th. I’m Janice Hughes.
And I’m Sarah Birnie. First up, news from HRC.
This past weekend, 64 participants turned out for HRC’s Camp Equality event in Dallas while another 41 attended in Salt Lake City. The Camp Equality program aims to train nearly 1,500 people in 18 cities and give them the tools they need to effectively run political campaigns for fair-minded candidates. To find a Camp Equality event near you, visit HRC.org/campequality.
Yesterday, the HRC Foundation released "Marriage for Same-Sex Couples: Considerations for Employers," a guide advising employers on how to address marriage for same-sex couples in their spousal and partner benefits packages. Among the topics covered in the guide are taxation of health benefits, complications due to varied degrees of legal recognition of same-sex couples, and the impact of marriage equality in California and Massachusetts. To access the guide, visit HRC.org/issues.
California's high court ruled yesterday that doctors cannot withhold medical care to gays and lesbians based on religious beliefs. The unanimous ruling was a result of a lawsuit by Guadalupe Benitez, a lesbian who was refused fertility treatment by two Christian doctors who said their beliefs prevented them from assisting her. The American Civil Liberties Union, California Attorney General Jerry Brown, the National Health Law Program and the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association filed papers backing Benitez.
Chinese officials are placing nearly a half-million condoms in hotel rooms in order to prevent Olympic tourists from passing along or contracting HIV while in the country. A Chinese health official also said that the government has enlisted volunteers to promote HIV and AIDS prevention methods by handing out more than 250,000 health pamphlets at the games. Last month, a report showed that the number of new cases of HIV/AIDS in China is rising from the current 700,000 known cases.
In other international health news, two intensive-care patients in Argentina contracted HIV after receiving blood transfusions at public hospitals. The unidentified donor tested negative for HIV in December but then later showed up positive in May. Blood donors in Argentina are given an extensive questionnaire to limit high-risk donors, which includes sexually-active gay men.
Police in Berlin are searching for the vandals who damaged a monument dedicated to gay victims of the Nazis. Berlin’s openly gay mayor denounced the attack on the monument, which was unveiled in May. In 2002, the German parliament issued a formal pardon for gays convicted under the Nazis.
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.