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 Wednesday, September 3rd. I’m Cuc Vu.
And I’m John Greene. First up, the release of the Corporate Equality Index.
HRC’s annual Corporate Equality Index, which measures the treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees, investors and consumers at businesses around the country this year, was released today. A total of 259 companies achieved a perfect score of 100 out of the 583 who participated. This is a one-third increase over last year, when 195 business earned 100 percent.
Transgender workers have made major gains since the Corporate Equality Index was first published in 2002, when just five percent of rated businesses provided employment protections based on gender identity or expression. The 2009 Corporate Equality Index reports that figure has increased twelve-fold. 66 percent of rated businesses now prohibit discrimination based on gender identity or expression, a 28 percent increase over last year.
It’s back! Tyra Bank’s reality hit “America’s Next Top Model” starts tonight, but this season celebrates a significant first. The CW show will feature its first transgender modeling hopeful. Isis, a 22-year old Maryland native, says she doesn’t mind being a role model in the transgender community, but is doing the show to follow her dreams. The 2-hour season premiere airs tonight at 8.
And in an unprecedented move, the UK may have its first openly gay Bishop. Dr. Jeffrey John is under consideration for the Bishop of Bangor in Wales. The decision defies conservative members of the Anglican clergy, who have called for a moratorium on the elevation of any LGBT members within the church. John was originally up for a post as the Bishop of Reading in England five years ago, but backed down from the position after conservative outcry over Reverend Gene Robinson’s appointment to Bishop in the U.S.
First-time Iranian director Bahman Motamedian covers some controversial subject matter in his new film “Tedium,” which debuted at the Venice Film Festival this week. The film depicts seven transgender people in Iran as they struggle with complications of a society bound by strict gender codes. No professional actors were used in the film; transgender first-time actors with no professional experience were instead tapped to tackle the roles. Motamedian believes this was critical to the film’s success as it conveyed the real-life struggles of people rejected by their families and their society.
The University of Hawaii has settled a lawsuit filed by a gay couple who claimed they were not allowed to live in university housing that was reserved for married couples. The school has since revised its housing policy for the 2008 – 2009 school year to include same-sex couples. The couple, Joseph O’Leary and Phil Ngo, also received a $5,000 settlement from the university. The lawyer for the couple, Brian Chase of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, said that this is the first such case against a public university involving housing for same-sex couples.
Alright, that’s the news from us today. Thanks for tuning in to Equally Speaking.
Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow.