HRC Blog

Dr. William Buffie, a well-respected physician and a leader in his field, is working alongside Indiana Equality to encourage the Indiana State Medical Association to take a public stand against discrimination directed towards people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

HRC members and supporters met with Congressman Jeff Flake (AZ-R) in his Mesa office earlier this week. At the meeting was HRC Board of Governor Kathy Young, HRC Steering Committee member Kathy Marvel, HRC members Kimberly Barnes and Russ Gunther, and supporter William Babin. In 2007 Rep. Flake surprised his caucus by voting for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Last year he also voted to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. In a time when you don’t see many Republicans breaking from their party, Rep. Flake is willing to put his principles ahead of his party. This makes meeting with him even more vital - it’s the sharing of personal stories that makes the difference.

The Las Vegas ya es hora ¡Ciudadanía! naturalization workshop held on Saturday, July 16th was a success thanks to the kind participation of 175 volunteers who helped fill out, package and review the applications of approximately 180 participants applying for U.S, citizenship, some of which showed up very early in search of assistance. The goal of this workshop is to give the local community, especially the increasingly growing Latino/a community, the opportunity to have a voice in the political process of the United States by becoming voters. This workshop is even more valuable because it provides the assistance for free, and allows them to receive legal advice by some prominent local lawyers.

Recent statements of Rick Perry, Governor of Texas and presidential candidate, emphasize the anti-gay elements that have permeated this GOP primary season. Perry’s views are largely out-of-step with those of mainstream Americans - including people of faith. HRC has been tracking Perry and other presidential candidates closely this year. Perry’s remarks at a Christian-only day of prayer, which was paid for by the American Family Association (AFA), epitomize years of anti-gay and even homophobic behavior. Check out a sampling of Rick Perry’s attacks on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

It comes as no surprise that the LGBT community faces unique and serious challenges in today’s healthcare system, and while there have been recent efforts to collect data detailing these issues we remain very much behind where we need to be. Whether it be how knowledgeable your doctor is about LGBT specific health issues or discrimination in the exam room, the more we know about the state of LGBT healthcare the better.