HRC Blog

LGBT Health Awareness Week kicks off on March 28 with the theme “Come Out for Health”. As a members of the LGBT community know, “coming out” is not a one day or one week activity. It is a life-long journey. But sometimes it takes a special event like this to get us past that all-too-often, self-imposed obstacle to healthcare – procrastination.

Coming off the outstanding turnout at the marriage hearing this past week, the field team in Rhode Island went into full gear this weekend. We canvassed the famous Newport St. Patrick's Day Parade getting Rhode Islanders to call their state representatives and senators on the spot, and also sending them a postcard telling them they stand on the side of equality. Throughout the sea of green, the positive energy and good will bodes well for the fight ahead.

Today, March 10th is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. It is a time to consider the toll the epidemic has taken and continues to take on women across the nation. More than a quarter of all new HIV infections in the U.S. are among women and AIDS is the third leading cause of death, behind cancer and heart disease, for all women in the U.S. It is also a time to take action for ourselves, our loved ones and our community. If you don’t know your HIV status, make an appointment to be tested. What about your partner? Encourage her to do the same.

Today, after reviewing over 300,000 comments, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced HHS was rescinding provisions of a Bush era rule which allowed health care providers to refuse to provide any health care service or information for a religious or moral reason.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation has just released Equality from State to State 2010, a comprehensive report detailing LGBT-related legislation in 2010 and what is expected for 2011. New interactive maps of current state laws accompany the release of the report. Both can be found at http://www.hrc.org/statetostate2010