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 Friday, January
18th. I'm John Lake.
And I'm Sarah Birnie. First up, news from the presidential campaign
trail.
Nevada will hold its caucuses tomorrow evening, and HRC staffers are on
the ground working to ensure that the GLBT community takes a visible and
active role. As part of this work, a rally aimed at energizing GLBT
voters is scheduled for tonight in Las Vegas. South Carolina will hold
its Republican primary on Saturday as well.
HRC is also holding a series of educational trainings in Florida
designed to mobilize voters against a proposed constitutional amendment
to ban same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage is already illegal under
Florida law. For the latest on all of HRC's Election '08 activities, go
to the HRC Back Story blog at http://www.hrcbackstory.org.
Iowa is also facing marriage equality foes. Hundreds gathered at a rally
earlier this week calling for a state constitutional amendment against
same-sex marriage. Last August, a district judge ruled that Iowa's
marriage law is unconstitutional and ordered Polk County to permit
same-sex couples to marry. That decision has been appealed to the Iowa
Supreme Court.
In more positive news, a new poll shows that a majority of Marylanders
support legal recognition of same-sex relationships. The poll, conducted
by the Baltimore Sun, reports that three out of five likely voters
indicate that they believe Maryland should formally recognize same-sex
relationships.
Three men in the African nation of Cameroon were sentenced to six months
of hard labor for homosexuality. The men have already been in detention
for six months. More than 30 people have been arrested in Cameroon in
the last two years on charges of homosexuality, despite an October 2006
United Nations ruling that found such arrests to be arbitrary and
unfair.
Cambridge, Massachusetts has elected the nation's first black
out-lesbian mayor. Denise Simmons was unanimously selected by the city
council earlier this week. Former Cambridge Mayor Ken Reeves was the
country's first openly gay African-American to hold that position.
Denise Simmons has been a member of the city council since 2002.
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.