Equally Speaking
Equally Speaking
Friday, July 13, 2007
The U.S. Senate could vote this week or next on a key piece of hate crimes legislation that would protect GLBT people from bias-motivated violence. The House has already passed this crucial bill — and if the Senate follows suit, it will mark the first time in history this legislation will have passed both houses of Congress in the same session. Call your senators ASAP at 202/224-3121 and urge them to vote in favor of the Matthew Shepard Act.
Surgeon general nominee John Holsinger said in a Senate confirmation hearing yesterday that he has had a change of heart on GLBT issues. Although he wrote a paper saying gay sex is unnatural and leads to disease, he said yesterday that it does not represent his current views and that he is personally troubled by the implication that he is anti-gay.
A new organization in Florida is gearing up to battle a proposed amendment to ban marriage and other rights for same-sex couples. It also happens that most of its members are straight. They say the amendment is wrong for the state and also threatens opposite-sex couples who are not married. In just two months, the group has already raised over $1 million.
Turning to Oregon, activists there are also highlighting straight support for equality. Their new campaign, “50 Voices for Equality,” features a cross-section of Oregonians who support a recently passed law that protects GLBT people from discrimination.
Turning to international news, a Turkish GLBT group is being brought up on charges of promoting immorality. A similar case several years ago was thrown out but prosecutors say Lambda Istanbul violates Turkish law that prohibits organizations that promote bad morals. Turkey has come under pressure from the European Union to treat GLBT citizens better as a condition of possible membership.
Finally, a poll in Israel shows strong support for fairness. Notwithstanding recent violence and protests of GLBT pride marches, a majority of Israelis say same-sex couples should have at least some domestic partnership rights. Unlike in the U.S., there is no civil marriage in Israel — only the religious institution.