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, May 2nd. I'm Sultan Shakir.
And I'm Cuc Vu. First up, HRC's XM Radio show has a new home.
"The Agenda with Joe Solmonese," HRC's live XM Radio show, will air on XM Take Five channel 155 beginning with its Monday broadcast. The show will continue to air live on Mondays from 6 to 8 p.m. eastern time. "The Agenda" will now open with a live call-in segment each episode. To learn more, visit theagendaonxm.org.
Florida Governor Charlie Crist is expected to sign legislation that would require school districts to prohibit bullying and harassment. Florida's Senate passed the bill unanimously on Wednesday. The legislation mandates that school districts adopt specific policies to deal with bullying, including methods of investigation and punishments. It also bans cyber bullying.
A motion by a Wells Fargo shareholder to remove protections for GLBT workers from the company's non discrimination policy was defeated at the bank's annual meeting. The motion called for the company to remove reference to sexual orientation in its employment policy. The proposal was easily defeated.
Tennessee legislation that would have which would have banned unmarried, cohabiting couples-same or opposite sex-from adopting has effectively been killed for this year. The Tennessee Equality Project reports that the bill has been referred to a summer study committee and that they do not expect the bill to come up on the calendar again this session. The status of this bill will be certain when the session ends later this month.
Nepal has elected its first openly gay person to Parliament. Sunil Plant, the founder of GLBT rights group Blue Diamond Society, won a seat representing Katmandu, Nepal's capital. Plant ran for the CPN-U, one of several small Communist parties. He was one of five GLBT people running for office nationwide.
Florida police have arrested a man and charged him with the murder of West Palm Beach GLBT activist Scott Graham. Ricardo David Funes-Valle was arrested Tuesday near Tampa on charges of first-degree murder. Funes-Valle, who confessed to the slaying to homicide detectives, was an acquaintance of Graham.
That's the news from us today. Thanks for tuning in to Equally Speaking.
We'll be showcasing HRC's great line of clothing every Friday here on Equally Speaking. Every purchase you make at HRC.org/cornerstore goes toward the important work of the Human Rights Campaign. Thanks for watching, have a good weekend.