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, February 29th. I'm Heidi Williams.
And I'm Betsy Pursell. First up, an update on the Democratic presidential race.
In anticipation of next Tuesday's March 4th primaries, Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama has released an open letter to the GLBT community. Obama has also purchased targeted ad space in GLBT publications in Texas and Ohio, two states considered key in securing the Democratic presidential bid. Senator Hillary Clinton released her own open letter to the GLBT community before Super Tuesday February 5th.
Illinois state Senator David Koehler has introduced legislation to create civil unions in Illinois. If passed, the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act would allow opposite and same-sex couples to form civil unions with the same legal rights as married couples. The legislation would also recognize civil unions from other states.
Learning For Life, a group that administers youth programs for the Los Angeles Police and Fire Departments, has come under fire from Lambda Legal for sharing offices, finances and personnel with the Boy Scouts of America. Lambda Legal believes Learning For Life was created by the Boy Scouts of America to skirt the anti-discrimination policies of the city of Los Angeles. The Police Commission is currently investigating the charges.
An investigator for the Maine Human Rights Commission has determined a local youth camp discriminated against a transgender college student based on gender identity. The student had previously been employed by the camp as a middle school boys' counselor, and had received satisfactory performance reviews. A hearing on the case is scheduled for Monday.
A recently released survey by Statistics Canada shows GLBT Canadians are significantly more likely than straight Canadians to be the victims of violent crime. The study finds that the odds of being victimized were nearly twice as high for gay men and lesbians, and more than four times greater for bisexuals. This was the first time Statistics Canada asked survey respondents to identify their sexual orientation.
The Coalition of African Lesbians will host a conference for the people of Mozambique to discuss the discrimination and challenges GLBT Africans face. In parts of Africa, GLBT people are subject to detention, arrest, and even death by stoning. 38 of the 85 U.N. members opposed to GLBT civil rights are from Africa.
That's the news from us today. Thanks for tuning in to Equally Speaking.
Have a great weekend, and we'll see you back here again Monday morning.