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 Monday, December 10th. I’m Michael Cole.
And I’m Sarah Birnie. We’ll start with the launch of a new HRC Foundation initiative.
Tomorrow, the HRC Foundation will formally launch its latest initiative, All Children All Families. This initiative is aimed at finding permanent families for foster children by promoting fairness and opportunities for GLBT parents. During the launch in New Orleans, HRC will also release a new Promising Practices guide offering examples of effective practices for working with GLBT foster and adoptive parents.
In international news, late last week officials at Human Rights Watch announced that Iran has executed a man for sexual activity with other boys when he was a teenager. The country’s highest court had ordered the case to be retried but the government moved ahead with the execution nonetheless.
The president of Brazil has brought together GLBT civil rights leaders for a summit to discuss GLBT rights legislation and tackling homophobia. The meeting will be held in May and will involve representatives from the president’s office, cabinet members and legislators.
According to a recent judge’s ruling in Maine, a high school girls softball coach was not discriminated against when the school decided not to renew her for another year. It was the first lawsuit to test a recently passed state law that bans employment discrimination against gays and lesbians.
In a split ruling, Rhode Island’s Supreme Court has said that a lesbian couple who married in Massachusetts cannot get divorced in Rhode Island. Same-sex marriages performed in Massachusetts are not recognized in the state of Rhode Island. The court limited arguments solely to the issue of divorce, leaving marriage for Rhode Island same-sex couples in limbo.
Finally, the Florida Supreme Court has decided not to review a case involving a former Christian school student who was expelled because he is gay. Two years ago, the state’s highest court was asked to determine whether Jeffrey Woodard should be entitled to seek damages for emotional distress.
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.