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 Wednesday, February 6. I'm John Greene.
And I'm Candace Gingrich. First up, news from a court case in Boston.
A federal appeals court has dismissed a case involving the use of a gay-themed children's book in a Massachusetts public school. The parents who filed the lawsuit claim school officials violated their constitutional right to raise their children how they wish. They plan to appeal their case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In other legal news, a federal judge has upheld a verdict requiring Reverend Fred Phelps to pay damages to the father of a Marine whose funeral Phelp's church picketed. However, the judge did reduce the original 10 million dollar verdict to 5 million. Phelp's Westboro Baptist church routinely pickets the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq and people with AIDS.
The U.S. Justice Department has issued a revised equal-employment opportunity policy barring discrimination against any group. This comes five years after a GLBT advocacy group was told they could not use the Department's e-mail, bulletin boards and meeting rooms. Attorney General Mukasey said the department will "foster an environment in which diversity is valued, understood and sought."
Ernst and Young will receive the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Award at the 2008 greater New York gala later this month. Ernst and Young is a global accounting firm employing more than 130,000 people in 140 countries. The firm received a perfect 100 on HRC's Corporate Equality Index.
California could be the first state in the nation to have a holiday honoring an openly gay person. Plans are underway to introduce a bill that would establish a state holiday on the anniversary of Harvey Milk's birthday. Milk made history when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977.
The Maryland legislature is considering a bill that would abolish civil marriage. Instead, the state would recognize domestic partnerships for both same- and different-sex couples. Religious marriage in houses of worship would be unaffected, as would existing civil marriages.
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.