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 LGBT news from the Human Rights Campaign for Thursday, September 25th. I’m Jim Rinefierd.
And I’m Jonathan Monteith. First up, news from Congress.
Yesterday, HRC participated in the first-ever U.S. Senate hearing exclusively on equal employment benefits for LGBT federal employees. HRC was a lead coalition partner in lobbying for the hearing. HRC President Joe Solmonese submitted written testimony for the hearing, which was held by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. For coverage on the hearing and to read the full testimony, visit HRCBackStory.org.
A Thurston County, Washington judge ruled a man who quit his job to care for his dying, same-sex domestic partner is entitled to unemployment benefits. Superior Court Judge Richard Hicks found that the definition of immediate family included the man’s partner of 12 years, making him eligible to receive benefits under the Employment Security Act. According to the Northwest Women's Law Center's Unemployment Law Project, the ruling appears to be the first in the state to address the issue of same-sex domestic partners.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is headed to New York today to join Governor David Paterson in hosting a fundraising event to uphold marriage equality in California. So far, supporters of Proposition 8, a ban that would end marriage equality in the state, are out-fundraising opponents. Supporters of Proposition 8 have raised 17.8 million dollars while opponents of the measure have brought in 12.4 million dollars, more than 2 million of which has come from the HRC California Marriage PAC.
In other California news, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed off on the latest state budget that cut funding for HIV/AIDS prevention services by 5 million dollars. The budget also allots less money to HIV/AIDS-related housing assistance, early intervention, and counseling and testing programs. The AIDS Drug Assistance Program and the Therapeutic Monitoring Program, considered by many HIV/AIDS activists to be two of the most important programs in the state, were spared cuts.
A lesbian soldier who won a discrimination case against Britain’s Ministry of Defense is now suing the British military for 800,000 dollars in compensation. Lance Bombardier Kerry Fletcher testified she was belittled at work, received threatening phone calls, and had her car vandalized after refusing to have sex with a sergeant and his friends. The Ministry of Defense denied it had ignored complaints from Fletcher.
A new report from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation shows the number of LGBT representations on broadcast television networks will more than double this year. LGBT representations will account for 2.6 percent of all scripted series regular characters on the 2008 to 2009 broadcast television schedule, up from 1.1 percent in 2007. Fox, which featured zero series regular LGBT characters last season, now has the highest percentage of LGBT characters on any network.
That’s the news from us today. Thanks for tuning in to Equally Speaking.
Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow morning.