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 Thursday, June 19. I’m John Lake.
And I’m Bradley Mayer. First up, news from the Human Rights Campaign.
The Human Rights Campaign is calling for a criminal investigation into a case of alleged police brutality against a transgender woman in Memphis, Tennessee. Graphic surveillance footage surfaced this week that shows a police officer at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center brutally abusing Duanna Johnson, who was arrested on a prostitution charge. An FBI investigation into possible civil rights violations is ongoing and the Memphis Police Department has reportedly placed the officer on non-enforcement duty pending an administrative hearing.
The trial of a man charged in a July 2007 murder of a gay man outside of a nightclub began yesterday morning in Daytona Beach, Florida. 19-year-old Cesar Israel Villazano, who authorities say was in the country illegally from Mexico, faces life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder for the death of 34-year-old Oscar Mosqueda. According to early accounts, Villazano confessed to detectives that he shot Mosqueda. Police found a handgun and three spent rounds in Villazano’s vehicle and a passenger of Villazono’s was charged with possession of cocaine.
A gay man who has refused to pay his taxes for the past five years in a protest against the Defense of Marriage Act because it will not recognize his same-sex relationship is facing up to 15 years in prison. The IRS says it is legally bound by the Federal Defense of Marriage Act to treat same-sex partners as single. His trial is set to begin in November at the U.S. Tax Court in San Diego.
Pittsburgh City Council gave final approval yesterday to legislation creating a registry of couples that are unmarried, but declare a "mutual commitment" to each other, in an effort to allow partners to share employee benefits. The legislation allows both gay and straight couples to gain city recognition of their relationship. Pittsburgh has long offered benefits to domestic partners and common law spouses of its employees, but the new legislation tightens up definitions.
Two Michigan teenagers have been charged with aggravated assault in the beating of a third girl because she is a lesbian. Police say the 14-year old victim was attacked in a hallway at Wayland Union High School because she is an outspoken advocate for GLBT rights. A fourth student recorded the attack and posted it online. The footage is now in the possession of police and prosecutors. Michigan is one of a number of states which do not have hate crime laws covering sexuality.
A statement from a group of New York bishops condemns Governor David Paterson’s recent instruction to state bureaus to recognize all marriages granted outside of the state. Edward Cardinal Egan, the Archbishop of New York and one of the authors of the statement, says that “recognizing same sex unions will only serve to devalue marriage even more than what has already occurred in recent years.” Support for marriage for gay and lesbian couples is on the rise, however, and California on Monday became the second state to embrace marriage equality.
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.