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, July 31st. I’m Janice Hughes.
And I’m John Greene. First up, news on PEPFAR.
President Bush has reauthorized the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Now, HRC is calling on the Department of Health and Human Services to update its regulations. The PEPFAR bill, which included a provision to repeal a discriminatory law barring HIV-positive visitors and immigrants from the United States, passed the U.S. House last week. HRC is asking for the removal of all remaining regulatory barriers for HIV-positive visitors and immigrants.
Utility company PG&E has announced that it will donate two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to the No on Proposition 8 campaign. Company officials also indicate they will assemble a business advisory council comprised of other companies supportive of marriage equality. If passed, Proposition 8 would amend the California’s Constitution to deny marriage for gay and lesbian couples.
A relief fund has been set up by the international Unitarian Universalist Association following a tragic shooting incident at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, where a gunman killed two and injured seven. Funds raised will be used to support church members affected by the tragedy. The Unitarian Universalist Church promotes progressive social work and advocates for the rights of women and GLBT people. For more information about the relief fund, visit UUA.org.
Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart, who was voted out of office this week, is scheduled to appear at a hearing today in connection with several felony campaign corruption charges. Rinehart came under fire earlier this month when he mailed a homophobic cartoon book to voters as part of his re-election campaign. Rinehart is accused of circumventing state campaign finance laws and is set to go to trial in September.
Top health officials for a United Nations AIDS prevention program say HIV infection rates among gay men in Asia are as severe as those which devastated the gay community in the United States in the 1980s. Officials are stressing the importance of working with affected communities to prevent the spread of HIV by increasing funding for programs that educate gay men on the risks of incautious sexual activity.
Organizers of the Beijing Olympics have set up a sex-determination laboratory to evaluate female athletes under suspicion of being men. The lab is similar to ones set up at previous Olympics in Sydney and Athens, and will evaluate an athlete’s external appearance, hormones and genes. Medical ethicists have said the practice is too intrusive and that previous examinations have never resulted in the discovery of a man posing as a woman.
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.