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 Friday, August 1st. I’m Janice Hughes.
And I’m Sultan Shakir. First up, news from Massachusetts.
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed legislation yesterday that allows out-of-state same-sex couples to marry in the state. The bill, which repeals a 1913 law that prevented many out-of-state same-sex couples from marrying in Massachusetts, cleared the House earlier this week. Same-sex couples from any state will now be able to marry in Massachusetts, although their marriage may not be recognized by their home state.
In other marriage news, a study released by the UCLA Williams Institute finds that same-sex couples are taking advantage of the ability to marry or form civil unions when presented with the opportunity. The report found that more than 85,000 couples have signed up for legal recognition in eleven different states. Another new study conducted by the University of Illinois shows that gay and lesbian couples who have children and hold strong religious beliefs are the most likely to marry out of all same-sex couples.
A Florida Federal court ruled that a school district must allow a Gay-Straight Alliance to meet on campus. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of an Okeechobee High School student after the school principal said the club could not meet on campus because it interfered with abstinence-only education. According to HRC Senior Youth & Campus Outreach Senior Manager Candace Gingrich, the ruling proves that students have the absolute right to form Gay-Straight Alliances and that schools must consider the welfare of GLBT students.
In Gainesville, Florida, a conservative group calling itself Citizens for Good Public Policy has collected enough signatures to place an initiative on the city ballot that would tie Gainesville’s human rights law to the protections offered by the state. Unlike city law, which currently protects the rights of GLBT people in employment and housing, Florida state law does not include sexual orientation or gender identity as protected categories. The repeal effort has been sparked by controversy which followed the addition of gender identity to Gainesville’s human rights ordinance in January. Sexual orientation has been included in the ordinance since 1998, but would be removed in tandem with gender identity if the repeal initiative is not defeated.
Allen Andrade of Colorado is charged with second-degree murder in the fatal battery of twenty-year-old transgender woman Angie Zapata. Zapata’s body was discovered in her apartment by her sister on July 17th. Andrade had been arrested by Denver police when he was found driving Zapata’s vehicle, which had been reported as missing.
The Peace Corps will no longer terminate volunteers who are HIV-positive. The change in policy is a result of pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented Jeremiah Johnson, a volunteer whose contract with the group had been terminated after a mid-service examination revealed he was HIV-positive. In April, the ACLU had sent a letter to the Peace Corps, reminding it that it is illegal under the Rehabilitation Act for the Peace Corps to discriminate against Johnson because he has HIV.
That’s the news from us today. Thanks for tuning in to Equally Speaking.
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