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 Wednesday, August 20th. I’m Betsy Pursell.
And I’m Cuc Vu. First up, news from the campaign trail.
The latest Harris Interactive poll shows registered LGBT voters favor Barack Obama over John McCain 68 to 10 percent. Another 15 percent of LGBT voters said they were still undecided on a candidate. The poll also has Obama maintaining his lead over McCain by 8 points.
The Obama campaign held a conference call with reporters to highlight the differences between the two presidential candidates on hate crimes legislation. Matt Nosanchuk who convened Obama’s National LGBT Steering and Policy Committee, said during the call that Obama has pledged to enact the Matthew Shepard Act during his administration. Obama also voted to add a hate crimes provision to a defense authorization bill last year. McCain voted against adding sexual orientation into federal hate-crimes law in 2000 and 2002.
A 25-year Special Forces veteran who says she was denied a job because she is transgender went to trial yesterday against the Library of Congress. Diane Schroer says the library violated a federal law's ban on sex discrimination in employment practices after they allegedly refused her a job after finding out she is transgender. The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the library on Schroer’s behalf.
Earlier this week, a judge dismissed a case by Lisa Miller, a lesbian who is trying to deny visitation rights to her former partner, Janet Jenkins. Frederick County Virginia Circuit Judge John Prosser sided with lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union, who argued that lower courts had already ruled in Jenkins’ favor. Jenkins has been fighting for visitation rights since the dissolution of the civil union she and Miller obtained in Vermont in 2000.
Former Marine Staff Sergeant and HRC Spokesperson Eric Alva has been named the 2008 Public Citizen of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers. Alva is being honored for his service in the military and his work on behalf of gay and lesbian soldiers. Alva, who was the first U.S. soldier to be wounded in the Iraq war, recently testified at a congressional hearing on the military’s discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
Last week, 8 LGBT people walked 96 miles in Arizona to raise awareness for marriage equality. Meg Sneed, one of the participants of the walk and a cancer survivor, said she walked to help defeat the fall referendum that would ban marriage for same-sex couples. Arizona became the first state to reject a constitutional amendment banning marriage for same-sex couples in 2006.
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.