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, December 14th. I’m John Lake.
And I’m Sarah Birnie. First up, an anti-gay marriage amendment in Florida moves forward.
A constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Florida is likely to appear on the ballot in 2008. Yesterday, Florida’s Secretary of State said the group pushing for the ban had collected more than a thousand extra signatures supporting the ballot measure.
The Church of Sweden said this week that it approves of legislation that makes marriage laws gender-neutral. The Evangelical Lutheran denomination boasts a membership that includes roughly 75 percent of the Swedish population.
The European Union has become the first international body to sign a treaty that explicitly prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The Charter of Fundamental Rights was signed this Wednesday at a ceremony in Strasbourg, France.
Professionals from Hillel will be able to reference the organization’s new LGBTQ Resource Guide during their annual staff conference later this month. The resource guide provides tools for reaching out to LGBTQ Jewish students on college campuses.
In San Diego, a majority of members on a high school district board is working with conservative groups to overturn an anti-discrimination law protecting GLBT students.
Four of the five board members have joined a federal lawsuit challenging the new law, which is expected to go into effect next month.
The University of Connecticut is working through a test program that explores the possibility of opposite-sex housing for undergraduates. This program could be helpful to members of UConn’s transgender community. Currently, transgender students must file for special housing accommodations on their own.
That’s the news from us today. Thanks for tuning in to Equally Speaking.
Have a great weekend and we’ll see you back here again Monday morning.