Equally Speaking
Good morning and thanks for tuning in to Equally Speaking, your morning dose of GLBT news from the Human Rights Campaign for Wednesday, January 30th. I'm David Paul.
And I'm Sarah Birnie. First up, an update on the presidential campaigns.
Florida held its Democratic and Republican presidential primaries yesterday. The campaigns next face Super Tuesday on February 5th, when 24 states, including Minnesota, hold their primaries or caucuses. Human Rights Campaign has organized trainings across Minnesota to prepare GLBT supporters for the caucuses. To learn more about all HRC's election activities, go to the Back Story blog at H-R-C Back Story dot org.
The city of Gainesville, Florida is considering an ordinance that would protect against discrimination on the basis of gender identity. If passed, Gainesville would be the seventh Florida city to ban gender identity discrimination. Discrimination based on race, religion, sexual orientation or gender is already illegal in Gainesville.
The U.S. military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy turned 15 yesterday. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" prohibits openly gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from serving in the military. All the Democratic presidential candidates favor lifting the ban, while the Republican candidates support keeping it.
In Arkansas, a petition is circulating for a ballot measure that would exclude unmarried couples, including same-sex couples, from adopting or becoming foster parents. Governor Mike Bee-Bee opposes the measure
because it doesn't allow full consideration of the circumstances of each child. A coalition of doctors, ministers, children's advocates and others have organized a counter-campaign against the proposal.
Reverend Jen Nagel has been ordained in Minneapolis as an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America pastor despite being in a same-sex relationship. The church allows local congregations to ordain gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. However, Nagel will not be listed on the national Evangelical Lutheran Church in America roster.
Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano has rejected $1 million in federal funding for abstinence-only education, citing the failure of such programs. Studies show that abstinence-only education in schools does nothing to reduce teen sex, and can actually be harmful to GLBT students. Arizona is the 16th state to reject federal abstinence-only funds.
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.