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 Monday, February 11. I’m John Greene.
And I’m Charlie Nordstrom. First up, disappointing news from New Mexico.
The New Mexico Senate Judiciary Committee failed to approve a domestic partnership bill Saturday. The bill would have offered unmarried same- or opposite-sex couples the rights and benefits of married couples. The Committee chose to table the bill rather than bring it to the Senate floor for a vote. For the latest, visit the HRC blog at www.hrcbackstory.org.
Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs has added sex reassignment surgery to its employee health insurance coverage. This is part of a company plan to recruit and retain a more diverse workforce. The surgery can cost up to 150,000 dollars out of pocket, but is free under the company’s HMO and PPO plans.
In Pennsylvania, a measure has been introduced for a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. A similar proposal stalled in 2006, and state law already bans same-sex marriage. If the measure is approved, the soonest it could appear on the ballot is 2009.
Marisa Richmond won a landslide victory February 5 for a county committee position in Tennessee. She is Tennessee’s first openly transgender person to win an election. Richmond is also a candidate to be a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in August.
The GLBT Mormon group Affirmation hopes to meet soon with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints’ new president. The group hopes to begin a conversation about the Church’s stance on GLBT people. In 2006, a church official signed a letter from religious groups asking Congress for a marriage amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The Presbyterian Church USA’s court will soon hear two cases testing a June 2006 policy that allows local churches to ordain GLBT clergy. The church constitution bans non-celibate GLBT people from serving in church leadership positions. The Presbyterian Church has a historic tradition of allowing local churches to ordain people who have a “scruple,” or reservation, about church doctrine.
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.