 Washington Post | Gay-nups vote is Maine event nationwide New York Post That's why a ballot proposal on gay marriage to be decided by Maine voters tomorrow has drawn the nervous attention of liberal and conservative activists ... Maine to vote on gay marriage Maine voters to pass judgment on gay marriage Vermonters push for gay marriage |
 NECN | Wash. voters get final say on gay partnerships Seattle Times Washington state's slow-but-steady approach to increasing rights and benefits to gay and lesbian couples hit its first snag just as the three-year process ... Dozens at rally urge rejection of Referendum 71 US: Mass. can't force gay marriage benefits Tradition, not persecution |
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The LGBT community in Lansing, Flint, Detroit - even Traverse City - is all part of Kalamazoo. At least that's what supporters of the city's anti-discrimination ordinance believe.
The proposed ordinance would protect LGBT people from discrimination in the areas of employment, housing and public accommodations. Passed twice unanimously by the City Commission, it was rescinded both times due to signatures gathered by opponents and eventually forced onto the ballot.
Since then, the fight to encourage voters to keep the ordinance on the books come Nov. 3 has exploded. Every day, volunteers at One Kalamazoo - which heads up the effort - take and make calls to citizens of the city to ask for support. Every weekend, they are on the front porches, ringing doorbells and making sure that voters are as well informed as possible.
They opened their offices in early September, and have announced a steering committee that includes local PFLAG Kalamazoo President Narda Beauchamp, Rev. Matthew Laney of the First Congregational United Church of Christ and former, current and hopeful members of the City Commission.
"We look forward to continuing a public conversation about the importance of protecting all hardworking Kalamazoo residents," said Jon Hoadley, campaign manager for One Kalamazoo. "Everyone should have the chance to earn a living, provide a safe home for their families and otherwise enjoy what Kalamazoo has to offer without fear of being treated differently or unfairly."
The campaign has brought grassroots efforts to the forefront of its battle in unique ways: an online survey that decided the design of their lawn signs; canvassing opportunities that can be accomplished from one's home; use of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook for purposes of spreading updates about the campaign.
As of Oct. 20, their Facebook page had almost 3,000 fans.
And though the ordinance would only apply to housing, employment and accommodations in Kalamazoo, help has come to the west Michigan city from all across the state.
For some, like activist and former Michigan Equality Chair Derek Smiertka, it was just something that needed to be done.
"This is something we should do," the White Lake resident said on the eve of his One Kalamazoo canvassing experience. "There should be no such thing as a non-political gay or lesbian person. We should all be deeply involved and feel very concerned about what happens to our friends in Kalamazoo because it will happen to our friends in Lansing and in Detroit and in South Lyon. ... Unless we get involved and help, there's not going to be people who will come and help us when we need it."
Currently, the campaign is working to raise enough money to keep running their pro-ordinance commercial on local TV stations. The ad has run 25 times with $2,500 raised just for that endeavor, and now they're shooting for 50 runs. They're also encouraging more people to canvass and to write letters to the editor of the Kalamazoo Gazette in support of the ordinance.
"We're all hoping and looking for more political victories in our state," he said. "I think a lot of us are feeling pretty kicked and down and we need a victory. It's for the sake of KalamazKalamazoo, but it's also just a message to be sent across the state that not everybody is against us."
To read the entire article, click here.
Click here to see PFLAG Kalamazoo President Narda Beauchamp explain why this ordinance is important to her and her family.
The proposed ordinance would protect LGBT people from discrimination in the areas of employment, housing and public accommodations. Passed twice unanimously by the City Commission, it was rescinded both times due to signatures gathered by opponents and eventually forced onto the ballot.
Since then, the fight to encourage voters to keep the ordinance on the books come Nov. 3 has exploded. Every day, volunteers at One Kalamazoo - which heads up the effort - take and make calls to citizens of the city to ask for support. Every weekend, they are on the front porches, ringing doorbells and making sure that voters are as well informed as possible.
They opened their offices in early September, and have announced a steering committee that includes local PFLAG Kalamazoo President Narda Beauchamp, Rev. Matthew Laney of the First Congregational United Church of Christ and former, current and hopeful members of the City Commission.
"We look forward to continuing a public conversation about the importance of protecting all hardworking Kalamazoo residents," said Jon Hoadley, campaign manager for One Kalamazoo. "Everyone should have the chance to earn a living, provide a safe home for their families and otherwise enjoy what Kalamazoo has to offer without fear of being treated differently or unfairly."
The campaign has brought grassroots efforts to the forefront of its battle in unique ways: an online survey that decided the design of their lawn signs; canvassing opportunities that can be accomplished from one's home; use of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook for purposes of spreading updates about the campaign.
As of Oct. 20, their Facebook page had almost 3,000 fans.
And though the ordinance would only apply to housing, employment and accommodations in Kalamazoo, help has come to the west Michigan city from all across the state.
For some, like activist and former Michigan Equality Chair Derek Smiertka, it was just something that needed to be done.
"This is something we should do," the White Lake resident said on the eve of his One Kalamazoo canvassing experience. "There should be no such thing as a non-political gay or lesbian person. We should all be deeply involved and feel very concerned about what happens to our friends in Kalamazoo because it will happen to our friends in Lansing and in Detroit and in South Lyon. ... Unless we get involved and help, there's not going to be people who will come and help us when we need it."
Currently, the campaign is working to raise enough money to keep running their pro-ordinance commercial on local TV stations. The ad has run 25 times with $2,500 raised just for that endeavor, and now they're shooting for 50 runs. They're also encouraging more people to canvass and to write letters to the editor of the Kalamazoo Gazette in support of the ordinance.
"We're all hoping and looking for more political victories in our state," he said. "I think a lot of us are feeling pretty kicked and down and we need a victory. It's for the sake of KalamazKalamazoo, but it's also just a message to be sent across the state that not everybody is against us."
To read the entire article, click here.
Click here to see PFLAG Kalamazoo President Narda Beauchamp explain why this ordinance is important to her and her family.
According to this article from Tulsa World, what should have been a 10-minute walk to a friend's house ended with a trip to the hospital for Brandon Patrick, a Tulsan who said he was severely beaten last weekend because of his sexual orientation.Three people followed Patrick down the 1300 block of South Rockford Avenue about 11:45 p.m., yelling homophobic slurs and threats, he said.
Patrick, who is gay, said he ignored the group until they closed in and then asked why they were accosting him without provocation.
The assailants then started beating, biting and slashing at Patrick with a blade, he said, leaving him with several cuts on his head and body.
The 23-year-old has been peppered with insults before, but he said he never thought they would escalate to violence.
"I've never felt scared or feared for my safety before," he said. "You brush it off and walk on. That's what you're taught to do.
"This time, it didn't work."
Tulsa Police Officer Leland Ashley said the people who are accused of attacking acking Patrick are at large and were seen in a maroon Ford Mustang from the late 1990s or early 2000s.
Patrick described them as a woman in her early 40s and another woman and man, both in their late teens or early 20s.
Patrick said he regularly walks through the neighborhood and doesn't know his attackers. They might have seen him previously and decided to act Sunday, he said.
After his trip to the emergency room, Patrick saw an outpouring of support from across the country as his story was passed along via the social networking Web site Facebook.
Much of the support has been from Oklahomans for Equality, a Tulsa-based group that promotes fairness for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, the group's president, Toby Jenkins, said.
Oklahoma's hate-crimes law makes it a crime to "intimidate or harass another person because of the person's race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin or disability."
Jenkins noted that the state law excludes sexual orientation from the qualifiers for a hate crime. As a result, police are investigating the case only as an assault and battery.
Designation as a hate crime would allow for punishment beyond what would be imposed for the assault.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill earlier this month that would make assaulting someone because of his or her sexual orientation a federal crime.
The Senate is expected to approve the measure, and President Barack Obama is expected to sign it into law.
Patrick said it's frustrating that race and ethnicity are taken into account by state lawmakers but sexual orientation is not.
He said he hopes his ordeal will draw attention to the issue and lead to a change in state law.
Although Oklahoma isn't known for being particularly gay-friendly, gay men and lesbians are attacked at about the same rate as their urban counterparts in places such as New York and Chicago, Jenkins said.
"Hate crime, where people are targeted because of their sexual orientation, happens everywhere," he said.
"The kid was just walking down the sidewalk and got targeted," Jenkins said. "This raises the issue that we need to work on a more civilized society and a safe society for all of our citizens."
In response to this horrific crime, Nancy McDonald, chapter president of PFLAG Tulsa, said, "This case points to the importance of passing the Federal Hate Crimes bill so that states such as Oklahoma who have not included sexual orientation in the State Hate Crime Bill will relinquish the right to do so to the Federal Government and enable the Tulsa Police Department to prosecute the brutal attack of this young man as a Hate Crime."
Earlier this morning President Obama signed the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009. Below are his remarks:
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT SIGNING OF THE RYAN WHITE HIV/AIDS
TREATMENT EXTENSION ACT OF 2009
Diplomatic Reception Room
11:58 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, everybody.
AUDIENCE: Good morning.
THE PRESIDENT: We often speak about AIDS as if it's going on somewhere else. And for good reason -- this is a virus that has touched lives and decimated communities around the world, particularly in Africa. But often overlooked is the fact that we face a serious HIV/AIDS epidemic of our own -- right here in Washington, D.C., and right here in the United States of America. And today, we are taking two important steps forward in the fight that we face here at home.
It has been nearly three decades since this virus first became known. But for years, we refused to recognize it for what it was. It was coined a "gay disease." Those who had it were viewed with suspicion. There was a sense among some that people afflicted by AIDS somehow deserved their fate and that it was acceptable for our nation to look the other way.
A number of events and advances over the years have broadened our understanding of this cruel illness. One of them came in 1984, when a 13-year-old boy from central Indiana contracted HIV/AIDS from a transfusion. Doctors assured people that Ryan White posed no risk to his classmates or his community. But ignorance was still widespread. People didn't yet understand or believe that the virus couldn't be spread by casual contact. Parents protested Ryan's attendance in class. Some even pulled their kids out of school. Things got so bad that the White family had to ultimately move to another town.
It would have been easy for Ryan and his family to stay quiet and to fight the illness in private. But what Ryan showed was the same courage and strength that so many HIV-positive activists have shown over the years and shown around -- show around the world today. And because he did, we didn't just become more informed about HIV/AIDS, we began to take action to fight it.
In 1990, the year Ryan passed away, two great friends and unlikely political allies, Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch, came together and introduced the Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act -- the CARE Act -- which was later named after Ryan.
In a few minutes, I'm going to sign the fourth reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act. Now, in the past, policy differences have made reauthorizations of this program divisive and controversial. But that didn't happen this year. And for that, the members of Congress that are here today deserve extraordinary credit for passing this bill in the bipartisan manner that it deserves: Tom Harkin and Mike Enzi in the Senate, we are grateful to you for your extraordinary work; Speaker Pelosi, who's always leading the charge on so many issues; Frank Pallone, Jr., Joe Barton, Barbara Lee and Donna Christensen in the House, thank you for your extraordinary work -- oh don't worry, I'm getting to Henry. (Laughter.) Nancy is always looking out for members, but we've got a special section for Henry.
And Chairman Henry Waxman, who began holding hearings on AIDS in 1982, before there was even a name for AIDS, was leading here in Washington to make sure that this got the informed attention that it deserved and who led the House in passing the original Ryan White legislation in 1990.
I a>I also want to acknowledge the HIV community for crafting a consensus document that did so much to help move this process forward. Some of the advocates so important to this legislation are with us here today: Ernest Hopkins from Cities Advocating for Emergency AIDS Relief; Frank Oldham, Jr., President and CEO of the National Association of People with AIDS; and Julie Scofield, Executive Director of the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors.
And I'm especially honored that Ryan's mother, Jeanne White-Ginder, is here today. For 25 years, Jeanne had an immeasurable impact in helping ramp up America's response to this epidemic. While we lost Ryan at too young an age, Jeanne's efforts have extended the lives and saved the lives of so many others. We are so appreciative to you. Thank you. (Applause.)
You know, over the past 19 years this legislation has evolved from an emergency response into a comprehensive national program for the care and support of Americans living with HIV/AIDS. It helps communities that are most severely affected by this epidemic and often least served by our health care system, including minority communities, the LGBT community, rural communities, and the homeless. It's often the only option for the uninsured and the underinsured. And it provides life-saving medical services to more than half a million Americans every year, in every corner of the country.
It's helped us to open a critical front on the ongoing battle against HIV/AIDS. But let me be clear: This is a battle that's far from over, and it's a battle that all of us need to do our part to join. AIDS may no longer be the leading killer of Americans ages 25 to 44, as it once was. But there are still 1.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States, and more than 56,000 new infections occur every single year.
Some communities still experience unacceptably high rates of infection. Gay men make up 2 or 3 percent of the population, but more than half of all new cases. African Americans make up roughly half of all new cases. Nearly half of all new cases now occur in the South. And a staggering 7 percent of Washington, D.C.'s residents between the ages of 40 and 49 live with HIV/AIDS -- and the epidemic here isn't as severe as it is in several other U.S. cities.
So tackling this epidemic will take far more aggressive approaches than we've seen in the past -- not only from our federal government, but also state and local governments, from local community organizations, and from places of worship.
But it will also take an effort to end the stigma that has stopped people from getting tested; that has stopped people from facing their own illness; and that has sped the spread of this disease for far too long. A couple of years ago Michelle and I were in Africa and we tried to combat the stigma when we were in Kenya by taking a public HIV/AIDS test. And I'm proud to announce today we're about to take another step towards ending that stigma.
Twenty-two years ago, in a decision rooted in fear rather than fact, the United States instituted a travel ban on entry into the country for people living with HIV/AIDS. Now, we talk about reducing the stigma of this disease -- yet we've treated a visitor living with it as a threat. We lead the world when it comes to helping stem the AIDS pandemic -- yet we are one of only a dozen countries that still bar people from HIV from entering our own country.
If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it. And that's why, on Monday my administration will publish a final rule that eliminates the travel ban effective just after the New Year. Congress and President Bush began this process last year, and they ought to be commended for it. We are finishing the job. It's a step that will encourage people to get tested and get treatment, it's a step that will keep families together, and it'and it's a step that will save lives. (Applause.)
We are continuing the work of crafting a coordinated, measurable national HIV/AIDS strategy to stem and suppress this epidemic. I'm pleased to report that the Office of National AIDS Policy, led by Jeffrey Crowley, has already held eight in a series of 14 community discussions in cities across the country. They've brought together faith-based organizations and businesses, schools and research institutions, people living with HIV and concerned citizens, gathering ideas on how to target a national response that effectively reduces HIV infections, improves access to treatment, and eliminates health disparities. And we are encouraged by the energy, the enthusiasm, and great ideas that we've collected so far.
We can't give Ryan White back to Jeanne, back to his mom. But what we can do -- what the legislation that I'm about to sign has done for nearly 20 years -- is honor the courage that he and his family showed. What we can do is to take more action and educate more people. What we can do is keep fighting each and every day until we eliminate this disease from the face of the Earth.
So with that, let me sign this bill. (Applause.)
(The Act is signed.) (Applause.)
END 12:07 P.M. EDT
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT SIGNING OF THE RYAN WHITE HIV/AIDS
TREATMENT EXTENSION ACT OF 2009
Diplomatic Reception Room
11:58 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, everybody.
AUDIENCE: Good morning.
THE PRESIDENT: We often speak about AIDS as if it's going on somewhere else. And for good reason -- this is a virus that has touched lives and decimated communities around the world, particularly in Africa. But often overlooked is the fact that we face a serious HIV/AIDS epidemic of our own -- right here in Washington, D.C., and right here in the United States of America. And today, we are taking two important steps forward in the fight that we face here at home.
It has been nearly three decades since this virus first became known. But for years, we refused to recognize it for what it was. It was coined a "gay disease." Those who had it were viewed with suspicion. There was a sense among some that people afflicted by AIDS somehow deserved their fate and that it was acceptable for our nation to look the other way.
A number of events and advances over the years have broadened our understanding of this cruel illness. One of them came in 1984, when a 13-year-old boy from central Indiana contracted HIV/AIDS from a transfusion. Doctors assured people that Ryan White posed no risk to his classmates or his community. But ignorance was still widespread. People didn't yet understand or believe that the virus couldn't be spread by casual contact. Parents protested Ryan's attendance in class. Some even pulled their kids out of school. Things got so bad that the White family had to ultimately move to another town.
It would have been easy for Ryan and his family to stay quiet and to fight the illness in private. But what Ryan showed was the same courage and strength that so many HIV-positive activists have shown over the years and shown around -- show around the world today. And because he did, we didn't just become more informed about HIV/AIDS, we began to take action to fight it.
In 1990, the year Ryan passed away, two great friends and unlikely political allies, Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch, came together and introduced the Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act -- the CARE Act -- which was later named after Ryan.
In a few minutes, I'm going to sign the fourth reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act. Now, in the past, policy differences have made reauthorizations of this program divisive and controversial. But that didn't happen this year. And for that, the members of Congress that are here today deserve extraordinary credit for passing this bill in the bipartisan manner that it deserves: Tom Harkin and Mike Enzi in the Senate, we are grateful to you for your extraordinary work; Speaker Pelosi, who's always leading the charge on so many issues; Frank Pallone, Jr., Joe Barton, Barbara Lee and Donna Christensen in the House, thank you for your extraordinary work -- oh don't worry, I'm getting to Henry. (Laughter.) Nancy is always looking out for members, but we've got a special section for Henry.
And Chairman Henry Waxman, who began holding hearings on AIDS in 1982, before there was even a name for AIDS, was leading here in Washington to make sure that this got the informed attention that it deserved and who led the House in passing the original Ryan White legislation in 1990.
I a>I also want to acknowledge the HIV community for crafting a consensus document that did so much to help move this process forward. Some of the advocates so important to this legislation are with us here today: Ernest Hopkins from Cities Advocating for Emergency AIDS Relief; Frank Oldham, Jr., President and CEO of the National Association of People with AIDS; and Julie Scofield, Executive Director of the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors.
And I'm especially honored that Ryan's mother, Jeanne White-Ginder, is here today. For 25 years, Jeanne had an immeasurable impact in helping ramp up America's response to this epidemic. While we lost Ryan at too young an age, Jeanne's efforts have extended the lives and saved the lives of so many others. We are so appreciative to you. Thank you. (Applause.)
You know, over the past 19 years this legislation has evolved from an emergency response into a comprehensive national program for the care and support of Americans living with HIV/AIDS. It helps communities that are most severely affected by this epidemic and often least served by our health care system, including minority communities, the LGBT community, rural communities, and the homeless. It's often the only option for the uninsured and the underinsured. And it provides life-saving medical services to more than half a million Americans every year, in every corner of the country.
It's helped us to open a critical front on the ongoing battle against HIV/AIDS. But let me be clear: This is a battle that's far from over, and it's a battle that all of us need to do our part to join. AIDS may no longer be the leading killer of Americans ages 25 to 44, as it once was. But there are still 1.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States, and more than 56,000 new infections occur every single year.
Some communities still experience unacceptably high rates of infection. Gay men make up 2 or 3 percent of the population, but more than half of all new cases. African Americans make up roughly half of all new cases. Nearly half of all new cases now occur in the South. And a staggering 7 percent of Washington, D.C.'s residents between the ages of 40 and 49 live with HIV/AIDS -- and the epidemic here isn't as severe as it is in several other U.S. cities.
So tackling this epidemic will take far more aggressive approaches than we've seen in the past -- not only from our federal government, but also state and local governments, from local community organizations, and from places of worship.
But it will also take an effort to end the stigma that has stopped people from getting tested; that has stopped people from facing their own illness; and that has sped the spread of this disease for far too long. A couple of years ago Michelle and I were in Africa and we tried to combat the stigma when we were in Kenya by taking a public HIV/AIDS test. And I'm proud to announce today we're about to take another step towards ending that stigma.
Twenty-two years ago, in a decision rooted in fear rather than fact, the United States instituted a travel ban on entry into the country for people living with HIV/AIDS. Now, we talk about reducing the stigma of this disease -- yet we've treated a visitor living with it as a threat. We lead the world when it comes to helping stem the AIDS pandemic -- yet we are one of only a dozen countries that still bar people from HIV from entering our own country.
If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it. And that's why, on Monday my administration will publish a final rule that eliminates the travel ban effective just after the New Year. Congress and President Bush began this process last year, and they ought to be commended for it. We are finishing the job. It's a step that will encourage people to get tested and get treatment, it's a step that will keep families together, and it'and it's a step that will save lives. (Applause.)
We are continuing the work of crafting a coordinated, measurable national HIV/AIDS strategy to stem and suppress this epidemic. I'm pleased to report that the Office of National AIDS Policy, led by Jeffrey Crowley, has already held eight in a series of 14 community discussions in cities across the country. They've brought together faith-based organizations and businesses, schools and research institutions, people living with HIV and concerned citizens, gathering ideas on how to target a national response that effectively reduces HIV infections, improves access to treatment, and eliminates health disparities. And we are encouraged by the energy, the enthusiasm, and great ideas that we've collected so far.
We can't give Ryan White back to Jeanne, back to his mom. But what we can do -- what the legislation that I'm about to sign has done for nearly 20 years -- is honor the courage that he and his family showed. What we can do is to take more action and educate more people. What we can do is keep fighting each and every day until we eliminate this disease from the face of the Earth.
So with that, let me sign this bill. (Applause.)
(The Act is signed.) (Applause.)
END 12:07 P.M. EDT
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