Empire State Pride Agenda to hire new leader
Empire State Pride Agenda, New York’s leading gay rights group, will select Brian Ellner to be its next leader, according to the New York Times’ City Blog. [1]
Ellner is the senior counselor for community affairs for Schools Chancellor Joel Klein.
Says The Times:
“The selection is part of a broader move within the organization to restructure after a bill to legalize same-sex marriage failed decisively in the State Senate late last year.
“Mr. Ellner would assume leadership of the organization at a time when it is trying to regroup after suffering the most significant setback of its 20-year history. A Harvard and Dartmouth graduate who ran unsuccessfully for Manhattan borough president [2] in 2005, Mr. Ellner would help coordinate the next effort to pass legislation to legalize same-sex marriage in Albany.”
[1] http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/gay-rights-group-to-choose-a-new-leader/
[2] http://www.brianellner.com/
Mother: Gay Son Suffered Brutal Harassment at 4-h Camp
Harassment at 4-H Camp
Mother Says Gay Son Was Tortured at Camp
RIPLEY, W.Va. (WSAZ) — A mother from Jackson County, W.Va., says her teenage son was brutally harassed at summer 4-H camp because he’s gay. “He was unconscionable, he was, he could barely speak,” says the boy’s mother, Valera White. White said the language was so vile that she can’t categorize what was said. In fact, she didn’t find out what these campers said until the police report was filed. The catch is that police can not do much because there is no law that protects White’s 15-year-old son from what happened. West Virginia does not include sexual orientation in its hate crimes law. The family said what happened at camp isn’t their first experience with being ridiculed because their teenage son is gay. Doing things like going to the grocery store have become enormous tasks for White and her son because the taunting seems unending. White’s son says he cannot go to the movies anymore. When asked if he wanted to tell WSAZ.com what kind of comments people made to him, he said, “it’s not worth it.” A spokeswoman for the 4H camp says that the two boys in question were sent home from camp, though the family says there were actually three people. The spokesperson also says 4H always works to create an environment for children to feel safe. She says that counselors were nearby during the attack.
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/mother-gay-so…
TSA refuses to hire HIV+ Air Force Vetr to scan luggage, ACLU to sues – wonder if Obama will at lteat fix this?
“I was looking for a way to be able to serve my country once again and to supplement my income through this financial crisis with the possibility of changing my career. But after a lengthy interview and screening process, I was told that I am incapable and unworthy because I have HIV,” said Michael Lamarre, who worked in intelligence for the National Security Administration while serving in the Air Force from 1984 to 1987. “I am a long term HIV survivor, and it has never interfered in my ability to work. As I have learned having lived with HIV for nearly 20 years, people with HIV need to be able to make a living and support themselves just like everyone else as well as have the right to serve their country.”
Lamarre has lived with HIV for 19 years. His viral load is nearly undetectable and he has never had any of the medical conditions associated with AIDS. Just last November he completed a 165 mile bike ride for charity in just 2 days.
Today the ACLU filed a complaint on Lamarre’s behalf with the Equal Employment Opportunity Counselor for the Eastern Region of the TSA charging that the TSA is in violation of its own policy barring discrimination against people with disabilities. A copy of TSA’s non-discrimination policy is available on their website at: http://www.tsa.gov/assets/pdf/civil_rights_policy.pdf. The complaint also charges that the refusal to hire Lamarre violated his equal protection guarantees. It asks the TSA to rescind Lamarre’s disqualification from employment.
“As we have known for quite a while now, people living with HIV can lead long and productive lives and can make significant contributions in all professions, including baggage screeners,” said Dr. Margaret Fischl, MD, director and principal investigator of the AIDS clinical research unit at the University of Miami. “A baggage screener with HIV would pose no risk to others and would be no more likely to become infected with a cold or virus than anyone else working in the airport.”
A copy of the complaint filed by the ACLU as well as the letter notifying Lamarre that he was being disqualified because he has HIV and the paperwork submitted by his doctor stating he is physically capable of performing the duties is available at http://www.aclu.org/hiv/discrim/39827res20090611.html.
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Homosexuals Are “On Their Way to Hell” says Pat Robertson
Pat Robertson has dammned homosexuals to hell, claimed the majority of homosexuals were turned to that lifestyle due to an abusive relationship, and called homosexuality an “abomination of God”…all in one minute and 37 seconds.
Speaking on The 700 Club today, Robertson was responding to a question posed by a mother who was asking for help on “how to handle” her homosexual son: See Homosexuals Are “On Their Way to Hell” says Pat Robertson
TERRY MEEUWSEN (co-host): This is Theresa. This is difficult. She says, “How should we, as parents of a homosexual son, handle the ongoing challenges facing us, such as staying true to our faith and following the commandment to ‘love your neighbor as yourself’? This is very difficult for us.”
ROBERTSON: Well, first of all, he’s not your neighbor. He’s your son; that’s a different thing. You owe him, you know, advice and counsel and guidance. You’re his parent. First of all, you didn’t say how old he is. Secondly, I am not at all persuaded that so-called homosexuals are homosexuals because of biological problems. There may be a very few, but there are so many that have been made homosexuals because of a coach or a guidance counselor or some other male figure who has abused them and they think there’s something wrong with their sexuality. So you need to get deep into why he is what he is, instead of just saying, “Well, he’s a homosexual so how do I handle him, and how do I be Christian?” Well, I think you ought to tell him, “Listen, son, you know, here’s what the Bible says about this, and it’s called an abomination before God, so I’ve got to tell you the truth because I love you.” That’s what I think. All right, what else?
MEEUWSEN: And then you do that — you love him.
ROBERTSON: You love him. Of course you love him. And you accept him. You love him, but at the same time, you can’t let him just go, you know, he’ll wind up –
MEEUWSEN: Without knowing truth, yeah.
ROBERTSON: Well, I mean, if somebody’s on their way to hell, they’ll — I mean, you’ve got to love them to rescue them.
Instead of calling her son an “abomination of God” as Robertson would suggest, maybe “Theresa” should love and appreciate her son, regardless of his sexual orientation.
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Many domestic partners face deadline to reduce property tax hikes
Many gays, lesbians and seniors who registered their domestic partnerships in the early part of this decade were later hit with huge property-tax reassessments after their partners died or they broke off their relationships.
But they have until the end of this month to get those increases reversed.
The reversals are available to individuals who registered as domestic partners before Jan. 1, 2006, but were slapped with property tax hikes when their relationships ended or their partners died. The increases occurred because under laws enacted before 2006, couples in domestic partnerships were not treated like married couples when it came to property reassessment.
“I’ve known a number of people who had to give up their property because a partner died,” said longtime lesbian activist Wiggsy Sivertsen, a counselor and sociology professor at San Jose State University.
Under a 2007 law sponsored by Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, the reassessments can be reversed. But time is running out: Forms must be filed at county assessors’ offices by June 30.
Three years ago, domestic partners in California obtained the same property-tax rights as married people. But the new law was not retroactive, so gay and straight domestic partners who registered from Jan. 1, 2000, to Dec. 31, 2005, were treated differently from those who registered afterward. See Many domestic partners face deadline to reduce property tax hikes
San Jose Mercury News
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High School Student Takes On Anti-Gay Harassment — And Wins
ACLU Reaches Agreement With School District To Combat Bias After Lesbian Student Is Harassed By Teachers
VALLEJO, CA – The American Civil Liberties Union announced today that it has reached a settlement agreement with the Vallejo City Unified School District on behalf of a high school student who faced anti-gay harassment and discrimination from teachers and school staff and was required to participate in a school-sponsored “counseling” group designed to discourage students from being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. The settlement is designed to combat harassment and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity at all the district’s schools, and includes district-wide anti-harassment training for students and staff.
“All I ever wanted was to be able to go to school and just be myself. But I couldn’t do that when the people I was supposed to be learning from were judging me and telling me something was wrong with me. How was I supposed to learn when I was constantly scared?” said Hamilton, a high school student who came out as a lesbian when she was 13.
For Rochelle Hamilton, starting high school was the beginning of relentless verbal harassment and discrimination from teachers and staff based on her sexual orientation and gender expression. Hamilton began attending Vallejo’s Jesse Bethel High School as a sophomore in the fall of 2007. The verbal attacks started almost immediately, and continued for months.
Hamilton became severely depressed and her grades plummeted. Worried for her daughter, Hamilton’s mother, Cheri Hamilton, repeatedly wrote letters, made phone calls, and met in person with school and district officials for several months. After three months of outreach to the school and the district, Cheri Hamilton contacted the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California for help. The ACLU intervened to resolve the matter with the school district.
Hamilton reports that while some of the harassment she suffered came from other students, most of the time it came from school teachers and staff. Specific incidents included:
· A teacher approached Hamilton while she was hugging her girlfriend and said, “This is ungodly, and you’re going to hell. This is a sin.”
· Another teacher said, “What’s wrong with you? What are you, a man or a woman?”
· Other school staff made repeated harassing comments to Hamilton in front of her classmates, including saying, “it’s not right to be this way.”
· Hamilton was also on several occasions denied access to the girls’ locker room.
“California school districts are required by state law to protect students from harassment and discrimination, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity,” said Elizabeth Gill, an ACLU-NC staff attorney who worked with the district on the settlement. “If a school district ignores anti-gay bias in schools, it is plainly violating both state and federal law. These laws are designed, in part, to ensure that all students are able to learn and thrive free from bias. When it’s left unchecked, harassment can take a serious toll on students.”
One of the most egregious incidents in this case involved a school counselor who required Hamilton to attend a special weekly support group for gay students. The real purpose of the group was quickly revealed, however, when the counselor berated students for “choosing” to be gay and tried to convince them to change their sexual orientation or gender expression. The counselor told the students that it is “hard to get a job if you’re gay.” When Hamilton’s mother went to school officials about the “counseling” group, the counselor confronted Hamilton the next week, telling her, “You’re going to get this treatment your whole life. What are you going to do, stand up every time?”
“The district-wide anti-harassment training will make Vallejo schools a more welcoming place to learn for all students,” said Jory Steele, ACLU-NC’s managing attorney. “District administrators made the right move in taking important steps to protect its students from bias.”
Hamilton transferred out of Jesse Bethel High School midway through her sophomore year to escape the daily harassment. She is now completing her junior year at another high school in the district.
Pursuant to the five-year agreement reached with the ACLU, the district will adopt a clear policy explicitly prohibiting discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity, as required by California law; develop a specific procedure for harassment and discrimination complaints; provide mandatory training for all teachers and other staff who interact with students in how to identify anti-gay harassment and discrimination, why it’s harmful, and how to prevent it; and provide mandatory anti-harassment training to all students in the district, as well as taking other steps to make the district a more welcoming environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.
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Professional groups back gay marriage BurlingtonFreePress.com
Same-sex marriage rights got an endorsement Monday from four Vermont professional organizations who cited research findings that “children of lesbian and gay parents are as likely as those of heterosexual parents to flourish.”
They also said gay and lesbian parents are as likely as their heterosexual counterparts to provide healthy environments for children and that “there is no credible scientific evidence” relating parenting effectiveness to sexual orientation.
Their statement, which comes as the Vermont legislature prepares to consider same-sex marriage legislation, was released at a news conference called by the Vermont Psychological Association, the Vermont Psychiatric Association, the Vermont Association of Mental Health Counselors and the Vermont chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.
Speaking on the organizations’ behalf, Jackie Weinstock, an associate professor in the department of integrated professional studies at the University of Vermont, said the groups wanted to “set the record straight” by rebutting contentions by gay-marriage opponents that children raised by single-sex parents fare less well than their counterparts in heterosexual families.
“No study has shown that outcomes for children of single-sex families are any less positive than outcomes for children in heterosexual families,” Weinstock said. She said contrary findings sometimes cited by opponents apply in part to children of divorced parents, not exclusively to children of single-sex parents. She acknowledged that national studies of children in same-sex parents have been limited by small research samples. See Professional groups back gay marriage BurlingtonFreePress.com
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Bias behind higher rates of HIV in black gay men?
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Gay and bisexual black men in America are the most likely people in the world to contract HIV, and community advocates say current efforts to stem the epidemic aren’t working.
“Gay black men are more likely to contract HIV than any other population in the country,” said Caudie Grissom, a counselor with Atlantabased National AIDS Education & Services for Minorities. “Even with all of our modern technology and medication, American black gay men are more likely to have HIV than people living in third world countries.”
NAESM sponsored the fifth annual National African-American MSM Leadership Conference on HIV/AIDS. Held Jan. 22-25 in Atlanta, it attracted hundreds of community organizers and activists from across the country. See Bias behind higher rates of HIV in black gay men?
Southern Voice, GA
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