Hearing held on LGBT housing bill

Two Reps are backing a proposal to expand the Fair Housing Act to include LGBT people.

Portuguese govt may permit gay marriage

(Lisbon, Portugal) Portugal’s Socialist government has drawn up a proposal that would make Portugal the sixth European country to allow gay marriage.

The law is almost certain to pass, as the center-left Socialist government has the support of all left-of-center parties, who together have a majority in Parliament. Right-of-center parties oppose …

Death penalty for gays? Uganda debates proposal

(Kampala, Uganda) Proposed legislation would impose the death penalty for some gay Ugandans, and their family and friends could face up to seven years in jail if they fail to report them to authorities. Even landlords could be imprisoned for renting to homosexuals.

Gay rights activists say the bill, which has …

Patrick Kennedy clashes with outspoken RI bishop

(Providence, RI) Thomas Tobin, the Roman Catholic bishop of Providence, has made a career out of putting politicians in his crosshairs, but his latest battle over abortion threatens to spiritually exile Rep. Patrick Kennedy, a son of the nation’s most famous Roman Catholic family.

Their feud over a proposal expanding the …

Abstinence-only in health care bill

Funding for abstinence-only was put in the Senate Finance’s health care proposal.

Comedian: End world hunger? Sell the Vatican

(Rome) Comedian Sarah Silverman has a new proposal for ending world hunger: Sell the Vatican.

In a new profanity-laced monologue making the rounds on YouTube in time for U.N. World Food Day on Friday, Silverman suggests that it’s time for the pope to “move out of your house that is a …

Lutheran gay clergy proposal passes 1st hurdle

(Minneapolis) Leaders of the country’s largest Lutheran denomination prayed for unity Monday as they waded into a weeklong debate over homosexuality and the clergy, while a rule change that would allow people in same-sex relationships to serve cleared its first hurdle.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which is meeting this …

Lutherans begin gay clergy discussion in Minn.

(Minneapolis) Leaders of the country’s largest Lutheran denomination began discussing Monday whether or not to allow people in same-sex relationships to serve as clergy.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which is meeting this week in Minneapolis, plans to decide whether to approve a proposal that would allow individual congregations to …

Nominee confirmed for Civil Rights job

The New Jersey Commission on Civil Rights yesterday approved the nomination of a new state civil rights chief who is not admitted to practice law in New Jersey despite two lawmakers’ questions about his residency and commitment to gay and lesbian issues.

Chinh Le, Attorney General Anne Milgram’s nominee, was approved as head of the state Division on Civil Rights by a 6-0 vote of the commission at its monthly meeting in Newark. One commissioner abstained after her proposal for a private executive session between commissioners and the nominee was rejected.

See Nominee confirmed for Civil Rights job

The Star-Ledger

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US May Lift Entry Ban on HIV Patients

For more than two decades, anybody who is HIV positive has been prevented from entering the United States. But with President Barack Obama’s support, the ban will likely expire soon, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) taking public comments until August 17. The department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will then make the final decision. “We’re trying to end the stigma and the discriminatory practice for a disease that doesn’t warrant exclusion for coming into this country,” said the director of the CDC’s division of global migration and quarantine, Dr. Martin Cetron. “We have to appreciate this is not a threat we face from abroad.” He acknowledged that “HIV is clearly a public health disease of significance,” but added that simply letting somebody with HIV into the country does not “immediately pose a risk to the public.”

The proposal could allow an average of about 5,000 HIV-infected people into the United States each year. And according to a CDC estimate published in the federal register, the lifetime medical costs of those admitted in just the first year would total almost $100 million. The United States is one of about 15 countries that prevent entry of HIV-positive patients, though it is possible to obtain a waiver under certain conditions. See US May Lift Entry Ban on HIV Patients

The New American

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