Gay Montclair University Student Protests Ban on Donating Blood
A 20-year-old sophomore at Montclair State University, Weinstein signed up to donate blood last November at a Red Cross blood drive on campus because, he said, “I thought it would be a nice thing to do.”
But when Weinstein, who is gay, answered “yes” on a questionnaire asking whether or not he had had sexual relations with another man since 1977, American Red Cross volunteers running the drive told him that he was ineligible to be a donor.
“My initial reaction was absolute shock. I thought, there’s no way,” Weinstein, a Randolph native, said last week.
For the past several months, blood supplies around New Jersey have hit critically low levels. Karen Ferriday, a spokeswoman for Community Blood Services in Oradell, said blood stores, which optimally provide three to five days worth of blood, have fallen to half-day supplies for the past several months.
Still, donors like Weinstein have found themselves turned away from donating because a Food and Drug Administration regulation born at the height of the AIDS scare in 1983 still places a lifetime ban on blood donations by gay and bisexual men.
Women who have had sex with a gay or bisexual partner are out, too.
See
Gay Montclair University Student Protests Ban on Donating Blood
| Published by |
 |
Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/03/gay-montclair…
Equality California to Bring Over 2,000 Californians to Sacramento for Lobby Day to Support the Invalidation of Prop 8
Equality California is sponsoring Lobby Day where a diverse group of volunteers and activists will urge legislators to support Equality California-sponsored companion resolutions SR 7 (Leno) and HR 5 (Ammiano), in the State Senate and Assembly. The resolutions would put the legislature on record as opposing Prop 8 as an invalid revision to the California Constitution. More than 2,000 volunteers have already registered to participate.
When: Tuesday, February 17, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
10:30 a.m.: Assembly judiciary committee hearing on HR 5
12:15 p.m. Rally
12:30 p.m. Senate Judiciary hearing on SR 7
1-4 p.m.: lobby visits
Where: California State Capitol, 10th Street and Capitol Mall, Sacramento, CA 95814
Who: Lobby day will bring together diverse civil rights and faith leaders, community members and allies from across the state and a number of elected officials, including Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), Senator Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego), Senator Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), State Assemblymember John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), and Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal (D-Long Beach).
Lobby Day will follow a series of coordinated actions supporting marriage for same-sex couples over President’s Day weekend. On Monday, February 16, EQCA will also co-sponsor a rally with Equality Action NOW, Marriage Equality USA, and California Outreach at the Capitol.
EQCA works to achieve equality and secure legal protections for LGBT people. To improve the lives of LGBT Californians, EQCA sponsors legislation and coordinates efforts to ensure its passage, lobbies legislators and other policy makers, builds coalitions, develops community strength and empowers individuals and other organizations to engage in the political process. www.eqca.org
| Published by |
|
Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/equality-cali…
200 Supporters of Gay & Lesbian Community March in2009 Los Angeles Chinatown New Year’s Parade
Contingent Organized by API Equality-LA Draws Record Participation
Los Angeles – On Saturday, January 31, 2009, a record 200 people joined the API Equality-LA contingent in the Golden Dragon Parade in Los Angeles’ Chinatown, one of the city’s most popular community event. Saturday marked only the fourth time in the parade’s 110-year history that a contingent representing and supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) members of the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) community has participated in the parade.
“We expected a strong turnout after all of the energy in our community since the November 2008 election, but we were absolutely astounded to welcome 200 participants – nearly three times as many as last year!” said Ericson Herbas, API Equality-LA steering committee member and one of the organizers of the contingent. “Particularly meaningful for all of us, we were also joined this year by same-sex couples who had been able to legally marry before November 2008.”
Wearing bright red t-shirts, the large contingent marched proudly through the streets of Chinatown, carrying banners displaying the six colors of the rainbow. The rainbow is commonly used to represent the pride of the LGBT community and was chosen by the API Equality-LA contingent to also represent the diversity of the coalition’s membership and supporters.
“Our participation in the lunar new year parade each year sends a powerful message of pride, diversity and inclusion,” said Marshall Wong, API Equality-LA co-chair. “Saturday was a wonderful way to enter the Year of the Ox. It is said that the Ox is a sign of prosperity through fortitude and hard work. Fortitude and hard work describe exactly what we need to win back the freedom to marry for the LGBT community. Today we took a short stroll around Chinatown but we’re committed to the long march to full equality.”
The contingent was led by a drum troupe playing traditional Korean drums, comprised of volunteers from the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA). And bringing up the rear of the API Equality-LA contingent was Danza Méxica Cuauhtemoc, a cultural troupe performing traditional Aztec dances, accompanied by Aztec drums and dressed in traditional Aztec clothes and tall feather headdresses.
“API Equality-LA was thrilled to be able to include both Korean and Aztec drums as well as Aztec dancers,” said Eileen Ma, another API Equality-LA steering committee member and organizer of the contingent. “For us, the drummers and dancers reinforced our message of pride in our diversity as a community.”
The diversity of the marchers was also evident in the organizations that officially joined the API Equality-LA contingent, many of whom proudly displayed their own organizational banners as part of the contingent. In addition to API Equality-LA, other organizations who participated in the contingent included: Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC); Asian Pacific Health Care Venture (APHCV); Asian Pacific Islander Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (API PFLAG); ); California Faith for Equality; Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) of San Gabriel Valley; Equal Roots Coalition; Gays United Network (Gays U.N.); Japanese American Citizens League (JACL); Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA); Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC); Love Honor Cherish; OCA-Greater Los Angeles; South Asian Network (SAN); and Asian Pacific Islander Pride Council, which includes Asian American Queer Women Activists (AAQWA), Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team (APAIT), Chinese Rainbow Association, Gay Asian Pacific Support Network (GAPSN), and Satrang.
(photo credit Ericson Herbas) * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
| Published by |
|
Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/200-supporter…
ACLU Lawsuit Charges U.S. Department of State Discriminated Against Former Veteran Because He Has HIV
“After putting my life on the line for my country for more than 20 years, I can’t believe my government is saying that I’m unworthy to work because I have HIV,” said John Doe (who is going by a pseudonym to protect himself and his family from further discrimination). “I need this job to support my family. I’m in good health, well qualified and eager to serve.”
According to the motion filed by Triple Canopy on Friday, the “Worldwide Personal Protective Services Contract,” which the State Department used to hire contractors to fulfill U.S. security needs around the globe, required that all personnel working under the contract produce a “[v]alid negative HIV result within six (6) months of report date to FDC [Forward Deployment Center].” The contract also lists “suggested physical standards,” which include a requirement that all contractor personnel be “free from communicable disease.” Yet, in its own answer to the lawsuit, the State Department claims that its contract with Triple Canopy doesn’t bar people with HIV from employment.
Triple Canopy is also claiming that it was justified in denying Doe the job because he posed a risk to others because he has HIV. “As we have known for years, people with HIV can safely work in jobs like law enforcement and security,” said Saxe. “There was no reason Doe could not have done the job.”
Doe, who was diagnosed with HIV in 2000, served his country for 20 years until his retirement from the Army in September 2001. From 2004 to 2005, he worked for Defense Department contractors in Iraq, where he led security teams on military bases. In each of these jobs, the government was aware that Doe had HIV, and had no problem with him performing the jobs in war zones in Iraq.
After being terminated by Triple Canopy, Doe filed a charge with the E.E.O.C. against the company. After conducting an investigation into the firing, the E.E.O.C. issued a Right to Sue letter, finding there was “reasonable cause” to believe that Triple Canopy had illegally fired Doe in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
This case is the latest in a string of challenges against the U.S. government for discrimination against people with HIV in the workplace. In July 2008, the ACLU, advocating on behalf of a volunteer, persuaded the Peace Corps to eliminate its policy of automatically barring volunteers with HIV. In February 2008, the State Department settled a lawsuit brought by Lambda Legal on behalf of a Foreign Service Worker for HIV discrimination and agreed to eliminate its policy of automatically excluding workers with HIV.
| Published by |
|
Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/01/aclu-lawsuit-…
Gay marriage likely to return to Mane Legislature in 209
Supporters and opponents of gay marriage are gathering signatures, lobbying lawmakers and drafting legislation in anticipation of a Statehouse battle over the issue in 2009.
In recent weeks, the politically charged issue has been heating up in Maine ahead of the new legislative session, which begins in early January. Coalitions of religious leaders on both sides have held press conferences advocating laws that would either make it legal for same-sex couples to wed or constitutionally prohibit the practice.
The advocacy group Equality Maine is ramping up its game, after three years of a low-key public education campaign to highlight gay and lesbian issues. And in opposition, a new group, the Maine Marriage Alliance, is pushing for an amendment to the state constitution that would define marriage as being between a man and a woman.
“Efforts are pretty clearly under way to simply redefine marriage in the state,” said the Rev. Bob Emrich, pastor of Emmanuel Bible Baptist Church in Plymouth and a founder of the alliance. “Let’s put that issue to rest. We want to define marriage, put it in the current constitution so we don’t have to wonder if the court or Legislature will overturn it.”
Equality Maine has been talking with various groups around the state since 2005, when voters upheld a gay rights law passed by the Legislature, according to executive director Betsy Smith. On Election Day, Equality Maine had 350 volunteers at 86 polling places, asking residents to sign postcards supporting same-sex marriage that would be sent to legislators. The goal was 10,000 signatures, and they collected 33,190, said Smith.
“There is clearly a lot of support for us winning marriage in Maine. There’s a lot of momentum, there’s a lot of enthusiasm. We’re really getting a lay of the land,” she said. “We’d be very excited to go forward with a bill.”
See Gay marriage likely to return
Kennebec Journal, ME
| Published by |
|
Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2008/12/gay-marriage-…
‘Day Without a Gay’ participation spotty
A daylong work stoppage for which people were encouraged to call in “gay” to express support for same-sex marriage drew spotty participation Wednesday, with some gay rights activists praising the event and others questioning its value.
People who opted to take the day off from their jobs as part of the national “Day Without a Gay” were encouraged to perform community service, and charitable organizations across the country said they had volunteers showing up.
“Visibility is really important for the gay community, so after a lot of thought I decided I would come out and be visible with my colleagues at work and use the time working for the community,” said Carrie Lewis, 36, a University of California health researcher who spent the day working at the Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center.
The protest, which a gay couple from West Hollywood organized through the Internet, was designed to demonstrate the economic clout of same-sex marriage supporters following the passage of voter-approved gay marriage bans in California, Arizona and Florida last month.
See ‘Day Without a Gay’ participation spotty
| Published by |
|
Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2008/12/day-without-g…
