November 6, 2008

Told Ya Prop 8 Would Hurt Cal’s Economy

State’s wedding vendors
face broken engagements

… [The passage of Proposition 8], which overturns the landmark state Supreme Court ruling in May that legalized same-sex marriage, cuts off a fresh source of revenue at the worst of economic times. …

“In difficult economic times like these we should be seeking all the business we can,” [Robert Gleason, chief financial officer for Evans Hotels] said, “and losing this opportunity will obviously be costly to the tourism industry and our economy.”

A study in June projected that gay men and lesbians would spend $684 million on cakes, photographers and other services over the next three years if the state Supreme Court ruling had been allowed to stand.

About half of the state’s more than 100,000 same-sex couples were expected to get married during the next three years, and about 68,000 out-of-state couples were expected to travel to California to exchange vows, according to the study by UCLA’s Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy. …

Harrah’s Rincon Casino and Resort in San Diego was featured in a national ad campaign by Harrah’s to attract gay and lesbian customers. …

Sal Giametta, a spokesman for [the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau], said San Diego will remain a “commitment ceremony” destination, but it will “not have the impact we’d have had if Prop. 8 had been overturned.” …

Last month the [Hard Rock Hotel], in conjunction with Olivia Cos. a lesbian-owned travel company that provides cruise and resort vacations for lesbians, hosted 100 individual wedding ceremonies and a reception for 200 brides and their families.

“It was fantastic,” said Matt Greene, general manager of the Hard Rock Hotel. “They rented our meeting space, they used our caterers, they spent money in our restaurants, the lounges and all over the Gaslamp.

“Now the money that was spent on those celebrations will dry up, along with the revenue opportunities for the hospitality industry,” Greene said. “Prop. 8 will definitely have a negative impact.”

Posted by: Sapphocrat

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Filed under: Business/Economy, California, Civil Rights, Marriage, Proposition 8, Travel

October 9, 2008

Thank You, Sun-Sentinel, for Keeping the Plight of Binational Couples in the News

There’s so little movement on the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), formerly the Permanent Partners Immigration Act — the bill first introduced by New York Rep. Jerry Nadler to correct discriminatory federal law that prevents United States citizens from sponsoring their foreign-born, same-sex partners for immigration, and which has been languishing in the House for more than eight years — it is often difficult, especially for those directly impacted, to maintain one’s hope of ever seeing the UAFA passed. (Of course, if we had full marriage equality, the UAFA would be moot.)

But the personal stories — of anguish at being forced to choose between love and country, betrayal of one’s birthright, and sure knowledge that our love and commitment to one another is not valued as highly as everyone else’s — never end, and must be told as they come to light. Luis F. Perez did just that yesterday in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

U.S. immigration won’t allow family
unification for same-sex couples

As soon as Terrence Smith saw his partner step off a plane from England three years ago he knew he had found a soul mate.

It’s a modern day love story, starting with an Internet hello. After weeks of online chatting, they met in Atlanta. A long-distance relationship ensued. Then Smith proposed.

If Smith had asked a woman to marry him, he would simply ask immigration officials to grant his wife permanent residence here. It’s called family unification and it’s the most common way for immigrants to gain legal status in the country. But federal law prohibits same-sex couples from that right.

So the 43-year-old Hollywood lawyer and Halil Akkor, 39, of London, remain separated. So do 36,000 of other same-sex couples across the country, according to Immigration Equality.

Actually, I believe 36,000 is a vast underestimate, and a bit misleading.

There may be 36,000 couples known to Immigration Equality today, but there are many living underground in the United States, risking deportation, fines, and prison time, who cannot afford to make themselves known.

By my own estimation some eight years ago (when I was far more deeply involved in the fight for immigration rights), the number of known binational couples in which one partner was a U.S. citizen, whether separated or living in another country, was 60,000 — and that was my most conservative estimate.

My calculations came from extrapolating numbers derived from such disparate sources as Immigration Equality (when it was still the National Gay and Lesbian Immigration Rights Task Force) to the U.S. State Department (when the Department of Homeland Security was still the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service), and the final total did not include either 1) couples in the U.S. hiding an “illegal” resident, 2) immigrants in sham marriages with members of the opposite sex (gay, sympathetic, or for pay) in exchange for a green card, or 3) couples in which the U.S. partner had emigrated to the foreign-born partner’s country, but was now “invisible” to the United States, usually due to deliberately allowing all ties with the State Department, the IRS, Social Security, state voter rolls, the DMV, etc., to lapse, eventually vanishing without a paper trail — and in a few very rare cases, by voluntary revocation of one’s United States citizenship. (Even the State Department has no idea how many Americans “drop off the radar” every year; total estimates at the time I did my calculations ranged anywhere from 1.5 million to more than 5 million self-”disappeared” Americans; you can figure the number of gay citizens from there by percentage, and then the number of potential binational “invisibles” within that number.)

Too, even couples who remain in their respective home countries but visit one another — frequently or infrequently, but always within the law — cannot afford to be too “out” about their relationships. If there is any question in the mind of the customs agent processing the visitor’s arrival that the visitor is not a “visitor” at all, but attempting to establish residency, there’s always a chance the visitor will be put on the next plane back home — and may have trouble ever visiting that country again.

Of all the (non-lawerly) advice I’ve ever given to couples traveling back and forth to see one another — and, as I used to head an informal group of binational couples, there were hundreds asking for help — I have always advised that the traveling partner “de-gay” him/herself and all baggage. The sight of a rainbow pin on a lapel, or a copy of The Advocate for onboard reading material, is more than enough to provoke an overzealous customs agent to pull you out of line and take you into the back room for a little talk. This is always a danger, regardless of whether or not the country in question offers same-sex immigrations rights, or even full marriage equality.

Anyway, in the end, I was fairly certain the number of known U.S./”other” binational couples was around 110,000 (or 220,000 individuals affected), but I chose to leave my estimate at the most conservative number, 60,000 (or 120,000 individuals affected). (Yes, if I can ever find my original study, I’ll present it here — but don’t count on my finding it. For me, that period of my life was… a lifetime ago.)

Back to the article:

“U.S. immigration law intolerably discriminates against gay and lesbian Americans by denying them the same rights received by heterosexual couples,” said U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D- Boca Raton, a co-sponsor of the Uniting America Families Act. “This is offensive and unacceptable.” …

Critics say granting immigration benefits to same-sex couples would be a step toward gay marriage.

“Americans basically support marriage between a man and a woman,” said the Rev. Louis Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition, a church lobbying group.

Up until 1990, homosexuality was grounds for not allowing people into the United States, said Victoria Nielson, legal director of the New York-based Immigration Equality, an immigration rights group that advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive individuals.

Current immigration law focuses on uniting families. But the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex relationships, Nielson said.

So many foreign-born partners of American citizens turn to renewing temporary work or student visas, asking for asylum, difficult-to-get employee-sponsored residency or staying illegally. Some leave the country.

Durrell Watkins, senior pastor of Fort Lauderdale’s Sunshine Cathedral MCC, called immigration benefits for same-sex couples a “human rights and civil rights” issue. He has witnessed the current law’s effect on couples. Watkins recalled a colleague who moved out of the country to be with her partner and spent the last year of her life abroad.

“She had to die in Spain,” he said.

Friends and family held a funeral in Canada in September so her partner, who overstayed a visa and was deported from this country, could attend. …

August 4, 2008

South Carolina’s Not-So-Gay Chad Prosser Has Some ‘Splainin’ to Do

It looks like Chad Prosser, director of South Carolina’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, is a big, fat liar* — and that some poor schmuck fell on his sword to cover Prosser’s butt.

In late June, Amro Worldwide announced a poster campaign to lure gay travelers from the U.K. to various destinations across the U.S., with the tagline Atlanta — or Boston, or Las Vegas, or wherever — is “so gay.” (We like it — it’s cool that somebody decided to co-opt the phrase “so gay” as a positive rather than a negative.)

At the time, South Carolina Tourism spokesperson Kirsty Dillury said:

“South Carolina has a lot to offer gay travellers, and we think that people may be surprised to see our destination reaching out to the gay market,” said Ms Dillury. “We are delighted to be involved with the ‘So Gay’ campaign in particular as it sends a powerful positive message to everyone that there is nothing wrong at all with a destination being described as ’so gay’. For our gay visitors it is actually quite wonderful for them to discover just how much South Carolina has to offer — from stunning plantation homes to miles of wide sandy beaches.”

By early July, however, SC Tourism pulled out of the campaign, and refused to pay Amro five grand. Per 365Gay.com:

South Carolina Pulls Plug On Gay Tourism Ads

South Carolina’s tourism agency has slapped the wrist of its ad manager and is refusing to go ahead and pay for a campaign to attract gay tourists from Britain.

The state employee who gave the OK for the ad campaign resigned Friday.

“[He] exercised extremely poor judgment in approving participation in the program,” state Parks, Recreation and Tourism director Chad Prosser told the State newspaper.

Prosser said the department will require more review in the future.

It was too late to stop the ads that proclaim “South Carolina is so gay”. They’ve already gone up in the London subway to take advantage of gay pride in the British capital.

But Prosser said Friday the state will refuse to pay the $5,000 cost of the ads. …

Today, WSPA-TV reveals that Prosser himself had essentially approved the “so gay” campaign — or, rather, he was for it before he was against it:

…PRT emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that, on July 3, Prosser told his staff the state would take part in the campaign. The email to London says, “Per Chad’s direction as of 4:40 p.m. today, (July 3) DO NOT ask the vendor to remove South Carolina from the campaign.”

Prosser told reporters after the story broke that upper management at PRT never approved the posters, and other emails back that up. He says it was approved by a lower-level employee who resigned after lawmakers, the governor and members of the public questioned the use of tax dollars for the ads.

One email, from PRT Communications Director Marion Edmonds, says, “I’m praying this little story doesn’t jump the pond.” His email was in response to one from another PRT employee’s friend who was traveling in London and sent a cell phone photo of the South Carolina poster. “I hadn’t seen the photo of the poster,” he writes. Prosser says he also had not seen the actual ad until he was forwarded the same email with a photo of the poster in the London subway.

What a… Well, you find your own word for what Prosser is.

Meanwhile, we can’t make heads nor tails of the gobbledygook excuse Prosser offered WSPA:

Asked why he directed staff not to ask the vendor to remove South Carolina’s poster from the campaign, Prosser told News Channel 7, “These were not our ads. We did not place them, so we didn’t have the authority to pull them.” …

Prosser says his initial reaction was, in fact, to pull the ads. But once he found out the ads were done by Amro, not PRT, he decided not to ask that they be pulled.

“Asking for ads that we weren’t paying for, that we didn’t place, to be pulled would’ve been difficult,” Prosser says. And there was another reason. “We found out by that point that the campaign was extremely limited in time and the ads were already scheduled to come down, so there was really nothing that we could do to speed that process up,” he says.

Oh, puh-leeze.

* No libel here: We said it looks like Prosser is a big, fat liar — “big” and “fat” being purely figurative, as we have no idea what he looks like.

Posted by: Sapphocrat

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Filed under: Business/Economy, Homophobia, Media, South Carolina, Travel, United Kingdom & N.I.

August 1, 2008

PEPFAR Signed — But for Binational Couples, There’s Still a Fly in the Ointment

By Kathy Drasky, Out4Immigration

WASHINGTON, DC — July 31, 2008 — President Bush signed the President’s Emergency Program [PEPFAR] into law yesterday at the White House.

The landmark bill, which passed in both the House and Senate by wide margins earlier this month, provides $48 billion over the next five years for the global fight of AIDS. Within the legislation is a directive to lift the HIV travel/immigration ban, which bars foreign travelers with HIV/AIDS from entering the United States unless they obtain a spouse or family waiver. That ban is blatantly discriminatory, particularly against gay men and lesbians with the illness, because under current US immigration law, their partners do not qualify as spouses or family.

While the President’s signature on this bill is a first step toward working to end immigration discrimination, one more barrier for HIV-positive visitors and immigrants must be removed. US immigration laws require the Secretary of Health and Human Services [HHS] to maintain a list of diseases that render people unable to enter the United States. HIV remains on that list.

“Out4Immigration applauds the US government’s continued commitment to the global fight against AIDS. We are especially pleased by the provision in this legislation sponsored by Senators John Kerry and Gordon Smith in the Senate and Congresswoman Barbara Lee in the House that repeals the draconian ban against people with HIV entering our country. We hope that the Secretary of Health and Human Services acts quickly to remove HIV from the list of diseases that prevents entry into the US as is dictated by PEPFAR” said Michael Lim, Vice President of Out4Immigration.

“Today we all know that HIV/AIDS is a preventable disease and that people who are living with the illness can take proven precautions to prevent its transmission.” Out4Immigration is a national grassroots organization dedicated to raising awareness about the discrimination gay and lesbian Americans face under current US immigration law. Because the United States does not recognize same-sex relationships at the federal level, gays and lesbians are shut out from many federal benefits that would protect their families. One of the most devastating consequences of this is lack of immigration rights.

“Prior to PEPFAR, and what we hope will be a swift removal of HIV by the HHS, an American gay person in a relationship with a foreign partner with HIV/AIDS could be permanently separated from their partner because the foreign partner did not have the right to travel in and out of the country because of the HIV travel ban,” explained Lim.

“On the other hand, heterosexuals married to a foreign partner with HIV/AIDS could obtain a waiver, based on the fact that they were assumed to be in a committed, monogamous relationship that would prohibit the spread of the disease to the community at-large. This was blatant discrimination against gays and lesbians.”

The PEPFAR legislation, with the lifting of HIV by the HHS, will now treat all foreign visitors and immigrants with HIV/AIDS the same. “It is an important first step to end immigration discrimination in the US,” said Lim. “According to a Human Rights Watch report, we still have more than 36,000 committed same-sex binational couples who are denied the right to a green card because our country does not recognize their right to be together.”

These couples would benefit from legislation called the Uniting American Families Act [UAFA], which would effectively add the words “or permanent partner” to existing immigration law wherever the word “spouse” appears. The bill currently has 99 co-sponsors in the House and 14 in the Senate. It needs many more in both chambers to come up for a vote that would have the kind of overwhelming support PEPFAR had to insure the president’s signature.

For more information:

Out4Immigration

About PEPFAR

Human Rights Watch Report: Family Unvalued: Discrimination, Denial, and the Fate of Binational Same-Sex Couples under US Law

The Uniting American Families Act [H.R. 2221]

The Uniting American Families Act [S.1328]

PEPFAR: $48 Billion Landmark Bill Reauthorized; Millions of Lives to be Saved
July 17, 2008

U.S. Senate Approves Repeal of Discriminatory HIV Travel and Immigration Ban
July 17, 2008

Bush Signs Bill Repealing Discriminatory HIV Travel and Immigration Law
July 31, 2008

Could the International AIDS Conference Come to D.C.?
August 1, 2008

Posted by: Sapphocrat

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Filed under: Guest Articles, HIV/AIDS, Immigration, Travel, United States

Could the International AIDS Conference Come to D.C.?

HIV Travel Ban End Could Bring Conference Back to the United States

By David Mariner, Temenos.net

For more than two decades, the International AIDS Conference has taken place every two years in countries around the world with the exception of the United States.

The International AIDS Society does not hold its conferences in countries that restrict short-term entry of people living with HIV/AIDS and/or require prospective HIV-positive visitors to declare their HIV status on visa application forms or other documentation required for entry into the country.

The United States made news around the world in 1989 when Dutch AIDS activist Hans Paul Verhoff was denied entry into the United States because of his HIV status. The ban was codified into as part of the NIH reauthorization in 1993.

But this era has gladly come to an end. Thankfully, the reauthorization of PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief which was signed into law yesterday. It included a provision to repeal discriminatory HIV travel and immigration law, raising the possibility of the International AIDS Conference coming to the United States.

Could the International AIDS Conference come to Washington DC? Well it won’t happen in 2008 when the conference will take place in Mexico city. And it won’t happen in 2010 when the conference will take place in Vienna. But it could happen in 2012.

Previous DC HIV/AIDS Director Marcia Martin suggested the conference come to DC should the travel ban be lifted at an event in 2006.

There are many reasons it makes sense to do so. First, with one in 20 DC residents living with HIV, this conference could potentially shine an international spotlight on our devastating HIV/AIDS statistics. Second, with so many decisions that impact HIV/AIDS around the world being made in our nation’s capitol, the possibility of bringing HIV/AIDS advocates from around the world to DC has exciting potential. Third, a conference of this size could be a huge economic boost to the District.

As plans are made for the 2012, the International AIDS Society has an opportunity to make a powerful statement by bringing the conference back to the United States for the first time in twenty years. I hope they do so by holding the 2012 conference in the United States, and give serious consideration to holding the conference in Washington, DC.

PEPFAR: $48 Billion Landmark Bill Reauthorized; Millions of Lives to be Saved
July 17, 2008

U.S. Senate Approves Repeal of Discriminatory HIV Travel and Immigration Ban
July 17, 2008

Bush Signs Bill Repealing Discriminatory HIV Travel and Immigration Law
July 31, 2008

Posted by: Sapphocrat

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Filed under: Events, Guest Articles, HIV/AIDS, Immigration, Travel, United States, Washington, D.C.

July 31, 2008

Bush Signs Bill Repealing Discriminatory HIV Travel and Immigration Law

WASHINGTON — July 30 — HRC — The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, today called on the Department of Health and Human Services to update its regulations following the President’s signing of legislation to reauthorize PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Included in this measure was a provision to repeal our nation’s discriminatory law barring HIV-positive visitors and immigrants. The PEPFAR bill passed the Senate on July 16 and the U.S. House passed the bill last week.

“We appreciate the President signing the repeal of this unjust and sweeping policy that deems HIV-positive individuals inadmissible to the United States,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “The HIV travel and immigration ban performs no public health service, is unnecessary and ineffective. We thank our allies on the Hill who fought to end this injustice and now call on Secretary of Health and Human Services Leavitt to remove the remaining regulatory barriers to HIV-positive visitors and immigrants.”

HRC has been a lead organization lobbying on Capitol Hill for the repeal and will continue to work to ensure that Department of Health and Human Services’ regulations are changed. The Human Rights Campaign has worked closely with the offices of Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Gordon Smith (R-OR), as well as Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), the sponsor of an effort to repeal the ban in the House of Representatives. Both Sen. Kerry and Rep. Lee participated in a national media conference call held by HRC in March. In addition to action alerts urging members to contact their Senators, HRC and Immigration Equality drafted a coalition letter on behalf of more than 165 organizations in support of the Kerry-Smith provision in the PEPFAR bill, and directly lobbied numerous Senate offices on the repeal measure.

In December of 2007, Senators Kerry and Smith introduced legislation, the HIV Non-Discrimination in Travel and Immigration Act (S. 2486), to repeal the ban. In the House, U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced similar the legislation, H.R. 3337, in August 2007. The travel and immigration ban prohibits HIV-positive foreign nationals from entering the U.S. unless they obtain a special waiver, which is difficult to obtain and can only allow for short-term travel. Current policy also prevents the vast majority of foreign nationals with HIV from obtaining legal permanent residency in the United States.

The ban originated in 1987, and explicitly codified by Congress in 1993, despite efforts in the public health community to remove the ban when Congress reformed U.S. immigration law in the early 1990s. While immigration law currently excludes foreigners with any “communicable disease of public health significance” from entering the U.S., only HIV is explicitly named in the statute. For all other illnesses, the Secretary of Health and Human Services retains the ability, with the medical expertise of his department, to determine which illnesses truly pose a risk to public health.

U.S. Senate Approves Repeal of Discriminatory HIV Travel and Immigration Ban
July 17, 2008

Posted by: Sapphocrat

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Filed under: George W. Bush, HIV/AIDS, Immigration, Travel, United States

July 25, 2008

The Tide Is Turning: House Votes to Repeal HIV Travel Ban

Task Force Action Fund Applauds
US House Vote to Repeal HIV Travel Ban,
Calls on President Bush to Sign Swiftly

WASHINGTON — July 25 — The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund applauds the U.S. House’s vote late yesterday to repeal the HIV travel ban. The Senate voted July 16 to repeal the prohibition, which was codified by Congress in 1993. While immigration law currently excludes foreigners with any “communicable disease of public health significance” from entering the country, only HIV is explicitly named in the statute.

Statement by Rea Carey, Executive Director,
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund:

“For far too long, people with HIV have been inhumanely blocked from entering the United States due to profound ignorance, fear and misinformation. It’s time to abolish this arcane and unjust law once and for all. We applaud the House and Senate for acting to do just that, and we urge President Bush to move swiftly to sign the repeal.”

Posted by: Sapphocrat

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Filed under: HIV/AIDS, Press Releases, Travel, U.S. Congress, United States

July 21, 2008

Digesting the News

I haven’t finished the first part of project mentioned here, but it’s getting there. In the meantime, while I continue to dig into the ugly depths of the anti-gay movement, here’s a quick rundown of what’s happening in our world:

Freaks on the Family Grand Poobah James Dobson is flip-flopping — again — on whether or not he’s going to vote for John McCain… because, of course, in Dobson’s diseased mind, Barack Obama is a baby killer.

Speaking of The Presumptuous Nominee, Queerty notes that Florida’s gay Democrats are disappointed with the Obama campaign, and quotes a report from Florida Capital News: “The leader of the Florida Democratic Party’s gay caucus, declaring that ‘I’m sick and tired of getting table scraps,’ complained Saturday that Sen. Barack Obama offended a large and faithful voting bloc by not sending his wife or another top campaign surrogate to the group’s annual meeting.”

Now, before anybody resorts to the tired old argument that ignoring gay groups is consistent with Obama’s refusal to pander to any single “interest,” we say: If Saint Barry can find the time to pander to hard-right Christian fundies — like he’ll be doing (again, and this time along with John McCain) at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church — then he can at least send his compulsive gum-flapper of a wife to talk to the Florida Democratic Party’s gay caucus. This isn’t like ignoring local gay press; this is an official caucus of the Democratic Party.

(You do still belong to the Democratic Party, don’t you, Barry? It’s so hard to tell these days. Or maybe the confusion stems from the fact that the Democratic Party — which now resembles the anti-gay right wing — belongs to you.

Speaking of McLame (and we were), hear tell Americans are tired of the blogosphere. This, from the guy who just last week admitted he’s “an [Internet] illiterate who has to rely on his wife for any assistance he can get,” and is only now “learning to get online.”

Back in the reality-based world, we’re happy to hear that activists in San Diego aren’t taking Doug Manchester’s campaign of anti-equality lying down — especially in one of Manchester’s beds. (Backstory here and here.) Just before San Diego Pride Saturday, between 150 and 200 people rallied in protest outside the Manchester Grand Hyatt (and were countered by about 75 bigots).

It’s probably true, as noted by the LAT’s Jessica Garrison, that last year’s sudden epiphany of bad-guy-turned-good-guy Mayor Jerry Sanders had something to do with mobilizing the anti-gay brigades. But then, it galvanized the good-guy Christians, too, into coming out against mindless bigotry. So there.

As for the San Diego pridefest itself, while Wendy Fry was bemoaning the fact that straight men just can’t wear boas and sequins the way gay men can, the “internationally renown anti-Scientology activism group Anonymous” was marching in its own contingent in the parade. If I were Anonymous, I’d remain anonymous, too. Those zany Xenuists scare the bejeebers out of my quivering little body thetans.

Further afield, Buffy’s got an update on the “South Carolina is So Gay” dust-up: South Carolina Will be So Gay–Whether They Like It Or Not.

Tourism experts are “puzzled” since five grand is such a measly price to pay “for such a lucrative niche market.” We’re not puzzled at all; hysterical homophobia always trumps common sense. Look at Jamaica, where they’d rather murder us than prop up their own barely-on-life-support economy with our Big Gay Dollars. We say: Screw ‘em — both Jamaica and the Jamaica of the United States, South Carolina. Let them eat dirt.

(Backstory: Amro Worldwide and Out Now Have an Advertising Lesson for Heinz: So Gay? So What. and You Can Cross South Carolina Off Your Vacation Destinations — They Don’t Want Us Nasty Homos (Or Our Money) There)

Also, my dear Gaytheist shines the light on yet another example of masking bigotry behind “deeply held religious beliefs,” in the case of a gay-hatin’ British cop: What’s the Matter With the UK Lately?

(Speaking of dumb cops, one of the San Diego Harbor Police shot to death a go-go boy who fell off a pride-cruise boat, and got physical with his rescuers. I don’t care what the guy did — when you’ve got one suspect surrounded by a bunch of armed police officers, there can’t be any excuse for failing to subdue him without killing him.)

Elsewhere on the international front: We’re glad that Iris Robinson, wife of Northern Ireland’s First Minister, and Ignorant, Sour-Lemon-Faced, Mad Old Cow whose sunken, empty eyes are only accentuated by a criminal sense of makeup application (see the picture at the link), lives half a world away from us, so we don’t have to listen to her vile nonsense about how much worse homosexuality is than child sexual abuse.

And here are the rest of the headlines that caught my eye today — I’ll leave you to them while I get back to the dirty work of digging into the incestuous circle of money and hate behind the Proposition 8 campaign:

Young, Gay and Murdered
Kids are coming out younger, but are schools ready to handle the complex issues of identity and sexuality? For Larry King, the question had tragic implications.

Man flees Turkey after “honour killing” of his gay activist boyfriend

Catholics for Choice take on the Catholic League

Eric Waugh: Pope boxes clever in Anglican’s gay-row

Online Adoption Agency Denies Service to Gays

75% of Americans want to allow gays in the military

Gay-only retirement village to be built for £12.7 million in Australia

Showtime orders new series with gay content

Bachelorette Party Planning Tips for Summer
Trends for 2008 Include ‘Green Girl’ and Same-Sex Marriage Pre-Wedding Parties

Must-read of the day:

Gay marriage to be legal in America within 200 years

Posted by: Sapphocrat

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Filed under: Age & Ageing, Anglicans / Episcopalians, Barack Obama, California, Catholic League, Catholicism, Christianity, Democrats, Education/Schools, Election 2008, Europe, Events, Focus on the Family/James Dobson, Hate Crimes, Homophobia, John McCain, Law Enforcement, Marriage, Military/DADT, Parenting, Radical Religious Right, South Carolina, Travel, United Kingdom & N.I., Youth

July 17, 2008

U.S. Senate Approves Repeal of Discriminatory HIV Travel and Immigration Ban

WASHINGTON — The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, praised the U.S. Senate today for approving the repeal of our nation’s discriminatory law barring HIV-positive visitors and immigrants. Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) secured a provision to repeal this ban in the Senate’s legislation to reauthorize PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. The PEPFAR bill passed the Senate today with the Kerry-Smith provision by a vote of 80 to 16 and now moves to conference committee before being sent to the President.

Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) had introduced an amendment to strike the Kerry-Smith provision from the PEFPAR bill. However, the efforts of Senators Kerry and Smith in addition to robust advocacy from HRC and our coalition partners secured enough opposition to the Sessions amendment that the Senator agreed not to bring it forward for a vote.

“We applaud the Senate for rejecting this unjust and sweeping policy that deems HIV-positive individuals inadmissible to the United States,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “We call on the leaders of the House and Senate to retain the Kerry-Smith provision in conference and ensure it is included in the final legislation sent to the President’s desk.”

“The HIV ban is ineffective, unnecessary, and simply bad public health policy,” said Rachel B. Tiven, executive director of Immigration Equality. “It is especially harmful to gay and lesbian families, who do not benefit from the waiver available to opposite-sex couples. The Senate’s change is welcome, and long overdue.”

HRC has been a lead organization lobbying on Capitol Hill for the repeal. The Human Rights Campaign has worked closely with the offices of Sens. John Kerry and Gordon Smith, as well as Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), the sponsor of an effort to repeal the ban in the House of Representatives. Both Sen. Kerry and Rep. Lee participated in a national media conference call held by HRC in March. In addition to action alerts urging members to contact their Senators, HRC and Immigration Equality drafted a coalition letter on behalf of more than 165 organizations in support of the Kerry-Smith provision in the PEPFAR bill, and has directly lobbied numerous Senate offices on the repeal measure.

In December of 2007, Senators Kerry and Smith introduced legislation, the HIV Non-Discrimination in Travel and Immigration Act (S. 2486), to repeal the ban. In the House, U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced similar the legislation, H.R. 3337, in August 2007. The travel and immigration ban prohibits HIV-positive foreign nationals from entering the U.S. unless they obtain a special waiver, which can only allow for short-term travel. Current policy also prevents the vast majority of foreign nationals with HIV from obtaining legal permanent residency in the United States.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against GLBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

Posted by: Sapphocrat

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PEPFAR: $48 Billion Landmark Bill Reauthorized; Millions of Lives to be Saved

Africa Health Workforce Shortage Moves From Obscurity to Centerpiece of New Law

WASHINGTON — July 17 — Last evening, the US Senate voted to reauthorize PEPFAR AIDS legislation (the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), despite a gauntlet of last-minute obstacles and objections ranging from a Senate Republican filibuster to amendments to drastically cut funding and PEPFAR’s reach. Senate approval is the last major obstacle to the bill’s becoming law. PEPFAR reauthorization is targeted to prevent 12 million HIV infections and treat three million people over five years. The Senate version also contains a provision that would lift the infamous HIV travel ban, which generally prohibits HIV+ people from entering the United States.

Said John Bradshaw, JD, Washington Director for Physicians for Human Rights: “In passing this bill, Congress has saved countless lives in a single evening. It is difficult to exaggerate the impact that this $48 billion program will have on people suffering in Africa and around the world from AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. The vote also sends a message of support to many of those who suffer, that the U.S. is even more committed than ever to getting them the help they need. We welcome the provisions that would bolster Africa’s health work force. Without more health workers, there can no lasting progress in addressing these diseases. We applaud the removal of the HIV travel ban, which is and always has been a human rights violation and has no basis in the needs of public health.”

Africa’s catastrophic health worker shortage, which received little mention in the original legislation, is now a central element of the reauthorized bill passed by the Senate. PEPFAR reauthorization will support countries in developing long-term health workforce plans, will fund 140,000 new health workers, and will pay for a push for 2.3 health workers per thousand people. Many African countries currently employ far fewer health workers than that ratio would provide, crippling efforts to combat AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

The health worker shortage has been cited by international health organizations such as the World Health Organization and World Bank as perhaps the single biggest obstacle to implementing HIV services. Indeed, PEPFAR reauthorization provisions constitute the single biggest effort to alleviate Africa’s health workforce crisis of any wealthy country.

PEPFAR, the world’s largest anti-AIDS program which also now addresses malaria, tuberculosis, and nutrition, has so far treated over 1.5 million people with AIDS. The bill is seen as a cornerstone of President Bush’s legacy as he leaves office, and has overall enjoyed wide bipartisan support, including from Republican Senator Richard Lugar, a co-sponsor of the bill who became an energetic proponent.

President Bush initially proposed $30 billion for the reauthorized program (the initial price tag for PEPFAR 1 was $15 billion), but grassroots support, including bold leadership from Physicians for Human Rights, eventually pushed that figure to $48 billion.

Below is a summary of PHR’s positions on some of the salient provisions of the version passed this evening by the Senate:

Africa’s Health Workforce Crisis: PEPFAR reauthorization will support countries in developing long-term health workforce plans, will fund 140,000 new health workers, and will help pay for a push for 2.3 doctors, nurses, and midwives per thousand people. Many African countries currently employ far fewer health workers than that ratio would provide, crippling efforts to combat AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

PHR is advocating for including a provision during conference that would provide health care for health workers th