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 itMcHugh finds himself at the center of debate over Obama’s pledge to repeal the law banning open service by homosexuals.
In the interview, McHugh carefully avoided offering his personal views on the issue, saying his job now is to provide input to Obama on how to make the change and to talk with members of Congress about the issue.
Selling the idea to Congress, which has the final say, could depend on exactly what the administration tries to do in terms of the timing of repeal and how it is applied, McHugh said.
It’s possible, for example, that homosexuals could be allowed into some occupations or units but barred from others, McHugh said, stressing that he was not aware of any such plans but only discussing how the issue might play out.
“I don’t want to prejudge the situation,” he said. “I am saying if he did that, it would be my job to explain it when the appropriate time comes.”
When asked specifically if lifting the gay ban would seriously disrupt the military, as predicted by those who oppose repeal, McHugh said there is no reason to think major turmoil would ensue.
“Anytime you have a broad-based policy change, there are challenges to that,” he said. “The Army has a big history of taking on similar issues, [with] predictions of doom and gloom that did not play out,” he said.
Yes, yes, yes: what is crazy is having LGBQT serving in certain units but not others.
Really?
Read more by clicking here.
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By Ben Pershing
The Senate cleared a historic hate crimes bill for President Obama's signature Thursday, approving new federal penalties for attacks on gays and lesbians.
The legislation, which was attached to the conference report for the bill outlining the Pentagon's budget, marks the culmination of a years-long fight by civil-rights groups to codify the expanded protections. The law broadens the current definition of federal hate crimes -- which covers attacks motivated by race, color, religion or national origin -- to include those based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It would also create a new federal crime to cover attacks against U.S. military personnel because of their service.
The measure was approved, 68 to 29, with a majority of Republicans voting against it. The House passed the same bill Oct. 8, also with most Republicans opposed.
Click here for more.The Synod of the Lutheran Church of Sweden has come down in favour of church weddings for homosexuals in a vote held on Thursday morning.
Fifty People, One Question: Brooklyn from Fifty People, One Question on Vimeo.
Adam Carl Levine and Janson Wu are to be married Sunday at the Museum of Science in Boston. Lindsay C. Harrison, a friend who introduced the couple, received permission from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to officiate with assistance from Adam S. Lavitt, a rabbinical student.
Dr. Levine, 29, is an assistant professor of emergency medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. He graduated with two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Southern California, one in creative writing and another in biomedical engineering. He received his medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco, and has a master’s degree in public health from University of California, Berkeley. He is the son of Beatrice R. Levine and Arthur C. Levine of Newport Beach, Calif.
Mr. Wu, 31, is a staff lawyer at Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders in Boston. He graduated from Harvard, where he also received his law degree. He is the son of Hsin-Hsing Wu and Jeng-Fu Wu of Stanfordville, N.Y.
AND...
Dr. John Peter Reagan and Marc Ian Tobias are to affirm their partnership Sunday at the Boathouse in Central Park. Edie Reagan, Mr. Reagan’s sister, who is a chaplain, and Rabbi Marcia Rappaport are to lead the commitment ceremony.
Dr. Reagan (left), 48, is a chiropractor and a partner in Martino & Reagan Chiropractic in Manhattan. He graduated from Northeastern and received a doctor of chiropractic degree from New York Chiropractic College. He is a son of Jack Reagan of Ithaca, N.Y., and the late Amy L. Reagan.
Mr. Tobias, 38, is the vice president for operations at Americans for the Arts, an advocacy organization in Washington; he works in New York. He graduated from the University of Maryland. He is a son of Eileen Tobias of Mamaroneck, N.Y., and David H. Tobias of New York, and is a stepson of Ann Boyarsky.
Mazel Tov!
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Oaks suggested that atheists and others are seeking to intimidate people of faith and silence their voices in the public square, according to his prepared remarks.
“The extent and nature of religious devotion in this nation is changing,” said Oaks, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a church governing body. “The tide of public opinion in favor of religion is receding, and this probably portends public pressures for laws that will impinge on religious freedom.”
Really?
Religion and religious people seem to be doing quite well in today's society. While those who are Mormon, and their leadership, may feel they are under attack because of the CA Prop. 8 debacle, that is a whole other issue: Mormon's, from out of state, paid the "big bucks" to promote denying Californians of the right to marry.
Click here for more.
The leadership of the Mormons then equated themselves with African American people during the most challenging days of the civil rights marches of the 50s and 60s.
Incredulity: really? It is one thing to be born who you are (African American) and choose who you are (Mormons). And those who are African American in this country faced slavery, lynchings, abuse, anger, hatred...
Really?
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Sebastian Alexis Dungan and Lavi Sholem Soloway were married Tuesday in Toronto. Justice Harvey P. Brownstone of the Ontario Court of Justice officiated in his chambers. On Saturday, Mr. Soloway’s law partner, Noemi Masliah, led a ceremony in Water Mill, N.Y., at the home of Barry Skovgaard and Marc Wolinsky, friends of the couple.
Left, Sebastian Dungan with Lavi Soloway and his daughter, Lily.
Mr. Dungan (left), 37, is an independent film producer in Los Angeles. He produced “Transamerica,” which was released in 2005. He graduated from Yale.
He is the son of Sylviane Dungan and Andrew C. Dungan, both of Los Angeles. His father is a school psychologist at Hazeltine Elementary School and the Montague Charter Academy, both in Los Angeles. His mother is a real estate agent for Nelson Shelton & Associates in Beverly Hills, Calif. He is the stepson of Vivian S. Dungan.
Mr. Soloway, 43, is a partner in the law firm Masliah & Soloway in New York. He works there and in Los Angeles. He is also a founder of Immigration Equality, a nonprofit advocacy organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and H.I.V.-positive immigrants. He graduated from the University of Toronto and received a law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University.
He is a son of the late Pearl Soloway and the late Irving B. Soloway, who lived in Toronto. His mother owned the Medical Test Center, a laboratory in Montreal. His father was a pharmacist at the Sutton Place Hotel in Toronto.
The couple met online in August 2007. Mr. Soloway had posted a photograph of himself holding Lily, his 3-month-old daughter, he said, thinking that “It would weed out people who are not interested in parenting.”
Mr. Dungan saw the picture and was intrigued. “I was impressed that he’d had the courage to be a single dad, which was something I was contemplating,” he said. “Plus, he was really cute.”
Mr. Dungan sent an e-mail message, congratulating Mr. Soloway on becoming a father.
They lived on opposite coasts — Mr. Dungan in Los Angeles and Mr. Soloway in New York. “I was probably more effusive than I’d normally be since I thought I’ll never meet this person so I might as well be honest,” Mr. Dungan said.
Mr. Soloway described his first reaction: “A Hollywood producer who lives in L.A., I thought there wasn’t even much point in reading it.” But Mr. Dungan’s words grabbed him. “I thought this is an unusual, creative mind, the way he presented his likes and dislikes and explained his interest in my profile.”
A lively e-mail correspondence became long nightly telephone calls. Then a few weeks later, Mr. Dungan came to New York on business and the two met for coffee.
Mr. Soloway brought Lily, who was in a stroller.
“It was never a negative,” Mr. Dungan said. “The fact that Lily was there just made it more serious from the get-go.” He was also pleasantly surprised that Mr. Soloway lived up to his picture. “That was a good sign to begin with.”
They spent a couple of hours walking around NoHo, where Mr. Dungan stopped to buy a blazer, which Mr. Soloway thought was strange on a first date — although, he admitted, perhaps not as strange as bringing a baby to a first date.
On the plane back to Los Angeles, Mr. Dungan said, “I realized that I missed him already.”
"My marriage wasn't doing well," he said. "We were a good face for the people, but we weren't having a good marriage. What I was doing to my daughter and the damage I was doing to her mother led me to the point where I felt I needed to divorce."
During his divorce, Reynolds enrolled at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver where for the first time he found language that gave him faith he could be both gay and a Christian minister. At the same time, he had become the primary care giver to his gay younger brother, who died two years later from complications with HIV.
"Through that journey," he said, "one of the freeing things my brother gave me was that I should live my life as who I am. His freedom in life and death enabled me to come to some rationale about that."
While at Iliff, Reynolds discovered how resistant his church was to having a gay man be a minister of the gospel. On the night he came out, one of the deacons approached him and said, "Everyone in this church knows that you are gay, but I'm mad as hell that you told us."
What is interesting is that the Church where he interim pastor--Pilgrim Church (UCC)--is also experiencing new growth, as is Reynolds.
You can click here for more.
Intersecting identities is very important: one is more than being "gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, or queer expressing." We are male or female, rich, poor, young, old, black, white, etc. And all these cultural contexts shape and change us. And we change these contexts as we tell and live our story.
Live the story. Tell the story.
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The author of the essay, Col. Om Prakash, effectively demolishes the primary, wrongheaded rationale for the law: that unit cohesion would be harmed if homosexuals served openly. Several other countries, including Australia, Canada, Israel and Britain, have lifted bans on homosexuals serving openly with no adverse effects on military performance or readiness.
Colonel Prakash argues that the law has undermined unit cohesion, in part by compromising the integrity of homosexuals who have to dissemble and by posing a moral quandary for commanders — look the other way or risk discharging a valuable service member. He judged the policy a “costly failure” because of the lost manpower and the administrative costs of recruiting and separating homosexuals. He urged the Obama administration to examine how to repeal the ban.
We agree strongly with Colonel Prakash, and urge the Pentagon to press ahead with changes in its regulations to make implementing the “don’t ask” law more humane. Ultimately, Congress must repeal the 1993 statute. We are not confident that the Senate has enough enlightened members to overcome a filibuster. But if the military can show an open mind, surely lawmakers can summon the courage to end this sad chapter in history.
Click here for more.
BTW: Don't Ask Don't Tell doesn't work among clergypersons, lay leaders, religious leaders, etc., because it simply reinforces people lying and failing to live life as God intended: in the freedom of being who we were created to be as men and women.
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