Archive for the ‘National’ Category
Monday, April 11th, 2011
This week, President Obama officially announced (to no one’s surprise) that he was a candidate for reelection. The following day, I was on a conference call to kick off the LGBT part of the campaign.
First up to voice his support for the president was California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, former mayor of San Francisco. Next was the former president of Human Rights Campaign, Elizabeth Birch.
Since they have already vocalized their support, I guess it’s my turn. Or is it?
In 2008, it took a lot of time for then-Sen. Obama to convince me that he was real in his support of our issues. As you might recall, we had a few bumps in that road and many in our community chastised me for not getting onboard sooner.
But Obama did win me over and, in some ways, those of us who were late to get onboard are very proud we went with him, and are even prouder of his record. That record, simply put, is the best record on LGBT issues of all presidential administrations combined.
Here’s the short list:
— Appointed the largest number of LGBT people to major administration posts
— Ordered the Department of Justice to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act
— The repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
— Directed the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure hospital visitation and decision-making rights for LGBT individuals
— Funded studies on LGBT endangered youth
— Barred discrimination based on gender identity in federal employment
— Funding on LGBT seniors
— Reversing the U.S. position, supported LGBT issues at the United Nations and signed the U.N. Declaration on Gay Rights
— Lifted the ban on HIV-positive travelers to the U.S.
— Established foreign policy that will not accept antigay bigotry
— Supports the effort to pass ENDA in Congress
This is only the short list. But it is very impressive. For those of you who might say he didn’t live up to my expectations, I’d say maybe not, but no elected official ever does. What we can expect is a new direction and that it is clear. His accomplishments far outweigh any disappointments. As we often hear, no one is perfect. But this president is the best on LGBT issues in history, and it is my honor and privilege to say I proudly support him for reelection, and hope you’ll join me in that effort.
Mark Segal, PGN publisher, is the nation’s most-award-winning commentator in LGBT media. He can be reached at mark@epgn.com.
Read more:PGN-The Philadelphia Gay News. Phila gay news. philly news – Gavin Newsom Elizabeth Birch and me
Posted in Are you 'n-volved? Add your voice to the current conversation!, National, Politics, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, September 23rd, 2010
Where is the Commitment to Helping with HIV/AIDS Drugs?
By Jeffrey R. Lewis, President of the Heinz Family Philanthropies
America’s commitment to helping tens of thousands of people suffering from HIV/AIDs obtain access to the medications they need to survive has failed. Instead, the White House, Members of Congress, Governors and State Legislators have created a new, life-threatening epidemic – functional malaise.
Why is there a problem when we have ADAP (AIDS Drug Assistance Programs) – a system of federally funded, state-run programs to supply low-income, uninsured individuals with access to lifesaving HIV/AIDS medications? Many states today face massive budget shortfalls and must cut services. At least 14 state ADAP programs have gone so far as to institute patient waiting lists. Nationally, more than 3,337 people living with HIV/AIDS now sit on waiting lists for essential medications. Both Ohio and Utah have taken people out of their programs because of eligibility restrictions.
The White House and Congress may boast about the passage of health reform legislation, but it fails to protect thousands of Americans suffering from some of the most serious illnesses. This is an affront to the LGBT community, and all Americans in need!
Despite more than $800 million set aside by the federal government to help those diagnosed with HIV/AIDS obtain crucial medication, thousands of seriously ill and impoverished Americans still go without the drugs that could save their lives.
The result? Skyrocketing hospital costs as these patients, who are much sicker for lack of proper treatment, end up in emergency rooms receiving medical care at the highest possible price.
What’s more, for AIDS patients who need a variety of drugs, the effort to obtain free drugs from programs run by the pharmaceutical manufacturers can be overwhelming due to complicated paperwork processes, different income-eligibility determinations by each manufacturer, lack of a single entry point and other hurdles. In other words, budget crises, combined with bureaucracy and wrapped in a blanket of indifference, have made this problem both severe and life threatening.
To bridge this gap, the Heinz Family Philanthropies, Abbott, Merck, Tibotec Therapeutics and Welvista created a market-based approach that underscores how philanthropy, business and nonprofits can work together to create solutions to vexing health problems.
The one-stop solution created through this partnership works quite simply: It eliminates all enrollment forms, making enrollment automatic for anyone certified on an ADAP waiting list.
Patients on the waiting lists who need access to no-cost Abbott, Merck or Tibotec HIV medications need only request that their state ADAP program representative contact Welvista. HIV/AIDS meds will be shipped directly to the patient or to a medical provider if so preferred. Program costs are covered by grants provided by all the participants and administered by Welvista. This market-based solution is a national initiative designed to help patients in any state
Unfortunately, Abbott, Merck and Tibotec are the only three pharmaceutical manufacturers that produce HIV/AIDS medications currently participating in this program. The entry of all the other pharmaceutical manufacturers would be greatly encouraged and welcomed, but the larger question is why do the other pharmaceutical manufacturers refuse to help?
We are driven by a simple belief that the forces of the marketplace can drive the kind of instrumental change that government cannot or will not accomplish on its own. The need is great and the time for leadership is now!
Jeffrey Lewis is the President of the Heinz Family Philanthropies
Posted in Are you 'n-volved? Add your voice to the current conversation!, Business, National, Politics, arizona | No Comments »
Sunday, August 22nd, 2010
The primary is Tuesday. Are you one of the people that has already made up their mind on everything, or are you still pondering what you should do?
Are you a party-line voter? Do you vote the issues? If a politician is a member of the LGBT community do you vote for them and ignore everything else?
What are you thinking about as you make your choices? With all that is going on in Arizona right now, what is having the biggest impact on your voting decisions?
Weigh ‘n with your opinion, but more importantly, weigh ‘n with your vote!
Tags: primary, voting
Posted in Are you 'n-volved? Add your voice to the current conversation!, National, Politics, arizona | 1 Comment »
Friday, August 13th, 2010
WEST POINT, NY, August 9, 2010 – Ranked # 9 in her class overall, she routinely “super-maxes” her physical fitness tests. One of her blogs was featured in the Sunday print edition of the Washington Post as part of “The Gray Zone: West Point on Leadership.” However, today Cadet Katherine Miller tendered her resignation, coming out as gay to her superior officers at West Point.
In her resignation letter, she cites the kinds of experiences she is unwilling to continue to endure:
… I have created a heterosexual dating history to recite to fellow cadets when they inquire. I have endured unwanted approaches by male cadets for fear of being accused as a lesbian by rejecting or reporting these events. I have been coerced into ignoring derogatory comments towards homosexuals for fear of being alienated for my viewpoint. In short, I have lied to my classmates and compromised my integrity and my identity by adhering to existing military policy.
While at the academy, I have made a deliberate effort to develop myself academically, physically, and militarily, but in terms of holistic personal growth I have reached a plateau. I am unwilling to suppress an entire portion of my identity any longer because it has taken a significant personal, mental, and social toll on me and detrimentally affected my professional development. I have experienced a relentless cognitive dissonance by attempting to adhere to §654 [colloquially known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”] and retain my integrity, and I am retrospectively convinced that I am unable to live up to the Army Values as long as the policy remains in place.
Miller will be transferring to Yale University this fall on a Point Foundation Scholarship. She has indicated her desire to become an Army Officer should the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy be removed, and gay and lesbian people allowed to serve freely.
“This is a loss to the Academy and to the Army,” said Becky Kanis, West Point ’91. Kanis is Chair of Knights Out, and a former Captain and company commander. “We keep losing talented people needlessly while we wait for the Pentagon’s ‘review.’ “
Miller has been blogging anonymously about lesbian culture at West Point at velvetparkmedia.com as “Private Second Class Citizen.”
Knights Out is a group of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender alumni of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and their allies. Knights Out was formed by a group of gay and lesbian West Pointers in March, 2010. Founding Board member Lieutenant Dan Choi – an active duty Infantry officer, Iraq vet, and Arabic speaker – was recently discharged for coming out as gay.
Tags: DADT, Knights Out, West Point
Posted in Are you 'n-volved? Add your voice to the current conversation!, National, Politics, arizona | No Comments »
Monday, August 9th, 2010
DISCHARGE OF GAY OFFICER WOULD VIOLATE FEDERAL LAW, REPORT SAYS
Pentagon Appears Poised to Ignore Federal Court
SANTA BARBARA, CA – August 9, 2010 – If the Pentagon discharges Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach without showing that he undermined his unit’s readiness, this would violate the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals 2008 decision in Witt v. Department of the Air Force, according to a new report. The Witt decision holds that gay and lesbian service members cannot be discharged on the basis of the claim that homosexuality generally is detrimental to unit effectiveness. Rather, the Pentagon must show that a service member undermined his or her unit if that individual is to be discharged under “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
The Witt decision applies only to service members based in the 9th Circuit, which covers Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. At the time that he was reported for being gay, Lt. Col. Fehrenbach was stationed in Idaho. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on February 2, 2010 that the Pentagon would “devise new rules and procedures in light of the appeals court decision in Witt versus the Department of the Air Force for the areas of the country covered by the appellate court.” Such regulatory revisions, however, have not been forthcoming.
The new report, which was written by Professor Diane H. Mazur, was prompted by the Pentagon’s anticipated discharge of Lt. Col. Fehrenbach. Mazur is Professor of Law at the University of Florida College of Law, and Legal Co-Director at the Palm Center, a research institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Said Mazur: “Compliance with a federal court’s ruling is not merely a technicality for the military. It is an obligation of constitutional dimension demanded in a system of civilian control of the military.”
J.D. Smith, Co-Director of OutServe, the first-ever organization of actively serving gay and lesbian troops, adds that, “Lt. Col. Fehrenbach’s discharge would show, yet again, that ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ is harming the military, and that gay troops must demand equal treatment.”
Posted in Are you 'n-volved? Add your voice to the current conversation!, National, Politics, arizona | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
This piece was submitted to ‘N Touch News to post on the blog for comment.
Activist n. A proponent or practitioner of activism: political activists.
The LGBT Community, although the name has changed many times over the years, has always been one to stand up for itself. The point this became most apparent was during the events now known as Stonewall. People who left their homes that day to go enjoy an evening out, were in reality about to make history. They did not have a meeting about it, they certainly did not have Facebook, cell phones, texting or other means to communicate in advance or in real time about it. Individuals made a choice to stand up for not only themselves, but all of us who have arrived in the community since.
Today, not a day goes by that an announcement of some sort does not arrive in some fashion about a cause to be won, a fight to be fought, or an underdog needing protection in one way or another. So how do we choose which fight? How is it decided who represents the “community” in deciding what will happen next?
Quite frankly, there are no rules! Activists are often the loudest or most visible, but they do not always represent the voice of the “community” that they belong to. They can be the person with the most time on their hands, the most money to spend, the most passion/political conviction or simply have the loudest voice. They may be the person and opinion you support or you may only have a letter of the alphabet in common with them.
They may also simply be the person who has had enough. Most of us are familiar with Rosa Parks. A seat, a segregated bus, and an elderly woman who was tired of it. The story changes depending on who the source is, but there is no reason to try to dispute the facts. The results of her actions, intended or otherwise, have had a lasting impact on our country as we know it.
Did she do it by herself? No. Actions, protests, deaths, and violence were happening all around her for years leading up to the changes that would follow.
Despite our common link in the LGBT community, many of us our separated in other ways. Generational, gender, ethnic, religious and other differences can at times divide us. Women often times feel their struggle has been more difficult; many were not afforded an opportunity to participate in sports at any level, much less as a career option. There are now female generals when prior to 1976 women were not even allowed to attend the service academies. African American history, Protestant, Irish, or any other defining group attribute bring up a variety of historical struggles. A simple law, SB1070, is bringing up questions and issues friends never knew they disagreed on.
Maybe I am ok with Civil Unions and you want Marriage only. Don’t Ask Don’t Tell may not seem as bad to me as to you since I may have served and suffered in the military before it existed. You may not care if the “T” is included in ENDA and I may be the one saying to throw it out if the “T” in our community is not included. The list of our battles in the war for LGBT equal rights could go on and on. And we might differ on what the stance should be on many of them.
You do not need to be my kind of activist, nor participate in my activism. The rights I am fighting for will be yours also whether you stand next to me or not. If we win, we all win. But worse yet, if we lose, we all lose.
Just remember, there are activists on all sides of every issue. For every person who is passionate about equal rights for the LGBT community, there may be someone equally passionate about keeping it from happening. We should not criticize their passion even if we do not support what they are using it for.
So please do not become another enemy…do not divide the community by pointing fingers, or spending time inflating egos. And do not criticize the people that you feel are battling for your rights incorrectly, unless you are out there showing them the “right” way to do it. As a community, our diversity should be our strength, not what keeps us from attaining equal rights for everyone.
Signed,
An Activist Who is Still Trying to Learn How to Get it Right
Posted in Are you 'n-volved? Add your voice to the current conversation!, National, Politics, arizona | 3 Comments »
Friday, July 9th, 2010
A survey has been sent out to troops to get a sense of what the response to the repeal or DADT will be. Do you think the Service Members should be involved in this process? Is their response likely to have an impact on the decision for repeal?
What happens if someone “outs” themselves during this survey process, intentionally or otherwise?
You are ‘n-vited to comment!
Posted in Are you 'n-volved? Add your voice to the current conversation!, National, Politics | 5 Comments »
|
|
| |
