It’s World AIDS Day. AVERT, an international HIV and AIDS charity based in the UK, gives us the following statistics: According to UNAIDS estimates, there are now 33.2 million people living with HIV, including 2.5 million children [and 15.4 million women]. During 2007 some 2.5 million people became newly infected with the virus. Around half
Retired Brigadier Gen. Keith Kerr surprised candidates at the Republican CNN/YouTube debate by revealing he is gay and asking “I want to know why you think that American men and women in uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians.” He later said he felt he did not get an answer from
A Florida college is offering employees pet insurance after denying them insurance for same-sex partners. This of course begs the question of whether the pet insurance would cover gay penguins.
Right after the good news from Australia’s national elections comes the more worrisome news that the New South Wales upper house will likely approve legislation allowing reproductive donors “to demand their sperm or eggs only go to certain religious, ethnic or cultural groups or be reserved for heterosexual couples.” The bill would also require sperm
Making international headlines this week is the defeat of Australia’s prime minister, John Howard, a Bush ally, and the triumph of Labor’s Kevin Rudd. Reader Mace, who founded the Lesbian Parents Australia Yahoo! group, wrote “we no longer have a conservative government in Australia … and that is a new beginning with lots of renewed
The U.S. Senate and House are arguing over the LGBT-inclusive hate-crimes provision attached to the 2008 defense authorization bill. The Senate approved the bill but now House Armed Services Committee leaders are concerned they do not have enough votes to pass the bill with the hate-crimes provision included. At this point, a vote on the
Two major LGBT organizations have launched initiatives in honor of National Adoption Month and National Adoption Day: The Family Equality Council (formerly the Family Pride Coalition) has launched an Adopt A Rainbow Action for November. Each rainbow you “adopt” is a pledge to volunteer one hour of time to a local/national fostering or adoption agency,
Somehow this news slipped by last week, but it’s a frightening step towards banning same-sex couples from adopting or fostering children in Arkansas: Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel approved a ballot initiative proposed by the conservative Family Council to ban unmarried couples from adopting or becoming foster parents in the state. This is the second
The much-debated Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) passed the U.S. House without protections based on gender-identity or expression. Its fate in the Senate is unclear, and President Bush has said he will veto it in any case, so it is unlikely ENDA of any sort will pass before the next administration (and let’s hope it’s a
Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s LGBT advocacy group, nails it with this marriage-equality commercial featuring two gay dads:
