Out In The Mountians : News - The Rest of Our World

Red Cross Changes its Mind on Blood Donations

WASHINGTON, DC - Seeking to reverse a 23-year old policy banning donations of blood by men who have had sex with other men, the Red
Cross announced in March it now wants to allow these men to give blood. The Red Cross has asked the Food and Drug Administration to change its policy to allow the blood donations, according to the Gay People's Chronicle.
     The ban on taking blood from gay men was started by the FDA in 1983 at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. But while other agencies have favored lifting the ban in later years, the Red Cross insisted on keeping it.
     According to the Chronicle, "The other collectors and the
scientific community argued that the permanent deferral was irrational, scientifically unnecessary, and discriminatory.
     While barring gay men, even those in long-term monogamous
relationships, the policy allows blood donation by heterosexual men and women who have unprotected oral, anal and vaginal sex and multiple sex partners, and who have unknown HIV status."
     Advocates for changing the rule note that all blood is tested
for HIV anyway, and the test is considered to be "extremely reliable."
    The FDA is expected to review the ban later this year.

Legislature Urged to Ban Gay Marriage

MASSACHUSETTS - Opponents of same-sex marriage, led by Catholic Church leaders and right-wing groups such as Focus on the Family want a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in the only U.S. state that currently allows lesbians and gay men to
marry.
Legislators are scheduled to hear the case on May 10, according to a MassEquality Campaign report.
Meanwhile, the state's attorney general has launched a criminal investigation into equal marriage opponents' VoteOn-Marriage signature campaign, with help from MEC in documenting more than 2,000 cases of fraud and forgery.

Voters to Decide Marriage Issue

WISCONSIN - The Wisconsin legislature recently passed a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and civil unions in that state, but voters will decide in November whether the measure becomes law. An intensive statewide campaign is planned to defeat the amendment. Opposition includes the support of faith organizations representing half a million citizens and the training of more than 700 speakers to educate neighbors about the ban, rights advocates said.
The Fair Wisconsin Campaign, a coalition of rights groups, are organizing to defeat the measure and have worked the past two years educating thousands of voters, according to email reports. National groups such as the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the Human Rights Campaign are also getting into the act.
"In 2004, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people were used as a wedge issue in cynical political games," said HRC President Joe Solmonese. "This year, we are going to stop this onslaught on American families and Wisconsinites are already running a strategic and effective campaign to defeat this shameful attempt to discriminate."

Boycotts Protest Abortion Ban

SOUTH DAKOTA - Protestors wasted no time organizing boycotts of South Dakota's abortion ban, legalized in March when Gov. Mike Rounds signed legislation outlawing nearly all abortions.
The Associated Press reported last month that politicians and state agencies have been "bombarded" with thousands of phone calls, letters and emails not only from U.S. citizens but from around the world. Some groups reportedly called for tourism boycotts of the Midwestern state. The ban, scheduled to go into effect on July 1, bans all abortions except to save a woman's life. No exceptions are made for women whose pregnancies result from rape or incest.
The law is seen as a violation of Roe v. Wade and is an attempt to overturn the 1973 Supreme Court decision allowing abortion, according to Planned Parenthood of New England.

Men Take the Lead in Prominent Gay Groups

WASHINGTON, DC - A gradual shift has taken place in leadership positions at most prominent LGBT organizations over the past several years, Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg wrote in the Washington Blade in March. In 2002, lesbians held the top posts at most of the nation’s largest gay groups, she said.
Now that's changing, and men are leading more of these organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, the National
Gay & Lesbian Task Force, and Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. The trend doesn't necessarily reflect membership of organizations that remain very much mixed, Weill-Greenberg said. Also, many women still lead a number of smaller organizations, such as Immigration Equality, Family Pride, and the Mautner Project for Lesbian Health (where Weill-Greenberg's article can be found.)
However, some rights advocates express concern that predominately male, and white, leaders means that black lesbians are not fairly represented. A spokesperson from Lambda Legal said that leadership "looks a lot like the mainstream mythologies about the GLBT rights movement."

High Court to Hear Marriage Rights Cases

NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union last month asked the state's high court to strike down a New York law banning samesex marriage. According to the ACLU, New York's law banning gay people from marriage violates the equal protection, due process, and free expression provisions of New York's constitution.
The ACLU's case, Samuels and Gallagher v. New York Department of Health, is expected to be heard at the same time as a similar case New York case brought by Lambda Legal. No date had been set for the hearings as of press time.

LGBT Training for Spanish Language Media

LOS ANGELES - The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has begun working with Univision Radio and Entravision Communications Corp. to educate media professionals about LGBT terminology, issues and local contacts. Training sessions will be held in the largest Spanish language media markets, including Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles and Chicago.
"While Spanish-language radio has historically portrayed the LGBT community in a sensationalistic manner, it is time for our media to be more responsible and sensitive about issues that pertain to this community," said Monica Taher, GLAAD's people of color media director.

Transwoman Plans to Compete in Olympics

CANADA - Cyclist Kristin Worley may be the first transgender person to be publicly open about her gender status while competing in the Olympics if she goes to the Beijing Games in 2008. According to an MSNBC online report, Worley, a Canadian, had sex-change surgery to transition from male to female several years ago.
The International Olympics Committee changed its rules in 2004 to allow transsexual people to compete. Under the new rules, transgender athletes must wait to compete for two years after sex-reassignment surgery. MSNBC said that there have been rumors of transgender athletes competing in the Olympics, but none have spoken publicly about their status.

Secular and Religious LGBT Groups Unite

WASHINGTON, DC - The Institute for Welcoming Resources, an umbrella organization for LGBT-friendly Protestant church groups, is joining the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in order to strengthen the base of gay rights on the religious front.
"The more than 1 million individuals in the 1,300 congregations supported by IWR are some of our movement's most valuable allies in the fight to reclaim 'moral values' from those who try to justify anti-gay bigotry as 'deeply held religious beliefs.'"said Matt Foreman, NGLTF’s executive director.
The Human Rights Campaign, another national LGBT rights organization, has also created a Religion Council to help counter attacks from conservative clergy. The Council will be made up of 10 spokespersons nationwide who will advocate for GLBT rights from their own religious perspectives.

COMPILED THIS MONTH BY EDITOR LYNN MCNICOL

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