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Africa
Parliament OKs Same-Sex Marriage
A bill allowing same-sex couples to marry has been passed overwhelmingly
by the country's Parliament, and is expected to be passed by the National
Council of Provinces and signed into law by President Thabo Mbeki, CNN.
com reported in November.
The new law was drawn up in response
to a Constitutional Court ruling issued a year ago. The court said the
existing marriage law was unconstitutional because it discriminated against
same-sex couples; and issued a deadline of December 1, 2006 to correct
the discriminatory legislation, the report said.
Florida
First Health Coverage for Transsexuals
In what is believed to be the first time in the U.S., a South Florida
woman has been approved for an individual health insurance policy issued
to her post-operative transgender, GLINN Gay News reported last month.
At age 56, Melissa (last name withheld by
request), a woman in good physical and mental health, faced discrimination
when it came to getting health insurance, because she had completed gender
reassignment surgery six months before.
Following rejections by numerous insurance
underwriters, she contacted Steven Shulman, a licensed insurance professional
based in Miami. Only Humana Health Insurance provided Melissa with comprehensive
health coverage, the report said.
Santa Barbara, CA
Experts Protest Pentagon Re-Classification of Homosexuality
Congressman Marty Meehan (DMA), the American Psychological Association
and the American Psychiatric Association sent letters to the Defense Department
in November protesting a recently revised military instruction, which
now suggests that homosexuality is a defect, the Michael D. Palm Center
said in November.
The revised instruction no longer says that
being gay is a mental illness. Instead, it includes homosexuality in a
list of "conditions, circumstances and defects" alongside bedwetting,
alcoholism, personality disorders, mental retardation, and repeated venereal
disease infections.
In the November letter, the American Psychological
Association asked the Pentagon to revise the instruction so as to "eliminate
the continued stigmatization of homosexuality as a defect." Meehan
said that, "it is my strong belief that homosexuality is in no way
a defect and that there is no scientific reason to include it in such
a list."
Mexico City
MCC Hails Civil Union Law
The Metropolitan Community Church last month joined its voice with people
of goodwill everywhere who have great cause to celebrate as walls of discrimination
continue to fall, according to a MCC press release.
While seven U.S. states passed initiatives in
November to ban marriage or civil unions between same-sex couples, Mexico
City's Assembly joined the municipalities of Buenos Aires and Rio Grande
de Sul, Brazil, in passing legislation to legally recognize same-sex and
straight civil unions, MCC Moderator Rev. Nancy L. Wilson said.
"We commend the courage and conviction
of the Assembly," said Wilson, "and all those who rightly perceive
the distinction between civil equality and church doctrine or practice."
Philadelphia
Equality Forum Demands Apology from CNN
CNN determined not to rebroadcast a segment of "Larry King Live"
in which Bill Maher speculated on the sexual orientation of Ken Mehlman,
Chair of the Republican National Committee, and deleted Mr. Maher's statement
from the published transcript, said Malcolm Lazin, executive director
of the Equality Forum in November.
A CNN and "Larry King Live"
spokeswoman stated in an email, "When someone says something potentially
'defamatory' that we don't expect them to say live on the air, we typically
won't be liable for it. However, if we continue to rebroadcast it, without
any reporting of our own or any comment from the subject of the 'accusation,'
we could be legally responsible for what that guest said."
"CNN needs to apologize to the gay
community," Lazin stated. "Being accurately or inaccurately
called gay is neither 'defamatory' nor an 'accusation' any more than is
being called Jewish, Irish or Hispanic. CNN's official statement is homophobic.
As a global news organization, CNN needs to repudiate the statement and
apologize."
New York City
Gender By Choice
New Yorkers may soon be permitted to change their gender on their birth
certificates under a plan supported by the city's Board of Health, the
New York Times reported in November. The new rule would not require sex
reassignment surgery.
Applicants who want to change their gender
would have to be born in New York City, must change their name, and provide
affadavits from a doctor and a mental health professional, the Times said.
Also, anyone wanting to change their assigned gender would have to show
they have "lived in their adopted gender" for at least two years.
The Board of Health is expected to vote
on the matter this December.
Denver
Lambda Argues Against Discriminatory Adoption Law
In papers filed in court in October, Lambda Legal argued that the U. S.
Court of Appeals should affirm a lower court ruling that Oklahoma's anti-gay
Adoption Invalidation Law is unconstitutional.
"It's dangerous and appalling that
state officials seek to jeopardize the safety and well-being of children
in Oklahoma," said Ken Upton, Senior Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal's
South Central Regional Office and lead attorney on the case. "The
Adoption Invalidation Law threatens the welfare of children and their
parents because it forbids agents of the State such as police, health
officials, and child welfare officials from recognizing these families,
and it doesn't even consider who would protect these children if the State
severs the ties between parent and child."
Peru
Lesbians Targeted by Police
The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) is
deeply concerned about recent arrests of members of the LGBT community
by Peruvian law enforcement agents, the IGLHRC said in late October. IGLHRC
said it joins Peruvian activists in denouncing abuses against people in
gay bars and trans sex workers, perpetrated by Serenazgo officers in December
2005 and March 2006. This time, the victims were lesbians in a Lince district
bar.
On October 13, 2006, Serenazgo officers,
together with troops of the tactical actions unit (SUAT), and of the National
Police, raided the Avenida 13 bar, a place frequented by young lesbians,
the IGLHRC said. Activists of Raiz Diversidad have requested a meeting
with Lince town officials in connection with this, but they had not received
an answer as of the October report.
Washington, D.C.
National Latino Congress OKs Gender Identity Rights
This fall, the National Latino Congreso passed a resolution calling for
equal rights and civil rights protections for all Latinos - regardless
of gender identity or sexual orientation. The Congreso convened Latino
leaders, organizations, and elected officials for the first national Latino
meeting since 1977.
Said Riki Wilchins, Executive Director of
the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition, "Pressures to conform to expectations
for masculinity and femininity - and in the Latina/o community to stereotypes
for 'machismo' and 'madonna' - are a painful right of passage for many
youth. It is especially welcome for a national Latino group to take this
strong public stance, and help people recognize the connection between
gender and ethnicity."
Washington, D.C.
$11.7M Grant to Help Communities of Color Fight HIV/AIDS
CAEAR Foundation, a national nonprofit organization that provides HIV/AIDS-related
training and technical assistance, was awarded a three-year, $11.7 million
grant by the Health Resources Services Administration HIV/AIDS Bureau
to improve the delivery of HIV primary care in racial and ethnic minority
communities severely impacted by HIV/AIDS.
The grant will target primary care sites
through onsite technical assistance, intensive capacity building, regional
meetings, and web-based continuing education. Up to 20 primary medical
care sites in hurricane-ravaged areas of the Gulf Region will receive
intensive capacity-building assistance.
Compiled this month by Editor Lynn McNicol