Save The Date: December 6th Forum on Marriage Equality

The DC Center and DC for Marriage invite you to join on on Thursday December 6th at 7:00 PM for a forum on Marriage Equality in the District of Columbia. The event takes places in Room 412 of the Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. To download a 'save the date' flyer for this event, click here.

Our goals are for participants to:

• Understand their current rights & responsibilities under DC domestic partnership laws.
• Understand current domestic partnership legislation and what needs to happen to achieve full marriage equality for same-sex couples.
• Participate in a community-wide discussion about when and how to push for marriage equality in the District of Columbia.
• This event is still in the planning stages and your participation is welcome.

Organizations that would like to sign on as sponsors of this event and individuals who would like to help plan this forum please send an e-mail to communityforum@dcformarriage.org.

Washington DC Reception for Elizabeth Edwards November 9th

Please join me on Friday November 9th for a reception honoring Elizabeth Edwards. Hans Johnson has done a wonderful job putting together this event. (Many of you may know Hans as a board member of the The Task Force through his consulting firm, Progressive Victory).

Host Committee members for this event include David Mixner, Eric Stern, David Mariner, Bob Horvath & Patrick Lyden, and many others.

The event takes place at the home of William Eskridge on Capitol Hill. For details, please download this PDF flier.

I hope you'll be able to join us. I've only had the opportunity to meet Elizabeth Edwards once, but I believe she is one of the most fascinating, dynamic, and passionate folks out there on the campaign trail. I think you'll truly enjoy meeting her.

Stonewall Calls for All Democrats to Support Baldwin Amendment

Washington, DC - Today, the National Stonewall Democrats issued a call for Congressional Democrats to support a proposed amendment which would restore protections on the basis of gender identity to HR 3685. The amendment is being proposed by Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). Jon Hoadley, Executive Director, stated:

"National Stonewall Democrats supports efforts by Congresswoman Baldwin to amend HR 3685 to prevent discrimination on the basis of gender identity. We strongly urge all Democratic Members to vote for such an amendment because of its strategic and moral importance. It would be unacceptable for any Congressional Democrat to vote against an amendment that restores gender identity protections.

The Democratic Leadership has repeatedly indicated that it supports passage of the most inclusive bill possible, and swift adoption of this amendment will achieve that goal. We applaud the support of Congressman Frank for this proposed amendment. We urge the Democratic Leadership and Party organizations, such as the Democratic National Committee, to use the full force of their influence to secure support for this amendment.

We also support this effort by Congresswoman Baldwin because it allows Democrats to be placed on record for their support for the inclusion of gender identity in non-discrimination law. This amendment allows our members to thank Democrats who stand with the entire LGBT community while holding others accountable for their votes."

HR 3685 was approved by the House Committee on Education and Labor. Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) has secured commitments to offer an amendment to this bill that would restore protections on the basis of gender identity.

National Stonewall Democrats was at the center of early organizing efforts to save gender identity within the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Working with organizations such as the Task Force, the National Center for Transgender Equality and National Stonewall Democrats quickly helped organizers build a coalition that has now grown to more than 300 organizations.

National Stonewall Democrats was at the center of early organizing efforts to save gender identity within the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Working with organizations such as the Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality, Stonewall Democrats quickly helped organizers build a coalition that has now grown to more than 300 organizations.

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National Stonewall Democrats is the only national organization of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Democrats, with more than 90 local chapters across the nation. NSD is committed to working through the Democratic Party to advance the rights of all people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Hillary Clinton Statement on National Latino AIDS Awareness Day

from the Hillary Clinton Website

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hispanics in the United States are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. Although Hispanics comprised 13 percent of the U.S. population in 2005, they accounted for 19 percent of new HIV/AIDS diagnoses. Hispanic women are especially vulnerable. The CDC reports that their infection rate was more than five times higher than that of white women in 2005. Hillary Clinton issued the following statement to mark National Latino AIDS Awareness Day, observed on October 15th:

"Latinos account for the second highest rate of AIDS cases in the United States, by race or ethnicity. The epidemic has disproportionately affected Latinas and young adults. And while there has been progress in addressing the spread of the disease, the Latino community still faces tremendous challenges -including cultural and language barriers-- in the fight for the rights and needs of people living with HIV/ AIDS. During National Latino Aids Awareness Day, groups and individuals across the country gather to promote and sponsor information and prevention activities in the Hispanic community.

"I have long fought to fully fund the Ryan White CARE Act to improve access to treatment and support for those living with this tragic disease. I also wrote the Early Treatment for HIV Act, which expands access to vital treatment options for low-income individuals living with HIV. As President, I will continue taking bold steps to confront and eradicate AIDS and to support those living with the disease. The American Health Choices Plan that I have proposed also includes provisions that will eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care, and increase diversity and cultural and linguistic competency in the health care system.

"On National Latino AIDS Awareness Day, let us commemorate the lives lost to this epidemic, and recommit to continue our fight against the spread of the disease, through dialogue, advocacy and community awareness."

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To learn more about National Latino AIDS Awareness Day, visit www.nlaad.org.

To see pictures from National Latino AIDS Awareness Day events in Washington, DC: click here.

Today is National Latino HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

October 15th is National Latino AIDS Awareness Day, a day to talk about HIV/AIDS in the Latino Community.

Latinos in the United States continue to be affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, accounting for a greater proportion of AIDS cases than their representation in the U.S. population overall, and the second highest AIDS case rate in the nation by race/ethnicity. Studies have shown that Latinos with HIV/AIDS may face additional barriers to accessing care than their white counterparts (read the fact sheet here).

To learn more, visit the National Latino AIDS Awareness Day website at www.nlaad.org.

Here in Washington DC, folks are gathering this morning at All Souls Church for a forum on HIV/AIDS in the Latino Community. This afternoon I hope you'll join us for a spanish language presentation on HIV vaccine research.

More Welcomes for Dr. Shannon Hader

It's been over two months since we first told you Dr. Shannon Hader was chosen to be the new Director of the HIV/AIDS Administration. The welcome messages for Dr. Hader have kept rolling in.

Father Rusty Smith from Nothern Virginia AIDS Ministries writes: "Welcome and I look forward to your leadership and partnership... in confronting this health crisis!"

Khadijah A. Tribble from Pediatric AIDS Care writes: "We are delighted to have your leadership and vision to help us 'change the dialog' in this fight against HIV/AIDS."

Don't forget that you have a chance to meet Dr. Hader next tuesday at the DC Fights Back Resource Day.

I'm thrilled that Dr. Hader will have an opportunity during her first week on board to be part of the resource day, and I hope you'll join us.

An HIV/AIDS Research Agenda for Black Gay Men

The statistics on HIV and black gay men are sobering. A 2005 CDC study, conducted in 5 large US cities, found that HIV prevalence among black MSM (46%) was more than twice that among white MSM (21%). (citation). It's hard to imagine that in these cities almost half of all black gay men are living with HIV.

When it comes to HIV prevention, what works for white gay men does not necessarily work for black gay men. There's still a lot we need to understand about what is fueling these high HIV rates and what we should be doing about it.

Fortunately, the National Black Gay Men's Advocacy Coalition (NBGMAC), which formed shortly after this data was released, has been working hard to improve the health and well-being of black gay men through advocacy that is focused on research, policy, education and training. NBGMAC is housed in Washington, DC at the offices of Us Helping Us.

NBGMAC will continue to their work at the October 24th meeting of the NIH Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council (OAR). The OAR meeting will focus on challenges of HIV infection in racial and ethnic communities in the United States.

Dr. Leo Wilton will present a summary of the Black Gay Research Agenda for the NBGMAC and the Black Gay Research Group. The meeting will be held at 5635 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20852 in the Terrace Level Conference Center.

It's an important step forward in advocating for the HIV research needs of black gay men, and you can be there. The meeting is open to the public. Time will be allowed for public comment at the end of the meeting. If you can attend and would like to attend, please contact Christina Brackna at (301) 402-8655 for additional information .

DC Fights Back Calls for a Day Devoted to Connecting People Living with HIV with Services They Need

DC Fights Back, a local network of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWA) and their allies, will devote October 16 from 10am to 2pm, at the Westminster Presbyterian Church on 400 I St. (4th at I) SW, as a Resource Day. This day will have the goal of connecting HIV positive individuals with greatly needed service providers, resources, and to calling for greater community support for People Living With HIV (PLWA).

In announcing the Resource Day, George Kerr, Co-Chair of DC Fights Back, asked “With so many resources in our nation’s capital, the epicenter of our country’s HIV epidemic, why do so many programs still not reach the District’s citizens who need them most?” DC Fights Back has pulled together over 25 relevant service providers to enable PLWAs to learn about community resources and prevention and treatment information. Organizations from around the District will share information on what they do and how people can access greatly needed services.

Rev. Ruth Hamilton, Co-Pastor of Westminster, says: “We want to connect hurting people with real help. Having founded the AIDS ministry, Food & Friends, in the early 80’s, our congregation has always been personally and profoundly affected by the epidemic. We know this will be a loving, life-giving day and we are glad to be able to offer our church building.”

Larry Bryant state that, “This Resource Day will provide an opportunity for city residents to meet community based organizations face to face, all at the same time. It will hopefully spark a dialogue between service providers and customer and clients that will lead to more effective deliveries of that service.”

Dr. Shannon Hader, the new Director of the Department of Health HIV/AIDS Administration, will personally open the Resource Day. Booths and speakers will represent an array of service providers – including medical treatment, housing, case management, mental health, substance abuse, dental assistance, nutrition, and treatment adherence.

DC Fights Back is a network of people living with HIV/AIDS and their allies. We work to engage ourselves and our communities in every aspect of HIV advocacy to ensure the best possible treatment and care for people living with HIV/AIDS and the best possible science-based HIV prevention.

DC Bloggers Speak Out on Marriage Equality

Local Bloggers are speaking out on marriage equality for same-sex couples and challenging conventional wisdom about the push for civil marriage rights in the District of Columbia.

The Malcontent doesn't understand why, given the political support, marriage equality has not moved forward in the District. The Malcontent questions the logic that we should wait until DC is free from being controlled by Congress, writing "Maybe we should also wait until there are gays on Mars, until all bigotry and hatred is banished everywhere, and we all live on Gumdrop Mountain at the mouth of Stoli River."

The DCist asks the obvious question. Do we really need to be concerned about Congressional oversight now that the Democrats are in Contro? DCist writes: "could this, like the ban on District spending for needle exchange programs ... be one more issue the District could theoretically make up its own mind about now that Democrats control Congress?"

Scott's Take suggests that both Democrats and LGBT activists share responsibility for the lack of progress: "It's an unhappy standoff -- the gay establishment doesn't want to make their friends in the Democratic Party uncomfortable and the Democratic establishment doesn't feel it needs to carry water for it's gay constituents because, after all, where else are we going to go?"

Michael at Bloggernista, is ready to move beyond this standoff: Michael writes: "I agree with D.C. Council member Jim Graham when he says that we need to move forward on the issue of gay marriage in D.C. I am working with few activists including Lane Hudson, Donald Hitchcock and Paul Yandura to do just that."

Michael is a founding member of DC for Marriage.

Making Marriage Equality Happen in the District

Pictured on the left are some of the folks who are going to help make marriage equality a reality for the District of Columbia. They are a few of our DC for Marriage MySpace Friends. I just set up the page a week ago, but already we are up to 50 people.

Show your support for Marriage Equality in DC. Add DC for Marriage to your list of my space page. You can also join the DC for Marriage Yahoo Group. There are plenty of other ways to get involved. For starters, you could:

• Volunteer to maintain the MySpace Page.
• Volunteer to set up a similar page on Friendster or Facebook
• Volunteer to become a blogger on this site

We'll be posting more information on the blog soon about other ways to get involved, including tentative plans for a DC Marriage Equality Community Forum. If you're ready to get more involved, please feel free to e-mail me and let me know.

Jenna Bush Parts Ways with Bush Administration on HIV/AIDS

In an interview with Newsweek magazine, Jenna Bush states that after spending time in working with people living with HIV, she oppposes the Bush Administration domestic policy of abstinence-only-until-marriage sex education. Jenna says she supports a more comprehensive "ABC" approach (abstain, be faithful, use a condom).

There is no scientific evidence that abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, those that censor information about contraception, are effective. In fact, Congress funded a 10-year study of these programs which shows they do not work. Over the years Congress has wasted 1.5 billion dollars of taxpayer money on these programs that have no measurable effect.

Despite the overwhelming evidence, Congress recently funded yet another extension of abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.

read the newsweek article here

DC for Marriage: Now on My Space

Show you support marriage equality for the District of Columbia by adding DC for Marriage to your list of My Space friends.

The DC for Marriage My Space page is brand new. You can see it at www.myspace.com/dcformarriage.

Crystal Meth Awareness Day

Save the Date, November 30th is Crystal Meth Awareness Day. Crystal meth is a very addictive drug that continues to be used in the District, particularly among gay men. And unfortunately crystal meth use and HIV often go hand in hand.

Our local Crystal Meth Working Group has done some great work raising awareness of this issue, including the February 2007 Community Forum on Crystal Meth.

Unfortunately, the event planned for Crystal Meth Awareness Day was criticized for not being relevant to our DC meth epidemic and inappropriate for the LGBT Community.

Check back here for plans for Crystal Meth Awareness Day this year, or visit www.crystalmethsucks.org.

NCTE: Take Action to Support Inclusive ENDA Now!

From the National Center for Transgender Equality

(Washington, DC) - This has been an extremely busy week here as we've celebrated the historic victory of the hate crimes bill, the first transgender-inclusive legislation to pass both houses of the U.S. Congress. At the same time, we have had to respond to the extremely disturbing news that the sponsors of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act are moving to split the bill into two new pieces of legislation - one for sexual orientation and another for gender identity.

We oppose any version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that does not include both sexual orientation and gender identity. Transgender people are among the most marginalized and vulnerable groups within the LGBT community. In a 2006 survey of transgender people conducted by the Transgender Law Center, 57% reported being discriminated against in employment and 60% earned less than $15,300 per year. The entire country has an interest in seeing the transgender community thrive in the national economy. Without protection against discrimination, that is nearly impossible.

Members of our community have been busy all week taking a stand for our civil rights through our calls, e-mails and networking. We made a difference with the hate crimes bill and we can't stop yet on ENDA. We are asking you to sign a petition right now urging the House leadership to keep a transgender-inclusive ENDA. Click here to sign. It only takes a minute. We need to have our voices heard together on this critical issue. NCTE is co-sponsoring this petition with the Transgender Law Center.

We will keep you updated in the coming days about other steps you can take to help pass ENDA, legislation that is vital to the well-being of the transgender community. Thank you for all that you've done ... we must keep going until we have our civil rights.

The National Center for Transgender Equality is a national social justice organization devoted to ending discrimination and violence against transgender people through education and advocacy on national issues of importance to transgender people. The National Center for Transgender Equality is a 501(c)3 organization. For more information, please visit www.nctequality.org.