September 28, 2007 | Main | October 12, 2007
October 5, 2007
STUDENTS PUT CANDIDATES ON HOT SEAT
 |
| Clinton's after-party crashers |
St. Michael's College in New Hampshire asks a lot of its students—in its "Global AIDS" course, students are encouraged to do projects that will impact HIV/AIDS worldwide. Sophomore political science major Madison Reeve deserves some serious extra credit: Last Thursday, she got Sen. Hillary Clinton to verbally agree to commit $50 billion to fund global AIDS.
"It was kind of the coolest thing I've ever done in my life," said Reeve, 19, who has a chart on her dorm room wall listing all the candidates and their positions on HIV/AIDS. While Edwards is the only presidential candidate who has announced an official AIDS platform, bird-doggers—people who ask politicians in a public forum to take a stance on an issue, or to question a stance that a candidate has already taken—like Reeve are getting candidates to dribble out their positions.
Last Thursday Reeve and three of her classmates attended the Clinton's packed after-party following the Democratic debate at Dartmouth University. Wearing Clinton T-shirts, the college students blended into the crowd, but they weren't your average attendees. As the students shook Clinton's hand, Kate Mooney, a junior at St. Michael's asked, "Senator Clinton, will you support $50 billion over five years for global AIDS?" ...
Read the rest: "STUDENTS PUT CANDIDATES ON HOT SEAT"
BUSH SAYS SCHIP OUT
 |
Uninsured kids—how would they vote? |
President Bush's veto of popular bipartisan legislation reauthorizing the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) Wednesday kicked off a multimillion dollar national political battle that could influence dozens of races in 2008 federal elections and determine the makeup of the next Congress.
As we reported last week Bush's veto threatens care for millions of kids, and it's not proving very popular. Several polls (click here and here) earlier this year showed that nine out of ten Americans want SCHIP reauthorized and expanded to cover more uninsured children. And some of the loudest cries of protest against the veto came from Republicans like Utah's Senator Orrin Hatch.
Senate leaders say they've got the votes to override Bush's veto—"We've got to do what we can to try to override," said Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, senior Republican on the Finance Committee. But it's way closer in the House of Representatives, where the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has started a radio and phone call campaign against Republicans who voted against SCHIP, including Randy Kuhl from upstate New York...
Read the rest: "BUSH SAYS SCHIP OUT"
IT'S ABOUT TIME!
 |
Doing more for those who have the least |
New York's basic public assistance grants haven't been increased since 1990, and the actual standard of need hasn't been updated since the late 1960s— about forty years ago.
Now Assembly Democrats—including new Social Services Committee Chair Keith Wright of Harlem—are doing something about it.
Housing Works Legislative Counsel Michael Kink provided testimony to Wright and Committee Members Aurelia Greene (D-Bronx) and Crystal Peoples (D-Buffalo) and staff in Troy, N.Y. last Friday at the last of three hearings on the adequacy of public assistance grants in New York.
Other leading antipoverty groups in New York have provided their input at hearings held in September in New York City and White Plains, including the Empire Justice Center, the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, and the Fiscal Policy Institute. State Welfare Commissioner David Hansell offered comprehensive testimony as well...
Read the rest: "IT'S ABOUT TIME!"
PARTY FOUL
marred Sylvia Rivera Law Project celebration
 |
Mendez-Penate and Gossett at City Hall |
"The more things change, the more they stay the same." That was how New York City Councilwoman Rosie Mendez characterized an incident involving members of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP) and the New York City police at the SRLPs 5th anniversary celebration at a Lower East Side bar last week. Mendez spoke at a press conference on the steps of City Hall on Monday intended to bring attention to what the SRLP calls "an unprovoked attack" by the police.
"This is the sort of all-too-common police violence and overreaction toward people of color that happens all the time," said SRLP founder Dean Spade, echoing Mendez' comments. "It's ironic that we were celebrating the work of an organization that specifically opposes state violence against marginalized communities, and we experienced a police attack at our celebration."
The alleged attack occurred on Wednesday, September 26, outside the M&R Bar. Members of SRLP, an organization that advocates for low-income people of color who are transgender, gender non-conforming, or intersex, had gathered there to celebrate the organization's fifth anniversary. According to the SRLP's press release, at some point during the festivities, members of the group witnessed two officers "using excessive force" in attempting to detain a young black man outside the bar. When several of the group members made queries about the necessity of such excessive force, the scene quickly grew ugly...
ENDA THE ROPE?
 |
Sklarz knows gender identity protection should be non-negotiable |
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007 (ENDA) was postponed this week for a full vote in the House of Representatives—and that's a good thing. The original version of this year's Act prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. But last week, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), not counting enough votes to pass ENDA, ditched the idea of protecting discrimination on the basis of gender identity.
This politically expedient move would not only have excluded protections for transgender people, but also, according to Lambda Legal's analysis, hurts lesbians, gay men and bisexuals "who may not conform to their employer's idea of how a man or woman should look and act. This is a huge loophole through which employers sued for sexual orientation discrimination can claim that their conduct was actually based on gender expression, a type of discrimination that the new bill does not prohibit."
After pressure from LGBT groups, and the loss of support by Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Congress's only openly-lesbian Congressmember, House leadership announced they would delay ENDA's mark-up until the end of this month. A release by Pelosi, Miller, Frank and Baldwin stated, "This schedule will allow proponents of the legislation to continue their discussions with Members in the interest of passing the broadest possible bill." On September 27, Frank, the only openly gay man in Congress, issued a statement arguing that a transgender-inclusive bill up for a vote now would be voted down, and "if you always insist on doing all the difficult things in one bite, you will probably never be successful. Dismantling the opposition piecemeal has always worked better."...
Read the rest: "ENDA THE ROPE?"
BIKE FOR A TYKE
a California cyclist fights AIDS stigma
 |
Hodes and team will wear support for Caleb on their sleeves |
When HIV-positive two-year old Caleb Glover was denied access to the swimming pool and showers at Alabama's Wales West RV Resort in July, the incident touched a nerve with members of the Campaign to End AIDS, who traveled from around the country to attend a Labor Day "family reunion" at Wales West. Now a leader in the world of AIDS cycling fundraising says his team is dedicating two rides to Caleb—one on World AIDS Day and one at California's AIDS LifeCycle—to raise awareness of the discrimination and stigma that HIV-positive people face. Some members of the team will wear jerseys with "Caleb" emblazoned on the arms.
Brian Hodes, captain of Team100, a group of 100 riders who last year raised the most money in the history the AIDS Lifecycle ride between San Francisco and Los Angeles, first heard about Caleb on Good Morning America in July. "I just couldn't believe this innocent child could be treated the way he was," said Hodes, a father of two young children.
The World AIDS Day ride that Hodes is dedicating to Caleb is one of his own creation. Hodes is organizing folks around the world to ride for 27 miles—the number of years since the start of the AIDS epidemic—on World AIDS Day, December 1, to raise awareness of HIV stigma. So far Hodes has spoken to people in England, Australia, Czechoslovakia about having bike rides in their own communities. In places where December 1 isn't exactly bike-riding weather, Hodes suggests spinning marathons, where people will join together and peddle on indoor bikes....
Read the rest: "BIKE FOR A TYKE"