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February 22, 2008
PUTTING THE TRANS BACK IN TRANSIT
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Discrimination shouldn't be along for the ride |
Transgender rights are human rights. A New York Supreme Court justice upheld that notion when he ruled on Monday that employees of the New York City Transit Authority aren't exempt from New York City Human Rights Law, and thus can be held liable for discrimination on the basis of gender expression. The ruling means that a lawsuit against a Transit Authority employee for discriminating against transgender subway rider Tracy Bumpus can move forward. It also means that 40,000 Transit Authority employees must abide by New York City's Human Rights Law, which unlike New York State law, protects people on the basis of gender identity.
As Justice Robert J. Miller explained in his detailed decision: "The Human Rights Law affords protection to transgender people in New York City. By riding the subway, a transgender person doesn't become less of a person and lose the protection of the Human Rights Law."...
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KEITH D. CYLAR AWARDS ANNOUNCED
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Cylar award honoree Williams, with her son Reggie |
When Diane Williams found out that she was being awarded the Keith D. Cylar Housing Works AIDS Activist Award, she thought she might have a heart attack. "I was so excited that I felt dizzy, and then I just started to cry," said Williams, who came to Housing Works in 1993 as a client, graduated from the Second Life Job Training Program in 2003, and has become one of the organization's most visible activists."To come this far and get recognized for something I love doing is overwhelming. It's an honor for all women who are HIV-positive and struggle with this illness."
Williams, who will receive a $5,000 grant as part of the award, is one of the activists who will be honored at the fourth-annual Keith D. Cylar Activist Awards and Benefit Gala on Thursday, April 17, at 6pm, at the Times Center (242 W. 41st Street). (To purchase tickets, click here). In the weeks leading up to the April 17 event, the Update will profile Williams and the other Cylar Award recipients. The other recipients are Esther Boucicault, founder and director of the Fondation Esther Boucicault Stanislas (FEBS), in St. Marc, Haiti and Gloria Gonzalez, an AIDS activist from Fajardo, Puerto Rico...
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RAUCUS CAUCUS
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Fields and Bailey |
Last weekend was "Caucus Weekend"—the annual conference of New York State black and Latino legislators in Albany—and at the Weekend's eighth-annual "town hall" on AIDS, everyone was talking about the AIDS Institute, or more specifically, the lack of black leadership at the AIDS Institute.
"The AIDS Institute has been striking in its lack of black leadership and there's no explanation as to why. No one accepts that there are no good black candidates," said Tracie M. Gardner, Director of New York State Policy for the Legal Action Center, who is also on the AIDS Advisory Council. "The AIDS Institute is singular in its expertise. The city department of health has Monica Sweeney, a high-profile black woman who is out there in the community. Why not the state?"...
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THAI-ING TO CHANGE THE SYSTEM
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Thai protest against unfair U.S. trade agreement—and they can do it again |
This week, U.S. AIDS advocates joined allies in Thailand and throughout the world in calling on Thailand's newly elected ruling party to continue to enforce compulsory licenses on three cancer drugs. Thai Minister of Public Health Chaiya Sasomsab, under pressure from PhRMA, the U.S. brand-name pharmaceutical industry trade association, voiced plans this month to end compulsory licensing for three generic cancer drugs.
Failing to enforce the licenses would undermine Thailand's struggle to produce generic medication, a critical aspect of the country's fight against AIDS. PhRMA had threatened to push the U.S. to impose sanctions if Thailand stops enforcing the licenses. In their letter to Sasomsab, U.S. advocates called PhRMA's tactic a bluff that "has no basis in U.S. law or political reality." The letter was signed by more than 30 groups including Health GAP, Oxfam, Housing Works and Essential Action...
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