July 18, 2008

ACTION ALERT: STRENGTHEN THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT!

Put some muscle in the ADA!

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 is often interpreted too narrowly, a particularly damaging scenario for people living with HIV/AIDS, who frequently face discrimination. Even when people with HIV/AIDS file discrimination suits, they must first provide testimony about highly personal, intimate matters that are wholly irrelevant to the discrimination case at hand.

This injustice doesn't have to persist! The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 extends better protections to people with disabilities, including people living with HIV. The bill was passed in the House on June 25, and now needs to get through the Senate.

The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 improves the ADA by:

Join organizations including Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Housing Works and the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, and sign on to a letter supporting the ADA Amendment Act of 2008! E-mail banderson@lambdalegal.org by July 21 to add you or your organization's name to the list.

The Housing Works AIDS Issues Update is reported, written and edited by Diana Scholl, David Thorpe, Phil Fox Rose, Christine Campbell, terri smith-caronia and Housing Works staff. Send your feedback, leads and story ideas to d.scholl@housingworks.org.

You can reach us by phone at 212-967-1500 x168, by fax at 212-868-4222, and by email at d.scholl@housingworks.org. Housing Works provides housing, advocacy and services to homeless people living with AIDS and HIV. Housing Works is the nation's largest community-based AIDS organization and the nation's largest minority-controlled AIDS organization.

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