In the wake of Jerry Thacker's withdrawing his name for nomination to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS, the Human Rights Campaign encouraged the administration to commit itself to science-based prevention programs that include safe-sex education. HRC consistently has expressed concern to the administration regarding the appointment of anti-gay and abstinence-only advocates to government health care panels.

Thacker, a former employee of Bob Jones University, contracted HIV from his wife, who was infected through a blood transfusion. Thacker has become an HIV/AIDS activist and established a website, www.scepter.org, where he called homosexuality a "deathstyle" and AIDS a "gay plague."

In a front-page story Jan. 23 in The Washington Post, HRC Communications Director and Senior Strategist David M. Smith described Thacker as "an extremist ideologue who persecutes and demeans an entire class of people impacted by this disease." Later that same day, Thacker's nomination was withdrawn, and White House spokesman Ari Fleischer distanced the administration from Thacker's views. "The president's view is totally the opposite of that. The president's view is people with AIDS need to be treated with care, compassion," said Fleischer.

HRC lobbyists continue to work closely with members of Congress, the administration and coalition partners on HIV/AIDS issues. As the Senate debated the fiscal 2003 appropriations bill, HRC sent a letter Jan. 21 to all senators that outlined concerns about the lack of adequate funding for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and research. The budget numbers submitted by the Bush administration flat funded most of these programs and would seriously jeopardize such programs as the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act, AIDS Drugs Assistance Program, HIV prevention activities at the Centers for Disease Control, and programs targeted at minority communities. The Senate provided small increases. HRC will follow the bill through the appropriations committee to help ensure that the funding stays in the final budget.

HRC participated in lobby visits Jan. 23 to the offices of Reps. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., and James Greenwood, R-Pa., in coordination with members of the Treatment Access Expansion Project, a collaboration of HIV/AIDS advocacy and service organizations as well as pharmaceutical corporations working together to pass the Early Treatment for HIV Act.

This bill is a crucial piece of legislation aimed at addressing the cruel irony in the current Medicaid system - that people must become disabled by AIDS before they can receive access to Medicaid provided care and treatment that could have prevented them from becoming ill in the first place. The early treatment act would help states bring Medicaid eligibility rules in line with federal guidelines on the standard of care for treating HIV.

Treating people with HIV early in the progression of the disease provides numerous benefits to federal assistance programs. By providing therapeutics earlier, costs would decrease, the number of new HIV infections would be lower because of lower viral loads and the AIDS Drug Assistance Program would be able to provide care to more people with HIV because of savings. Most important, the quality of life for countless HIV-positive individuals would be improved. Simply put, providing coverage earlier rather than later is the right thing to do.

Lambda Legal is representing John Lawrence and Tyron Garner in their appeal of a sodomy conviction in Lawrence v. State, a case that challenges the constitutionality of state sodomy laws to be heard by the Supreme Court this spring. To support this effort, the Human Rights Campaign signed onto a "friend of the court" brief urging the high court to strike down sodomy laws. The brief was written by the law firm of O'Melveny & Myers LLP and filed Jan. 16. Friend of the court briefs provide additional perspectives and information that may not be presented by the parties involved in the actual case - in this instance, the defendants and the state of Texas.

The first section of the brief outlines the history of sodomy laws, which are a relatively recent phenomenon in anti-gay bias. Contrary to many popular misconceptions, there are not ancient religious proscriptions about gay sodomy. Laws on these matters originally pertained to non-procreative sex, even between a husband and wife. As those restrictions were eased, the modern criminalization of homosexual sodomy emerged as a part of the pattern of discrimination against gays. Sodomy laws are harmful because they brand gay people as criminals and that brand is carried into all spheres of American life, which adds fuel to anti-gay bias, discrimination and hate violence.

The second section of the brief argues that there is no legitimate justification for branding gay people as criminally deviant. It also details the significant social and legal progress for gays and lesbians. The brief describes gays and lesbians as law-abiding, productive citizens who are healthy partners, good parents, patriotic veterans and sometimes heroic citizens.

The Justice Department announced Jan. 24 that it will grant federal compensation to Peggy Neff, who lost her partner, Sheila Hein, in the attack on the Pentagon. The money will come from a federal fund created for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. Unlike victims in New York, who were eligible for state-level survivor benefits, neither Virginia nor federal law made any provision for non-married partners.

"This is the first time that we are aware of that the federal government has specifically recognized that someone in a gay relationship should receive compensation for the loss of a partner," said HRC Communications Director and Senior Strategist David M. Smith. "This is a testament to fair-mindedness prevailing over intolerance. This is also thanks in no small part to the tireless efforts of Lambda Legal as they worked for months with Peg to make this happen."

A 1996 study by the federal General Accounting Office found that gays and lesbians are denied more than 1,000 rights and obligations associated with marriage or spousal status under the U.S. code because no U.S. state allows them to marry. HRC supports full marriage equality and is committed to addressing inequities that impact gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender families, including federal tax laws, hospital visitation rights, taxation of domestic partner coverage, Social Security benefits, immigration rights and employee benefits, such as COBRA, 401(k) and pension plans.

The Human Rights Campaign recently awarded the final round of 2003 fiscal year Equality Fund grants to GLBT advocacy groups in Delaware, Maine, Nebraska and New Mexico. The Equality Fund grants provide financial support to statewide GLBT organizations to assist them in undertaking legislative and regulatory policy initiatives. Unlike other funding that often cannot be used to support an organization's political work, the Equality Fund grants may be used specifically for lobbying and issues advocacy. The grants will be used to hire lobbyists, conduct polling research, train and mobilize citizen advocates and for educational campaigns on a range of issues including anti-discrimination, HIV, hate crimes, safe schools and marriage bills. For the 2003 legislative sessions, HRC awarded $149,000 to 39 state groups. In the three years of the Equality Fund grant program, $349,115 has been to given state organizations.

Texas: Upcoming Dallas Town Hall Meeting on Immigration
HRC's Dallas steering committee will present a town hall meeting Feb. 13 on the Permanent Partners Immigration Act. The meeting is part of HRC's ongoing effort to increase awareness of bi-national same-sex couples and the hardships they face under current immigration laws. To date, HRC has hosted town halls on the bill in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Houston and Seattle. The Dallas forum will be held at 7 p.m. at Angelika Theaters, Mockingbird Station. Dallas radio personality Rick Vanderslice will moderate the town hall, which will feature several bi-national couples, HRC Senior Policy Advocate John Vezina and legal experts Betsy Leveno and Karen Pennington. The meeting is free to the public. For more information, e-mail dan.furmansky@hrc.org.

Massachusetts: HRC Sponsors Boston Town Hall Meeting on Transgender Issues
HRC's Massachusetts steering committee organized a town hall meeting Jan. 21 on transgender issues in Boston. The meeting, entitled "Gender Identity and Expression: How America Views Transgender Issues and the Political and Social Issues that Lie Ahead," was held in partnership with Boston Alliance for Gay and Lesbian Youth, JRI Health and Education Development Program, the Massachusetts Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Political Alliance and the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition.

More than 100 people attended the meeting to hear HRC Communications Director and Senior Strategist David M. Smith and Mara Keisling of the National Center for Transgender Equality present the results of a ground-breaking national poll that HRC commissioned in 2002 to find out what Americans knew and felt about transgender people. The town hall also featured a panel discussion of local and national activists that focused on strategies for increasing awareness of gender identity and expression issues. A question and answer session allowed audience members to ask specific questions about strategies for passing gender identity inclusive legislation.

HRC partnered with the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition to pass an anti-discrimination ordinance based on gender identity and expression in Boston last year. In the coming months, HRC will work with the group to pass local ordinances in other Massachusetts' cities.

Colorado: Civil Union Bill, Employment Non-Discrimination Bill
State Rep. Tom Plant, D-13, introduced a bill Jan. 14 that would create the Colorado Civil Union Act and provide guidelines for eligible same-sex couples to receive the same benefits and protections as heterosexual married couples under Colorado laws. The measure, H.B. 1141, is expected to be heard Jan. 29 by the House Information and Technology Committee.

State Sen. Doug Linkhart, D-13, introduced an employment non-discrimination bill Jan. 8 that would include sexual orientation and gender variance. The measure, S.B. 28, was assigned to the Veteran & Military Affairs Committee and was to be heard Jan. 27. HRC sent alerts to its Colorado action network members encouraging them to take action.

Montana: Hate Crimes Bill Defeated, Bills Filed on Hate Crimes, Civil Unions, Non-Discrimination
The Montana House Judiciary Committee voted 9-9 to table a bill introduced by Rep. Brad Newman, D-Butte, that would have added "sexual orientation," "disability" and gender to categories in Montana's Malicious Harassment and Intimidation Act. The measure, House Bill 52, also would have increased the punishment for a criminal who targets or threatens individuals or groups because of their minority status or politically views. Sen. Kenneth Toole, D-Helena, is sponsoring a similar bill in the Senate, S.B. 177. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing Jan. 24 on the measure. HRC sent action alerts to its action network members in Montana asking them to take action.

A non-discrimination bill that would prohibit discriminatory practices against people based on race, age, national origin, creed, religion, occupation, family status or sexual orientation in health insurance policies for coverage of reproductive health care was filed Jan. 8. In addition, Rep. Tom Facey, D-Missoula, is sponsoring a bill this legislative session that would recognize civil unions in Montana. According to Karl Olson, executive director of Pride!, Montana's statewide GLBT advocacy group, there is more pro-gay legislation in the works than ever before.

Nebraska: Employment Non-Discrimination Bill Introduced
State Sen. Ernie Chambers introduced the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act, L.B. 441, on Jan. 16. The measure would prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and was referred Jan. 21 to the Business and Labor Committee. Last year, Chambers introduced a similar measure (Nebraska Employment Non-Discrimination Act, L.B. 19) that died on the Senate floor due to a filibuster at the end of the 2002 legislative session.

HRC is proud to support statewide efforts by awarding a $3,000 Equality Fund grant to Nebraska Advocates for Justice and Equality, the lobbying wing of Nebraska's statewide GLBT group, Citizens for Equal Protection. The group is coordinating a lobby day scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 5 at the Nebraska Capitol in Lincoln. Interested parties should R.S.V.P. to Tim Grolmes, CFEP governmental relations director, at necaver1@yahoo.com or 402/398-3027, and meet at 8:30 a.m. in room 1023 on the west side of the Capitol.

North Dakota: Senate Hears a Pro-Gay Safe Schools Bill, Anti-Gay Adoption Bill
Equality North Dakota, the statewide GLBT political group, organized and coordinated testimony in favor of two bills that were heard Jan. 21 in Senate committees. The first, Senate Bill 2216, is a safe schools/anti-bullying bill would add sexual orientation to the list of protected categories. The second, S.B. 2188, is an adoption bill that would prevent the state from denying a license to -- and prevent anyone from suing -- a child-placing agency that refuses to place a child in a home due to "moral or religious grounds." While "moral or religious grounds" is undefined, it could have broad implications, including allowing agencies to refuse to grant same-sex couples the right to adopt or serve as foster parents. HRC is urging all its North Dakota action network members to contact their state senators in support of S.B. 2216 and in opposition to S.B. 2188.Visit Equality North Dakota's website or send them an e-mail at end@pridecollective.com

Tennessee: Nashville Postpones Vote on Human Rights Ordinance
The Nashville Metro City Council postponed a vote Jan. 21 to amend the city's Human Rights Ordinance to include sexual orientation. The measure, which passed its second reading in December by 26-3, has been under attack by anti-gay extremists. The council chose to postpone the vote in order to study a report provided by the Metro Human Relations Commission and to consider a similar bill that would exempt religious organizations. HRC's Nashville steering committee has been heavily involved with the campaign, working closely with state and local organizations. The final vote is now scheduled for Feb. 18.

Virginia: Hate Crimes Bill Voted Down in Committee
The Virginia Senate Court of Justice Committee voted 8-5 on Jan. 14 to kill Senate Bill 1155, a measure that would have amended the state hate crimes law to include sexual orientation. HRC supported this bill by working with Equality Virginia and Equality Fairfax to generate action alerts, faxes and phone calls to the state Senate.

West Virginia: Hate Crimes Bill Re-Introduced
A bill to amend the state hate crimes law to prohibit crimes based on sexual orientation and disability was reintroduced Jan. 15. House Bill 2226 was referred to the House Judiciary Committee. HRC sent action alerts on this bill and will be working to support the West Virginia Lesbian and Gay Coalition in its campaign.

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