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A Look at the Face of HIV and AIDS: Then and Now
As today is National HIV and AIDS Longterm Survivors’ Awareness Day, and the 34th anniversary of the first diagnosis, it’s a perfect time to give thanks for all the advances we’ve witnessed since 1981.
Tyler Curry
www.advocate.com/health/hiv-aids/2015/06/05/look-face-hiv-and-aids-then-and-now
Federal Judge Strikes Down Gay Marriage Ban In Guam
HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — Guam has become the first U.S. territory to recognize gay marriage after a federal judge struck down the prohibition.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge Frances M. Tydingco-Gatewood issued the decision after a hearing Friday morning local time. It goes into effect at 8 a.m. Monday, when gay couples can begin applying for marriage licenses, the Pacific Daily News reported.
Attorneys representing the government of Guam said in a May 18 court document that “should a court strike current Guam law, they would respect and follow such a decision.”
Loretta M. Pangelinan and Kathleen M. Aguero filed the lawsuit in April after the 28-year-old women were denied a marriage license.
They based their lawsuit on a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision last year in favor of same-sex marriage. The U.S. District Court of Guam falls under the 9th Circuit.
Attorneys for the Guam plaintiffs had argued the territory must fall in line with the 9th Circuit decision and accept marriage license applications unless the U.S. Supreme Court rules otherwise. The Supreme Court is expected to rule this month whether gay marriage is a constitutional right. Currently, gay couples can marry in 36 states, the District of Columbia and now, Guam.
Lawyers for Guam Gov. Eddie Calvo and the Office of Vital Statistics registrar said making a decision when a ruling from the high court is imminent is impractical.
Guam Attorney General Elizabeth Barrett-Anderson appointed an attorney to represent Calvo because they didn’t agree on the lawsuit; she was in favor of issuing licenses.
Calvo has said the island’s same-sex marriage law is “being challenged by federal judges that were nominated by a U.S. president and confirmed by a U.S Senate, none of whom were elected through a process that included the people of Guam.”
Guam residents are U.S. citizens, but they don’t have the right to cast ballots for president. The territory elects a delegate to the U.S. House, but the delegate may not vote on legislation. Guam has no representation in the U.S. Senate.
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Information from the Pacific Daily News: pacificdailynews.com
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Vanity Fair Writer Reveals His Common Ground with Caitlyn Jenner
He’s the writer behind the cover photo of Caitlyn Jenner, and they share a common bond: a love of sports, and women’s clothing.
Dawn Ennis
Whoopi Goldberg Slams Duggars For Hypocrisy: 'You're Not Forgiving Of People Who Feel Differently Than You'
Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar broke their silence this week about son Josh’s confessed sexual molestation of his sisters — and women of “The View” were having none of it.
Talk show co-host Whoopi Goldberg was the most full-throated in her rebuke of the “19 Kids And Counting” parents on Thursday, the morning after the Duggars had taken to Fox News’ “The Kelly File” to defend their son, who molested five girls when he was a teen, and their own handling of the situation.
“You brought God up, so it makes it OK to say this,” Goldberg said of the Duggar patriarch pleading for forgiveness for his oldest son. “You’re not forgiving of people. You’re not forgiving of people who feel differently than you.”
“Don’t bring up God … and talk about God forgiving people when you don’t have forgiveness in their own hearts,” Goldberg added.
The Duggars have a history of supporting anti-LGBT causes. Last fall, Michelle Duggar recorded a robocall to voters in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in which she protested a local anti-discrimination ordinance. As part of her argument, she linked transgender individuals to child predators.
“The View” co-host Nicole Wallace echoed Goldberg, saying the Duggar mother had acted hypocritically.
“When you say God will forgive my son who molested my daughters, if that’s your world view, if that’s how you got through it, OK,” Wallace said. “But you can’t say God can’t forgive a transgender person.”
“If God can forgive [Josh], then I hope other people can realize that God can forgive them,” Jim Bob Duggar had told “The Kelly File” host Megyn Kelly.
Duggar also argued that his son, now 27, was not a pedophile because he was also underage at the time of the molestations.
“It was a child preying on a child,” Duggar said of his son’s actions.
“There was so much grief in our hearts. I think, as parents, we felt, ‘We’re failures,'” Michelle Duggar said during the Kelly interview. “We’ve tried to raise our kids to do what’s right, to know what’s right, and yet one of our children made some really bad choices. And I think, as a parent, just — we were devastated.”
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
BREAKING: Marriage Equality Reaches Guam, Where America’s Day Begins
In a historic win, marriage equality has reached Guam following a decision by Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood at the U.S. District Court on Guam.
HRC.org
Critic Of Caitlyn Jenner's 'Bravery' Accidentally Teaches Himself A Lesson
A Facebook user who ridiculed Caitlyn Jenner in a popular post for lacking “real American courage, heroism, and bravery” by comparing her to World War Two soldiers taught himself an important lesson when he learned the real story behind the troops’ picture.
Many have hailed Jenner for her courage to publicly come out as transgender after a lifetime of struggle in hopes of helping others who grapple with their gender identity, there are plenty of haters spouting ignorance on social media. Luckily, there’s a chance for the naysayers to see the light.
Terry Coffey of Salem, Oregon was one of them tearing down Jenner. On Monday, he posted an uncredited photo of two soldiers on Facebook and proclaimed that these men, not Jenner, define bravery.
As I see post after post about Bruce Jenner’s transition to a woman, and I hear words like, bravery, heroism, and…
Posted by Terry Coffey on Monday, June 1, 2015
Coffey’s post quickly picked up steam and has been shared nearly 800,000 times. Hoping to offer the photographer credit on his popular post, he went in search of the shutterbug’s name and made a discovery that shook his concept of courage.
The men in the photo are actually toy figurines staged by Mark Hogancamp, who was beaten nearly to death in 2000 for dressing as a woman.
Coffey detailed his realization in a second, humbling post on Tuesday.
The photo that accompanied my words yesterday to highlight “true bravery,” was chosen from a quick image search. Just…
Posted by Terry Coffey on Tuesday, June 2, 2015
The “upcoming” documentary Coffey mentions was actually released in 2010 and is viewable on the Sundance Now Doc Club. You can watch the trailer below.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Christian Group Takes Out Antigay Ad On God’s Behalf, God Isn’t Having It
God may be smiling down on the state of Utah in the form of two “God Loves Gays” billboards, but over in Michigan things are a little less celebratory.
That’s because drivers heading north on US-131 into Grand Rapids are forced to come into close proximity with this other sort of billboard — the kind that tears people down instead of lifting them up. God just can’t get his message straight, can he?
The electronic sign switches between two versions showing either a black or latino man above the respective “born black” or “born Latino” labels next to a picture of a man’s face painted the colors of a rainbow and words that say “not born this way.” Get it? Because “rainbow” isn’t an ethnicity. And Gaga and what have you. Hats off, guys, you really nailed this one.
The billboard also says, “Homosexuality is a behavior. Not a civil right.”
The ad was paid for by a group called the Michigan Oak Initiative, and directs viewers to a website which asks them to sign onto a message to the Supreme Court that gay ain’t OK.
“If same-sex marriage is recognized by our government, that will criminalize Christianity because any Christian that speaks what’s in the Bible can be framed for hate speech,” the group’s director, Mark Gurley, said.
Sorry, drivers. You’re going to have to put up with that nonsense for another month. The billboard has been paid for through June.
Dan Tracer
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