Tuesday News Roundup: World Aids Day, Washington DC Marriage equality bill, and more

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Today is World Aids Day. The 2009 theme is "Universal Access and Human Rights". According to the World Health Organization:

HIV/AIDS remains one of the world's most significant public health challenges, particularly in developing countries.



Thanks to recent advances in access to antiretroviral therapy (ART), HIV is no longer a death sentence for many in developed countries. However, more than 5.5 million people in need of ART in low- and middle-income countries still have no access to treatment

An estimated 2 million people die every year from HIV/AIDS and its complications. The economic crisis has hurt many organizations, and cut funding for many programs. Please consider donating to your local Aids Charity if you are able, or click here to donate to the Minnesota Aids Project. Now on with the News:

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  Same Sex Marriage
  
  • Richard Cohen discusses Gay Marriage and the Manhattan Declaration in the Washington Post
    
  • Do you want to protect the sanctity of marriage? Don't ban same-sex marriages; Ban Divorce.
    
  • DC Council votes to approve marriage equality. Are they going to call Archbishop Wuerl's bluff?
    
  • New York may vote on Gay Marriage Bill today
    
  
  
• BBC: Are we getting complacent about AIDS?
  
• Rachel Maddow on Rick Warren, Uganda and their "Family" ties, Via Towleroad
  
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  World AIDS day
  
  • Presidential Proclamation
    
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    Minnesota Marks World AIDS day, via KARE11.
    

    A total of 8,819 Minnesota HIV/AIDS cases have been reported, including 2,976 people who have died, since AIDS tracking began in 1982 and HIV tracking began in 1985. An estimated 6,220 people are currently living with HIV in Minnesota. On average, the Minnesota Health Department received a new report of an HIV case every 27 hours in 2008.A total of 8,819 Minnesota HIV/AIDS cases have been reported, including 2,976 people who have died, since AIDS tracking began in 1982 and HIV tracking began in 1985. An estimated 6,220 people are currently living with HIV in Minnesota. On average, the Minnesota Health Department received a new report of an HIV case every 27 hours in 2008.

    
    
    
  • Advocate: World Aids Day Around the US
    
  
  
• A Right-wing 'go-to blogger 'has had enough of the lunacy from the teabaggers/birthers/fundie/nutjobs
  
• Protesters in St. Louis, MO protest outside the Catholic Basilica there to protest Diocese's donation to Maine's anti-gay "Yes on 1" campaign.
  
• Gay By Nature? Part 1
  
• PEPFAR funds being laundered to promote antigay and 'Ex-Gay' programs?

Intersections of Church and State: Healthcare, Outing Priests, Marriage Equality, Parenting and more!

All over the web there are Church-State intersections. Here's a roundup:

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  Healthcare:
  
• Daily Kos: I Will Pray For You -- Send Money --Christian Scientists want provision for "Spiritual Healthcare" in Healthcare reform Bill
• Abortion:
• Enlightened Catholic: Back and forth between Bishop Tobin of RI and Patrick Kennedy over Kennedy's stance on abortion rights, and Tobin's refusal to serve Kennedy communion
• G.A.Y.: Was she arrested for "simply praying near an abortion clinic"?
• Bearing False Witness: FCR Mischaracterizes Congresswoman Diana DeGette's remarks about the separation of church and state, via Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters
• Outing Priests:
• Fr. Geoff Arrow: Would Outing gay priests do more harm than good?
• OTOH, can we afford to remain silent? A Pro-Outing argument from Enlightened Catholic
• Marriage Equality:
• PinkNews: Straight couple applying for a UK civil partnership have their application rejected based on their sexuality
•  G.A.Y.:NOM is gearing up in New Jersey
•  Parenting:
• Holy Bullies: Lesbian mother wins custody case against 'ex-gay' partner
•  Ideological Purity
• Joe.My.God: Republican 'Purity' test Problem is, according to Keith Olbermann on his Countdown yesterday, President Reagan would have failed! (Ok, this one is more solely on the state side, but the case can be argued that Homophobic attitudes from the Church
•  Social Justice
• Joe.My.God: DC Catholic Charities whines about bad press due to the US Council of Bishops declaration.
•  Crooks & Liars: AZ woman forced to give birth in shackles due to undocumented immigrant status and racial profiling. Sentenced inmates are treated better!
•  Towelroad: City of Atlanta, Police Chief and 48 Officers Sued for Raid on Atlanta Eagle

Where are the progressives?

In the furor over the Catholic Bishops threat to cut off services to the least among the citizens of Washington DC simply to make a political point, and the subsequent announcement of the Manhattan Declaration, it is very easy to overlook the positive Christian voices preaching acceptance.


Episcopal Bishop John Bryson Chane posted an op-ed in the Washington Post detailing “A Christian Case for Same Sex Marriage”. He’s got some interesting points, and it is an interesting read. It is an extreme contrast to most of the hate-filled rhetoric coming from the religious right.

What I wonder about is why the positive voices seem to get lost in the babble when the negative voices come through loud and clear? Perhaps it’s because we tend to take our supporters for granted. Why put time and effort into lobbying someone who already agrees with you? Americans have a slang term for this, incidentally based in religious imagery—“preaching to the choir.”

Another reason could be that the media thrives on controversy. The only time support is notable is when a formerly unsupportive person or organization switches positions. Most of the positive GLBT Christian voices, like the Episcopal Church in America, the MCC, and others, have been consistently positive for years, so they are no longer generating controversy. Even when something does generate controversy, like the ELCA decision this summer, it boils down to a tempest in a teapot. Most of the general public and even many of the church’s laity are ignorant of what is going on, and even if they know, they brush it off as ‘politics as usual’ and see it as having little bearing on their daily life.

Conversely, the Religious Right knows how to mobilize their base. Fear is a very powerful motivator. While it is not a direction I’d necessarily like to see progressives move in, I wonder if part of the issue is that they’ve been taking the “See, you have nothing to be afraid of” approach.

With the crazies ratcheting up their base, can the Progressives afford to sit on the sidelines or refuse to stoop to their opponent’s level? That’s what happened to get Maine Question 1 passed and strip away marriage rights for gay couples. The base was whipped up into a fearful froth, and the progressives said, “Oh, I don’t need to vote because so-and-so who agrees with me is going to vote for the side of this bill I support.” When you do that, it’s a case of Anybody, Everybody, Somebody and Nobody.

Well, I'm somebody. Are you?

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Watch The Road! The Catholic Church's Attempts to Distract Us From Their Hypocrisy and Wrongdoing

In a post on The Bilerico Project entitled "The DC Catholic Church's Red Herring", Nancy Polikoff discusses her take on the DC Bishop's threat to distract people from the fact that they have been breaking discrimination laws for years.  In Washington DC, it is illegal for any organization that receives public funding to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or marital status, and has been for approximately 30 years.  That law is on the books now, and predates any form of recognition of same-sex marriage.  Up to this point, no one has asked that they be de-funded because gay couples will go elsewhere to another provider that will help them.  This threat simply calls official attention to the fact that they have been breaking the law for years, and the DC lawmakers aren't going to let them get away with it.

It is well known that donations to Catholic Charities are declining in the wake of the priest sex-abuse scandals, and that several parishes have gone bankrupt because of having to pay damages to those who were abused.  I wonder if this is an attempt to save face for the Catholic Church, as well as a way to publicize their opposition to a law they feel contradicts their teachings, and for them to embark on a campaign of defiance?

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