President Signs Bill Repealing Discriminatory HIV Travel and Immigration Law

The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, today called on the Department of Health and Human Services to update its regulations following the President’s signing of legislation to reauthorize PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Included in this measure was a provision to repeal our nation’s discriminatory law barring HIV-positive visitors and immigrants. The PEPFAR bill passed the Senate on July 16 and the U.S. House passed the bill last week.

“We appreciate the President signing the repeal of this unjust and sweeping policy that deems HIV-positive individuals inadmissible to the United States,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “The HIV travel and immigration ban performs no public health service, is unnecessary and ineffective. We thank our allies on the Hill who fought to end this injustice and now call on Secretary of Health and Human Services Leavitt to remove the remaining regulatory barriers to HIV-positive visitors and immigrants.”


HRC has been a lead organization lobbying on Capitol Hill for the repeal and will continue to work to ensure that Department of Health and Human Services’ regulations are changed. The Human Rights Campaign has worked closely with the offices of Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Gordon Smith (R-OR), as well as Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), the sponsor of an effort to repeal the ban in the House of Representatives. Both Sen. Kerry and Rep. Lee participated in a national media conference call held by HRC in March. In addition to action alerts urging members to contact their Senators, HRC and Immigration Equality drafted a coalition letter on behalf of more than 165 organizations in support of the Kerry-Smith provision in the PEPFAR bill, and directly lobbied numerous Senate offices on the repeal measure.

In December of 2007, Senators Kerry and Smith introduced legislation, the HIV Non-Discrimination in Travel and Immigration Act (S. 2486), to repeal the ban. In the House, U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced similar the legislation, H.R. 3337, in August 2007. The travel and immigration ban prohibits HIV-positive foreign nationals from entering the U.S. unless they obtain a special waiver, which is difficult to obtain and can only allow for short-term travel. Current policy also prevents the vast majority of foreign nationals with HIV from obtaining legal permanent residency in the United States.

The ban originated in 1987, and explicitly codified by Congress in 1993, despite efforts in the public health community to remove the ban when Congress reformed U.S. immigration law in the early 1990s. While immigration law currently excludes foreigners with any “communicable disease of public health significance” from entering the U.S., only HIV is explicitly named in the statute. For all other illnesses, the Secretary of Health and Human Services retains the ability, with the medical expertise of his department, to determine which illnesses truly pose a risk to public health.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against GLBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.





Murder in Greeley: An arrest has been made

Sources tell me an arrest has been made in the case of the murder of 18 year old transgender Greeley woman Angie Zapata but there are no other details forthcoming as of yet. I will keep you posted as more details come in.

Gentlemen, start your engines

What better place to talk cool cars than leaning under the hood of a brightly painted, fully chromed custom street rod against the cool mountain backdrop of beautiful Gunnison, Colorado? Combine that camaraderie with an arts and crafts festival across the street for a winning combination of the 21st annual Gunnison Car Show and the High Octane Arts & Craft Festival on Aug. 22 – 24.

Longtime automotive TV show host Sam Memmolo, currently executive producer and host of “Two Guys Garage” on SPEED, will be at the Gunnison Car Show on Aug. 22 and 23 to receive the Lee Iacocca Award. He also wrote and hosted the successful TV shows “Shadetree Mechanic” and “Crank & Chrome,” both on TNN. Memmolo and his wife, Diana, live in Georgia and are hot rod collectors. Also new for 2008 is that the Gunnison Car Show will be the first car show in the United States to be carbon free.


Prime vintage and custom cars will be on exhibit and on the roads of the Gunnison Valley during the 21st Annual Gunnison Car Show, Aug. 22 – 24. The event, sponsored by the Gunnison Car Club, includes a cruise-in, free street dances on Gunnison’s Main Street, an open car show, poker run, and breakfast cruise to Crested Butte.

The show’s theme is “Cool Cars. Cool Mountains.” It celebrates the combination of Gunnison’s comfortable August temperatures and the many custom and collector cars on exhibit. The show traditionally attracts vehicles from throughout Colorado and from several surrounding states. “The show is all about family fun,” says Gunnison Car Club President Mike Callihan. “In addition to hundreds of great cars, there are many, many fun things for the entire family to enjoy.”

Schedule
The car show kicks off in downtown Gunnison on Friday, Aug. 22 from 5 – 9 p.m. with a ‘50s-style cruise-in and concert. A portion of Main Street will be closed to regular traffic during the event, so there’s plenty of room for more than 150 show cars to park where they can be viewed by the public. The popular Kansas City band “The RumbleJets” will be playing for a free street dance for the public.

The full car show runs from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 23 at beautiful Jorgensen Park. Surrounded by trees, green grass and water, this is an “open” event, which means any vehicle in any condition—from barely moving to full blown restoration—is welcome. It’s not unusual to see exotic, one-of-a-kind custom street rods, high performance sports cars, tricked out pickup trucks and a gaggle of British cars all parked together on the lawn.

Food, games and contests are also a big part of the day that typically showcases more than 300 vehicles. Judging of the cars continues until midday, when an awards ceremony is held. A poker run through the streets of Gunnison after will be held after the show, followed by a street dance on Main Street featuring Gunnison’s own Rock Bottom Band.

On Sunday, Aug. 24, approximately 125 cars leave Gunnison at 7:30 a.m. to drive the scenic 28 miles to Crested Butte’s Elk Avenue, the town’s colorful historic business district. Elk Avenue is closed to traffic on this morning so that the vehicles are available for viewing while their owners enjoy a gourmet breakfast at one of Crested Butte’s fine restaurants.

Admission to the award-winning Gunnison Car Show is free to the general public, but there is a registration fee for cars that are entered. Car show proceeds are donated to community causes. For more information and to register, check out the Gunnison Car Club’s website at www.gunnisoncarclub.com.

Going Green
The Gunnison Car Show will be the first car show in the nation to be carbon free. Using data from MIT and University of Washington and the guidance of staff from www.carbonfund.org, organizers determined that the 330 cars that typically attend drive a combined total of 99,000 miles getting to and from Gunnison, generating 63 tons of carbon. With other elements of the festival such as generating electricity for bands, restaurants preparing meals and more considered in the analysis, the event’s total carbon impact is nearly 81 tons. In response, the Gunnison Car Club has purchased carbon-offset credits from www.carbonfund.com, which will be used to plant trees.

The club also is working to reduce solid waste. For example, food vendors must recycle, use compostable paper products and provide a written plan about how they will reduce their solid waste impact.



Support the Matthew Shepard Foundation

On June 9, the Matthew Shepard Foundation announced Coors Brewing Company's generous offer to match 100% of individual donations up to the first $25,000 and the response was wonderful. Coors would now like to extend the match for another $10,000 so this is a great time to take advantage of this outstanding opportunity. !

Make a one time or sustaining donation today and support these initiatives of the Matthew Shepard Foundation as part of our Campaign to Erase Hate:

MatthewsPlace.com

Laramie Project Community Discussions

Small Bear, Big Dreams

You better work!

The Denver Elections Division has approximately 12 paid temporary positions for Democrats (these are positions that require equal numbers from each party). These positions are for the Resolution Board which is part of the process of counting paper ballots. These are 8-hour per day shifts Monday-Friday starting Monday, Aug 4th. The pay is standard temporary worker pay for the office (currently between $11 and $12 an hour).

If anyone is interested in these positions they should contact Alton Dillard at the Denver Elections Division 720-913-8683. Be sure to tell him you are calliing for the Resolution Board positions. Let's get some gay representation working the elections, people! Otherwise, who knows what kind of shenanigans might result? Anybody remember a little something called the 2000 Presidential Election?

Housing bill benefits - even if you're not in some kind of foreclosure trouble or constantly trying to rent out your hideous townhouse in Thornton

If you are ignoring the housing bailout bill because you think it benefits only troubled homeowners, The New York Times reports that you may miss out on a windfall.

Thanks to my good buddy and real estate maven Kirk for the link. As something of a slumlord myself (not because I want to be, mind you, just because property in the slums is the only kind I can afford), this is good information to have.

P.S. Is anybody interested in renting a hideous two-bedroom townhouse in Thornton? Just kidding. Not really.

P.P.S. A word of advice, never buy a townhouse in Thornton for rental property. It's just no use.

Anti-gay attack at Bay of Pigs at Folsom

I got this bulletin from the folks at Folsom late last night:

"Upon leaving our Bay of Pigs event at 535 York Street, San Francisco at approximately 2 a.m. Sunday morning July 27th, one of our patrons was brutally attacked and stabbed repeatedly. He was walking west on Mariposa, when he was jumped by a group of three Asian men walking east on Mariposa. The men were apparently speaking Chinese, and they were accompanied by three Asian women. We believe the attack was a hate crime. Luckily, he returned to the venue where our medical and security teams were able to rush him to the hospital. He is in stable condition.

We are writing to see if you or anyone you know has any information that may lead us to the attackers. If so, please contact Inspector Brian Danker - SFPD at 415-553-9256. Folsom Street Events cares deeply about the health and well-being of our community members. Please help us to look out for one another and help us bring closure to this dreadful incident."

If you happened to be there and saw anything please make sure to contact the authorities. And if you weren't, it's a good reminder to always be on the lookout and keep your wits about you. This kind of thing can happen anytime, anyplace, anywhere and the best defense is awareness.

Calling all Denver drama queens! Logo's looking for you ...

My good friends at Logo, the gay channel, need participants for some of their TV projects and from what I've seen from dealing with some of you over the past two decades or so that I've been active in the community, I have no doubt the next big gay reality star is destined to come from Denver.

Do you have an interesting coming out story to tell? Are you heading to your college reunion? Are you a gay athlete? Check out Logo's Casting Call page here and take your drama to the small screen where it belongs instead of the streets where you just look foolish.

First Comes Love

In the gay-wedding reality show 'First Comes Love', stand-up comedian Elvira Kurt and wedding planner to the gays, Fern Cohen walk gay and lesbian couples through the process of planning a dream wedding and then march them down the aisle.



With gay marriage the law of the land in California and soon to be across America (fingers crossed!), there is definitely wedding fever in the air. I know of two very fancy and elegant gay weddings here in Denver in the past week alone. Congratulations to those happy couples. It's a nice day for a gay wedding!

'First Comes Love' airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on Logo or, you can rent it on Netflix and watch it whenever you like.

Check out a clip from the show here.

Quote of the Day

"If people are shown the truth and have fear taken out of the equation, I believe they will stand up for what's good and fair." - Utah resident Bruce Bastian, who donated $1 million to fight the California marriage ban, as quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle.