News: Arizona Marriage, HIV, Trans Hearings, Sheryl Lee Ralph

· After breaking its own parliamentary rules and "turning off the microphone" on dissenting Democrats, "the Republican-controlled Arizona Senate late yesterday ... shut down debate and forced a vote to place a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage on the ballot." On Wednesday, a similar proposal failed to pass the Senate. Voters rejected a broader ban on both gay marriage and domestic-partner benefits in 2006.

· To combat soaring HIV rates, New York City health authorities will test every adult in the Bronx ,

· Jonathan Perry, the young writer and HIV activist, interviews (podcast) Phill Wilson and the fabulous Sheryl Lee Ralph, who explains why she created her dynamic one-woman show, Sometimes I Cry: The Loves, Lives, and Losses of Women Infected and Affected by HIV/AIDS. "I heard about the disease back when I was doing Dreamgirls, nobody wanted to talk about the gay men's cancer, or something called GRID. People were getting infected and Christians were throwing the first stone—judging. Now, 20 years later, we look and learn that AIDS is about all of us."

· Report: Senate Democratic and Republican leaders report 'progress' on repealing 15-year-old ban that prohibits HIV positive visitors and immigrants.

· Super flawless Brian J. White (Stomp the Yard, The Family Stone) works the red carpet.

· Could this be the year HBO's critically-acclaimed and gay friendly ensemble drama The Wire finally gets an Emmy nomination?

· For the first time ever, Congress holds hearings to document the widespread discrimination against transgender men and women. While the subcommittee heard from a number of transpeople on the discrimination they face there—such as a former aerospace engineer who cannot find work in his field—"there is currently no legislation before the House that would protect transmen and women." Seven months ago, the House passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which bars workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation, but that was only after gender identity protections were stripped from the final bill.

· Reaction from the trans community has been mixed. Monica Roberts, the black trans writer and blogger, notes, "With the exception of Diego Sanchez, very other participant is white. There are no African-American transgender people testifying at this hearing ... It is mind boggling for me to see that once again, a community that claims that we are one diverse bunch and that we're all in this together, puts together a historic hearing on unemployment discrimination, an issue that we African descended transgender people are intimately familar with and not one of us is at the table giving testimony about it."

Comments

[DR]

Rod, thanks for bringing the news updates back, I love 'em.

[Derrick from Philly]

From what I'm told there is supposed to a film version of Iceberg Slims "Mama Black Widow" near completion, and Brian J White is playing the gay main character. Well, of course, Mr White is gorgeous, but I can't imagine him in drag. Maybe they're going to leave the drag aspect out of the screen version.

It's ironic that straight black filmmakers would pick Slim's novel to present black gay people on film. The book and it's message are really depressing....well, maybe I need to read it again--some parts I did like.