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Former DHS Secretary Ridge: GOP Should Stop Its Anti-Gay Politics

A refreshing dose of sanity in the GOP. The Republican Party needs to end its anti-gay politics and should become more inclusive, former Pennsylvania Governor and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told the Wall Street Journal.

Ridge is a now businessman, consultant and philanthropist. Last month he endorsed Mitt Romney for president, but he remained critical of some of his fellow Republicans. "I think, as a party, we sometimes come across as very judgmental and very self-righteous, and that doesn’t play well to a lot of people," he said. "Not just on political grounds, but in terms of the culture. We accept diversity in many different ways, and we need to be more clear about that and careful to express that."

In particular, Ridge urged a more expansive approach to what he termed "the gay community," noting that increased familiarity with gay people tends to lead to less judgmental politics. "I think that’s the right way to be," he said. "Younger Americans on both sides of the aisle are saying, ‘Live and let live.’ "

Asked about same-sex marriage, Ridge said he had no particular point of view. “It’s one of those situations where I’d leave it up to the state.”

Ridge served as Pennsylvania governor from 1995–2001. Ridge became Assistant to President George W. Bush for Homeland Security in 2001–2003. He later became the first Secretary of Homeland Security in 2003.

Ethiopian Religious Leaders Protest Gay Meeting at ICASA 2011

ADDIS ABABA: The 16th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA) has started with some drama. Leading Ethiopian religious leaders demanded the cancellation of the Saturday pre-conference that was scheduled to focus on men who have sex with men and HIV/AIDS.

The meeting organized by South African-based  Joel Nana and the African Men for Sexual Health and Rights—read our interview from AIDS 2010 in Vienna—was forced to change its venue after an ugly press conference condemning the day-long event.

The leaders of Ethiopia's main religious denominations faced journalists briefly. Abune Paulos, the patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church was there, along with representatives of the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council, the Roman Catholic Church, and Protestant denominations.

But before anything could be said, Ethiopia's Health Minister Tewodros Adhanom arrived and asked for a word with the religious leaders in private. After nearly an hour, the leaders left without comment. The Reverend Iteffa Gobena Molte, president of the Ethiopian Evangelical Council Mekane Yesus told reporters the event would be rescheduled.

"It's postponed to another time. And when they are ready they will call upon you to come and record them," said Iteffa. Reporters initially were told the news conference had been called to condemn a planned conference on "men who have sex with men."

The website of a group called the African Men for Sexual Health and Rights, or AMSHER, says the meeting is to be held Saturday at an Addis Ababa hotel. A list of speakers posted on the website include Michel Sidibe, director of UNAIDS, and Eric Goosby, the United States Global AIDS Coordinator.

Rev. Iteffa is the Ecumenical Envoy to the African Union, which is based here in Addis Ababa.

The MSM pre-conference was re-scheduled Saturday to a secure location at one of the United Nations compounds. Armed UN troops guarded the MSM activists and meeting. No pictures were allowed. Look for my report next week...

The publicity surrounding the incident went viral across the internet and Facebook, notes the Ethiopian Reporter, which describes the events as "an unprecedented controversy in Addis Ababa."

The Federal Republic of Ethiopia is one of at least 38 of Africa's 54 nations that currently have laws penalizing same-sex relations or even sexuality. Four nations—Mauritania, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan—boast the death penalty for gays or same-sex activity. Prosecutions are rare but same-sex acts in Ethiopia carry penalties of imprisonment of more than ten years.

MSM criminalizations laws and homophobia are the topics of a number of sessions at the United Nations and UNAIDS-sponsored ICASA 2011. Up to ten thousand people—including former President George W. Bush—are expected at the conference that opens today in Addis Ababa.

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AIDS 2010: Joel Nana on African MSM

VIDEO: GOP Presidential Candidates Call for Fed Marriage Amendment

PHOTO: GETTY

During the first New Hampshire Republican presidential debate last night on CNN, the candidates were asked if they would try to overturn state laws.

Igor Volsky at Think Progress:

Hermain Cain and Ron Paul said that marriage should be left to the states, while Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum all called for a federal amendment outlawing same-sex marriages. Michele Bachmann — who recently pressed other states to follow Minnesota’s example and put the question on the ballot — managed to argue that she does support a constitutional amendment but "would not be going into the states to overturn their state law."

Thrice-married serial adulterer Newt Gingrich added: "I was one of the authors of the Defense of Marriage Act. The Obama Administration needs to defend that law, there is no other choice but an amendment."

Of course, Newt. Just like you had "no other choice" but to carry on that affair with an intern at the same time you were "defending marriage". Watch AFTER THE JUMP ...

 

Black AIDS Institute, NAACP Grade U.S. Presidents' Responses to AIDS

This weekend marks a somber milestone in history: Thirty years since the first published reports of HIV/AIDS in the United States. Although HIV/AIDS was originally considered a problem of white gay men, Blacks have been hard-hit by the disease since the earliest days of the epidemic. By 1993, Blacks accounted for a nearly a quarter of AIDS cases by 1983. Today, African Americans are barely 13 percent of the population, yet make up half of all those living and dying with HIV/AIDS in the USA.

The Black AIDS Institute and the NAACP have released "30 Years Is Enuf: the History of the AIDS Epidemic in Black America." The authoritative report chronicles the history of HIV/AIDS in Black America, the response, medical breakthroughs and a roadmap for the future.

Five presidents have led the nation’s response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic over the past 30 years—and not all have risen to the occasion. In the report, the two organizations graded five presidents—Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama—on how well they handled the epidemic.

The Republican presidents fared the worst. Reagan  received the lowest grade possible: F. "No U.S. president demonstrated less leadership about the disease or a greater lack of concern for its sufferers than Ronald Reagan," said the report. "Reagan didn’t give his first speech on AIDS until 1987. By then over 36,000 Americans had been diagnosed with the disease and 20,000 people had died."

Clinton scored the highest with a "B" for aggressively increasing HIV/AIDS funding and awareness domestically and globally. Clinton "also initiated outreach to educate Black leaders about AIDS’ disproportionate impact on their constituents," said the report.

George H.W. and George W Bush received a "C".

President Obama was given an "incomplete." The President was lauded for launching a National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) and overhauling health care. But the report found the Administration has "failed to ensure that domestic AIDS funding keeps pace with need", and notes that only time will tell how successful his presidency has been in the fight against AIDS.

Read the report card HERE.

Last fall, you may recall that we wrote a four part series for the BAI on NHAS' potential impact on Black America. Read parts 1,2 , 3 and 4 of our series.

REPORT: Bush Thinks Obama is "Taking All the Credit" for bin Laden

Why did former President George W. Bush decline the White House invitation to attend today's ceremony at the World Trade Center site? Bush believes it is a public relations stunt and Obama is "taking all the credit" for finding and killing Osama bin Laden, reports the New York Daily News.

"[Bush] viewed this as an Obama victory lap," a highly-placed source told the Daily News Wednesday. Bush's visit to the rubble after the 9/11 attacks was the emotional high point of his presidency, but associates say the invitation to return with his successor was a non-starter.

"He doesn't feel personally snubbed and appreciates the invitation, but Obama's claiming all the credit and a lot of other people deserve some of it," the source added. "Obama gave no credit whatsoever to the intelligence infrastructure the Bush administration set up that is being hailed from the left and right as setting in motion the operation that got Bin Laden. It rubbed Bush the wrong way."

Bush issued a congratulatory statement to Obama shortly after Sunday's television address.

"Obama campaigned on a promise to capture and kill the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks and revived the search for Bin Laden after it had lapsed during the Bush presidency," reports Think Progress. "That hasn’t kept conservatives from offering the former president praise while virtually ignoring Obama."

If GWB is looking to take more "credit" for something, how about the recession, the credit and mortgage market meltdown and two trillion dollar wars? And that's just to start.

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Bush Declines Obama's Invite to Ground Zero

Bush Declines Obama's Invite to Ground Zero Ceremony

Former President George W. Bush has declined an offer from President Obama to attend tomorrow's ceremony at the World Trade Center site, a Bush spokesman confirmed.

"President Bush will not be in attendance on Thursday," said his spokesman, David Sherzer. "He appreciated the invite, but has chosen in his post-presidency to remain largely out of the spotlight. He continues to celebrate with Americans this important victory in the war on terror."

The White House did not confirm that the invitation had been made or comment on Mr. Bush’s decision.

Not a very surprising decision on Bush's part imo.

Bush famously visited Ground Zero three days after the catastrophic attacks of September 11, 2001.

King & Spalding Law Firm Drops House DOMA Defense

After a week of mounting criticism, the law firm retained to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on behalf of the U.S. House of Representatives has announced it will withdraw from the case.

Paul Clement, the former solicitor general in the George W. Bush Administration, was named to lead the defense for King & Spalding. Via a spokesman, K&S Chairman Robert D. Hays, Jr. released this statement to Ben Smith at Politico:

Today the firm filed a motion to withdraw from its engagement to represent the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the House of Representatives on the constitutional issues regarding Section III of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. Last week we worked diligently through the process required for withdrawal.

In reviewing this assignment further, I determined that the process used for vetting this engagement was inadequate. Ultimately I am responsible for any mistakes that occurred and apologize for the challenges this may have created.

King & Spalding faced a major public relations backlash after it was reported they were being paid up to $500,000 to defend the discriminatory anti-gay 1996 law. More questions were raised after Chris Geidner at MetroWeekly reported that the contract placed a "gag" order on all firm employees relating to DOMA. Employees were prohibited from any advocating or lobbying to repeal DOMA.

Shortly after the announcement was made, the Amanda Terkel at the Huffington Post reported that Paul Clement submitted his letter of resignation. "In his resignation letter, Clement stated that he is joining Bancroft PLLC, which is led by former Bush administration officials. Clement will continue to represent the House on the case while at Bancroft."

House Speaker John Boehner pushed for outside counsel to defend DOMA after the Obama Administration announced in February that it will no longer defend recent lawsuits challenging DOMA Section Three, which prohibits federal recognition of same-sex couples and denies all federal benefits, such as Social Security and health care.

Obama Rolls Back Bush's "Conscience Clause", Sanity Returns to Health Care Policy

Our latest op-ed for the Washington Blade:

Recent weeks have seen a relentless social conservative assault on gays, especially on non discrimination protections and health care. But a major win for our community happened quietly and without fanfare last week. The Obama administration announced it was finally rescinding most of the Bush-era health care provider “conscience clause” regulations that have been used to discriminate against gay men and lesbians, transgender people, patients with HIV/AIDS, and, of course, women seeking contraception or abortions.

The often-abused regulation was described as one of Bush’s “most controversial legacies.” That says a helluva lot about the Texas oilman who presided over the Iraq war. It allowed the federal bureaucracy to become a Petri dish of movement conservatism — complete with quasi-theocratic legal precedents and state-sponsored bigotry that bred contempt and prosecution for gay men, lesbians and the trans community.

The policy was a cruel joke coming from the same anti-choice, anti-science and anti-gay right-wing cultural Neanderthals that promoted “abstinence” to teens in this country — hello Bristol Palin — and to men and women in AIDS-ravaged Africa.

Read the full op-ed HERE. 

Obama Replaces Bush's Anti-LGBT "Provider Conscience" Regulations

Despite the coordinated social conservative attack on women, families, unions and the LGBT community, there is some very good news to report. The Obama Administration has repealed the much-criticized "provider conscience" regulations that have been used to discriminate against gay men, lesbians, transgender men and women, persons with HIV/AIDS, and women seeking contraception and abortions.

The Washington Post:

The Obama administration on Friday finally rescinded most of a federal regulation designed to protect those who refuse to provide care they find objectionable on moral or religious grounds. The decision guts one of President George W. Bush's most controversial legacies: a rule that was widely interpreted as shielding workers who refuse to participate in a range of medical services, such as providing birth control pills, caring for gay men with AIDS and performing in-vitro fertilization for lesbians or single women.

Friday's move was seen as an important step in countering that trend, which in recent years had led pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions for the emergency contraceptive Plan B, doctors in California to reject a lesbian's request for infertility treatment, and an ambulance driver in Chicago to turn away a woman who needed transportation for an abortion.

The new rule leaves intact only long-standing "conscience" protections for doctors and nurses who do not want to perform abortions or sterilizations. It also retains the process for allowing health workers whose rights are violated to file complaints.

In 2009, R20 reported: "CVS locations in Washington D.C. have been accused of limiting access to condoms and some pharmacists refuse to dispense birth control pills. Gay activists in Chicago have also accused several Walgreens locations of refusing to sell condoms to gay men."

The new rule, goes into effect in 30 days. But it is likely to exacerbate the debate over health care, a women's right to choose, and HIV/AIDS funding.

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Obama to Repeal Bush "Provider Conscience" Regulations
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WATCH: Bush Cancels Swiss Trip Over Threat of Torture Prosecution

Former President George W. Bush was forced to cancel a trip to Geneva, Switzerland amid concerns of massive demonstrations and calls from human rights groups to prosecute him for war crimes.

The New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights is prepared to file a complaint against Bush with the support of 50 NGOs, according to a statement from the group. CCR said Bush's presence on Swiss territory was required for a prosecutor to take action. Bush was scheduled to speak in Geneva on February 12th at a dinner to honor the United Israel Appeal. The complaint will now be released at a press conference Monday on "the anniversary of the day, nine years ago, when Bush decided the Geneva Conventions didn't apply to 'enemy combatants,'" CCR said.

Groups planned to ask Swiss authorities to indict Bush for war crime violations, arguing that he had admitted to torturing terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay and other C.I.A "black sites" around the world. "Bush has travelled freely round the world since leaving the White House in January 2009," reports The Guardian. "[But] human rights groups believe he is vulnerable to prosecution after admitting in his autobiography last November that he authorised waterboarding and other interrogation techniques."

CCR and other European human right groups have previously filed several suits charging war crimes against Bush and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The groups have vowed to track Bush "around the world" after their success in forcing the cancellation of his trip to Switzerland. Watch a news report AFTER THE JUMP ...