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Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. for Marriage Equality

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr—who has previously supported gay rights—released a moving statement in support of equality.

Diaz Jr. was elected borough president in April 2009 and previously served in the New York State Assembly. Diaz Jr. is the son of Ruben Diaz Sr, the rabidly anti-gay New York state senator and Pentecostal minister. Diaz Sr. was the only Democrat in the Senate to oppose the mariage equality law passed in June 2011.

After considerable deliberation and introspection, I support marriage equality. My decision, which comes after years of thought and reflection on the issue, is informed by the experiences I have had with close friends, family and loved ones.

For example, my chief-of-staff, Paul Del Duca, has for decades worked to help the people of this City. He has helped people find housing and jobs, he has dedicated his professional life to assisting those in need. Why, then, should he and his partner Damion—whose wedding I stood witness to—be denied the same rights of any other loving and committed couple? Moreover, why should my niece, Erica Diaz, be denied the ability to get married when her time comes?

Borough President Diaz Jr. also called on the Supreme Court to strike down Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act.  DOMA  Section Three prohibits federal recognition of legallly married same-sex couples and denies all federal benefits, such as Social Security, penion benefits, prefential tax treatment and health care. The justices heard oral arguments on Section Three today. 

NYS Sen. and Rev. Ruben Diaz Sr. took to the streets of the Bronx in May 2011 to lead a march and rally against the state's proposed marriage law. That attracted only about 1,000 people—a far cry from the 10,000 strong May 2009 anti-gay march that Diaz organized on the streets of Manhattan.

The counter-protesters at the 2011 rally included member's of Diaz's own family—Erica Diaz, the then-22-year-old openly lesbian granddaughter who was discharged from the Navy under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." In addition to his granddaughter, Diaz Sr. also has two gay brothers.

Thanks Andres Duqué!

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VIDEO: Activists Disrupt USCA to Protest Gilead's Atripla Pricing

CHICAGO: Several dozen HIV/AIDS advocates peacefully disrupted the U.S. Conference on AIDS (USCA) only minutes after it officially opened Thursday morning. The action was targeted at pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences and its controversial pricing of the anti-retroviral medication Atripla.

The group encircled Gilead's conference booths with a red ribbon, wore masks of Gilead CEO John C. Martin, held signs that read "Occupy Gilead" and chanted "Gilead is the 1%." Gilead is a lead sponsor of  USCA 2011.

"The exhibit hall was only open a half hour and [the] action began around Gilead and their pricing," Amanda Lugg Director of Advocacy & Mobilization of the New York City-based African Services Committee told R20.  "I was very pleased to see that."

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, more than 9,000 people across the U.S. are on waiting lists for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, the federal/state program that helps low-income, people living with HIV/AIDS pay for their expensive medications. Despite this fact, the cost of Atripla went up by 5.1 percent, while Truvada and Emtriva increased by 7.9 percent. The oft-prescribed Atripla is at the top of the unaffordable list, priced at $10,000 per patient per year.

Gilead's Truvada, which recently made news in studies for post- and pre-exposure prophylaxis, can cost up to $14,000 per year.

Gilead is maintaining a price freeze for drugs going toward ADAP but the general price increase is expected to "increase costs to Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance companies."

The recession has forced a number of states to slash funding to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. Those in the program are disproportionately Black, Latino, gay/bisexual men and women. In 2010, at least a dozen states closed enrollment in ADAP.

NOTE: Gilead Sciences occasionally advertises on R20.

Watch videos of the protest AFTER THE JUMP ...