Diverse activists and allies lobby Albany for LGBT causes, including GENDA and Marriage Equality. But that’s not the real power of Equality & Justice Day.
An emotional West Village vigil marks the national Day of Silence and a slain teenager.
Aesthetic Realists wrest $4,000 in state funds for a program that allegedly teaches art to Brooklyn senior citizens. But the group has a history of “converting” gays to heterosexuals.
War, the economy and health care matter more to a majority of LGB voters.
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Friday, November 12, 2004
New York State Supreme Court Judge Faviola Soto ruled Tuesday, Nov. 8, that Mayor
Michael Bloomberg must enforce the Equal Benefits Law. Bloomberg had challenged
the EBL in court after the New York City Council successfully overrode his veto
of the bill in June. The EBL was to take effect late last month but Bloomberg
petitioned the court to issue a temporary restraining order. Councilwoman Christine
Quinn (D-Chelsea), the primary sponsor of the EBL, praised Faviola’s ruling.
“We are gratified that the courts recognized and protected the legislative
authority of the City Council,” she said. “It is time for the mayor
to finally follow the court’s order and to move forward with the law.”
Groups such as the Empire State Pride Agenda said the law is necessary to protect
gay New Yorkers. “This bill is about equal treatment of all workers and
all families,” ESPA Executive Director Alan Van Capelle said. Bloomberg
spokesperson Jordan Barowitz said that the mayor plans to appeal the ruling.
A controversial anti-drug campaign that would have featured posters of people
arrested for selling methamphetamines has been postponed. The U.S. Attorney’s
office announced the campaign last month after Manhattan resident William Cullun
was sentenced to more than seven years in prison for selling crystal meth to
an undercover police officer. Law enforcement officials were to distribute the
posters in Chelsea and the West Village, where crystal meth use has increased
dramatically in recent years. They had hoped that the initiative would deter
people from using crystal meth. Instead, a number of gay organizations said
the campaign would further demonize addicts. Lynn Schulman of Gay Men’s
Health Crisis welcomed the decision to postpone the campaign. “We are
very appreciative that the U.S. Attorney’s office listened to our concerns,”
she said. “It is important that all of us work together to make sure that
crystal meth does not destroy any community in the city.”
HIV and AIDS care providers in New York City, as with others around the country,
continue to experience a shortage of flu vaccines. The Callen-Lorde Medical
Center has depleted its supplies of the vaccine, according to Associate Medical
Director Dr. Gal Mayer. Mayer said a new shipment of the vaccine could arrive
in December but he said that date is not definite. Meanwhile, the medical center
has instructed its patients to make sure that other vaccines such as that for
pneumonia are up to date. “HIV and AIDS patients are at higher risk for
serious outcomes for the flu,” Mayer said. Callen-Lorde patients seeking
flu shots have been referred to the New York City Department of Health and Mental
Hygiene. The DOH-MH has a limited amount of vaccine available. It is offering
the vaccine to those, including those living with HIV and AIDS, considered at
higher risk for contracting the flu. For now, however, the U.S. flu season has
begun slowly, according to the head of the Centers for Disease Control &
Prevention, who spoke on Tuesday, Nov. 16. Texas and New York have reported
some localized outbreaks, and sporadic cases have turned up in some other states,
Dr. Julie Gerberding told reporters at the American Public Health Association's
annual conference. "Flu is so unpredictable,” she said, “I'm
not making any predictions." Officials are closely watching flu activity
as they try to direct remaining vaccine supplies to people most at risk of serious
complications from the virus. The U.S. government had hoped to have 100 million
doses available for the current flu season but lost half that supply when maker
Chiron Corp. was barred from shipping its vaccine after some doses were found
to be contaminated.
Jurors in the Daniel Pelosi murder trial heard testimony from the girlfriend
of murdered East Hampton millionaire Ted Ammon on Tuesday, Nov. 4, that said
he visited a gay beach in the hours before his death. Lori Finkle told defense
attorney Gerald Shargel that Ammon had left her a phone message that said he
was “scared” after he left the beach. Shargel further speculated
that Ammon was “conflicted about his sexual orientation.” He told
the jurors that a man he had a sexual encounter with while at the beach might
have killed Ammon. A confidential source told the Blade that he had met Pelosi
at Two Mile Beach, the beach in question, and that he had taken him to his home
a few weeks before the murder. He said that other men in East Hampton have claimed
to have picked Pelosi up at the beach. Two Mile itself became the source of
controversy last year when East Hampton Police arrested a few men there. At
night, men come in their cars and sometimes cruise for sex. Pelosi is accused
of murdering Ammon in Oct. 2001. Prosecutors contend that Pelosi, 41, was having
an affair with Ammon’s wife Generosa and that he killed him to collect
a multi-million dollar divorce settlement.
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