More than 300 people participated in the second-annual Trans Health Fair at the LGBT Center, organized by the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund. Photo: Susan J. Heske.
Win against Proposition 8 is ‘victory on every battlefront.’
Cyclers raise record $400,000 for LGBT Center’s HIV/AIDS services.
But club still backs 2 lawmakers who voted against marriage equality.
New Yorkers are prominent in 31 Icons for GLBT History Month. Sign up to watch their bios (free) online.
For the fifth year, advocates marched across Brooklyn Bridge for Marriage Equality. Yet this event was different.
Majority Leader Dean Skelos attended Log Cabin’s fall fundraiser, where he backed the first openly gay Senate hopeful, John Chromczak.
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By Joelle L. Quartini
Friday, June 06, 2008
Trans Group Holds Health Fair, Fundraiser
The Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF) has been busy. On June 3, the group held its second-annual Transgender Health Fair at The LGBT Center. More than 300 people attended the event. The fair connects transgender people with supportive health-care providers and medical professionals. St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan, the New York City Health & Hospitals Corp. and community-based groups participated.
Just a few days later, more than 150 people attended a fundraiser at The Ritz in Hell's Kitchen on June 10th to celebrate Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund's third anniversary. TLDEF raised more than $25,000 at the event and plans to expand the staff with another attorney. The organization works for transgender equal rights and brings cases challenging discrimination based on gender identity and gender expression. TLDEF recently represented Khadijah Farmer in her successful lawsuit against Caliente Cab Company restaurant after a bouncer ejected her from the restaurant because he thought she was too "masculine-looking" to use the women's restroom. Transgender New Yorkers can also receive free legal name changes through TLDEF's Name Change Project.
Working Families Party Backs Marriage Equality
The Working Families Party unanimously decided to advocate for same-sex marriage equality for New Yorkers.
The resolution states the WFP will “support the right of same-sex couples to access legal marriage and oppose laws and constitutional amendments that deny those rights.”
The party’s executive committee decided it was time to join in the fight for LGBT rights.
“Denying tens of thousands of New York families the rights and protections that come with a marriage license is not only a severe economic injustice, it is also an issue of basic human rights," said Bob Master, Co-Chair of the WFP.
The WFP is an independent, grass-roots community-labor coalition. More than 70 unions and community groups are affiliated with WFP.
The marriage bill, which passed the New York State Assembly last June, has yet to make any headway in the Senate, although Governor Paterson has declared that he will sign the bill into law if it comes to him.
The Working Families Party joins the State Democratic Party and labor unions, which represent more than one million New Yorkers, by going on the record in support of gay and lesbian marriage equality.
GMHC Partners with Duane Reade to Offer Free HIV Tests
Duane Reade and Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) have partnered to make free HIV/AIDS testing more convenient and more accessible.
GMHC mobile testing units will be parked outside of five Duane Reade stores for on-the-spot testing and counseling.
“We know that fear and the stigma of HIV and AIDS continues to keep people from getting tested and accessing care,” said Dr. Marjorie J. Hill, CEO of GMHC. “Having a trusted family friend like Duane Reade as a partner helps us to break through the barriers associated with HIV testing.”
More than 100,000 New Yorkers are currently living with HIV—more than Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami and Washington D.C. combined.
Thousands do not know they are infected.
The partnership makes sense, as Duane Reade is the largest drug store chain in New York City with 242 locations. Duane Reade chairman and CEO John Lederer said the company's goal is to provide affordable and convenient services for New Yorkers as they partner to make HIV testing more accessible.
Screening is free and confidential, and no appointment is necessary.
Participating Duane Reade stores include: 58 E. Fordham Road in the Bronx; 247 Herkimer St. and 2141 Nostrand Ave. in Brooklyn; and 180 Seventh Ave., 2108 Third Ave. and 598 Broadway in Manhattan.
For more information about when the GMHC testing van will be available in front of Duane Reade stores, call the GMHC HIV/AIDS Hotline at 1-800-243-7692 or e-mail to hotline@gmhc.org.
Pride Agenda Honors 3 for Commitment to Workplace Equality
Empire State Pride Agenda, a statewide gay advocacy group, named three honorees for their commitment to an inclusive and equal workplace at the 2008 Equality@Work Awards ceremony.
Fashion icon Kenneth Cole received the individual honoree award, and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP and Credit Suisse received corporate recognition.
Padma Lakshmi, author, model and host of “Top Chef,” emceed the luncheon ceremony at Cipriani 23rd Street, where she began the program by listing all of the ways that she is like a gay man, including her love of men, love of shoes and her persistent need to wax.
Wearing jeans and a blazer, Kenneth Cole gave a humbling acceptance speech, during which he said he didn't feel his work for LGBT workplace equality needed to be awarded, that it is simply just the right thing to do.
Carmine Boccuzzi of Cleary Gottlieb cited cases the law firm has won both outside and inside of the office.
“Cleary Gottlieb believes in LGBT equality and is willing to act in accordance with that belief,” Boccuzzi said.
He also praised ESPA for its continuing work for LGBT equality, which “educates people, changes peoples' minds, reminds us of all the work we have to do.”
Credit Suisse representative Jennifer Costley accepted the award, which she credited to the open network and authentic leadership of the global financial services company. When you're able to be out at work, she said “you’re able to bring your whole self to work.”
ESPA executive director Alan Van Capelle credited the three honorees for taking the initiative to make real change in the workplace.
“You were really setting and raising the bar for what we expect from our corporate leaders before it was popular,” Van Capelle said. “You are fulfilling the promise of New York.”
Health Dept: One-fourth of NYC residents have herpes virus; 32% of MSM Do
NEW YORK (AP) — A city Health Department study finds that more than a fourth of adult New Yorkers are infected with the virus that causes genital herpes.
The study, released Monday, says about 26 percent of New York City adults have genital herpes, compared to about 19 percent nationwide.
The department says genital herpes can double a person’s risk for contracting HIV.
Herpes can cause painful sores, but most people have no recognizable symptoms.
Among New Yorkers, the herpes rate is higher among women, black people and gay men. Specifically, the study finds that “genital herpes is more common in New York City than nationally (26 percent of adults versus 19 percent). Among New Yorkers, the rate is higher among women than men (36 percent versus 19 percent), higher among blacks than whites (49 percent versus 14 percent), and higher among men who have sex with men (MSM) than those who don’t (32 percent versus 18 percent). This is the first measurement of New York City’s infection rate, but the national rate has declined in recent years.
The health department urges consistent use of condoms, and says its STD clinics offer free, confidential herpes testing.
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