By Ramy Eletreby

Congress to Pass Hate Crimes Prevention Act

The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act was introduced on March 21 in the House of Representatives by Reps. Jon Conyers (D-Mich.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) along with more than 100 other members of Congress. The legislation would provide local police and sheriff’s departments with federal resources to combat hate violence. Hate crimes are often underreported because federal law does not mandate that states and municipalities report them. More than 210 law enforcement, civil rights, civic and religious organizations have shown full support for the law.

“Congress is poised to recognize the reality of hate violence against LGBT people. It’s a disgrace that bigotry and ignorance have prevented Congress from taking real action to address hate crimes for nearly 20 years,” said NGLTF Executive Director Matt Foreman, in a statement.

“This is not a Republican issue or a Democratic issue; it’s a human rights issue. Hate crimes do not target just the victim; they terrorize entire communities and entire groups of people. This sort of violence has no place in our American society,” said Howard Dean, in a statement.

The Senate is expected to pass a bipartisan companion bill in April.

Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion Continue Clash

Tensions between the U.S. Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion increased after the two clashed at a meeting near Houston on March 21. At the meeting, Anglican leaders called on Episcopal bishops to allow U.S. parishes that disagree with the Church’s acceptance of the ordination of gay clergy and same-sex blessings to be overseen by an international “pastoral council.”

“It is our strong desire to remain within the fellowship of the Anglican Communion,” wrote the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church U.S.A. in a strongly worded statement rejecting the call. “We proclaim the Gospel that, in Christ, all God’s children—including gay and lesbian persons—are full and equal participants in the life of Christ’s Church.”

The bishops’ resolution is being considered by the larger Anglican Communion as defiant to a key demand and is indicative of an impending separation between the two bodies.

“The U.S. House of Bishops has made an unequivocally strong and courageous statement in defense of full inclusion of the thousands of LGBT Episcopalians,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese, in a statement. “With this resolution, the bishops have taken a clear stand on the side of justice.”

McCain Stumped on HIV

On March 16, Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) confessed confusion over his own position on HIV/AIDS, according to New York Times reporter Adam Nagourney.

“Should U.S. taxpayer money go to places like Africa to fund contraception to prevent AIDS?” a reporter asked while aboard McCain’s “Straight Talk Express” bus.

McCain said he relied on advice from Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn, who believes in abstinence, but would have to check on his position.

“Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?” the reporter asked.

“You’ve stumped me,” McCain said after a long pause. —K.O.

ACT Up Marks 20th Anniversary with Protests

Heeding the call to action by ACT UP founder Larry Kramer on the group’s 20th anniversary, hundreds of people demonstrated and held die-ins in San Francisco and New York City on March 29. They called for health care and housing reforms to address the needs of people with HIV/AIDS.

"People with AIDS are targeted and pushed out because they are in long-term, rent-controlled apartments," activist Tommi Avicolli Mecca said through a megaphone outside a Coldwell Banker real estate office near the Castro, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

In New York, 27 people were arrested during a massive protest. —K.O.

Historic White House Meeting Remembered

On March 26, LGBT pioneers remembered that day 30 years ago when gays attended a historic meeting at the White House. The conference call was moderated by National Gay & Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) Executive Director Matt Foreman.

Midge Costanza, then-assistant to President Jimmy Carter, remembered getting a call from NGLTF co-executive directors Jean O’Leary and Bruce Voeller saying, “It is time that a government we helped choose…no longer discriminate against us.”

Without Carter’s permission, Costanza hosted the handful of gays and lesbians in a meeting with department heads. Among the topics discussed were gays in the military and immigration.

“We were actually inside the White House while Anita Bryant and right-wing politicians were fighting to take away our rights. We were actually meeting with the staff of the president of the United States,” while the right-wingers were outside, said Los Angeles-based Bishop Troy Perry, founder of the Metropolitan Community Church.

“More mail was generated from that meeting than from any other meeting during Jimmy Carter’s administration,” said Costanza.

Also on the call were Marilyn Haft, then-deputy director of the White House Office of Public Liaison, Pokey Anderson, Charlotte Bunch, Frank Kameny, Elaine Noble and George Raya. —K.O.

Equality Riders Continue Christian College Visits

For the second year, more than 50 LGBT and straight young adults from diverse countries have joined the Equality Ride to initiate conversations at 32 Christian colleges with policies prohibiting the enrollment of LGBT students. The ride began on March 7, when the 50-plus riders boarded two buses in Minneapolis, one eastbound and one westbound, to begin their journey.

Like last year, the riders have met repeated resistance, with each campus visit including arrests for trespassing, police harassment and vandalism of the Equality Ride buses. Since the ride began, arrests have been made at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Ind., Central Bible College in Springfield, Mo., Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Okla., Baylor University in Waco, Texas and Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. In Kentucky, three adults were arrested for standing on a public sidewalk surrounding the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, while 12 riders were arrested for conducting a sit-in outside the office of the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. Five riders were detained rather than being arrested in Clinton, Miss., after walking onto the Mississippi College campus. The riders were sentenced to three days of community service.

Numbers As of 3:30 p.m., March 27, 2007

U.S. Deaths in Iraq: 3,244 (http://icasualties.org)

Iraqi Dead since 2003: Between 60,167-66,050 (www.iraqbodycount.org)

Cost of War: $412,532,000,000+ (www.nationalpriorities.org)

National Debt: $8, 842,813,749,427.04 (www.brillig.com/debt_clock)

U.S. Trade Deficit: $182,155,000,000.00+
(www.americaneconomicalert.org/ticker_home.asp)