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August 11, 2011 | www.sfbaytimes.com
The LGBT Newspaper and Events Calendar for the San Francisco Bay Area | July 28 2011
American Psychological Association Supports Marriage Equality
Over 1,000 Groups Back 2012 AIDS March
Richard Socarides of Equality Matters
On the eve of its annual convention, the policymaking body of the American Psychological Association (APA) voted unanimously in a 157-0 vote to pass a resolution reaffirming its support for the freedom to marry for same-sex couples and again calling for an end to marriage discrimination, citing a mounting body of irrefutable evidence showing the psychological harms to gay and lesbian people when denied marriage. The resolution “clarifies the Association’s support for same-sex marriage” in light of new research, the group said. A similar resolution in 2004 had opposed discrimination against same-sex relationships, but refrained from a more formal policy recommendation. Dr. Clinton Anderson, APA associate executive director, said that the timing of the resolution is an indirect result of several states’ legalization of gay marriage. “We knew that marriage benef its heterosexual people in very significant ways, but we didn’t know if that would be true for same-sex couples,” stated Anderson, who is also director of the APA’s Office on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns. “This is welcome news,” Richard Socarides of Equality Matters told Bay Times. “We see more and more leading American professional and scientific organizations speaking out and recognizing that when loving and committed families are allowed to marry, everyone benefits, and no one is harmed.” “The American Psychological Association represents over 100,000 medical professionals who see day in and day out the real harms gay and lesbian people and their families experience when denied the freedom to marry,” said Evan Wolfson, founder and president of Freedom to Marry. “With the freedom to marry in twelve countries on four continents, and most recently New York joining five other states plus the District of Columbia in ending exclusion from marriage, there is a mountain of un-refuted evidence and experience showing that extending the freedom to marry to loving, committed samesex couples helps them and their families while hurting no one. Based (continued on page 5)
Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) The AIDS Society’s XIX International AIDS Conference will be in the United States for the first time in more than 20 years in July 2012.
By Dennis McMillan AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) and 1,006 organizations from 78 countries have announced their collaboration on the “Keep the Promise on HIV/AIDS March” set to take place in Washington, DC on July 22, 2012. The march will immediately precede the opening ceremonies of the International AIDS Society’s XIX International AIDS Conference, which is being held in the United States for the first time in more than 20 years. The “Keep the Promise” rally and march, which organizers anticipate will draw thousands of participants, will serve as a clarion call for univer-
sal access to AIDS care and treatment; for more efficient use of the limited funding from sources including the Global Fund and PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief); for big world economies and the G20 to fully fund the Global Fund; as well as for the lowering of AIDS drug prices by pharmaceutical companies to allow for the treatment of more patients with the same amount of money. The 2012 march includes a global coalition of founding supporters that have signed on and endorsed the “Keep the Promise” Declaration. Among the facts that it states are:
Every day AIDS claims 5,000 lives; over 14 million people with AIDS are not receiving the treatment they need and 2 million die each year as a result; less than 40% of people living with HIV in low- and middle- income countries have been tested for HIV and know their status; 16 million children have been orphaned by AIDS, and each year over 400,000 are still born HIV-positive. The Declaration states: “And whereas, in the United States: the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) spends less than 30% of its HIV prevention budget on HIV testing; over 8,600 low-income people have been placed on waiting lists or dis-enrolled from AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (continued on page 3)
Taking the Reins, Celebrating the Legacy, Creating Anew cludes longstanding contributors, well-loved community personalities, behind the scenes veterans and a smattering of souls too who’ve only recently stepped up to the plate, saying “I’m here to help because this is the right thing to do.” I am grateful to them, to each and every one.
PHOTO BY RI N K
By Dennis McMillan
Suspense Mounts about Historic First Lesbian Race for the U.S. Senate
After 30 years of service, Kim Corsaro is handing over the reigns to Dr. Betty Sullivan.
By Dr. Betty L. Sullivan, Publisher Three cheers, I say. There’s one for each decade. Cheers and more go to our founding publisher and editor, Kim Corsaro, who is stepping down after 30 solid years of service to the Bay Area’s LGBTQ community. For three decades, Kim stood tall as the driving force behind this publication – the sometimes controversial, always progressive, usually humorous and often spunky Bay Times. Truly, Kim has stood up and stood strong for the preservation of an important alternative editorial voice frequently commenting on a road less taken. The hallowed dissenting view with opinion perhaps no one dared to say. Well done, Kim, and we happily anticipate your words appearing here,
appearing in these pages even as you move on to a new calling - a specialized path where select experience has well-prepared you for leadership. Now here, we start anew. Begin again. This highly-valued Bay Times with traditions and legacies forged on all that’s gone before, expertise, sweat, laughter and tears. Indeed we are still here, this “gay press” vehicle, she continues, holding steady, retooling and looking forward. Thank you to our readers who have heartily expressed support, shown patience and acted with integrity in their observations of our process. To those who don’t know us, we seek the opportunity to gain your friendship, collegiality and trust. Now, I am honored to be one among the team of leaders for the Bay Times. This team, led by a new editor, in-
Welcome to our new editor, Dayna Verstegen, who brings credentials, expertise in communications and journalism, plus personal experience uniquely preparing her to peruse the landscape as our sentinel. Thank you to each of the writers, photographers, production staff and all who are staying. Welcome, too, to those who arrive at this table only recently. What’s in store? We are very keen on preserving the alternative editorial voice. We are keen on community affairs and proud that the timeworn Bay Times banner hangs again in the street, at festivals and in parades. We are keen on youth and education, and we stand at drawing boards crafting programs to engage all LGBTQ generations in the gathering and appreciation of news and commentary. A key goal is readers and contributors of all ages coming toget her a sk i ng why access to information matters and what this means to individual lives. (continued on page 8)
By Kirsten Kruse Liberal Wisconsinites are waiting with bated breath for an announcement from Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin’s office. Will Ms. Baldwin run for Senate? If elected, Baldwin, a quintessential Madison liberal, who has represented her district in Congress since 1998, would be the first openly lesbian Senator in US history. In an interview with WISN on July 18th, she said “Diving into a US Senate race is a major decision, and I have to tell you, I take big decisions very seriously… I am certainly getting a lot of encouragement, and I am very likely to jump in.” Baldwin has broken barriers before. She is the f irst woman from WI to serve in the House, and the first openly gay person to be elected to Congress. She has developed an excellent reputation in Wisconsin and Washington as kind and levelheaded. Her personality defies the “ice queen” or “dragon lady” stereotype male politicians too often paint of women candidates. Instead, she’s nice, and according to the National Journal, an insider Washington publication, Baldwin is the House’s most progressive member. She would replace retiring Democratic Senator Herb Kohl who has held the seat for 23 years. One factor contributing to her decision is of course finances; Baldwin is doing very well in this regard. According to Gay Politics, “she raised more than a half million dollars in the second quarter of this year from 2,339 individual supporters. Baldwin now has more than $1.1 million in her Congressional campaign account.” Consider this along the Dallas Voices’ report that she only needed $1.2 million to win re-election to her seventh term in the House last year. She would of course need a great deal more than this, however, to run a state-wide campaign in Wisconsin. Robin Brand of the Gay and Lesbian Victory has reported a “tremendous response” from donors and supporters already. HRC has established a fundraising portal for her campaign on its website. EMILY’s list, a group that works to elect women who support women’s abortion rights is another strong supporter, having raised almost a quarter of her cam(continued on page 6)