By Learned Foote – Talk Radio News Service

President Obama will sign a memorandum on June 17th granting limited federal benefits to same-sex couples, and requesting that the Office of Personnel Management issue guidance within 90 days preventing discrimination against federal employees based on factors other than job performance.

John Berry, Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and the highest-ranking openly gay member of the Obama administration, said that he and the Secretary of State have “conducted internal reviews to determine whether the benefits they administer may be extended to the same-sex partners of federal employees within the confines of DOMA [Defense of Marriage Act].”

These benefits will not include health insurance, survivor or retirement benefits, or any other benefits outlawed by the Defense of Marriage Act. The Obama administration recently defended DOMA using arguments and language condemned by the ACLU, the Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, and other advocates for LGBT rights. Obama has promised to repeal DOMA if the appropriate legislation reaches his desk.

The benefits granted to civil-service employees will include long-term care insurance and sick leave to care for ailing partners. Foreign service employees and their partners will gain the use of medical facilities, medical evaluations from abroad, and consideration of family size in housing units. The memorandum also requests that the heads of executive departments and agencies conduct an internal review to locate other benefits that may be legally extended to same-sex couples.

The Clinton administration issued guidance requiring that many executive agencies grant some of the benefits identified in Obama’s memorandum. Berry said these benefits thus far have been “subject to the whim of a supervisor.” Berry said that “what the president is doing today is making this no longer optional; he is making it mandatory and is making it clear that this is now the policy of the federal government.”

Within 90 days, the OPM will issue guidance regarding civil service laws that make it illegal to discriminate against federal employees for reasons other than job performance. Berry said this guidance will not impact “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” a law that prevents openly gay people from serving in the military.

“This is a first step, not a final step,” said Berry.

Coffee Brown, University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News

Joel Hastings, Board, Log Cabin Republicans, discusses the position of gays and lesbians within the Republican party.

00:50

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Coffee Brown, University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News

Joel Hastings, Board, Log Cabin Republicans, feels Republican party could be more moderate.

00:50

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Coffee Brown, University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News

Peter Hankwitz, Former GOP congressional candidate, member Republican Leadership Council, Log Cabin Republican, talks about getting GOP “back on track.”

01:05

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Coffee Brown, University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News

Peter Hankwitz, Former GOP congressional candidate, member Republican Leadership Council, on how important it has been to him to be able to marry his husband.

00:51

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Coffee Brown, University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News

Peter Hankwitz, Former GOP congressional candidate, member Republican Leadership Council, Log Cabin Republican talks about being an openly gay Republican candidate.

00:30

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Coffee Brown, University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News

Joel Hastings, Board, Log Cabin Republicans
on same sex marriage.

00:59

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

by Christina Lovato, University of New Mexico

Since 1878, families have participated in the official White House Easter Egg Roll event, but this year another community of families were invited.

Some 30,000 guests were expected to attend the event and this is the first time in Egg Roll history that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) families have been invited.

Jennifer Chrisler, Executive Director of the Family Equality Council, said she was thrilled when she received the invitation from the White House.  

“The outreach on President Obama and First Lady Obama’s behalf to gay and lesbian families was very meaningful and very important symbolism of this White House and its belief that all kinds of families should be valued in this country… We are very, very grateful,” Chrisler said. “We as parents, as gay parents, do all the same things that other parents do. We worry about getting our kids to school safely, about being good participants in our community, paying our taxes and to have a president that actually affirms us as families really helps when we face those hurdles that we face from time to time,” Chrisler said.

Cathy Renna, a member of the Family Equality Council, said she has been going to this event for several years but that this year it felt different. The FEC works to ensure equality for LGBT families by building community, changing hearts and minds, and advancing social justice for all families.

“It looked a lot more like America this year,” said Renna. “This represents a shift both symbolically and hopefully in a policy way in the way that will be treated in this country. There’s clearly a tremendous amount of hope that we’ll pass hate crimes legislation, that we’ll pass employment non-discrimination legislation at the federal level…. There’s just a very different sense of dialogue and relationship that we haven’t had in a very long time,” said Renna.

A discussion at the Brookings Institute regarding gay marriage was held with participants David Blankenhorn, President of the Institute for American Values, and Jonathan Rauch, author of the book “Gay Marriage: Why It is Good for Gays, Good for Straights and Good for America.”

Blankenhorn and Rauch presented their proposal of legalizing gay marriage. The proposal works as a compromise between the advocates of gay marriage and the religious groups that oppose it.

“Congress would bestow the status of federal civil unions on same-sex marriage and civil unions granted at the state level, thereby conferring upon them most or all of the federal benefits and rights of marriage. But there would be a condition: Washington would recognize only those unions licensed in states with robust religious-conscience exceptions, which provide that religious organizations need not recognize same-sex unions against their will,” Rauch explained.

Blankenhorn further discussed the danger of viewing the different opinions as wrong and using bad faith. He explained that to solve this delicate issue, a compromise is necessary.

Rauch also emphasized the importance of legalizing gay marriage, but leaving the religious groups the possibility to choose for themselves. He referred to this as the compromise, and by enforcing this proposal, civil rights will be protected.

2.5 million people will contract HIV this year, a disease that is “preventable” according to Elizabeth Pisani, author of “The Wisdom of Whores: Bureaucrats, Brothels, and the Business of AIDS” at a discussion of her book at the Center For Strategic and International Studies today.

Pisani disagrees with the idea that AIDS is a worldwide problem saying, “There is no global HIV epidemic.” She said that parts of Africa, or 10 percent of the world’s population, have 66 percent (40 million people) of reported cases of HIV. She said that the rest of the HIV epidemic is prevalent in people who “sell sex,” gay men, and drug injectors.

She focused on the multitude of interest groups that will not help in the fight to prevent HIV. She said those in the UN will lose money, politicians will lose votes, religious groups will “compromise their morality,” and AIDS activists do not want to bring this problem back to its “bad days.”

Pisani added that the religious “sacred cows” against prevention of HIV are miscalculated. She said the feeling among the religious that providing condoms is a way of promoting sex is misguided. She said, in her experience, carrying condoms “doesn’t make it any easier to get laid.” She also said that the notion that providing needles promotes injection is untrue as well.

In the U.S. , Pisani said that HIV is “a gay male disease.” She said that prevention in America must be focused on that group.

In regards to to treatment of HIV, Pisani stated that she supported treatment, but “We can’t do it without doing better at prevention.”