Following HIV Ban Repeal, Washington Will Host International AIDS Conference
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced on Monday that, following repeal of the HIV Travel and Immigration Ban, the United States will once again host the International Conference on AIDS. The biennial conference – considered one of the most important scientific gatherings in the world – will convene in Washington in 2012, Secretary Clinton told reporters this week. The U.S. has not hosted an AIDS Conference since 1989, when a Dutch researcher was detained by immigration officials because of the travel ban.
“We have to stand against any efforts to marginalize and criminalize and penalize members of the LGBT community worldwide. It is an unacceptable step backwards on behalf of human rights, but it is also a step that undermines the effectiveness of efforts to fight the disease worldwide,” she said.
“Hosting the International AIDS Conference in the United States is an important opportunity for the United States,” Ambassador Eric Goosby, the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, said Monday in a post at the White House blog.
“Welcoming conference attendees to our nation’s capital will allow America to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to ending the HIV pandemic both in the United States and around the world. Given that the conference is fundamentally a research conference, holding this event in such close proximity to the National Institutes of Health and other U.S. Government research facilities will also, hopefully, expand the level of scientific disclosure between our scientists and researchers from around the world,” he added.
Immigration Equality applauded the announcement, telling reporters that, “The United States has paid a heavy price, in terms of its reputation in the scientific community, because of its antiquated policies on HIV-positive immigrants and visitors.”
Secretary Clinton’s “remarks . . . show how quickly the end of a prejudicial policy can bring about progress, and how swiftly our country can right immigration wrongs,” we noted.
For complete coverage of Secretary Clinton’s announcement, click here.
Folks, by now you may have heard….a sad and shameful day in NYS!! Gay Marriage was voted down by the state (NY) senate: 38-24. If NY won’t recognize us as citizens, persons and human beings (but simply as taxpayers) then what am I doing here? Any suggestions on where to go? (Mass, CT, New Hamp and Iowa are way to cold!! LOL)
Comment by Joe — December 2, 2009 @ 3:58 pm
Yes, and 25% of the Democrats in the NY State Senate voted that bill down, many of whom are from the NYC area, which is more liberal than upstate NY. This cannot be blamed on the Republicans alone this time. Shame on them.
Comment by Tom — December 2, 2009 @ 8:42 pm
I watched the vote live, the bone of contention was….as usual….religion!!! There was “leave the bible at the door” (rightfully so) for those pro-marriage. And then the opposition of course “Live by the bible”….those democrats who voted against the marriage were probably beholden to the Catholic Church “supporters”….bla bla bla. Good Bye NYS….We are not recognized as full citizens, but surely recognized as full (excessive if you ask me, since majority of us don’t use schools) TAXPAYERS!!
Comment by Joe — December 2, 2009 @ 8:56 pm
Yeah, it’s getting harder and harder to keep up the will to fight to stay in this country. Even if we do get the right to immigrate, we’ll be immigrating to a country where the majority of people hate us, a majority of states have codified in their constitution that we’re not equal…
Comment by Jon — December 2, 2009 @ 9:43 pm
@ Jon (#4): As I once concluded: “many of us have jumped from the fire…into the frying pan”!!! Canada sounds like a cool plate to me : ))
Comment by Joe — December 3, 2009 @ 6:36 am
This whole notion of blame game, and jumping to the conclusion of thinking hate and bigotry are the only reasons that cause the people who hate us is just not working anymore. Wake up, the minute people who voted against gay marriage, we call them bigots and full of hatred. Have you thought about maybe we just focus too much on the definition of marriage? We are outnumbered in many levels in the society. If we just forget about the definition of marriage now, and focus on other more important gay rights bills, such as UAFA, we might have a chance. It is political suicide to keep dwelling on gay marriage now, there are a lot of people who hate us, but not every one of them who vote against gay marriage is like what we say full of hatred, they just don’t feel comfortable enough with the definition of marriage, I know it is not fair, I know most of you think it should not be this way, but it is. That is exactly how UAFA was introduced in the very first place, it is designed to stay away from gay marriage to gain support of equal protection for bi national gay families. Let’s focus on UAFA and DOMA, and many others, and don’t get discouraged by the defeats o of state gay marriage. It will keep happening, we have to be strategic.
Comment by Chung Cheng Fang — December 3, 2009 @ 2:34 pm
I get the impression that a lot of the people who frequent this site are twentysomethings who have all the time in the world to wait for change. Some of us aren’t, and can’t.
Comment by Jon — December 3, 2009 @ 3:00 pm
I called NY my home State for 15 years,(Albany)and I watched closely for years the debate on same-sex marriage, even when Vermont decided to offer Civil Unions, back in the late 1990’s they (the politicians)all got nervous. Back than Joe Bruno was the biggest blocking wall. Now that he is out and going to jail for fraud (so we hope), he is in favor of same-sex marriage. We knew this bill had no chances to pass and I watched it live from the west coast. My partner and I lobbied in 2007, part of NY State Pride Agenda Lobby day. We met with the NY State Legislature and we heard the negatives from the church lobbyists ( Not sure why they were there, if there is a separation(in the books), but I guess they wanted to be heard as well. The thing that sadden us the most was that we were the only couple that showed up from our county, no one else felt marriage was important enough to take the day off from work to lobby for. The right for their future and the future of their peers. I agree with Fang, call it something else, call it “Fruit Cake Union” or whatever but give me my rights.
Joe, the Northeast is cold, including NY. For the ones that feel marriage is important, go and marry in MA, as we did in 2004, and you can get recognition back in NY, not Federal as it will never happen for the next 25 to 30 years at least.
Comment by Nick — December 3, 2009 @ 3:45 pm
@6 (Chung): Thanks for the sobriety check and optimism. You are right in many counts. The most important is to focus on UAFA…it is the only hope we have left for a short term victory!
Comment by Joe — December 3, 2009 @ 4:32 pm
@Chung (#6), I do agree that people who voted no on same sex marriage are often tied up with the idea that marriage is exclusively hetero. This complicates things for sure, and it shows that the LGBTQ community do need to look into fighting for civil union that will provide same rights that is currently offered to hetero marriage. At the end of the day, we as a community will still call it a marriage. However, there’s a slippery slope here. Backing down or pulling back from the marriage argument validates the anti-LGBTQ legislation movement. The reality is, we are having a hard time getting pro LGBTQ legislation passed because it is often connected to religion. Look at how long it took for the hate crimes bill with the inclusion of LGBTQ to pass. Yes we do need to focus on UAFA and DOMA but you know too well that those wingnuts will go after that too. They will try to relate LGBTQ bi-national immigration fight to marriage, without a doubt. And for sure label them as “un-natural” or wrong to have same sex bi national relationship in this country, the usual BS. The repeal on DOMA will definitely have a hard time passing as well. While i do agree that not all of them are ill spirited or bigoted, the anti-gay movement are often headed by ill spirited individuals. The rhetoric used by people like Peter LaBerbera and Maggie Gallagher is full of lies and hate. We can not, as a community, be ok with that. What ever fights there are out there for LGBTQ rights are fights that we as a community should support and be involved in. Our sufferings may be different in scale, but that’s not how we should look at it. We Are All Suffering from this injustice. Their pain is our pain and vice versa. It is our responsibility to work together We are after all our own best supporters. For my fellow N.Yorkers you know the Dems who voted NO on our rights, tell those kids they wont be receiving any support or money from you. Honeymoon an free riding is over!. Support representatives who are really fighting for us, the ones who are actually walk the talk.
Comment by Alex — December 3, 2009 @ 5:06 pm
The New Jersey Senate will be voting on Marriage Equality next week. As ridiculous as it sounds to keep our fingers crossed for basic civil rights, lets keep our collective fingers crossed.
Comment by nola — December 3, 2009 @ 6:32 pm
To Alex: Yes, and thanks for responding to my post and thanks for agreeing with me. At this point of our movement, we don’t really have much choice. Yes, the right wingers might still come after us if we focus on bills like DOMA and UAFA, but the advantage of it is the public opinions tend to be more supportive if we stay away from gay marriage. They have done some research and statistics(I don’t know where the sources are), it shows that the majority of Americans are ok with the idea of civil unions and equal protection and rights for gay people, so if we kind of stay away from gay marriage, it is more likely that we will get more support from public. That doesn’t mean we have given up the fight for gay marriage, it just means that we are being strategic and realistic about our chances of getting support, gaining momentum from pubic, and we have to stress the fact that, no, UAFA is not going to lead to gay marriage, it merely is a bill that gives the basic federal rights to your foreign partner. We need to focus on that and be consistent on that idea because I remember Jeff Session during the hearing. He just kept saying gay marriage was not legal, but he missed the point that UAFA is not about gay marriage, it is merely a federal protection for us, so, it is very and crucially important that we stay away from the debate of gay marriage. We have to persuade 100 more congressmen and 38 more senators, we target those and try to get them sponsor UAFA. Just think about it, 100 more congressmen and 38 more senators, those are the people who will decide our fate. We are lack of leadership already, it is our responsibility to gain as much support about UAFA from those those 138 some politicians, if we lock them in, we’ll win!!
Comment by Chung Cheng Fang — December 4, 2009 @ 11:24 am
I look to our leaders and organizers to make sure our resources are channeled properly to the right people and entitites. Not a dollar to the democrats who voted no, and of course for the republicans, it goes without saying (they all voted no anyway). More dollars to IE. And that RCC (Roman Catholic Church) and other such opinionated and intrusive entities…high time they pay taxes if they want to get into the politics of peoples lives.
Comment by Joe — December 4, 2009 @ 2:43 pm
I’m in my 20 somethings and we’re just as impatient as the rest of you. Some of you are actually luckier than I am and are living with your partners right now. My partner has not been able to find a job or get a visa here so we’ve been apart almost 4 years traveling back and forth every few months. It’s expensive and taxing to the relationship and we’re more than ready to be together now, not wait for a few more years.
Comment by Sarah — December 5, 2009 @ 10:41 am
.to chung..
Jeff Sessions does’nt miss the point….that’s his angle…he will regardless
always angle the debate on/around this ….
that’s his way of ensuring the outcome..and no progression on any level
Comment by Derek — December 5, 2009 @ 8:42 pm
What I meant was Jeff Sessions will always use gay marriage as an excuse to try to kill gay rights bills of any kind, but hey, we don’t have to worry about him, we should target those conservative democrats or congressmen, and urge them it is not about gay marriage, it is about basic and equal rights. Politicians like Sessions will vote against any reforms anyway.
Comment by Chung Cheng Fang — December 6, 2009 @ 2:29 pm
…Chung.
“Correct”! he will…..whatever it is
Comment by Derek — December 7, 2009 @ 3:23 pm