I’m feel certain that my situation is not an isolated incident.  I could only imagine that if there are (and I’m sure there are) other LGBT persons employed by the state of Florida, they too feel the need to stay in the closet, something that I am not willing to do, and  fortunately for me, I was able to move on with relative ease.

Now however, there’s a case of discrimination which unlike others, is starting to gain attention.  I am hoping this story gains national attention and I could only hope the state of Florida is forced, whether on its own accord, or through a law suit, will change the laws to protect LGBT citizens from employment discrimination.

Some of the more progressive cities and counties in Florida (although few and far between) have local ordinances against such discrimination, but in realistic terms, state law trumps local and county-wide ordinances, so even if someone faces employment discrimination based upon sexual orientation, the fight, if they choose to wage one, would most certainly be an uphill battle.

Such as in the case of one state attorney in Florida’s capital of Tallahassee.

According to a post on Tallahassee.com:

Lisa Comingore, an assistant attorney general for the state of Florida, knows what it’s like to be forced out of a job over sexual orientation.

Comingore, 39, took a job as a staff attorney with a state agency Nov. 1, 2006, and by the following February, she’d put in her notice. She’d been told that if she didn’t, she’d be fired.

The reason why, she says, had nothing to do with job performance — a supervisor wanted her out because she’s a lesbian. Comingore, a Tallahassee resident who was recovering from breast cancer at the time, decided to leave on her own. She knew if she were fired, she’d have a hard time landing another state job and keeping her health insurance.

“It just felt extremely unfair,” Comingore said. “Just being discriminated against and having no recourse — it’s very demoralizing.”

I completely understand exactly how demoralizing it is.  It’s time Florida…Let’s put this fire out!

On her show on Friday she had the lesbian teen that just wants to be able to go to the prom! Constance McMillen,  the 18 year old that’s so in the news at the moment.    It was lovely to see Ellen  bring out the shy girl,  talked about being put in the spotlight,  on  what she wanted to do,  on what things were really like.

Ellen was congratulated the youngster about  standing up for what’s right,  for equality, when most other people would have kept quiet and simply wouldn’t have the courage to say it isn’t right and isn’t fair to be discriminated against.

All she wanted to do was go to the prom with her girlfriend,   pure and simple,  she just wanted a freedom that every other student has,  to go with their date,  their boyfriends and girlfriends.

Things turned a whole lot happier for Constance,    for Ellen presented the 18 year old with a $30,000 for her education and an internship from Tonic.com!

On the Tonic.com website  it states this money was  ” the result of funds raised here on Tonic.com through an anonymous donor, as well as Tonic’s founder and CEO, Pankaj Shah, and the generous donations of Tonic readers”       I hear the whisper that  the anonymous donor  was actually  not sitting at all far away from Constance when she was given the check!

See Constance on Ellen.

Jason Shaw
GayAgenda.com’s UK correspondent.

His blog,  The Seafront Diaries,  true life tales from the Sussex seafront!

© 2010 Copyright Jason Shaw

Join the National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC) in honoring National Native (American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian) HIV/AIDS Awareness Day this year. Held annually on March 20^th, the day is organized by representatives from the Colorado State University’s Commitment to Action for 7th-Generation Awareness & Education: HIV/AIDS Prevention Project, the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona and the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center to encourage Native peoples and communities to “work together, in harmony, to create a greater awareness of the risk of HIV/AIDS to our Native communities, to call for resources for testing and early detection and for increased treatment options, and to eventually decrease the occurrence of HIV/AIDS among Native people.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Native peoples have the highest rate of HIV infection after African Americans and Latinos, though they account for only 1% of the U.S. population. This is a disturbing in light of the disproportionately high rates of HIV co-morbidities, such as hepatitis C and tuberculosis, found in many American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities.

“Stigma is one of the biggest hurdles to HIV prevention, treatment and care in Native communities,” says Brenda Hunt, who is a member of the Lumbee Nation, serves on NMAC’s Board, and is Executive Director of Borderbelt AIDS Resource (BART), in North Carolina. “Many of our people wait to get tested for HIV, and are diagnosed with both HIV and AIDS, or progress to AIDS shortly after their HIV diagnosis.”

This trend has undermined health outcomes for Native people living with HIV, who, according to a 2008 report from the CDC, survive for a shorter period of time after being diagnosed with AIDS than Asians and Pacific Islanders, whites and Hispanics. Socio-economic determinants, including lack of access to quality, culturally-competent health care and education, as well as poverty and homelessness, further undermine the overall health and well-being of many Native communities.

Native gay men and men who have sex with men (MSM) have been hit particularly hard by the AIDS epidemic, accounting for nearly 75% of all new HIV cases contracted through sexual contact and injection drug use among American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians. These numbers are of particular concern following the March 10^th release of the CDC data analysis showing a sharp disparity in rates of HIV and syphilis infection among MSMs relative to the rest of the U.S. population.

Paul Kawata, NMAC’s Executive Director says, “National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day takes place at the start of spring, which symbolizes profound change, new beginnings and birth for many Native communities. I hope we all use this as a time to re-dedicate ourselves to helping to end HIV among American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians, and within all communities of color.”

For more information about National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, click here. Also, download the report, NOT ONE MORE: Recommendations to Improve HIV/AIDS Services to American Indians, Native Americans, Alaskan Natives and Native Hawaiians.

About NMAC
The National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC) builds leadership within communities of color to address challenges of HIV/AIDS. Since 1987, NMAC has advanced this mission through a variety of programs and services, including: a public policy education program, national and regional training conferences, a treatment and research program, numerous publications and a website: http://www.nmac.org/. Today, NMAC is an association of AIDS service organizations providing valuable information to community-based organizations, hospitals, clinics and other groups assisting individuals and families affected by the AIDS epidemic. NMAC’s advocacy efforts are funded through private funders and donors only.

For more information, call NMAC directly at (202) 483-NMAC (6622) or communications@nmac.org. Visit the agency online at http://www.nmac.org/, as well as on http://www.facebook.com/ and on http://www.wikipedia.com/. Pictures and video clips from past NMAC events are available from MyPhotoAlbum.com (nmacpics.myphotoalbum.com/), and http://www.youtube.com/, respectively.



Van den Berg was announced as the winner Sunday at a ceremony in Oslo, Norway.

Van deb Berg stated:

“It’s my aim to help break down stereotypes and differing mindsets in the global community and promote oneness and equality for all people by bridging the gap between those mindsets. It is my understanding that people are people before we are different.”

More about the Mr. Gay World contest at: World Wide Mr. Gay! And more about Van den Berg at his blog!

While the history of Valentine’s Day is somewhat unclear, we know for certain it has become a day when you celebrate the love you have with your significant other.   With this in mind, many have become critics over the years, and many have become cynical in their thoughts of the day.  Some claim they don’t need a special day to tell the one they love just that.  Others proclaim it is a “Hallmark” holiday geared towards economic gain.  Although I won’t personally dispute either claim, I will stand that I see it in a different light.

No, I don’t need a special day to tell my partner I love them, as this is something I do practically everyday of the year.  I do however appreciate a day, which is set aside as a special day to celebrate that love which is confessed so often.  Valentine’s Day has truly become a day to celebrate love, and in a world where there is so much hatred, especially towards those of us who love someone of the same sex, I personally find it a nice day to remember.

For me however, St. Valentine’s Day has been a celebration of love, even in past years when I’ve not been in a relationship.

So many times, we forget the most important person we need to love, which is ourselves.  You don’t choose whom you love and you don’t choose who loves you, just as you can’t make yourself love anyone, or make anyone love you…with the exception of yourself.

One of my biggest pet-peeves is hearing someone say, “oh, but they make me so happy”, or “they complete me.”  Don’t allow this to be the case.  Learn to be happy with you.  Learn to love yourself and be happy alone, not allowing anyone to complete you, then you will be able to accept those who add to your happiness and reject those who subtract from it.

So whether you’re alone or in a relationship, Valentine’s Day IS a day to celebrate love…the love you have for your family or friends, and most importantly, the love you have for yourself!

Again, be whole, be happy, be complete and love yourself…for without you, the rest of your world would not exist.

“This year’s theme, ‘HIV/AIDS Prevention: A Choice and a Lifestyle,’ evokes a message of self-empowerment,” says Paul A. Kawata, NMAC’s Executive Director. “One has the right and responsibility to protect themselves and others from HIV. It also is time to lift the stigmas around HIV/AIDS and sexuality that have created barriers to testing, treatment and care for many people of color.”

The need for routinized HIV/AIDS care has never been greater in the U.S., particularly in Black communities, which have been disproportionately impacted by the epidemic since it began nearly thirty years ago. Though African Americans account for less than 15% of the U.S. population, they bear 70% of the country’s HIV/AIDS burden and represent nearly half of all new HIV cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) each year. Of the 1.1 million people living with HIV in the U.S. at the end of 2006, almost half (46%) were Black (506,000).

The potential impact of HIV on future generations of African Americans cannot be overstated. AIDS is one of the leading causes of death among African-American women nationwide, and is the number one killer of Black women aged 25-34 in this country. It is the third leading cause of death among African-American men in the same age group. Black gay/men who have sex with men also are testing positive for HIV in high numbers.

“Part of the ‘choice’ in ending HIV/AIDS in this country also means working in our communities and with our legislators to address the socio-economic determinants that historically have undermined the health and welfare of Black communities,” says Ravinia Hayes-Cozier, NMAC’s Spokesperson and Director of Government Relations and Public Policy. “Homelessness, lack of access to education and health care, as well as high rates of malnutrition, substance use, incarceration and poverty, have laid the foundation for AIDS in our community. It is up to us to create a new future free from HIV.”

NMAC encourages everyone to get educated about HIV/AIDS this National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and spread the word to others. We also encourage everyone to learn about HIV vaccine research, the success of which depends on diverse community participation.

For more information, visit NMAC online: www.nmac.org or contact the agency directly at (202) 483-6622 or communications@nmac.org. Other helpful resources include:

• Watch NMAC’s PSA: African American Women GET REAL about HIV/AIDS.
  NMAC’s first public service announcement in over ten years, “African American Women GET REAL about AIDS” features NMAC Board Member and singing legend, Nancy Wilson; CEO and Founder of Aspirations Wholistic Tutorial Services, Archbishop Joyce Turner-Keller; and HIV/AIDS Activist, Ebony Gilreath speaking directly to African American women about the importance of knowing their HIV status.
• Visit the official 2010 National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day website.
  Here you can download materials, learn what observances are taking place in your neighborhood or register your own events. You can also make a donation to support the relief effort in Haiti. (Read NMAC’s official statement about the devastation in Haiti and other ways to help here.)
• Watch videos of interviews with Ravinia Hayes-Cozier, NMAC’s Director of Government Relations and Public Policy, about the importance of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
• Learn more about two Black Leadership Commission on AIDS (BLCA) of Washington, DC and Vicinity events honoring Black History Month and National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.
• Read the article, “A Review of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Response to the HIV/AIDS Crisis Among Blacks in the United States, 1981–2009” in the October 2009 edition of the American Journal of Public Health.

• Visit the Greater Than AIDS website.
• Read about future HIV/AIDS leaders.
  This page features profiles of young African Americans heading the fight against HIV/AIDS on college campuses and in their communities.

About NMAC
The National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC) has advanced its mission, “to develop leadership within communities of color to address the challenges of HIV/AIDS” since 1987 through individualized capacity building assistance; technical assistance trainings; public policy education programs; national and regional conferences; treatment and research education programs; online and printed resource materials; and a website: http://www.nmac.org/. The agency also serves as a membership association for its constituent AIDS service organizations and minority faith- and community-based organizations delivering HIV/AIDS services in communities of color and advocates on their behalf in Washington, D.C.

NMAC’s advocacy efforts are funded through private funders and donors only. For more information, please contact NMAC directly at (202) 483-NMAC (6622) or communications@nmac.org. You may find us online at http://www.nmac.org/ as well as on Facebook.com, Wikipedia.com, Twitter.com, MyPhotoAlbum.com and YouTube.com.

Subscription Information
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Iowa’s Governor Chet Culver has proclaimed today, Wednesday, January 27 “Iowa Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) Day.”

The state’s Lieutenant Governor, Patty Judge, read Culver’s official proclamation Tuesday night during Iowa Pride Network’s GSA Kick-Off Party held in downtown Des Moines.

The day’s events are planned by the Iowa Pride Network, a state-wide non-profit that assists students in starting and enhancing GSA’s in high schools and colleges, offering them a statewide network of support including mentoring, advocacy and networking opportunities.

The Iowa Pride Network also helps to fight intolerance against LGBT students in by educating both law makers and teachers on issues that LGBT students face. The group also provides advocacy for LGBT students at the state and local levels.

The proclamation has been viewed by many LGBT equality advocates as a small, yet important victory in the struggle for equality as Democrats in Iowa are feeling added pressure from conservatives who want to put the Iowa Supreme Court’s recent ruling in favor of marriage equality up for a vote. Republicans have been using the court’s decision to build their campaign, promising that if elected in 2010, they will allow the public to decide the issue by popular vote. State Democrats however, including Culver, have not backed down under the pressure and continue to support the court’s decision to legalize marriage equality.

This is the fourth year Iowa GSA Day has been observed.

More about the Iowa Pride Network by CLICKING HERE!

Iowa Pride Network from BARK-BARK on Vimeo.

Today the Minnesota Department of Health issued an unprecedented early press release regarding the highest level of newly-reported cases of HIV in 17 years during 2009. The increase is due to a surge of new cases amongst young (15 – 24) gay and bisexual men. So what does it all mean and what can we do?

To begin with – keep in mind that over the past nearly 30 years of AIDS reporting, we would report each year new cases occurring (incidence), the number of individuals who have died of this disease (mortality) and the number still living (prevalence). While the number of new cases remained somewhat stable for about ten years, the number dying of HIV dropped significantly after the advent of new treatments circa 1997. That’s great news – but it also meant that the number of people living with HIV, the prevalence, was increasing rapidly – very rapidly.

Before anyone starts finger-pointing at those living with HIV as being the modern version of typhoid Mary, keep in mind that study after study has shown, without question, that those who know their HIV status to be positive avoid transmitting the virus further. Of course there may that one or so person who doesn’t fit that description but overall we know that once a person understands that they are HIV positive, and what that means in terms of transmission, they take the steps necessary to protect others. That also means taking the steps to prevent re-infection for themselves.

Read more here!

And some great advice from South Florida Gay News:

IF YOU ARE HIV+

1. Don’t infect another person.A person can only get infected with HIV from someone who has it. It is your responsibility and a solemn decision not to pass HIV on to another.You know what a struggle coping with being HIV+ is—don’t make someone else go through it.
2. Take your medication.You are one of the lucky ones; you have access to the best that modern medicine has to offer. Not adhering to your regimen means that you will have to switch to something more expensive and perhaps less effective.
3. Disclose your status to others you trust. Being HIV+ is not a dirty secret.Yes, you are taking a risk, but you deserve the love and support of others.Any love interest that can’t handle it is not going to work out in the end.
4. Be an active partner in your healthcare. Ask questions of your provider. Read up on what is happening in the field.
5. Get involved. One of the best therapies for the blues is to be of service to others. Plus AIDS activism has taken a holiday and we need it back. You can help.

IF YOU ARE HIV-

1. Stay negative in 2010.The simple resolutions are the best ones.This is as simple as saying the past is the past. For the future I am not going to risk be- coming positive no matter how steamy the situation becomes. Of course, unless we never touch another human we are taking some risk. So look yourself in the mirror and decide how much risk you are willing to take—no anal sex without a condom; oral sex with or without a condom; no taking cum in my mouth.
2. Talk to your partners about safer sex. Whether it is a hook-up, dating or a new relationship, have “the conversation”—it will relieve the stress. Not talking about it often leads to trouble. If you both agree on the ground rules you will help each other stick to them—it might just bring you closer together.
3. Leave the house prepared. Don’t go out of the house at any time that you could possibly wind up having sex without condoms and preferably lube. Getting infected with HIV for lack of a condom is a really bad deal.
4. Get tested for HIV. If you haven’t been tested in six months and you have been putting it off because you are scared, lazy or not thinking about it— man up.Testing is easy, free and convenient—no excuses.Testing is available at AHF’s Men’s Wellness Center or visit freehivtest.net to find a place near you.And while you’re at it, drag a friend along.
5. Get a thorough STD screening. It’s as necessary as a haircut. STDs themselves can be serious and they raise your chances of getting HIV.And if you’re afraid of needles—you handle more discomfort during sex than a little needle—don’t use that as an excuse.

One great thing that came out of 2009, even with the defeats endured in California and Maine, and even with the slower pace of the Obama administration in addressing LGBT issues such as DOMA and DADT, for the first time in the history of the U.S., the fight for LGBT equality is at the forefront. There’s not one state that isn’t aware of the progress. I would dare say, there isn’t one person above the age of 18 (or perhaps lower) that hasn’t heard of the struggles we’ve endured. THAT is the most important thing we can take from 2009…recognition and the presentation of issues.

Time is on our side, and as hard as it is, we have to exercise patience. That doesn’t mean we can rest on our laurels and not continue to struggle and fight even harder in 2010, but it does mean our issues have become the issues of the nation.

Even if we only double what we’ve accomplished in 2009 in the upcoming year, we will have again made great progress.  So let’s remember our setbacks, but celebrate our accomplishments and work together to make 2010 the best year yet.

Here’s wishing everyone a super-fantastic 2010 and may great things come our way!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

But let us not forget those who are less fortunate.  Those who don’t have money for gifts, those without family and those who aren’t filled with “cheer”.

You may not be able to change the world, but you can always give the gift of kindness, and that is one gift that really does keep on giving all year long.

Don’t hesitate to smile at a stranger.  Don’t think before you commit a random act of kindness.

Enjoy your holiday season, but do whatever you can to promote kindness.  With it, you really can make a difference, one life at a time.

Happy Holidays!