New anti-HIV drugs could hit the market sooner according to Tommy Thompson, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. Thompson announced this weekend that the U.S. is working to implement an accelerated review process that could get HIV meds to the shelf in as little as six weeks instead of the current seven-month minimum wait time, reports AFP. The Administration has committed $15 billion toward the effort to fight HIV, $9 billion of which is designated to Caribbean and African nations.
A California appeals court ruled that a lesbian woman has no parental rights to the children who were born using her eggs in her partner's womb, reports The Advocate. The court ruled based on a 1993 California Supreme Court ruling on parental rights. The woman whose eggs were used did not adopt the children when the couple was still together.
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer sent Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney a copy of his March 3 opinion on marriage for same-sex couples, part of which includes the Attorney General's reading of New York law that marriages of same-sex couples lawfully performed elsewhere should be recognized in New York State.
Representatives of a broad coalition of religious, labor, civil rights, women's rights, and other public interest organizations last week challenged the extremism of a constitutional amendment that would require states to discriminate against same-sex couples and their families. The Coalition Against Discrimination in the Constitution includes nearly 120 national organizations.
Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory say they may have created a virus that can immobilize HIV, reports Wired.com . Adam Arkin and David Schaffer, using a computerized model of HIV, created a virus that is similar to HIV without the destructive nature. If Arkin and Schaffer's theory works, the virus would stop HIV from killing cells and could be transmitted with the virus to others. They hope to begin animal testing by the end of the year.
A few Southern Baptists are criticizing the managers for their pastor's retirement fund for holding a $14 million investment in Carnival Cruise Lines, reports the Calgary Sun. Carnival is set to launch a Gay Days cruise which some Southern Baptists say is contrary to church teaching. The group has boycotted Walt Disney Company partly because of Disney's refusal to shun Gay Days in their park.
The Greater Seattle Business Association will award scholarships of more than $167,000 to LGBT students for the 14th year, reports Bend.com . The organization has donated nearly $1 million in its history to people who improve 'awareness, visibility, and serve as positive role models for LGBT students and their families.'
The Rev. Karen Dammann, the lesbian United Method minister who was acquitted of violating Methodist law, has decided not to return to her position in the Church, reports AP. Dammann is still in good standing as a pastor but has chosen to remain on family leave.
Telling a state court that same-sex couples in Washington need the protections and security that marriage provides, Lambda Legal and the Northwest Women's Law Center filed court papers last week seeking a prompt ruling in the case without a trial. The case is filed on behalf of same-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses in King County, arguing that denying marriage to same-sex couples violates the state Constitution's guarantees of equality, liberty and privacy for
all Washingtonians.
The American Civil Liberties Union came to the defense of a group of Utah high school students who were punished for wearing 'Queers Kick Ash' t-shirts to school. School officials also threatened to ban the school's gay-straight alliance, and dozens of students were planning to wear the t-shirts in protest. The shirts are part of an anti-smoking campaign aimed at LGBT youth.
A proposed amendment to the Louisiana constitution to ban same-sex marriage failed by one vote May 12, reports 365Gay.com .
News Tips? RaphaelNews@aol.com
