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Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee stood by remarks he made in 1992 that, ‘If the federal government is truly serious about doing something with the AIDS virus, we need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague.’ (Photo by The Greenville News/Ken Osburn/AP)
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HOME > NEWS > NATIONAL NEWS
COMMENTS
 
The gay news story of the year was the fight over the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the removal of protections based on gender identity. But that wasn’t the only story making headlines. Below is a roundup of the rest of the year’s top stories.
A federal hate crimes measure passed Congress, but never reached the president’s desk this year because efforts to tie it to the National Defense Authorization Act failed.
The measure, which granted federal resources to prosecute crimes motivated by a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity, died in conference committee after passing the House 237-180 and surviving a Senate challenge, 60-39.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) acquiesced this month to demands by House Democratic leaders to drop the measure from the National Defense Authorization Act.
Reid was pressured to make the move after a bloc of about 30 liberal Democratic House members threatened to join Republicans in voting against the combined measures, saying they could not support legislation advancing the president’s war policies.
The decision was a disappointment to gay activists who had sought to combine the two measures and thereby possibly avert a presidential veto.
“After more than 10 years and several successful bipartisan votes, it is heartbreaking to fall short this close to the finish line,” said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign.
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and other House Democrats were undeterred, however, and called on Senate leaders to again work toward passing the hate crimes measure. Frank said an early 2008 Senate approval of the measure could send it to the president’s desk as soon as February.
New government statistics show as many as 50 percent more people are being infected with HIV each year in the United States than originally reported.
According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control findings first reported by the Blade in November, the number of new HIV infections now appears to be as high as 58,000 to 63,000 cases in the most recent 12-month period. AIDS advocacy group leaders told the Blade that the CDC findings are being withheld while they are subjected to peer review by an unidentified scientific journal.
“Until the data are finalized and confirmed through the normal scientific review process, neither CDC nor anyone outside the agency knows what the data will show,” said Jennifer Ruth, a CDC spokesperson.
During the review, the CDC left unchanged on its web site a longstanding estimate that about 40,000 Americans per year become infected with HIV, a figure it says has remained “relatively stable” for most of the past decade.
Two sources familiar with the CDC, who spoke on condition that they not be identified, said CDC officials have noted that the higher numbers of HIV cases appear to be driven by more rigorous and accurate HIV reporting of existing cases rather than by an actual increase in new cases.
But some AIDS experts said there’s likely more to the development.
“My view is it’s both better data collection and increased testing as well as a higher rate of [HIV] conversion that is causing that is causing the spike in the CDC numbers,” said David Reznik, a former member of the President’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS.
The nation’s top general drew criticism earlier this year after referring to gay sex as “immoral.”
Marine Gen. trong>Peter Pace, who chaired the Joint Chiefs of Staff before retiring in September, told the Chicago Tribune in March, ‘I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts.’ (Photo by Marcus Yam/AP) |
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Marine Gen. Peter Pace, who chaired the Joint Chiefs of Staff before retiring in September, told the Chicago Tribune in March that he supports “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which bans gays from serving openly in the armed forces.
“I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts,” he said. “I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way.”
Pace later acknowledged that he intertwined his personal and professional stances when he discussed the law, but did not apologize.
Many gay rights advocates, including Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, called on Pace to apologize.
“Gen. Pace’s comments are outrageous, insensitive and disrespectful to the 65,000 lesbian and gay troops now serving in our armed forces,” ...
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