Before I even begin, I have to be very clear. I have not made a decision as to whom I will be supporting Tuesday in Lansing’s mayoral race. We have two candidates in the race that I like, personally, a great deal. But both are seriously imperfect– as all of us are. But those imperfections are in many ways the very things that make these candidates incredibly good people.
I also need to clarify I am writing this as me, Todd Heywood, not Todd Heywood the reporter. I will also, as a result of this post no longer be covering the Lansing Mayoral race as a reporter.
So from Citizen Heywood:
Lansing Mayor Virgil Bernero made a huge announcement yesterday, Thursday, that he had landed the support of 24 pastors in the Lansing area. That is an awesome announcement. But I was troubled that in the release sent out by the campaign, they chose to highlight Pastor Charles Bicey of New Jerusalem Church.
In fact, the Bernero team put Bicey front in center in the release. The second paragraph in fact:
“Never before has there been such a clear consensus among Lansing’s pastors,” said Rev. Charles E. Bicey of New Jerusalem Church. “Mayor Bernero has the skills, experience, passion and team to take Lansing to the next level. As people of faith who are very invested in this city, we take this election very seriously and are throwing our full support behind Virg.”
That is an awesome endorsement, UNTIL one considers the source. Bicey is, quite bluntly, a frothing homophobe. He was extremely active in fighting an ordinance in 1996 which would have protected the LGBT community from discrimination. In fact, Bicey’s homophobia so blinded him, that in his fervor to eliminate protections for the gay community, he managed to eliminate all local ordinance protections for everyone, the African American community included.
Kerry Elevald over at the Advocate has the scoop on this poop.
Last summer, Congress voted to repeal a law which barred HIV-positive people from immigrating or visiting the U.S. That law had been in place as a policy in 1987 (ah yes, Reagan era thinking) and codified in 1993.
But the repeal was passed under Bush (ah yes, the Bush era), but his administration dragged its feet to implement the new law. Obama’s team wanted to implement it, but it took time.
But the time, according to the Advocate is not over.
A source says Barack Obama is going to announce the final implementation of the lifting of the ban today when he signed a reauthorization of the Ryan White Care Act legislation. Ryan White for those who are not aware, provides funds to states for the care of HIV positive individuals. The funds assist with such things as AIDS Drugs Assistance Programs, housing for HIV-positive persons and other needs.
Obama will sign the legislation at about 11:30 a.m. EST.
The new regulation eliminates any travel and immigration restrictions that are tied to a person’s HIV status. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) put the wheels of change in motion in late June by publishing the proposed regulation to the federal register, which triggered a 45-day public comment period. HHS has now sent the final change to the Office of Management and Budget for approval, but the source said HHS would not be able to fully implement the new regulation for another 60 days following the president’s announcement.
So the cool thing is, that this week we have seen the signing of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hates Crimes Prevention Act — a law that has taken nearly 11 years to pass– and now Ryan White and the announcement of the lift on the ban of HIV positives coming to the U.S. I guess Obama is starting to fulfill his campaign promises to the LGBT community.
The State News, the Michigan State University newspaper, has published an opinion opposing the state legislatures move to change HIV testing laws from Opt-In to Opt-Out testing.
While the editorial is, for me, a bit sloppy, it does make some interesting points.
Although it wouldn’t affect people with HIV negative test results, the adverse ramifications for those who test positive could be massive. Insurance companies could deny coverage to people who are infected and were tested without their knowledge because those personal, private medical records would be available for review by the company in question.
The White House announced this morning that President Barack Obama has declared the growing pandemic flu outbreak in the nation a national emergency. From the White House:
President Obama Signs Emergency Declaration for H1N1 Flu
In keeping with the administration’s proactive approach to H1N1 Flu, President Obama last night signed a proclamation declaring 2009-H1N1 Influenza a national emergency. The proclamation enhances the ability of our Nation’s medical treatment facilities to handle a surge in H1N1 patients by allowing, as needed, the waiver of certain standard federal requirements on a case-by-case basis. A copy of the proclamation and the accompanying message to Congress are attached.
The foundation of our national approach to the H1N1 flu has been preparedness at all levels –- personal, business, and government –- and this proclamation helps that effort by advancing our overall response capability.
Please check Flu.gov for the most up-to-date news on H1N1, preparedness, and vaccine distribution.
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It is important to note that the government has also published information for people with HIV, and Influenza A (H1N1) 2009.
As the Health Care Reform Debate heats up in Washington, D.C. expect to see more creative and interesting protests like this. Congratulations to this group for taking the debate into the room with the people working to kill the debate. And Thank YOU! Source.
I was unable to attend the hearing Wednesday afternoon, as I have been diagnosed with influenza A(H1N1) 2009– that’s the swine flu or pandemic flu for those who have not been following along– but I was able to get my digital recorder into the hearing. There will be a story is on Michigan Messenger, but I wanted to share my observations from the audio of the hearing.
First, it is important to note this legislation in the Senate is being pushed by Sen. Tom George, a Republican from Kalamazoo. He is also a doctor. And one would think with his aggressive defense of this change in Michigan law, he was a family doctor or an infectious disease doctor. But actually that is not his specialty. No, no the good doctor is an anesthesiologist. Yep, the extent of his conversations in health care delivery with patients is somewhere between breath deeply and count backwards from 99, and by the time his patient is at 96, she or he is out cold. That’s an important point in all this, since Dr. George is arguing about informed consent, conversations, discussions, dialogs and the likes when it comes to HIV testing.
A bill pending in both the Michigan House and Senate would eliminate a state law’s requirement that person’s receiving HIV tests be informed about the test, HIV, and the risk factors involved before conducting the test.
Activists from Michigan POZ Action are coordinating phone calls and letter writing campaigns to tell lawmakers to kill the bill, which they say will do nothing to achieve the result most wanted with widespread testing– knowledge of HIV status and an ability to assess risk factors.
A hearing will be held on Thursday about the Senate bill.
For more information, check out the story I did over at Michigan Messenger.
So some of you might be wondering where I have been for the last couple of weeks. I apologize, but this has been an insane time. On top of being locked down in the state capitol covering out budget crisis at the end of September and beginning of October, I have been working on an incredible investigative piece which broke Tuesday. It has since been picked up by all the local media. And of course I went to Washington D.C. for the Equality March.
So here are some stories you might have missed: (I won’t post the budget stories, as there were a lot of them between my co-worker, acting state editor Ed Brayton and I. Check out MichiganMessenger.com for those stories (something like 38 of them or something in 72 hours).
I covered events in Washington D.C. for the website Reproductive Health Reality Check. My work is often run on this site anyway, but this was a special freelance gig.
I have not had a chance to update this recently apologies. I have a couple of more posts that will explain where I have been.
Team Heywood raised over $1,500! which is not bad for 10 days. I want to thank everyone who donated, and I particularly want to thank the team members:
Walk Team Members:
Total Raised $1,551.00
General Walk Team Donation $0.00
Todd Heywood $1,026.00
Katie Flynn $0.00
Rita Hourani $0.00
Jessica Knott $0.00
Sara Metz $350.00
Kelly Raskauskas $25.00
Beth Rowe $100.00
Randy Rowe $50.00
This fundraising put Team Heywood in the top three teams for this AIDS Walk. Thanks again everyone!
