Major fight for the rights of our U.S. Soldiers

A lesbian Air Force sergeant from Fairbanks who was outed by local police in Rapid City, S.D., has returned to Alaska, and the American Civil Liberties Union has launched a campaign to encourage Rapid City to apologize to her and compensate her, reports The Associated Press.

The Rapid City police chief says his officers acted appropriately. They spotted the marriage certificate when they showed up at Newsome's South Dakota home in November with an arrest warrant for her wife, who was wanted on theft charges in Fairbanks. Now, I'm sure that I am not the only person who watched our president announce at his last State of the Union as well in front of the Human Rights Campaign National Conference that we would no longer do this to our soldiers?

Looks like we're still doing it Mr. President. So lets get this right; Jene Newsome did not commit a crime, she performed honorably and because she was found to be gay, she was FIRED. Something is wrong with this situation.

Jene Newsome's honorable discharge [after nine years in the Air Force] under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy came after police officers saw an Iowa marriage certificate in her home and told officials at the nearby Ellsworth Air Force Base. The ACLU complaint claims the officers violated Newsome's privacy when they informed the military about her sexual orientation.

Folks, we have to remember what the "family" is for. We are here to bring this message of equality to all those who will listen and support those who are being disenfranchised. I hate to sound as if there are other options...because there are none. We speak out, live Outloud and stand together as a family. As a former military veteran myself, this is wrong. To think that someone can enter my home and without cause, notify my job to inform them of who joins me in my bed....exactly. UNFAIR.

Miss. Ends HIV Prisoner Segregation

The Mississippi Department of Corrections has agreed to stop segregating prisoners with HIV, ending a practice that ostracized inmates and prevented them from accessing resources available to other prisoners. According to a joint news release from the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch, which advocated for the change, corrections commissioner Christopher Epps made the decision.

The move leaves Alabama and South Carolina as the only states that continue to segregate prisoners with HIV, a practice more common during the early days of the HIV epidemic. “Public and correctional health experts agree that there is no medical basis for segregating HIV-positive prisoners within correctional facilities or for limiting access to jobs, vocational training and educational programs available to others,” said the news release on Wednesday.

“Since 1987, however, MDOC has performed mandatory HIV tests on all prisoners entering the state prison system, and has permanently housed all male prisoners who test positive in a segregated unit at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, the state’s highest security prison. As a result, prisoners with HIV have been faced with unjustified isolation, exclusion and marginalization, and low-custody prisoners have been forced unnecessarily to serve their sentences in more violent, more expensive prisons.”

As you know, Familyblendz maintains a vigil on equality for all people, bound or free. My goal is to prevent anyone from having to place themselves in positions whereby others can further segregate them, malign them or worse, treat them unfairly.

The change means that HIV positive prisoners now can participate in training programs and jobs like kitchen work, and avoid public disclosure of HIV status that results from being housed in a separate unit. A desegregation policy will be phased in for prisoners currently in the separate HIV unit, and new prisoners will be incorporated into the general population immediately.