Hope For The Future

Talking Points Memo:

Young Americans are abandoning God in droves. A new survey by the Pew Research Center finds that belief in the existence of God has dropped 15 points in the last five years among Americans 30 and under. Pew, which has been studying the trend for 25 years, finds that just 68 percent of millennials in 2012 agree with the statement “I never doubt the existence of God.” That’s down from 76 percent in 2009 and 83 percent in 2007. Among other generations, belief in God is high and has seen few changes over the last few decades. Between 81 and 89 percent of older generations say they never doubt the existence of God, although the older the generation, the more likely they are to believe in God.

(Tipped by JMG reader BStewart23)

TOO MANY HAPPY COUPLES: NYC To Hold Lottery To Get Gay-Married On First Day

New York City officials today announced a "marriage lottery" to deal with the high numbers of gay couples looking to tie the knot on the first day of legalized same-sex marriage.

Fearing demand for same-sex weddings will be too great for the City Clerk’s Office to handle this Sunday, city officials have announced a lottery for weddings on the first day that gay couples can legally wed in the state. Officials said couples could be stuck waiting in long lines all day and, though the city has added extra clerks for Sunday, ultimately would not be able to get married because of the high volume. The lottery will guarantee 764 couples – either opposite- or same-sex — access to marry at one of the City Clerk’s five offices Sunday. The 764 couples to marry would be the largest number of marriages on any single day in city history.

NYC has received over 2500 online marriage applications since the day of the historic vote. Hit the link to learn how to enroll for the first day lottery. What a wonderful problem to have!

UPDATE: The Human Rights Campaign comments.

"The record breaking number of couples registering to marry shows how popular--and right-- passing marriage equality was. The lottery is a good compromise. Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn took this great problem to have and came up with a good solution. There will be a lot of love at the City Clerk's Office on Sunday. Every lawmaker, Democrat and Republican, should take heart that New York families are all the stronger."

NEW YORK: Judges Rush To Volunteer For First Day Of Same-Sex Marriage

Dozens of New York judges have volunteered to officiate at same-sex marriages across the state on Sunday, July 24th, the first day they become legal.

As one of several dozen judges across the state who have volunteered to play an official role in the new law’s first day, Justice Raffaele is part of one of the most unusual judicial mobilizations in years. From Buffalo to the Bronx and pretty much everywhere else in New York, judges are signing up for rare Sunday duty. If same-sex couples want to marry that Sunday, only judges would have the authority to dispense with the 24-hour waiting period required by law. And those judges could then officiate on the spot. Another of the volunteer judges, Sherry Klein Heitler of State Supreme Court in Manhattan, said she was expecting something of a party at the city clerk’s office. “I think there will be a lot of people,” Justice Heitler said. “I think there will be a lot of emotion. I think there will be a lot of happy tears.”

Happy tears, indeed. I'm going to be torn over covering the NOM/Diaz hate rally or whether to be at City Hall.

American Bar Association Announces Support For Marriage Equality

The 410,000 member 132-year old American Bar Association, arguably the most influential legal group in the world, has announced its firm support for same-sex marriage. The Advocate reports:

In a resolution adopted less than one week after a federal judge in San Francisco struck down California's Proposition 8 as unconstitutional, the group acknowledges that same-sex couples "are only seeking to participate in an equal basis in a foundational institution of our civil life," former ABA president Tommy Wells told the organization's house of delegates. "They simply want to share in the legal blessings that we give to married couples. It can only strengthen marriage.”

The ABA's statement: "RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges state, territorial, and tribal governments to eliminate all of their legal barriers to civil marriage between two persons of the same sex who are otherwise eligible to marry."

Acne Drug Found To Work On HIV

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that the inexpensive acne drug minocycline works well to help suppress HIV replication, making it a potentially highly valuable addition to the HAART arsenal.

“The powerful advantage to using minocycline is that the virus appears less able to develop drug resistance because minocycline targets cellular pathways not viral proteins,” says Janice Clements, Ph.D., Mary Wallace Stanton Professor of Faculty Affairs, vice dean for faculty, and professor of molecular and comparative pathobiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “The big challenge clinicians deal with now in this country when treating HIV patients is keeping the virus locked in a dormant state,” Clements adds. “While HAART is really effective in keeping down active replication, minocycline is another arm of defense against the virus.” Unlike the drugs used in HAART which target the virus, minocycline homes in on, and adjusts T cells, major immune system agents and targets of HIV infection. According to Clements, minocycline reduces the ability of T cells to activate and proliferate, both steps crucial to HIV production and progression toward full blown AIDS.

Johns Hopkins says the drug will greatly advance the goal of making HIV+ patients non-infectious.

20% Of Polled Identify As Republicans

From a story about an ABC News/Washington Post poll about attitudes on health care reform comes this little nugget: "Only 20 percent of adults identify themselves as Republicans, little changed in recent months, but still the lowest single number in Post-ABC polls since 1983."

HIV/AIDS Services Survive Cuts In Illinois

While the Governator may have terminated much of the HIV/AIDS services in California, it's nice to have some good news out of Illinois, where Gov. Pat Quinn has elected to use his discretionary fund to maintain vital projects. Via Samuel Worley at EdgeBoston:

State funding for HIV services will remain nearly fully funded under the terms of the Governor’s Allocation Plan for the new fiscal year state budget. The FY10 budget, which was passed two weeks into the beginning of the fiscal year on July 15, included $3.4 billion in unallocated funds to be spent at Gov. Pat Quinn’s discretion. Though the budget itself only funded HIV/AIDS agencies and other social services at 50 percent of previous levels, service providers had been waiting anxiously to find out where Quinn would put the discretionary funds. Under the plan released July 31, Quinn allocated $40 million to the Illinois Department of Public Health, $17 million of which is to be spent on HIV/AIDS programming. In combination with the money already allocated in the state budget, this restores HIV/AIDS funding to 97.4 percent of previous levels.

(Tipped by JMG reader Chitown Kev)

42%! Same-Sex Marriage Support Rises 9% Nationwide In ONE MONTH

Call it the Iowa/Vermont effect. Via CBS News:

Forty-two percent of Americans now say same sex couples should be allowed to legally marry, a new CBS News/New York Times poll finds. That's up nine points from last month, when 33 percent supported legalizing same sex marriage. Support for same sex marriage is now at its highest point since CBS News starting asking about it in 2004. Twenty-eight percent say same sex couples should have no legal recognition – down from 35 percent in March – while 25 percent support civil unions, but not marriage, for gay couples.

Paging Maggie Gallagher.....

Massachusetts House Lifts Marriage Ban

Yesterday the Massachusetts House repealed the state's 1913 ban on out-of-state residents marrying there, clearing the way for gay tourist nuptials. The ban had already been repealed by the state Senate and Gov. Duval Patrick will sign it into law shortly. An analysis by the state predicts that up to 30,000 gay couples may visit to marry there in the next three years, with most of that business coming from New Yorkers whose Massachusetts marriages will be recognized at home.

PG & E Gives $250K To Fight Prop 8

Pacific Gas & Electric, which provides Northern California with most of its electricity and natural gas, has donated $250K to the fight against Proposition 8.

Giving a financial and public relations boost to gay marriage proponents, PG&E announced today that it is giving $250,000 to the No on Proposition 8 campaign.

The utility also said it will spearhead the formation of a business advisory council that will seek to get other businesses around California to to defeat the ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution to define marriage as only between a man and a woman. "We are thrilled to partner with PG&E," Geoff Kors, exeutive director of Equality California, said in a statement.

The donation from the utility, and the formation of the business council, represents a shift from the last time that the question of gay marriage was on the ballot, in 2000. Back then, many businesses stayed on the sidelines. This time, in addition to PG&E, other large corporations such as AT&T and Wells Fargo also have donated to defeat Proposition 8.

Analysts said businesses may be more willing to get involved this time because they have more gay and lesbian employees who are out and in positions of power and because they believe the amendment could hurt business if passed, by giving the impression that California is not friendly to gay and lesbians.

I can't wait for the fundies to start their boycott of electricity. Bwah ha ha.

New Study: Life Expectancy For People With HIV Rises By 13 Years

A new study published in The Lancet says that advances in treatment since the late 90's have added 13 years to the average life expectancies of people with HIV. In high-income countries with the appropriate health care available, a 20-year-old infected with HIV in 2008 can expect to live another 49 years with the disease.

The team, involving Bristol University staff, looked at over 43,000 patients. The study found a person now diagnosed at 20 years old could expect to live for another 49 years. But the Antiretroviral Therapy Cohort Collaboration, which includes scientists from across Europe and Northern America, warned this was still short of the life expectancy for the wider population which stands at about 80.

Antiretroviral treatment for HIV consists of drugs which work against the infection itself by slowing down the replication of the virus in the body. This method of therapy was introduced in the 1990s, but has since become more effective and better tolerated. The researchers looked at life expectancy during three time periods after the introduction of the drugs - 1996-9, 2000-2 and 2003-5 - in high income countries.

Just over 2,000 patients died during the study periods. They found that while patients aged 20 diagnosed in the 1990s could expect to live another 36 years, that had increased by 13 years by 2003-5. During the middle time period, life expectancy stood at an extra 41 years.

If you are 20 years old (and even if you aren't), don't let that "you'll live to 69" fact cloud your judgment. That's still far below the life expectancy for the uninfected and that number is only valid if you immediately begin to monitor and/or treat your infection. Test, test, test.

Approved: New HIV Med Entravine

Johnson & Johnson's HIV drug, entravine, was approved by the FDA on Friday. As mentioned here in July, the medication has proven to be very effective against advanced multi-drug resistant HIV. Entravine is an NNRTI (non-nucleoside reverse transriptase inhibitor) and must be taken in combination with other anti-HIV medications.

The drug was approved under the fast-track or "priority review" status that the FDA reserves for medications meant to treat life-threatening disease. No word yet as to what name entravine will be sold under. Considering the recent run of HIV med names (Kaletra, Truvada), I wouldn't care to guess.

New Advances Against Drug-Resistant HIV

Good news on the HIV front: a new investigational drug, Etravirine (a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor) has been shown in combination with Prezista (a protease inhibitor) to be very effective against advanced multi-drug resistant HIV. The just-concluded study took place in 18 countries including at 30 sites in the United States. Prezista is already approved for use in the U.S. and now Etravirine is expected to be fast-tracked for the same. The findings of the study will be presented at this month's International AIDS Conference in Sydney.

Rev. Hawkes Receives Order Of Canada

Rev. Brent Hawkes, the Toronto minister who conducted the marriage ceremonies that led to same-sex marriage being legalized nationwide, has been awarded his country's highest civilian honor, the Order of Canada. Hawkes has been a minister at Toronto's MCC for 30 years. In 2001, Hawkes won his suit against the Ontario government, forcing the province to recognize gay marriages. One year later the federal government ditched its plan to appeal Hawkes' case and gay marriage became legal nationwide in 2005. The Order of Canada is given in the name of Queen Elizabeth by her representative there and recognizes "exemplary achievement and service to Canada." Hawkes has won numerous other awards for his humanitarian and civil rights work.

LGBT Center Gala Surpri$e

At last night's Garden Party, the NYC LGBT Community Center's annual Pride kick-off gala, the audience got a wonderful surprise when Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer (above, right) announced a $1 million grant to the center's capital improvements fund. Nice, huh? But heads really swiveled when City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (above, left) announced an additional $8 million dollar grant from the city as a whole. I bet the Center's executive director, Richard Burns (above, middle), is still smiling. The Manhattan grant will pay out over the next two years, the one from NYC over the next four.

Derfner Whups Westboro

A few weeks ago, Joel Derfner, a NYC blogger, author, and composer exchanged a few emails with me about the Westboro Baptist Church's appropriation of USA For Africa's famine relief anthem, We Are The World, which the members of Fred Phelps' clan of crazies had performed on YouTube as "God Hates The World." Joel was incensed, naturally, and was curious about possible copyright violation.

Due to Joel's legwork, last week Warner/Chappel's legal department sent a cease-and-desist letter to Westboro and the video has been removed from YouTube, although many impassioned responses remain. Congratulations to Joel for winning this battle! Drop in on his blog and say thanks, y'all.

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AIDS Cure For Some?

National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases head Anthony Fauci has released the results of a study which suggests that new HIV drugs from Merck and Roche may "cure" HIV in patients who have very low levels of the virus, provided those patients have already been treated "early and faithfully" with over 7 years of combination drug therapy. Patients are being lined up for a new study in which they will be "aggressively dosed" with the new meds. If the virus disappears, treatment will stop and the patients will be tracked closely for any recurrence. Fauci's study will be published in the June 15 issue of the Journal of Infectious Disease. The stock prices of Merck and Roche have risen on this news.

Progress Around the Nation

• The New Hampshire legislative approved of same-sex civil unions today, sending the bill to Gov. John Lynch, who has said he will sign it, joining NH with New Jersey, Connecticut and Vermont.
• Iowa today extended civil rights protections to LGBT folks in an ENDA-tpe bill that took 15 years to gather enough votes to pass.
• Almost two-thirds of polled New Yorkers statewide support Gov. Spitzer's forthcoming gay marriage bill.

Seattle Pride Saved

On Tuesday, Seattle's gay pride organization, Out And Proud, announced that they were cancelling this year's pride celebration and declaring bankruptcy, due to the organization's $102,000 debt from last year's event. But upon hearing the news, Seattle's mo's came rushing to the rescue, pouring in enough donations to retire the debt by the end of that very day. Amazing! Seattle's pride event is now back on, scheduled for June 24th.

ENDA Introduced To House

ABOVE: Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) speaks about ENDA, which he and Reps. Deb Price (R-OH) , Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Chris Shays (R-CT) introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives. More photos are here. (via - Human Rights Campaign.)

Rep. Baldwin: "Twenty-five years ago, my own state of Wisconsin was the first in the nation to add sexual orientation to anti-discrimination statutes. Since then, 16 states have done the same. We call on Congress now to set a new and higher standard. With the support of the House leadership and members of both parties, I am hopeful that this Congress will close this loophole in existing law and pass a truly comprehensive and inclusive bill to outlaw employment discrimination.”

This is the 7th time since 1994 that a version of ENDA has been introduced to Congress, and under the new Democratic leadership, this is the best chance ever for ENDA to pass. Everybody cross your fingers and contact your Congressperson.