The Cayman Islands legalised same-sex marriage exactly five months ago, but a new government appeal could reverse the ruling.
Chantelle Day and her partner Vickie Bodden Bush applied for the right to be married in the Cayman Islands, a British territory, but had their application rejected because they are a same-sex couple.
The appeal from the government opened on Wednesday, August 28.
At the start of the three-day hearing, one of the couple’s lawyers, Jonathan Cooper, told Reuters: “Marriage is a fundamental human right.
“It feels highly inappropriate to force (the couple) through a further appeal process, when the chief justice in the case in the high court was clear that they were entitled to marry.”
Premier of the Cayman Islands called the legalisation of same-sex marriage “bad law”.
Premier of the Cayman Islands, Alden McLaughlin, made a statement about the planned appeal in April in which he said: “I and my entire government have great respect for the chief justice and indeed the independence of the judiciary.
“But even the best judges get it wrong from time to time. Hard cases make bad law. None of us who are human are infallible.”
The Cayman Islands constitution does not explicitly mention same-sex unions, and McLaughlin said that the territory’s bill of rights “deliberately” uses the words “man” and “woman” to define marriage.
He continued: “As premier I will state what I have said many times before – I have no doubt that the feelings of the majority of Caymanians are that marriage should retain its traditional and religious definition and meaning, the union of one man and one woman.”
There’s a new antiretroviral, from a new class of medication, currently being tested for both PrEP and HIV treatment. Named islatravir (formerly MK-8591), this Merck drug is showing promise as part of a novel drug delivery system and because of its long half-life, great potency and high barrier for resistance.
“It is clear that PrEP and HIV medication alternatives are evolving,” said Christopher Hall, MD, MS, AAHIVS, vice president of medical affairs at San Francisco AIDS Foundation. “More options are needed especially for PrEP, because a single agent will never meet the needs of all people. Personal choice certainly will take on greater significance as alternatives evolve.”
Islatravir in a PrEP implant
Based on a design similar to that used for the Nexplanon/Implanon birth control implant, the islatravir implant is a removable implant designed to be inserted under the skin in the upper arm for a year. In the study presented by Matthews, researchers tested the drug concentration levels delivered by the islatravir implant over 12 weeks in 16 individuals.
In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, the researchers tested two doses of the islatravir implant: 54 mg and 62 mg. Throughout the study, the researchers collected drug concentration levels in plasma and PBMCs, and were primarily interested in how much time the drug concentration levels fell below a threshold of 0.5 pmol/106 (a threshold which is believed to provide an adequate level of drug for HIV prevention based on animal studies).
At both doses, drug concentrations remained above the 0.5 pmol/106 threshold for the 12 weeks of the study, although the lower limit of the estimated range for the 54 mg dose dipped below the threshold for a brief period. The 62 mg implant delivered drug concentration levels well above the threshold for the duration of the study.
In a later analysis, the researchers projected that the 62 mg implant would lead to concentrations above the threshold for at least 12 months, falling below the threshold at around 16 months.
“This supports the potential of the islatravir implant as a once-yearly PrEP option,” said Matthews.
Future research, he said, will continue to test other prototype implants and additional doses.
“Just as in birth control, implanted, long-acting pharmaceuticals are likely to earn a place in the biomedical HIV prevention armamentarium,” said Hall. “While more study is needed, clearly the future of PrEP is one of greater alternatives, with agents that bring fewer side effects, are less susceptible to resistance, are easier to administer, and improve the experience of people who take them. The future promises a broader array of options than we have seen since the advent of FDA-approved Truvada for PrEP in 2012, and it is bright.”
Islatravir for dual-therapy HIV treatment
There are a few unique characteristics of islatravir that may make it suitable as part of a two-drug regimen, said Molina. In preclinical studies, islatravir showed more than 10-fold greater potency compared to other approved antiretrovirals. The drug is also known to act against a number of resistant HIV variants, has a long half-life and has a high barrier to resistance.
“This [two-drug regimen] may maintain efficacy comparable to a three-drug regimen,” said Molina.
To test this, a double-blind study involving 120 treatment naïve adults living with HIV randomized participants to receive islatravir 0.25 mg, 0.75 mg, 2.25 mg or doravirine plus 3TC (lamivudine)/TDF (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate). At 24 weeks, or once viral loads were suppressed to <50 copies/mL on the triple-therapy, 3TC was removed.
There were very high response rates to the dual therapy at every dose level of islatravir.
After 24 weeks on the dual therapy, close to 90% of people receiving either islatravir 0.25, 0.75 and 2.25 mg with doravirine had viral loads <50 copies/mL. (96% of people receiving the control treatment of doravirine, 3TC and TDF had viral loads suppressed to this level.)
There were very few adverse events during the study, with two out of 90 participants receiving islatravir discontinuing the study because of adverse events.
“These results are quite promising, and demonstrate that the dual combination of islatravir and doravirine has the potential to be a potent, two-drug regimen and supports its further exploration in Phase 3 trials,” said Molina.
More research on islatravir’s safety and efficacy is needed before the drug may be granted FDA approval and brought to market. Based on the results of these studies, Merck plans to continue Phase 3 research on islatravir for HIV treatment as part of a once-daily, oral two-drug regimen. Using islatravir for PrEP, Merck is pursuing a Phase 2 study, set to begin enrolling in September 2019, that will evaluate the safety and tolerability of once-monthly oral islatravir.
Friday Sept. 6 @ 8 pm. Occidental Center for the Arts. First Friday Live! The Dream Farmers. OCA’s local talent showcase presents The Dream Farmers. Headed by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Randall Sequeira, this versatile band features mostly original and highly danceable roots, blues, soul, jazz, funk and world music with thoughtful lyrics and a positive attitude. Amanda Kirkland delivers the vocals. $15 at the door. Fine refreshments include wine and beer. www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org. 707-874-9392. 3850 Doris Murphy Ct. Occidental, CA. 95465.
Police have reportedly arrested two men for having gay sex in Lusaka, Zambia.
According to local media reports, police in the capital raided a property on August 22 after being tipped off by members of the public.
A 52-year-old man was arrested alongside a 21-year-old man after they were caught having sex.
A police spokesperson told Lusaka Times that the 52-year-old man had been charged with ‘having carnal knowledge against the order of nature’.
He said that Zulu is currently in police custody and that the 21-year-old man has been taken away for a medical examination.
One man is taken away for medical examination.
In Zambia, same-sex sexual activity is punishable with up to 14 years in prison under a section of a penal code originally imposed by the British Empire.
It states that “any person who has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature or has carnal knowledge of an animal” is guilty of a felony.
Law enforcers in the country have periodically cracked down on same-sex sexual activity.
Police in Zambia crack down on same-sex sexual activity.
In August last year, two men were convicted for having a consenting same-sex relationship in the country.
Any person who has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature.
And, in February 2018, Zambia police called on the public to help them track down two women who they believed to be in a lesbian relationship.
Officers from the national cybercrime unit started an investigation after seeing photos of the pair on social media which implied they were together, according to Zambian news site Mwebantu.
President Edgar Lungu said in 2013 that “those advocating gay rights should go to hell”, adding that as far as he was concerned, “that issue is foreign to this country”.
Lil Nas X has made history by being the first-ever openly gay man to be nominated for a Country Music Award (CMA).
He was nominated for the Musical Event of the Year award for his song ‘Old Town Road (Remix)’ with collaborator Bill Ray Cyrus, with the awards ceremony taking place on November 13.
Although ‘Old Town Road’ was originally booted off the US Billboard country charts because the company said the song “does not embrace enough elements of today’s country music”, it made its way back into the charts after a remixed version featuring Cyrus was released.
The song then became the longest-running US number one of all time.
Country music has a reputation for being conservative, and the musician has previously spoken out about anti-LGBT+ stigma in country music, explaining: “Within the country and hip-hop communities, it’s not really accepting in either.”
He tweeted: “Thank you guys for this nomination!!”
The CMA nomination means Lil Nas X has made history twice this week, after becoming the first openly LGBT+ artist to take home Song of the Year at the VMAs on Monday, August 26.
Dressed in a red cowboy suit, he took to the stage with Cyrus to collect his first-ever award for his chart topping single.
The singer thanked Cyrus in his speech for helping him take his career to “the next level” and then he pulled out a fake scroll and became an instant meme on social media.
The awards highlight how much has changed for Lil Nas X in a year.
Last month the singer revealed that a year ago he had no money and was struggling to get his music played.
He wrote on Twitter: “Wow man last year i was sleeping on my sisters floor, had no money, struggling to get plays on my music, suffering from daily headaches, now i’m gay.”
Hype continues to build for an upcoming Democratic presidential forum on LGBT issues as GLAAD announced Wednesday it would become a national partner for the event and a new candidate — Cory Booker — has announced he’ll participate.
GLAAD, the Los Angeles-based LGBT media watchdog group, will join the LGBT group One Iowa, The Gazette, and The Advocate as national partners for the upcoming forum, which will take place in Iowa on Sept. 20.
“LGBTQ issues and the LGBTQ community have been largely left out of the 2020 presidential primary conversation so far, and this forum will bring these important topics to a national audience for the first time in this election cycle,” GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement.
The event is set to take place at Coe College’s Sinclair Auditorium in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. According to GLAAD, more than 350 people have RSVP’d.
As part of the partnership, the event will be livestreamed through GLAAD’s partnership across social and digital channels to a national and international audience, the LGBT media group announced.
Ellis also referenced a recent annual survey from GLAAD finding young Americans, who traditionally are the most supportive of LGBT people, are less supportive than in years past — blaming Trump for those numbers.
“We look forward to hearing how each 2020 candidate will fight for LGBTQ acceptance during this campaign and beyond and, as president, how each of them would repair the damage done to LGBTQ equality and acceptance by the Trump administration,” Ellis said.
This year’s survey, conducted by the Harris Poll, found the number of Americans ages 18-34 who are comfortable in all seven proposed scenarios with LGBT people dropped from 53 percent to 45 percent. That’s the second consecutive year that this age group has shown a drop.
Previously, candidates named as attendees for the LGBT forum were Joseph Biden, Julian Castro and Marianne Williamson and Joe Sestak. But on Wednesday, Booker announced on Twitter he’d also take part.
“Looking forward to this important conversation on September 20th,” Booker tweeted.
The upcoming forum recalls a similar event in 2008 when a plethora of Democratic candidates were seeking the presidential nomination. The forum was coordinated by the Human Rights Campaign and then-president Joe Solmonese. Lesbian singer Melissa Ethridge served as a moderator.
For the upcoming forum, the moderators will be Lyz Lenz, a columnist for The Gazette; Zach Stafford, editor-in-chief for The Advocate; and Keenan Crow, One Iowa director of policy and advocacy.
Activists and academics who attended a gender and sexuality conference in Lebanon have been banned by the government from re-entering the country.
The NEDWA conference, organised for the fifth year by the Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality, aims to allow activists to share knowledge between countries and develop strategies on LGBT+ issues.
On the third day, General Security officers – the intelligence branch of Lebanese security forces – arrived at the hotel where the conference was held to question organisers and take down the details of everyone in attendance.
Now, those details are being used to impose a collective ban on people who were at the conference from re-entering the country, Human Rights Watch said.
Since the conference, six people who took part have tried to return to Lebanon and have been refused entry without being given a reason.
Lama Fakih, acting Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said: “The Lebanese authorities’ actions against the conference is a blatant attempt to restrict the space for free speech and assembly.
“These collective sanctions undermine the rights of advocates who are committed to advancing equality in Lebanon and in the region.”
Lebanon said the ban will prevent “the dismal collapse of society”.
Three of the people denied entry have filed lawsuits to lift the ban, but Lebanon’s General Security has refused, and has confirmed that the ban is because of participation in the NEDWA conference.
The response letter from the director of general security Abbas Ibrahim, provided by Human Rights Watch, states: “The preservation of the security of family and society makes it imperative to take immediate and rapid measures to avoid the dismal collapse of society and prevent and confront any imported vice, and to grant the competent authorities, in particular the General Directorate of General Security represented by its director, the authority to take all required measures to prevent any act that irritates and disrupts the security and stability of society.”
There are no laws in Lebanon to protect LGBT+ people from discrimination. Section 534 of the Lebanese penal code prohibits having sexual relations that “contradict the laws of nature”.Read comments (0)
Brief falsely suggests LGBTQ people do not exist, but rather are choosing “actions, behaviors, or inclinations.”
53 members of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives are urging the nation’s highest court to rule against LGBTQ people when it hears three landmark cases October 8. The lawmakers, all Republicans (list below), say the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not – and should not be interpreted to – protect gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, including their own constituents.
In a grotesque and ignorant reading of a key portion of the 55-year old legislation the Republican lawmakers suggest LGBTQ people do not exist, but rather are choosing “actions, behaviors, or inclinations,” which is false.
“Title VII’s sex discrimination provision prohibits discrimination because of an individual’s sex; it does not prohibit discrimination because of an individual’s actions, behaviors, or inclinations,” the lawmakers say in the amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court.
“What the statute actually prohibits is discrimination ‘because of [an] individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin,’” the Republicans insist.
The Advocate notes the brief “demeans the plaintiffs bringing actions forward to the court,” including claiming one of the plaintiffs only claimed he was gay so he could sue for wrongful termination. It also repeatedly misgenders a funeral director who is a woman and transgender, referring to her as “he.”00:0000:44
The brief also wrongly claims a correct interpretation of the Civil Rights Act to include LGBTQ people would “adversely” affect “the protection of women’s rights.”
And in a nod to the Hobby Lobby case, the brief proclaims that the “funeral home is a closely held corporation whose principal is a Christian,” strongly suggesting it is his First Amendment right to fire someone because they are LGBT.
The friend of the court brief was co-authored by Ken Starr, the former head of Baylor University who resigned in disgrace. Starr is also known for having defended Jeffrey Epstein, for being an attorney representing supporters of California’s anti-gay Prop 8, and the infamous special prosecutor whose work led to President Bill Clinton’s impeachment.
It is unknown if taxpayer funds were used to pay for the brief.
Republican Senators who have signed the amicus brief include Marsha Blackburn, Roy Blunt, Mike Braun, John Cornyn, Kevin Cramer, James Inhofe, James Lankford, and Mike Lee.
Republican Representatives include: Robert B. Aderholt (AL-04), Rick W. Allen (GA-12), Brian Babin (TX-36), Jim Banks (IN-03), Andy Biggs (AZ-05), Ted Budd (NC-13), Michael C. Burgess (TX-26), Doug Collins (GA-09), Warren Davidson (OH-08), Jeff Duncan (SC-03), Bill Flores (TX-17), Russ Fulcher (ID-01), Louie Gohmert (TX-01), Paul A. Gosar, (AZ-04), Glenn Grothman (WI-06), Michael Guest (MS-03), Andy Harris (MD-01), Vicky Hartzler (MO-04), Jody Hice (GA-10), George Holding (NC-02), Richard Hudson (NC-08), Jim Jordan (OH-04), Steve King (IA-04), Doug LaMalfa (CA-01), Doug Lamborn (CO-05), Debbie Lesko (AZ-08), Thomas Massie (KY-04), Mark Meadows (NC-11), Alex X. Mooney (WV-02), Ralph Norman (SC-05), Pete Olson (TX-22), Gary Palmer (AL-06), John Ratcliffe (TX-04), David Rouzer (NC-07), Van Taylor (TX-03), Tim Walberg (MI-07), Mark Walker (NC-06), Randy K. Weber (TX-14), Ron Wright (TX-06), and Ted S. Yoho (FL-03).
Kyle Murphy, the communications director for the national AIDS advocacy group AIDS United, released to a listserv of AIDS activists a letter informing AIDS United’s president and CEO and other officials and staff members that he was resigning from his job because the group accepts large sums of money from pharmaceutical companies.
Murphy states in his Aug. 9 letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Washington Blade, that AIDS United is among nearly all of the nation’s AIDS advocacy organizations that for years have worked for the interests of people with HIV/AIDS who accept money from drug companies.
He said that although he does not think any of the groups and their leaders have compromised their basic principles and objectives for fighting AIDS, the widespread contributions by the nation’s largest pharmaceutical companies to AIDS organizations gives the appearance of a conflict of interest, even if no compromises have been made.
“This decision was not made lightly, and I hope that all of you will believe that the primary source of my anguish the last several months was the inspiration and kindship that I feel for each of you,” he said in his letter. “I am an AIDS United constituent. I am a gay man. I am also living with HIV,” he wrote.
“You are my heroes, and I have been so inspired by each and every one of you, and the call to end this epidemic,” he said. “But when it all is said and done, the mission of our constituents are what matter and we are not serving like we should,” he states in his letter.
“Not out of some malevolence. But rather, our collective hearts wrote a check, that our budgets couldn’t cash,” his letter continues. “And so with the best of intentions and the sincere desire to be good partners with our colleagues in both the public and private sector, we have been slowly bought off. And most of us know it. We just aren’t willing to say it,” Murphy says in his letter.
As one example of a possible conflict of interest, Murphy points out how most AIDS organizations and the “vast majority” of the HIV community have become strong supporters of the HIV prevention regimen known as PrEP in which the drug Truvada, manufactured by pharmaceutic giant Gilead Sciences, is widely used and promoted.
“This support may or may not have been related to the sizeable donations that Gilead Sciences makes to almost every single HIV service provider, advocacy organization and patient interest group in the country,” Murphy states in his letter. “But the mere fact that this potential and glaring conflict of interest exists, should be enough to give all of us pause,” he wrote.
“I cannot say that Gilead Sciences or any other pharmaceutical company has inappropriately influenced any decision that the leadership of AIDS United or any of its many partners have made,” Murphy states in his letter. “But I do know that their status as a contributor is a consideration when we decide how to respond to questions around drug pricing, PrEP access, and drug safety,” he wrote.
“And that alone is enough for me to decide that I can no longer work for an organization that has representatives from these companies on its board,” Murphy stated.
William McColl, AIDS United’s Vice President for Policy and Advocacy, sent an email message to the listserv members who received Murphy’s letter, giving what he said was background information on some of the issues raised by Murphy.
“We greatly respect Kyle and wish him the best in his future,” McColl said in his message.
McColl noted that pharmaceutical company representatives have served on AIDS United’s board “dating back more than 30 years” and currently include representatives from Gilead Sciences and the pharmaceutical company ViiV Healthcare. He said approximately 24 percent of AIDS United’s fiscal year 2018-2019 budgets of more than $16 million are funded by pharmaceutical companies.
“Virtually all of this funding supports grants directly to organizations supporting people living with HIV,” McColl said in his message. “We seek to engage with funders (including pharmaceutical partners) precisely because it helps us to bring additional financial resources to the most difficult issues and underserved populations in the HIV epidemic; sometimes where funding might otherwise not be available,” he states in his email message.
“Our mission to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S. and serve our constituents is front and center with any decision we make as to an organization and we will consider opportunities to partner, including with pharmaceutical companies, where it advances this mission,” he wrote. “AIDS United has been and will continue to be transparent about the sources of its funding, which is publicly available information.”
Jesse Milan Jr., AIDS United’s president and CEO, told the Blade in a separate statement that the organization has included people on its board from a wide range of “stakeholders,” including funders.
“AIDS United engages with a wide spectrum of donors, including pharmaceutical funders, to support our grant-making, policy and advocacy, and capacity building work,” Milan said. “Their commitment makes much that we do possible, including funding many of our grants that support the work of hundreds of community organizations each year.”
Republican lawmakers and attorneys general on Monday submitted amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that LGBTQ workers are not protected by federal civil rights law.
In two separate briefs, 48 members of Congress and 15 attorneys general argue that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — which bans employment discrimination on the basis of “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin” — does not protect against workplace discrimination due to a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
“[A]t the time Congress enacted Title VII, ‘sex,’ ‘sexual orientation,’ and ‘gender identity’ had different meanings,” the brief by the attorneys general states. “As a result, the word ‘sex’ in Title VII cannot be fairly construed to mean or include ‘sexual orientation’ or ‘gender identity.’ The Second Circuit and the Sixth Circuit erroneously conflated these terms to redefine and broaden Title VII beyond its congressionally intended scope.”
Both briefs also argue that the power to ban discrimination against LGBTQ people rests solely with Congress.
The issue of whether “sex” discrimination in Title VII is inclusive of anti-LGBTQ discrimination has caused a split in lower courts over the past several years, with some backing gay and trans workers and others the employers who have fired them.
The briefs submitted by the lawmakers and the attorneys general Monday concern three cases that the Supreme Court will hear in October. Two of the cases involve discrimination based on sexual orientation: a suit from Gerald Bostock, a gay man fired from his job as a child welfare services worker by Clayton County, Georgia, and a suit on behalf of the late Donald Zarda, a gay man fired from his job as a skydiving instructor by New York company Altitude Express. The third case involves Aimee Stephens, a transgender woman who was fired from a Detroit funeral home after she informed her employer that she was beginning her gender transition.
The Department of Justice submitted two briefs in the cases earlier this month: One argued that Title VII does not prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, while the other arguedthat it doesn’t prohibit employment discrimination based on gender identity.
In a brief submitted earlier this year by 153 congressional Democrats, the lawmakers argued if “a man is discriminated against in the workplace because he dates men, but his female co-workers who also date men are not discriminated against for the same conduct, sex is clearly both a ‘but for’ cause and a motivating factor in that discrimination.”
The argument by the attorneys general against such an interpretation relies on Judge Diane Sykes’ dissent in a ruling issued by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that expanded Title VII to cover discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation: “An employer ‘who hires only heterosexual employees’ is simply ‘insisting that his employees match the dominant sexual orientation regardless of their sex,’” the brief states.
That same brief argues that a court ruling against the 1960s interpretation of “sex” discrimination would deprive “the States of the opportunity to weigh in on that question through the political process,” and noted that Congress has repeatedly failed to pass a bill adding these categories to the bill.