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A PROCLAMATION
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

As Americans, it is our birthright that all people are created equal and deserve the same rights, privileges, and opportunities. Since our earliest days of independence, our Nation has striven to fulfill that promise. An important chapter in our great, unfinished story is the movement for fairness and equality on behalf of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. This month, as we recognize the immeasurable contributions of LGBT Americans, we renew our commitment to the struggle for equal rights for LGBT Americans and to ending prejudice and injustice wherever it exists.

LGBT Americans have enriched and strengthened the fabric of our national life. From business leaders and professors to athletes and first responders, LGBT individuals have achieved success and prominence in every discipline. They are our mothers and fathers, our sons and daughters, and our friends and neighbors. Across my Administration, openly LGBT employees are serving at every level. Thanks to those who came before us — the brave men and women who marched, stood up to injustice, and brought change through acts of compassion or defiance — we have made enormous progress and continue to strive for a more perfect union.

My Administration has advanced our journey by signing into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which strengthens Federal protections against crimes based on gender identity or sexual orientation. We renewed the Ryan White CARE Act, which provides life-saving medical services and support to Americans living with HIV/AIDS, and finally eliminated the HIV entry ban. I also signed a Presidential Memorandum directing hospitals receiving Medicare and Medicaid funds to give LGBT patients the compassion and security they deserve in their time of need, including the ability to choose someone other than an immediate family member to visit them and make medical decisions.

In other areas, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a series of proposals to ensure core housing programs are open to everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. HUD also announced the first-ever national study of discrimination against members of the LGBT community in the rental and sale of housing. Additionally, the Department of Health and Human Services has created a National Resource Center for LGBT Elders.

Much work remains to fulfill our Nation’s promise of equal justice under law for LGBT Americans. That is why we must give committed gay couples the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple, and repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. We must protect the rights of LGBT families by securing their adoption rights, ending employment discrimination against LGBT Americans, and ensuring Federal employees receive equal benefits. We must create safer schools so all our children may learn in a supportive environment. I am also committed to ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” so patriotic LGBT Americans can serve openly in our military, and I am working with the Congress and our military leadership to accomplish that goal.

As we honor the LGBT Americans who have given so much to our Nation, let us remember that if one of us is unable to realize full equality, we all fall short of our founding principles. Our Nation draws its strength from our diversity, with each of us contributing to the greater whole. By affirming these rights and values, each American benefits from the further advancement of liberty and justice for all.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2010 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon all Americans to observe this month by fighting prejudice and discrimination in their own lives and everywhere it exists.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.

BARACK OBAMA

Circle City HIV/AIDS Coalition

INSPIRATION AND EDUCATION TAKE THE LEAD AT CIRCLE CITY-WIDE WORLD AIDS DAY OBSERVATION THAT TAKES ANOTHER STEP TOWARDS KEEPING THE PROMISE TO STOP AIDS

INDIANAPOLIS– The Circle City HIV/AIDS Coalition will host a Memorial Service of Worship to commemorate World AIDS Day on December 1, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at The Church Within, 1125 Spruce Street, Indianapolis. The greater Indianapolis community is invited to this free community program.

“World AIDS Day serves as a yearly reminder that this disease hasn’t gone away,” said Jason Grisell, chairman of the Circle City HIV/AIDS Coalition. “We need to recognize that it is a global public health problem, even right here in Indiana.”

Local AIDS activists, public health officials, clergy and concerned citizens will join families touched by this crisis to take part in this program which is designed to highlight the place of Hoosiers in this pandemic health crisis. The memorial observance will give attendees an opportunity to look back and remember those that they have lost to HIV/AIDS while uplifting and encouraging all in attendance to the on-going fight to combat this crisis by raising awareness of HIV/AIDS and its real, but often dismissed, impact on people here in Indiana.

Joining in the celebration this year is sponsor Walgreens, “The Pharmacy America Trusts”.

This program is a cross-cultural program that seeks to bring the community together in a city-wide observation that stresses the changes in the disease over the years as well as the realities that HIV disease continues to impact and devastate lives.

“There are no race, color or sexual orientation barriers to this disease,” Grisell said. “We are all at risk.” We can celebrate those that we have lost, but we need to keep on fighting and encourage everyone to get tested, learn their status, and help educate to prevent the spread of this deadly disease.”

The event will feature displays of panels from the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, live music, and various speakers including civil and social rights activist Reverend Thomas Brown, Senior Pastor of Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church and a special presentation by Walgreens pharmacy. A reception will immediately follow the hour-long program.

In Indiana, there have been more than 5,000 deaths from HIV-disease since the state first started recording them in 1981. In Marion County alone, from January through June of 2009, there have been 108 newly reported cases of HIV, so there is much work to be done to keep the promise.

The Circle City HIV/AIDS Coalition is a non-profit community action group comprised of HIV/AIDS prevention organizations and individuals from secular and faith-based backgrounds in HIV education who are interested in prevention efforts that combat HIV/AIDS and supportive efforts that impact HIV positive persons across Indianapolis and its surrounding areas.
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Contacts:
Kimberly Wells, Marketing, (317) 828-1913
Jason Grisell, Chairman, (317) 630-1805

Indianapolis Urban League

World AIDS Day

Citywide Observance of World AIDS Day featuring National HIV Advocate Antoinette Bennett. Ms. Bennett is a 58 year old, long term AIDS Survivor (27 Years), Cancer Survivor and Incest Survivor from Brooklyn, New York. Come and hear her story live….
on World AIDS Day at the Indianapolis Urban League.

EVENT:
Citywide Observance, Awards Presentation, Guest
Speaker, FREE HIV/STD Testing, Mini Fashion Show Featuring Originals by Michael Bush / Candlelight Vigil (Delta’s)
Guest Emcee – First Lady Khris Ray – Radio One

DATE:
Tuesday, December 1, 2009

LOCATION:
The Indianapolis Urban League / 777 Indiana Avenue / Indianapolis, IN 4620

TIME:
6 PM to 9:30 PM

ADMISSION:
FREE to public

COMMUNITY PARTNERS:
The Act Against AIDS Leadership Initiative, Bright Ideas, Brothers United, Community Health Network, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Gallahue Mental Health, Indianapolis Urban League, Indiana State Department of Health, Kroger Corporation, Macy’s the Federated Group, Marion County Health Department, National Urban League, Radio-One, Ryan White Services, Starbucks Broad Ripple, The Bethlehem House, Walgreens Corporation

For more information contact: Deidra Coleman – Indianapolis Urban League – (317) 693-7644 (dcoleman@indplsul.org)

Riley Hospital & the Indiana State Dept. of Health

World AIDS Day

INDIANAPOLIS – Please join Riley Hospital for Children, the Indiana State Department of Health and others as they announce “One Test Two Lives-Prevent HIV Indiana” – a statewide campaign designed to reduce the mother-to-baby HIV transmission rate, which has increased 400 percent compared to the past 2 ½ years, by improving clinical practices.

WHAT: “One Test Two Lives-Prevent HIV Indiana” campaign launch with the Riley Hospital for Children Ryan White Center for Pediatric Disease, the Indiana State Department of Health, the Indiana Perinatal Network, and the Midwest AIDS Training + Education Center.

WHEN: Tuesday, December 1, 10 a.m.

WHERE: Indiana State House North Atrium, 200 W. Washington St.

SPEAKER: Dr. Elaine Cox, Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Ryan White Center for Pediatric Infectious Disease

WHY: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, perinatal transmission accounts for 90 percent of all AIDS cases among children in the United States. The goal of “One Test Two Lives-Prevent HIV Indiana” is to prevent HIV transmission from mother to baby by providing quick and easy access to a variety of resources for obstetricians, nurse-midwives and other providers to ensure all women are tested for HIV early in the pregnancy.
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Contact:
(317) 234-1811
http://www.1test2lives.in.gov (website not active yet)

For my money, the best line of the night came from Rachel Yoder when talking about tipping, “Jesus may have risen, but our standards haven’t!”

Here are some pictures from the event.