Box Turtle Bulletin

Gay Good Samaritan Acquitted of Kidnapping

About 6:30 in the morning of July 4, 2008, David James “D.J.” Bell took his neighbors’ children, ages 2 and 4, into his South Salt Lake home. The neighbors were having an all night party and the children were wandering about unattended.

When Lulu Latu finally noticed her kids were missing, she went to Bell’s home. Finding the kids there, she become hysterical, screaming and slapping Bell. Minutes after she returned to her drinkfest, her fellow partiers broke down Bell’s door and assaulted Bell and Daniel Fair, his partner. (Salt Lake Tribune)

Bell was dragged from his home by his then-shoulder length hair and his head was repeatedly smashed against the pavement, [defense attorney Susanne] Gustin said. Blood was oozing from his right ear and he still suffers hearing loss, she said.

Someone used a piece of broken glass to cut Bell’s throat, chest and one of his toes.

Bell’s partner, Fair, also was beaten, and a large TV was thrown onto his head.

The District Attorney opted not to bring any assault charges in the case but instead charged Bell with kidnapping. Defense argued that this was an anti-gay hate crime and that had any other neighbor taken the children in they would have been thanked instead of beaten. (SLT)

[Defense attorney Roger] Kraft accused police of conducting a shoddy investigation, noting that 10 people who attended Latu’s party were never interviewed. Neither were four people at Bell’s home, even though they wanted to talk and provided police with their contact information.

Juror Jorgensen agreed that if the police investigation had been “handled properly, [they] would have come to a different conclusion on that day.”

In cases like these, it can be difficult to know whether there were extenuating circumstances, whether Lulu had reason to fear for her children’s safety with Bell, whether other neighborhood history was involved. Although I was tempted to see this as yet another illustration of how police assume that gay men are guilty until proven innocent in Utah, I hesitated at that time to form judgment.

But it seems the jury had far less difficulty, After acquitting Bell, the jurors told the Tribune that they were appalled at the lack of evidence and the waste in pressing charges.

Perhaps, after being rebuked by the jury, the district attorney may be willing to possibly consider caring whether it’s free-beating season on gay men in Salt Lake County.

Sunday Driver: El Tiradito

Tucked away south of downtown Tucson lie the last remnants of the old Barrio Historico. The Barrio is the original Mexican neighborhood that was established at about the time of the Gadsden Purchase, when the entire area changed hands from Mexico to the United States. Tucson’s original barrio was decimated by the short-sighted urban renewal wave of the 1960s, but what remains is still the largest and best preserved collection of old adobe Sonoran-style building in the U.S.

It is said that the Barrio is inhabited by countless ghosts from its violent past. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but there is one legend from the old Barrio that is worth mentioning. The details of that legend are very sketchy, but it goes like this: sometime before the turn of the twentieth century there was an illicit love affair between a man and a married woman. It was an affair that was kept hidden for a very long time, but at some point the woman’s husband found out about it and murdered the man.

Because the murdered man was a sinner in the eyes of the Church when he died, he was denied a Catholic burial at the church’s cemetery. His body was barred from consecrated ground. So he was instead buried underneath his home somewhere. Today, that legend holds, he lies there still, somewhere within the crumbling walls of that old adobe home.

Whatever happened, one thing we know. The community took pity on the young man and today the brick walls which stand in for his unconsecrated grave have been consecrated by popular acclaim as a makeshift shrine known as El Tiradito (“the little castaway” or “the little discarded one”).  Over the years, people have come from all over to pray at the shrine, both for the murdered lover and for others who have become lost to them. They leave small photographs, milagros, and other small tokens representing their prayer requests around the old fireplace which is now a revered nicho, and sometimes they’ll write their prayers down on small scraps of paper and leave them in the cracks of the crumbling adobe walls. And always they leave behind lit candles, typically those candles that you’ll find in Mexican grocery stores in South Tucson with images of saints printed on the sides. It is said that if you leave a lit candle at nightfall and the candle is still burning in the morning, then your prayers will be answered.

Legends have a way of growing out of small kernels of facts while ignoring other facts. My friend Homer, an archeologist and local historian tells me that he remembers reading newspaper accounts from around the 1920s in which the shrine was moved a short distance to its present location. He also says that nobody has been able to uncover historical records to verify the legend. But he also says that territorial newspaper accounts from the 1800s are full of stories about husbands murdering the paramours of their wives. Arizona was especially violent in those days and living was hard. As many as a quarter of the people who died in the 1870s met a violent end. And even today, the remains of dead bodies turn up every few years or so in unexpected places underneath streets and sidewalks whenever a reconstruction project is taking place.

But whatever the actual facts may be, legends and myths have a way of speaking to greater truths that register in the hearts of those who hold them as true. Legends lift us from the world of the mundane and carry us to the plane of aspirations and ideals. And it’s those greater ideals embodied by El Tiradito which fascinates me. This shrine, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is reputed to be the only known shrine in America dedicated to a sinner buried in unconsecrated ground. Whether that is true or not, a shrine dedicated to the memory of a sinner is a very odd thing. Shrines are the sorts of thing we’re more erect for reserve to heroes.

By all traditional understandings of morality of the day, the husband should be seen as the victim. He was the one who was wronged by his wife and her lover. And according to the frontier mores of the day, he was entirely within his rights to shoot the interloper. In fact, frontier justice demanded such an honor killing. By all rights, the man commemorated by this site would be looked upon as the villain. He’s the one who messed around with another man’s wife. But here, it’s the wife’s husband who is reviled. Why is that?

Clearly those who first carried the memory of the murdered lover knew more than we do today. What was it about the love between the murdered man and the married woman that touched their hearts? Was the woman’s husband cruel to her? Malicious to others? Was he a drunk all the time? Did he beat her? Cheat on her?

And what of the poor soul who was murdered? We can safely say he was a poor soul, otherwise his memory wouldn’t have been so lovingly tended. He clearly is the sympathetic one in the story. Why is that? Was he particularly kind? Generous of spirit? More to the point, was he the one she was meant to love and be loved by in return?

Who knows? All that we do know is that this man, the one who was reviled by the proper authorities of the day — he is now the folk hero, the one who is the beneficiary of generations of prayers and tender thoughts.

We are all familiar with the “love that dares not speak its name,” but here we have a man whose name is no longer spoken and is therefore unknown to us. And so we arrive at the greater thing which, I think, this legend represents and which no factual historical record can touch. In his anonymity, an unknown man is remembered, and he is loved because he dared to pursue a love that was prohibited to him. Yet in his pursuit of a forbidden love, his love achieved a sort of immortality that has long outlived him.

Many times love cannot be constrained by the rigid boundaries of what is considered proper, nor by the limits of a premature death. This love broke through all of those boundaries and its effects have endured beyond death and memory. It has pushed forward through the centuries and burns still today, flickering tentatively like the candles at El Tiradito, precisely because others have carefully tended it through the night so that it may greet the dawn once more.

Heterosexual Menace: Cop Had Oral Sex With Cows And Got Off

Robert Melia (left) and Heather Lewis (right)

No, none of the cows are shown in these mug shots, but the guy did get off:

A New Jersey judge has dismissed animal cruelty charges against a cop accused of committing a sex act with young cows, saying a grand jury had no way of knowing whether the animals were “tormented.” Moorestown police officer Robert Melia, who is currently suspended, allegedly engaged in oral sex acts with five calves in Southampton in 2006. Since New Jersey currently has no law explicitly banning such an act, prosecutors in Burlington county brought animal cruelty charges against Melia, the Philadelphia Daily News reports. Judge Morely said it was questionable that Melia’s acts, though “disgusting,” constituted animal cruelty.

Burlington County assistant prosecutor Gevin Moran didn’t agree. “I think any reasonable juror could infer that a man’s penis in the mouth of a calf is torment.” But Melia’s lawyer, countering with the impeccable heterosexual logic, pointed out that as long as the calves in question don’t complain then everything’s copacetic. The judge agreed.

This is where the second mug shot comes in because they’re not ready to release Melia into greener pastures just yet. He and his girlfriend, Heather Lewis, are still being held on charges of sexually assaulting three girls over a five year period. After one of the girls reported the incident to her stepfather, authorities investigated and found videos on Melia’s computer which not only depicted him having sex with one of the girls, but also the romantic interludes with the buxom bovines as well. Lewis is also being accused of sexually assaulting an underage (human) male.

There’s more heterosexual menace here and in our report, “The Heterosexual Agenda, Exposing the Myths.”

Another View of Russia’s LGBT Community

All too often when we hear news of what’s happening with the LGBT community in Russia, the news is bad. It typically centers around the latest repressions in Moscow or virulently homophobic statements by public officials and other leaders. Against that backdrop, we’ve also noted the bravery and ingenuity of LGBT activists and their successes. But between stories of confrontation and open celebration, the sense of the ordinary often gets lost.

This post by Ruslan Porshnev of Russia’s Anti-Dogma web site reminds us that in the midst of the visible drama that we perceive from our vantage point in the West, life among Russia’s LGBT people goes on and often quite happily. LGBT advocates in the industrial city of Cheylabinsk (just to the east of the Southern Urals) sponsored a “Rainbow Strike” bowling tournament at a local alley and put together this very cool video of last night’s event.

El Salvador’s Gay Marriage Ban Fails

El Salvador’s governing leftwing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) voted as a block against amendments to the constitution that would ban same-sex marriage and civil unions and adoption of children by same-sex couples. Thus supporters were not able to get the required two thirds to write discrimination into their governing document. (IPS)

During the weeks running up to the vote on Thursday, Catholic and evangelical churches in El Salvador joined forces with rightwing parties to try to push through the constitutional reforms.

Hundreds of Catholics and evangelicals carrying placards with messages like “Marriage is Sacred, Let’s Defend It” marched through the streets of San Salvador on Saturday, Sept. 19 in support of the rightwing opposition bloc in parliament and to press the FMLN to ratify changes to three articles of the constitution.

The church groups held a permanent “prayer chain” and organised more street demonstrations early this week, in the hope that the reforms would be approved in the legislative vote on Thursday, Sept. 24.

Supporters of the reforms said they were defending public morality and the foundations of the family.

Gay Jamaicans get Church

Micah Fink went to Jamaica to see first hand how hungry gay Jamaicans were for a safe space to worship and socialize together. Rev. Robert Griffin, a preacher with the Metropolitan Community Church comes monthly from Florida to hold secret church services. (MinnPost)

“We have to operate underground because of the hostility towards the gay and lesbian community here in Jamaica,” said Griffin, explaining that the location of this meeting is a closely held secret and that every service is arranged through word of mouth. “If it was known publicly where this congregation meets, I’m pretty sure there would be some type of violence toward the congregation.”

He also reports some of the first-hand stories that parishioners have shared with him.

And while firm statistics detailing anti-gay assaults, beatings and murders are difficult to find — mostly because the police are as likely to harass a victim of a gay assault as they are to help — it seems that almost every member of Jamaica’s gay community that I encountered had at least one, if not several, personal horror stories to relate.

In just one packed afternoon, I met one woman who was shot several times by a gunman who shouted out “de lesbian fi dead” (the lesbian must die), as he pulled the trigger. One man told me his best friend was murdered, chopped into pieces with a machete, and had the skin flayed from his face; he then went on to relate how another gay friend was locked up in his parent’s house by a group of gunmen who then set the building on fire and burned him alive.

Then there was another congregant whose features appeared in video shot at a gay birthday party that became a black-market best seller after a copy was stolen and then released on the streets. He’s had to abandon his home twice, in two different cities, after neighbors saw the video, recognized him and made plans to kill him. And he’s one of the lucky ones, the man says, since he’s lived to tell the tale — unlike four other gay men he knows who had the misfortune to appeared in the video and were later hunted down and murdered.

And Griffin knows that those who should be standing against evil are instead encouraging it.

“Ministers here are endorsing violent acts, calls for murder, to incite riots,” Griffin said. “I hear it being done here, I read it in the papers here, I have even heard it myself. They tell me: ‘We don’t believe in homosexuality and homosexuals should be killed because that’s what the scripture says.'”

I commend Griffin for seeking to start a new dialogue, one in which religion is not a cover for murder, one which calls for decency and humanity. Truly he is putting his life at risk.

Scary Carrie

This year for Halloween you can go as your favorite opposite-marriage loving, values voting, bigger crown coveting skank.

Perhaps one of these modest little numbers will suit ya. They are costumes from Women of Marvel modeled by none other than biblically correct former Miss California Carrie Prejean. (TMZ)

Be careful, though. You don’t want to scare the kiddies.

Another New “No on 1” Ad

The No on 1 Campaign has another new ad out and rather than being in response to the anti-gay campaign, this one takes the issue on directly.

“People have a right to live how they want to live”

Bill Clinton Shifts on Marriage Equality

Former President Bill Clinton has taped a discussion with Anderson Cooper which will run tonight in which he explains his shift on same-sex marriage.

While the endorsement certainly could have been more stirring, let’s welcome this influential voice into the marriage equality camp.

Protect Maine Equality Responds Again: Outsiders Trying To Harm Our Kids

It’s good to see a pro-equality campaign taking the offensive — and not taking lies lying down. Now go here and help them blanket the airwaves.

Who Are We Without the Wall?

Yesterday, major media outlets reported that for the first time an AIDS vaccine has had partial success in humans. In trials, it was about 31 percent effective. This is a far cry from the 70- to 90-percent effectiveness typically required for a vaccine to be licensed, but it shows that a vaccine is possible and represents the first-ever major breakthrough.

Since the announcement, I’ve allowed myself to consider seriously what a world without AIDS would look like. I was born in 1983 and remember the late ’80s, early ’90s television reports on the devastation wrought by AIDS in the U.S. The reports were terrifying, and it is odd to look at them in retrospect, knowing what they foreshadowed:

Since then, even as medical advances have made AIDS a chronic illness instead of a death sentence, contracting HIV has been one of my biggest fears, which goes to show that the stigma associated with it remains. I fear hearing, “you’re HIV positive” more than being told I have an inoperable brain tumor, which I know is irrational. I’ve had probably five HIV tests, and for all except the first one, the anxiety of waiting a week for lab results has made me run to the nearest rapid HIV testing site and get an answer in 20 minutes, which is also excruciating.

I grew up understanding that gay = AIDS, an equation that I realize is outdated and perhaps prejudiced. But part of me fears that being infected with HIV would confirm all the dire predictions made for me by reorientation therapists and concerned family members. I’ve often felt the pressure to defy these predictions by leading an exemplary life — which I of course haven’t, and won’t. But the point is that AIDS has been framed as the natural “consequence” of homosexuality.

Perhaps the best-known piece of writing on the social meaning of AIDS was written by Susan Sontag, “AIDS and Its Metaphors,” in which the author talks about the ways in which we imbued a virus — which is inherently indifferent to human feelings, morals, and motivations — with exactly those attributes. AIDS was cited by people like Pat Robertson as divine retribution for sinful sex, an understanding that reversed the natural inclination to view the afflicted person as a victim. People with AIDS were “guilty,” or earned it, or something like that. You “get” AIDS; you don’t “get” a brain tumor. HIV in the blood is a “poison,” AIDS a “plague.” As dehumanizing as terminal disease is, even more dehumanizing — and disempowering — is how moral, religious, and political leaders talk about AIDS and its victims.

On the other hand, the AIDS crisis galvanized the gay rights movement, and many of the advances in equality were made during the late ’80s and early ’90s. The AIDS crisis was the tipping point for social acceptance of homosexuality, a change that is reflected in the language. It’s no longer politic to call gay people “homosexuals” or refer to the homosexual “lifestyle,” but in the ’80s these were standard phrases used by newscasters:

A lot of the momentum of Act-Up has waned, but AIDS consciousness still permeates gay culture. Gay people will tag “be safe” (code for “use condoms”) to a goodbye at the end of an evening. I’ve been accosted more than once at a New York gay bar by an awkward grad student wanting me to fill out a survey about my sex life, which includes transparent questions about condoms, meth use, and depression (I can save you the work: gays who are reckless with drugs are probably more likely to have sex without condoms, and are probably more likely to be depressed). Public health officials obsess over how to “reach” us and set up condom stands at every LGBT event imaginable. And we’ve been Riding For The Cure forever. What happens when the finish line appears beneath us?

We thought the wall would stand forever,
And now that it’s gone we don’t know who we are anymore.

The Hedwig quote probably implies a nostalgia for AIDS that I do not intend, so let me be clear: the day the AIDS crisis ends — whether it’s a gradual process or an all-at-once medical achievement — will be a great day, the end of suffering for millions around the world. But it will mark the beginning of a shift in the culture. Will condom use plummet? Will the rate of other STDs rise? Will it change the forms our relationships take?

Probably.

The brief window of worry-free (or at least more worry-free) sex ushered in by the discovery of antibiotics, the pill, and abortion would open again — to the chagrin of social conservatives who have made the regulation of  sex, reproduction, and sexuality an essential component of their agendas. It would deflate many of the biological justifications for religious arguments (or maybe we’d just be cheating God?).

Whereas earlier gay rights activists wanted nothing to do with heterosexual marriage, the shift has been toward assimilating and adopting marriage, which some people think is good and other people think is bad (I’m on the fence). Part of this has come from increasing social acceptance and support of gay couples, but it would be silly to deny that the re-medicalization of sex had anything to do with the rise of monogamy in the gay community. Will the end of AIDS reverse this trend? I am not saying that bathhouses will reopen their doors and meth-fueled orgies will mark the scene until the next pandemic comes around, but de-coupling sex and relationships from the fear of death, disease, and social stigma will change the dynamics. In a sense, though, sex will always be fraught with anxieties: the virgin won’t stop wondering whether he or she will be good for their partner, and people will still feel the sting of betrayal when they find out they are being cheated on.

I’ve hesitated to use the word “freedom” or “liberation” in discussing the de-medicalization of sex. There is something mundane about equating this with human freedom. It seems a rather nihilistic, ’60s-’70s understanding of it. I have no idea what it really entails, but I doubt that freedom just means you have nothing left to lose.

This commentary is the sole opinion of the author and does not reflect the opinion of Box Turtle Bulletin’s other contributors.

NARTH Helps Promote 2009 Anti-Heterosexism Conference

Well, sort of. They sent out an “action alert” to their email list yesterday begging its members to sign up for their own conference taking place in November in West Palm Beach, Florida. That email, complete with breathless exclamation points and red-alert lettering, reads:

Action Alert!
Gay Activists To Challenge NARTH by holding Counter-conference in Florida!

Soulforce and a host of gay activists are going to hold a counter-conference in West Palm Beach, Florida on the same weekend NARTH will be holding the 2009 NARTH Convention and Training Institute.

Fresh off their victory in getting the American Psychological Association to accept their recommendations in the form of a Gay & Lesbian task force report, gay activists want to convince the public that any attempts to reach out to those struggling with unwanted homosexual attractions are misguided and dangerous.

Their goal – Silence NARTH!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The choice is yours. We urge you to register for the most important NARTH Conference ever held. Do it today!

TO REGISTER – CLICK HERE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Soulforce Agenda (read it for yourself):

Aggressive outreach to confused youth – “queering our kids”.
Accuse those who question their agenda of genocide.
Attack the ex-gay movement (Exodus, Courage, etc.)
Finding ways to get even more media attention.
Hijack psychology to justify their political agenda.
And much. much more!

Yeah, like we’re going to “silence NARTH!” Puhleeze. Drama much? And isn’t it interesting how the last six red bullet points at the end mirror what NARTH, Exodus, Courage, JONAH and many, many others want to do?

Anyway, they followed that with a list of workshops that we will be presenting at the 2009 Anti-Heterosexism conference November 20-22 at the Crowne Plaza hotel in West Palm Beach. BTB contributors will present two of those workshops:

Media Access: Getting Through the Noise
Gabriel Arana
Even with the rise of blogging, reaching people on a large scale requires access to major media organizations. This presentation will give you the tools to effectively maneuver the media world and gain access to the print and online publications, PR reps, and journalists that will help you broadcast your story and become a more effective advocate.

Heterosexual Interrupted: What the Ex-Gay Movement Really Means By “Change”
Jim Burroway
The Ex-Gay movement claims that there are no homosexuals, just heterosexuals with a homosexual problem. This “Ex-Gay 101” workshop explores the heteronormative narrative which our culture expects young people to follow as they date, marry, and have families. When that narrative is interrupted, the ex-gay movement is there to explain what went wrong and how to fix it. But for many ex-gays and their families, the fix is not what they hoped for.

The NARTH email only contained the workshop titles and presenters, not these descriptions. But yeah, Gabriel’s and my names have now officially appeared on a NARTH action alert. Best of all, they spelled our names right. I would like to thank NARTH for helping to get the word out, even though they left out BTB contributor Daniel Gonzales, who will also be there facilitating a pre-conference institute, “A Gathering for ‘Ex-Gay’ Survivors.”

This conference that has NARTH so shaken up will be a very valuable opportunity for former ex-gays, allies and others to come together to examine the role that heterosexism and heteronormative attitudes play in ex-gay and anti-gay industries in particular, but also in the larger culture as well as in our own day-to-day dealings with peers, friends, families, co-workers, and even ourselves. These attitudes don’t just fuel much of the antipathy toward gay people, but on a more personal level they can also sabotage our own efforts to live normal, healthy and productive lives.

I’m very excited at the prospect of meeting so many people there to share information and ideas, and to have a chance to explore this very important topic in greater depth. I hope you can make it as well. Early registration with a substantial discount is open through October 5, and Soulforce has arranged for special rates at the Crowne Plaza. I know that some BTB readers have already emailed me to say they will be there. I hope many more of you can come as well. I hear Florida is wonderful in November.

The 2009 Anti-Heterosexism Conference is sponsored by Soulforce, Truth Wins Out, the National Black Justice Coalition, Beyond Ex-Gay, Box Turtle Bulletin, and Equality Florida.

Tenners File to Overturn Prop 8

The campaign to overturn Proposition 8, California’s constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, has officially begun. (LA Times)

The group Love Honor Cherish filed ballot language with the state today for a measure to overturn the ban on gay marriage in the state. That is the first step in getting the question on the ballot.

According to the group, if the state approves the language, they will begin the process of collecting the estimated 1 million signatures needed to get on the November 2010 ballot.

And while the twelvers would very much like to wait another two years to strategize, plan, and prepare, if the coalition of groups wanting to take this issue to the polls next year show that they are achieving signature collection goals, you can be certain that they will seek to become a part of the effort and to ensure that it has the best possible chance of success.

I had the opportunity to have a discussion with an organizer involved with training grass-roots leaders at a “boot camp” a week ago and he reports that those in favor of moving forward are somewhat inexperienced in campaign strategy and methodology. They are also highly suspicious of the counsel given by the boys and girls in suits.

Frankly, I don’t know if the tenners have the organization to get a million signatures and to plan a winning campaign. But I am delighted that they are suspicious of the leaders who arrogantly led a campaign that neither sought nor utilized our community’s best resources: gay people themselves. And what the tenners have today that the leaders of the No on 8 Campaign sorely lacked is passion, commitment, and a belief that the results of this election will have an impact on their life personally.

Should the tenners succeed in getting their signatures, I hope that technical support can be utilized from the larger groups but that the strategic decisions are made by those who are fed up with gay politics as usual.

The language of the ballot measure is:

This amendment would amend an existing section of the California Constitution. Existing language proposed to be deleted is printed in strikeout type. Language proposed to be added is printed in underlined type.

Section 1. To protect religious freedom, no court shall interpret this measure to require any priest, minister, pastor, rabbi, or other person authorized to perform marriages by any religious denomination, church, or other non-profit religious institution to perform any marriage in violation of his or her religious beliefs. The refusal to perform a marriage under this provision shall not be the basis for lawsuit or liability, and shall not affect the tax-exempt status of any religious denomination, church or other religious institution.

Section 2. To provide for fairness in the government\’s issuance of marriage licenses, Section 7.5 of Article I of the California Constitution is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 7.5. Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. Marriage is between only two persons and shall not be restricted on the basis of race, color, creed, ancestry, national origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, or religion.

Obama Administration May Lift Ban on HIV+ Travel and Immigration

During the waning days of the Bush Administration, the President came to recognize that the country’s ban on travel and immigration for HIV positive persons was counter-productive and cruel. And, in a rare moment of compassion, he shepherded a bill through Congress allowing Health and Human Services to remove the ban.

Sadly, this change was included in the blanket reversal of last-minute policies when President Obama took office. But now it appears that the ban may finally be lifted. (Miami Herald)

Yesterday, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issues a memo which instructs USCIS officers to place a hold on any green card applications which would otherwise be denied simply due to the applicant\’s HIV status. The hold is pending release of the final HHS rule change which will completely eliminate the ban.

The memo signals that the administration is very close to final repeal of the ban, and is now instructing agencies to be ready for the change. USCIS is clearly expecting guidance from HHS very soon, and has decided to hold applications by HIV-positive applicants rather than deny them, as the new rule will no longer prohibit their entry into the country.

HIV Vaccine Results Encouraging

Eventually it had to happen. Eventually one of the promising vaccines trials for HIV had to provide at least some protection.

And it has. Partly. The trial showed that a vaccine was about 31.2% effective. (NY Times)

“I don\’t want to use a word like ‘breakthrough,\’ but I don\’t think there\’s any doubt that this is a very important result,” said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is one of the trial\’s backers.

“For more than 20 years now, vaccine trials have essentially been failures,” he went on. “Now it\’s like we were groping down an unlit path, and a door has been opened. We can start asking some very important questions.”

This is not the vaccine that will announce the end of the era of AIDS. But it is the first vaccine that has shown any effectivity at all and it allows researchers an opportunity to build upon this start to find something that will really work.