RA-news Newsletter of the Rainbow Alliance at the University of Florida December 2006, Vol. 5, No. 3
The Rainbow Alliance is the organization for University of Florida faculty, staff, and alumni concerned with matters related to sexual orientation and gender identity. RA welcomes all members of the University community who share its goals.

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Please contribute to the Rainbow Alliance Fund. Payroll Deduction makes it easy! Next Rainbow Alliance Dinner: Wednesday, December 13 at Stonewood Grill at Royal Park Plaza, on Newberry Road. 6 PM for a drink, and 6:30 for dinner. Please RSVP. December Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Upcoming Local Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TBA Friends Training Events scheduled for Spring Semester Apr 2007 Pride Awareness Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Other Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pride Events -- Worldwide Calendar Black Gay Pride Events Apr 2007 Equality Ride 2007 Aug 2006 - Jan 2007 Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals Traveling Exhibition August 16, 2006 - January 27, 2007 Florida Holocaust Museum, St. Petersburg, FL  Feb 2007 - April 2007 Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals Traveling Exhibition February 11 - April 7, 2007 University of Miami Otto G. Richter Library, Coral Gables, FL

Contents Features Mexico City Approves Civil Unions Daytime Soap Adds Transgender Character NYC: New Rule on Changing Official Gender Seven States Pass Bans on Same-sex Marriage; Arizona Rejects Ban Make a Difference with Your Shopping Dollars Departments Help us Build the Rainbow Alliance Contributing to the Rainbow Alliance Fund Resources How to Join the Rainbow Alliance Contributors to This Issue of RA-News

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Features

Mexico City Approves Civil Unions On Friday, Nov 10, 2007, the Mexico City assembly approved a plan for civil unions which would allow same-sex couples to register their union with civil authorities, granting them inheritance rights and other benefits typically given to spouses. Heterosexual couples who are not legally married can also be registered under the bill. The mayor Alejandro Encinas is expected to sign the bill into law. It would take effect in February or March 2007. Similar bills are being considered two of Mesico's 31 states, Coahuila and Colima. The Coahuila bill has the support of state governor Humberto Moreira. The bill has some imporatnt limitation. It does not allow same-sex marriage, adoption by same-sex couples, social security benefits, medical coverage, or joint credit. Ending the union does not require the consent of both parties and the left party holds no right of claim over the leaving party. A dozen countries or parts thereof allow civil unions. [top]

NYC: New Rule on Changing Official Gender The New York City Board of Health has proposed a new rule that would allow people born in the city to change the documented sex on their birth certificates by providing affidavits from a doctor and a mental health professional laying out why their patients should be considered members of the opposite sex, and asserting that their proposed change would be permanent. Applicants would have to have changed their name and shown that they had lived in their adopted gender for at least two years, but there would be no explicit medical requirements. A handful of states do not require surgery for such birth certificate changes, but in some of those cases patients are still not allowed to make the change without showing a physiological shift to the opposite gender. Joann Prinzivalli, 52, a lawyer for the New York Transgender Rights Organization, a man who has lived as a woman since 2000, without surgery, said the changes amount to progress, a move away from American culture's misguided fixation on genitals as the basis for one's gender identity. The rule reflects the current direction in thinking about gender identification -- allowing people to define gender for themselves. It also reflects the practicalities faced by many transgendered persons who cannot afford or do not feel the need for gender reassignement surgery. Read this story in the New York Times [top]

Seven States Pass Bans on Same-sex Marriage; Arizona Rejects Ban In the Novenber midterm elections, eight states placed measures on their ballots aiming to ban same-sex marriage. Seven states passed the bans. Notably, Arizona rejected a ban. Vote percentages were as follows: Arizona rejects: 51/49 South Dakota passes: 52/48 Colorado passes: 56/44 Virginia passes: 57/43 Wisconsin passes: 59/41 Idaho Passes: 63/47 South Carolina passes: 78/22 Tennessee passes: 81/19 In other ongoing battles: A Virginia appeals court unanimously ruled that the state has no say in a custody dispute between lesbian mothers that began in Vermont. A Pennsylvania court ruled that a nonbiological lesbian mother should retain custody of the children she helped raise, since that was in the children's best interest. An Ohio Court has ruled that a right-wing legislator has no standing to take away domestic partner benefits from university employees, a case at issue since Ohio passed a very restrictve law banning same-sex marriage or any legal arrangement that would appear to bestow marital rights on a couple. A same-sex marriage case will be argued before the Maryland high court on Monday, December 4. A same-sex marriage bill, which was rejected last year by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, will be re-introduced Monday, December 4. In Massachusetts, the outgoing governor and 2008 presidential hopeful, Mitt Romney, has filed a suit seeking to force a ballot measure on same-sex marriage in 2008. Romney has a long history of supporting LGBT rights, but he is trying to cancel out that record to run for the Republican nomination. Chart summarizing marriage law in all 50 states (PDF) [top]

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Make a Difference with Your Shopping Dollars The Human Rights Campaign has prepared a booklet that directs consumers to companies that have good human rights records. It also reveals companies with poor records. Each company is associated with score ranging from 0 to 100, and each company is listed with its subsidiaries and brands. Companies are grouped by product category. For example, some high scoring companies and brands: Best Buy, BP gas, DiGiorno pizza, Tylenol pain reliever (Johnson and Johnson), Met Life and Gap. Some low scoring companies: Radio Shack, Exxon Mobil, Domino's pizza, Aleve pain reliever (Bayer), TransAmerica, and Abercrombie & Fitch. [top]

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Departments

Help Us Build the Rainbow Alliance 1) UF Faculty and Staff: We want every LGBT staff or faculty member and ally to be a Rainbow Alliance member. Tell interested friends and colleagues about Rainbow Alliance. They can check out the Web site at <www.ra-online.org>, or bring them along to a monthly dinner. They can join by sending an e-mail to <info@ra-online.org>. 2) Alumni: Our mailing list of UF alumni is growing. Alumni are a vital part of the University community. Anyone with an interest in improving the LGBT envrionment at the University of Florida should look into Rainbow Alliance. Working together with Pride Student Union and the Director of LGBT Affairs, we are working to keep alumni informed, to help them connect, and to draw on their expertise. 3) Contribute: The Rainbow Alliance Fund at the University of Florida Foundation (established March 2003) is the only one of its kind at the UF Foundation specifically dedicated to the support of the LGBT community at UF. The Fund needs continuing support if we are to realize our goals. As always, details about contributing to the Rainbow Alliance Fund can be found at the end of the newsletter. Details about payroll deduction will be e-mailed to RA members soon. A word to out contributions: Your donation is fully tax-deductible, and the RA Fund is not used to support operations of the Rainbow Alliance. Learn more below. 2) Statewide: Help us connect with staff and faculty on other Florida/Deep South campuses working on LGBT issues. We have some unique challenges in the South. Maybe we can support each other and collaborate on progress. [top]