Blog of Rights
Patrick
DePoy
07/23/2012
HIV/AIDS

AIDS Conference 2012 – ACLU Continues Fighting to “Turn the Tide Together”

By Patrick DePoy, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 10:16am

This week, Washington will host the 2012 International AIDS Conference.  This is the first time since 1990 that the U.S. will host the major international gathering on the AIDS epidemic.  The reason for this is that in 1987, Congress passed legislation prohibiting people living with HIV from traveling into the United States.  Under the ban, those living with HIV were listed as having a “communicable disease of public health significance.”  Rooted in the fear and prejudice that was an ever-present reality in those days, the ban imposed an unfair burden on tourists, short-term visitors, and foreigners seeking to live in the U.S.   In 2009, President Obama finally lifted the travel ban, following a 2008 statutory repeal vote in Congress, correctly pointing out that if the U.S. wants to be a world leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS, “we need to act like it.”  

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06/27/2012
Solitary Confinement

Ending Solitary Confinement – The Dangers of Isolation for LGBTI Prisoners and Detainees

By Patrick DePoy, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 3:33pm

Recently, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Constitution Subcommittee held a landmark hearing on solitary confinement.  The goal of the hearing was to comprehensively examine and reassess the overuse of solitary confinement in federal and state correctional facilities and detention centers.  Sen. Durbin (D-Ill.), chair of the subcommittee, noted the hearing was about more than just solitary confinement, instead seeking to answer the question, “What do America’s prisons say about our nation and its values?”

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06/19/2012
LGBT News

A Jury of Your Peers – The Right to a Jury Trial Free from Discrimination

By Patrick DePoy, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 3:17pm

Congressman Steve Rothman (D-NJ) recently introduced the Juror Non-Discrimination Act (H.R. 5848) to prohibit discrimination against any juror on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Congressman Rothman stated, “[t]he fact that it is still lawful for lawyers to dismiss potential jurors solely on the basis of a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity is wrong and has to change.” There is no rational relationship between one’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin or financial status and one’s ability to administer justice as a juror. 

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06/08/2012
Transgender ID

Voter Suppression is an LGBT Rights Issue – Just Ask Asher

By Patrick DePoy, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 11:05am

Like many Americans, Asher Schor is excited to vote this coming November. Asher was born and raised in Pittsburgh, works at a public interest law firm, and feels more motivated than ever to participate in the electoral process. But Asher is one of thousands of transgender Americans whose driver’s license and passport do not reflect his or her true gender identity. Asher received his photo ID before his transition and the official sex listed still reads “Female.” He recently joined the ACLU of Pennsylvania’s lawsuit against a new and particularly onerous voter ID law, and I had a chance to discuss how the new law will impact him at the polls this November. This LGBT Pride Month, it’s important to examine the ways that voter suppression efforts, like newly-enacted photo ID laws, will have a disproportionately harmful impact on those who are transgender.

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