MAP Advocate
AIDS Advocacy Update
Vol. 8 No. 10
December 27, 2002
In this issue:
Legislators goes to work on January 7th, but you need to be there the night before, on January 6, to make sure they do their jobs right. Come and send a message to Minnesota’s lawmakers to let them know “we are watching you.” Advocates for health care, sexual health services, human rights protections and other HIV-related causes will bring their candles, link arms, and surround the State Capitol to drive home the message that we do not want to turn-back-the-clock on Minnesota’s traditions as a caring and civil place to live. Invite your friends.
Bring your coworkers. Get your family to turn out. We need lots of people to make our point. [And thanks to the Women’s Rights Action Coalition for spearheading the effort to organize this event.]
Linking Arms Candlelight Vigil
January 6
4:40-6:30
State Capitol
It is a new legislature with lots of new faces and a new governor. The results of the November election produced a much more conservative environment at the Minnesota State Capitol, and the budget problems that plagued lawmakers in 2002 have only gotten worse – much worse.
It’s going to be a rough go for HIV advocacy. There’s already a lot of talk about cutting Medicaid and other funding for health care. If not cuts, expect to see attacks on the content of HIV prevention services to come back with a vengeance. The core of backers for abstinence-only education and marriage promotion has grown in numbers and determination.
You can also expect a big push to eliminate minors’ ability to provide consent on their own behalf for certain health and mental health services, including those related to STDs.
And finally, there will be those who will try to weaken human rights protections related to sexual orientation.
It seems daunting, but don’t underestimate what we can do if we stand up and keep fighting!
Has the CDC chosen politics over public health? The nation’s leading public health agency has eliminated key information on condom use and efficacy from it’s Web site Fact sheets on how to properly use a condom and information from studies indicating that educating young people about condom use does not lead to earlier sexual activity were removed from the Web site altogether for a year and a half.
The new information debuted on December 2 misrepresents studies and facts in order to cast doubt on the usefulness of condoms to reduce risk for HIV, other STDs and unplanned pregnancy. Members of Congress, led by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), have protested the move and the administration’s repeated attempts to place the revisionist science of social conservatives over stopping the spread of HIV.
Need a New Year’s resolution? Resolve to speak up even louder to fight HIV. With the current political landscape, grassroots activists are needed more than ever to let lawmakers know about the need for fair and effective policies to fight HIV.
Throughout the legislative session, visit MAP’s Web site at www.mnaidsproject.org for up-to-date information on how HIV policies are faring at the Capitol and who needs to hear from you.
Take a few minutes each week to pen a letter or click an email to your legislator. They need to hear these issues are important to you.
And most importantly, share the news with your friends. Forward the MAP Advocate to your e-mail list to spread the word. Making a difference is right there at your keyboard.
Your next issue of the MAP Advocate will be the last available in print form and through the mail. Beginning January 23 it’ll be e-mail and Web all the way. You’re MAP Advocate will be there whenever you need it and news will get to you faster. It will also allow us to redirect some increasingly precious and limited dollars to other efforts.
Please take a moment to make sure we have current information so we can
get the MAP Advocate to you. Do we have the e-mail address you want us
using? Do we know your home address so we can give you information specific
to your legislative district?
Click us an e-mail at community.affairs@mnaidsproject.org or sign-up via our web site at www.mnaidsproject.org.
And, if you can encourage a friend, coworker or family member to do the same, you’d be doing a lot to help fight HIV in Minnesota.
MAP is linking up with its Sex Ed for Life partners, including MOAPPP, as well as Outfront Minnesota, PrideAlive and Positive Link to present a community forum on Monday, January 27 on abstinence-only-until-marriage and marriage promotion education.
It’ll be a big topic of discussion this year at the State Capitol so come to the “Just Say ‘No’ and “I Do” forum at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. to get the facts you’ll need to set the record [but not the agenda] straight for lawmakers.
Plus, AIDS Action Day will be on February 24. Pencil it in now. Watch the MAP Advocate and our Web site for more details about both events.
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Friday, March 30, 2007
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