Blog Posts for AIDS Law Project
World AIDS Day: The Fight is Not Over
GLAD Senior Legal Assistant Joseph Wildey reflects on his generation’s experience with the epidemic, and how the fight is not over. Please share.
Discrimination on the basis of HIV status persists
GLAD recently provided assistance to a man charged with a serious crime—who spent over a month in jail as a result—simply because he is HIV-positive. Since then, I have been thinking about the necessity of education, particularly when it aims to dispel wholly unfounded beliefs.
Know Your Rights: An Introduction to GLAD’s Legal InfoLine
Legal InfoLine Manager Bruce Bell begins a regular weekly blog post today.
CORI Reform Passes the House
The Massachusetts CORI Reform Bill passed in the House Wednesday with a vote of 138 to 7! This is the last major step before the House and Senate bills are merged and sent to the Governor for his approval. GLAD is proud to share this victory with the Boston Workers Alliance and the countless other allies and supporters of the Commonwealth CORI Coalition. This reform legislation would limit employers’ access to the criminal records of job applicants and reduce the number of years until felony and misdemeanor charges can be sealed.
Tis the Budget Season So Let’s Get Busy
HIV service providers, people living with HIV, legislators, and community members filled the Grand Staircase at the State House on Thursday, January 28th to rally support for the funding of critical HIV/AIDS health services and prevention and education programs. The state budget proposed by Governor Patrick on January 27th for the 2011 fiscal year maintained the $35.4 million funding for HIV/AIDS programs, but as State Representatives Carl Sciortino and Gloria Fox (who emplored “Tis the budget season, so let’s get busy!”) State Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz reminded us, 2010 is one of the toughest budget seasons our community and the state have faced, and this is no time for complacency.
Working the State House to Prevent Further Budget Cuts
“You bought it. You own it. You work it!” Representative Gloria Fox exclaimed, referring to our tax dollars that support the Massachusetts State House - and legislators’ salaries - at the podium in the House’s main hall on a recent January morning. Her chant marked the beginning of AIDS Lobby Day, and reminded all of us of our right as constituents to walk the halls, find our legislator, tell our story, share information, and to not leave until our legislators explained what they would commit to doing to prevent further cuts in the budgets that support programs focused on treatment and prevention of HIV and AIDS.