AZ GOVERNOR BANS STD INFO FROM WOMEN'S HEALTH WEEK

The tenth annual National Women’s Health Week will kick off on Mother's Day Sunday, May 10th and will run through Saturday, May 16th.

It's a nationwide undertaking coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office on Women's Health (OWH). During this week communities, businesses, government, health organizations, and other groups work together to educate women about steps they can take to improve their physical and mental health and lower their risks of certain diseases.

Here in Arizona, Planned Parenthood is contributing through a variety of activities including breast cancer screenings on May 16 and a public outreach about prevention on May 13 in conjunction with President Obama’s visit to deliver the ASU commencement address.

They were also scheduled to present health information at the Women’s Health Expo & Conference being organized by the Governor’s Office for Children, Youth, and Families. Unfortunately, Governor Jan Brewer has decided to exclude the preventive health information provided by Planned Parenthood Arizona.

In response to Brewer's ban, Planned Parenthood Arizona issued the following statement:

As a result, Planned Parenthood Arizona, an organization that thousands of Arizona women and families trust, will not be offering information about sexually transmitted infection prevention and treatment, early cancer detection, and the benefits of regular well-women exams.

It is alarming and potentially dangerous that information offered to help women take control of their reproductive lives is not being included at a women’s health event! This flies in the face of the goals of National Women’s Health Week.

Planned Parenthood Arizona is disheartened and concerned by the Governor's actions. We asked to meet with Governor Brewer to explain Planned Parenthood Arizona’s focus on prevention. Since then we’ve written to describe in detail the health threats confronting Arizona women. The Governor has not responded to these repeated requests, and the ban on the health information for which Planned Parenthood Arizona is respected, remains in place!

We are left wondering what priority is more important to Governor Brewer than promoting and protecting the health of Arizona women, young people and families.

What's so disheartening about Brewer's decision is that she would introduce right-wing, ideologue politics into an event that should transcend politics all together. Certainly, as a woman, Brewer has to be aware of the obstacles and challenges women face in trying to get accurate, unbiased health information that specifically addresses their problems.

Given that, how can she, in good conscience, take an action that would block health information that could potentially save lives for no other reason than tired, worn-out, ideological arguments that have long-since been discredited. She should be ashamed of herself. Certainly, her actions bring shame on the beautiful state of Arizona.

If you would like to express how you feel you can contact the Governor by phone - 602-542-4331 (or
Toll Free at 1-800-253-0883) - by fax at 602-542-1381 or by filling out the online email form.

WAY TO GO KYLE!!

Mesa is right next door to Tempe where I live and beside its conservative Christian population mentioned in the article below, it also has a very sizable Mormon community and you don't get much more conservative than that. My partner, Peter, is Mormon - or rather ex-mormon since he resigned from the church and had his name taken off their membership roster so they couldn't claim him as a member. Their very homophobic teachings and policies just became too frustrating for both of us. We've been partnered for 7 years and have been friends for over 10.

The following is from Box Turtle Bulletin and I include it here in its entirety.

BOOS AND CHEERS FOR A HOMECOMING KING
Jim Burroway
June 9th, 2008
Eighteen-year-old Kyle Hutchinson accomplished something that no one at Red Mountain High School in Mesa, Arizona, has ever done before. He was crowned king of the high school prom as an openly gay man.

Kyle’s parents were present when he was crowned king Saturday night amid cheers and boos:

“He kept telling me he was going to win, and he had convinced me,” said his mother, Doreen Hutchinson. “When they called his name, we heard the cheering, but then we immediately heard the boos,” she said. “My heart went into my stomach. It was so awful. My husband said he was expecting it, but I wasn’t prepared. It was so sad.”

Hutchinson said he felt bad that his parents had to hear his classmates who weren’t supporting him. But he also said their reaction is something he has known his whole life, and he wasn’t about to let it ruin his moment.

Kyle said he had always been picked on for not fitting in with the other boys in school. He came out to his parents on his sixteenth birthday, and he moved from his former high school to Red Mountain the following year, he started his first day of class being open about his sexuality. And while Mesa is known for having a large conservative Christian population, Kyle found that he had very few problems until his prom night.

Kyle was crowned king after winning the contest in a landslide, which is perhaps indicative of the changing attitudes among the younger generation — even among young conservative Christians, 80% of whom thought the church was “too anti-homosexual” in one recent survey.

By the way, there is a very good Gay Mormon support group called "Affirmation: Gay & Lesbian Mormons" and if you're Morman and are having trouble coping with being gay and reconciling the contradictions between that and your church's teachings, I suggest you check them out. They have chapters all over the country and their website is www.affirmation.org. You are definitely NOT ALONE.