I’ve spent the last week in New Hampshire rallying the troops to show Senators Gregg and Shaheen that the Granite State wants to see repeal this year.
We kicked off our work at the Hampton Farmers Market, where we got petition signatures and a few new volunteers to help with our efforts across the state.
Next was Manchester, which was definitely hopping and I was lucky enough to find a great network of volunteers and supporters. State Representative Robert Thompson and his husband Mike Jacobson took me out to some of the local haunts, like Element Lounge, to rally the troops and were kind enough to host a potluck bbq at their home Saturday afternoon.
At the BBQ, we were fortunate enough to have a visit from Congressman Hodes, who voted in favor of repeal a few weeks ago. Local veterans had the chance to thank the Congressman as he enjoyed a burger and chatted with us about our work and where the legislation is now. It was a great day, a casual atmosphere, and we were able to get everything in just before the rain.

One more against DADT at the Hampton Farmers Market
We topped off the day at the Breezeway Pub, also in Manchester, where the staff was more than happy to help support our efforts for repeal. There, we met new volunteers and had many great conversations about repeal and what Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell really means.
The weekend ended with a visit to South Church, a Universalist Unitarian parish in Portsmouth. Reverend Elaine Peresluha has been working with the Human Rights Campaign to engage the faith community and was kind enough to invite me to South Church to chat with parishioners about the final push for repeal.
I’m looking forward to continuing to make my way across the state, and there will be many opportunities to lend your voice to this important movement. New Hampshire is key in this fight and we need every single supporter to be involved. Stay tuned for information on ways to be involved, even if you’re not a New Hampshire resident. I’ll be posting about upcoming opportunities, like a phonebank in Maine to call New Hampshire constituents.
We will be back in Manchester on July 10 at West Side Arena, 1 Electric Street, to watch the ManchVegas Roller Girls crush the Ottowa Roller Derby while getting support for repeal. Please let me know if you can volunteer at this event at 5 p.m. by emailing me at Christine.Sloane@hrc.org.

Congressman Hodes, Veteran M.L. Paquette and State Rep. Robert Thompson
We need your help to rally support across the state in the short weeks until the vote, so if you can host a house party, volunteer for a few hours, make phone calls, or write a letter to the editor, please let me know as soon as possible. We can’t do this without you!

The Human Rights Campaign believes that women are key to our success as a civil rights organization and essential to the LGBT movement’s ability to win equality for all. We also believe that we can and must reflect the diverse communities in which we live and work. That’s why HRC is excited to offer a Women and Leadership program.
The purpose of the program is to provide opportunities for women to strengthen their leadership and to support them as visionary and courageous social change leaders who will play a critical role in breaking through the many barriers to securing justice for all.
A key component of the program is an intensive four-day leadership learning retreat. The inaugural retreat was in January 2009. The next retreat is scheduled for January 27 – 30, 2011, in Washington, DC. Applications are due October 29, 2010.
HRC invites all women-identified leaders who:
Demonstrate a commitment to social justice and LGBT equality
Currently are volunteering on HRC boards or steering committees
Are high performers who are in or intend to take on positions of leadership on HRC boards and/or steering committees
Are committed to developing their own personal leadership skills
Don’t miss this opportunity to join a group of passionate and powerful women leaders!
HRC held it’s inaugural Women and Leadership retreat in January 2009. Here is what the participants had to say:
I left feeling empowered, energized and with a renewed sense of self-awareness and purpose. This retreat helped me find my voice, focus my message and assert myself. I always knew it was in me.
This retreat and HRC’s commitment to it and the women there, really re-energized me and reminded me about the impact we (HRC) can have. It has engaged me to be an even more involved and more vocal proponent of HRC.
I also learned things about myself and my leadership style. I was always one to take on too many things and not say no – and I was so energized by my experience that I declined to take a leadership role in one organization because I want to spend more time with HRC.
Most often we are one or maybe two on a steering committee and this weekend helped us to realize we are not in it alone.
The 4 days of this retreat have added more to my leadership presence than the 8 month program I participated in with the United Way last year. The community building among the HRC women is unbelievable and I believe it will make a positive difference in women’s effectiveness in their community.

What Are Women Saying?
LaWana Slack-MayfieldCharlotte, NC"I became the change I want to see"
Gina DuncanOrlando, FL"I gained inner strength and leadership skills to truly make a difference"
Sharon WongWashington, DC"Life-changing! You will never be the same again and everyone will notice"
Susan ReyesNew Orleans, LA"I gained 22 incredible sisters from across the country, memories, strength, and courage"
Mizan Rahman
Dhaka, Bangladesh

Minister pledges RMG pay hike

Dhaka report
Labour minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain says readymade garment workers will get their remuneration under new salary structure within three months and asked them to calm down. He said a new wage board will be formed with necessary reforms to the salary structure. The announcement came in the wake of the recent worker unrests taking place in Dhaka, Gazipur and Narayanganj over the last couple of days demanding pay rise. The minister also admitted that the existing wage structure is not compatible with the current situation. The minimum wage of a RMG worker, set three years back, is TK 1,664. Mosharraf was presiding over a meeting on 'Crisis Management Cell'—formed to resolve complications and unrest in the RMG sector—at his office on Wednesday. State minister for labour Monnujan Sufian, home secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikdar, acting labour secretary Nurul Haque, BGMEA's acting president Nasir Uddin Chowdhury and an apparel factory owner Anisul Haque Sinha, , among others, attended the meeting. "The minimum wage is in no way well-suited with the current situation," the minister told reporters. "It must be consistent with the price of daily essentials and inflation rate." He said the workers would get wage under the new salary structure before Ramadan. "The new wage board will finalise the salary structure by three months. The ministry will then announce it after having the proposal from the board and will implement it," the minister added. Mosharraf urged the workers to not get instigated by any quarters and said 'a certain political cluster' was trying to create trouble cashing in on the workers' dissatisfaction. "Measures will be taken against those masterminds," he said without elaborating. "And strict steps will be launched against the workers too, if needed," he added. BGMEA leader Nasir said the workers were not the rivals of the owners. "So the owners accepted the new board within the span of three years." Urging the workers to refrain from destructive work, Nasir said the destruction of the factories will also affect the workers as well as the owners. He asked for stern actions if there is more unrest even after announcement of reforms to the salary
structure.


Jatrabari-Gulistan flyover work begins Tuesday

Dhaka report
-The construction work of the long awaited Jatrabari-Gulistan Flyover is set to begin on Tuesday under the country's first ever Public-Private Partnership project. Prime minister Sheikh Hasina is likely to inaugurate the construction work at 10 am at Golapbagh Ground on Tuesday. Bangladeshi investment firm Orion Group's associate body Belhasa Accom & Associates Limited is constructing the flyover through 'Build Own Operate and Transfer' (BOOT) system under completely private investment project. Belhasa Accom authority said the project – a wonder of latest technology and architecture-- is the first of its kind in Bangladesh. The four-lane flyover will span nearly nine kilometres with seven entrances and seven exits along with 13 ramps, it said The flyover is to be constructed in three years at an estimated cost of Tk 1350 crore. The amount would come from private investors through a consortium of local banks and financial institutions, which include Sonali Bank, Agrani Bank, Janata Bank and few others On top of that investment will come from the country's capital market, Belhasa official Chowdhury Masud said The flyover will connect Dhania on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway to the capital's Palashi's Shaheed Zahir Raihan Road through Jatrabari, Sayedabad, Gulistan, Bangabandhu Avenue and Fulbaria. It will cover Azimpur and Mirpur Road on the west, Matuail and Demra on the east and Katchpur and Buriganga bridges on the south and the densely populated area in the north. After completion of the flyover, communication between Dhaka metropolitan and at least 30 districts including port city Chittagong, Mongla, Sylhet and Barisal will be improved, Masud said


Untreated prostate cancer no death sentence


Dhaka report
Even without treatment, only a small minority of men diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer die from the disease, Swedish researchers reported Friday. Drawing from a national cancer register, they estimated that after 10 years prostate cancer would have killed less than three percent of these men. "What the data is showing is that for most patients with low-risk cancer, there is no need to panic," said Grace Lu-Yao, a cancer researcher who was not involved in the new study. "Prostate cancer really is no longer a fatal disease." With modern screening tests, said Lu-Yao, of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in New Brunswick, many prostate cancers are found that might never have developed into serious disease. In such cases, the slight reduction of risk by surgically removing the prostate or treating it with radiation may not outweigh the substantial side effects of these treatments. In the Swedish study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, researchers compared deaths among more than 6,800 men with prostate cancer who underwent treatment -- surgery or radiation -- or were simply monitored regularly by their doctors, the so-called "watchful waiting" approach. With watchful waiting, patients are only treated if their cancer progresses. The men, who were younger than 70, had low- or intermediate-risk cancers, as judged by several factors, including blood levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and Gleason score, a measure of abnormal cells in the prostate. After about eight years, 20 percent of the men in the watchful waiting group had died, almost twice as many as in the treatment group. However, the number of deaths was no different than what would be expected in the general population. Less than three percent had actually died from prostate cancer, and those who weren't treated turned out also to be sicker in the first place. The researchers calculated that of those men with low-risk cancer, 2.4 percent would die from the disease within 10 years without treatment. While this number was about three times higher than in men who had had surgery or radiation therapy, it wasn't clear how much of the difference was due to worse general health in the men who didn't get treatment. The Swedish findings jibe with earlier results, including a large US study. Given the overall low death risk, the researchers said watchful waiting "appears to be suitable" for many men with low-risk prostate cancer. Instead of panicking, Lu-Yao said, men diagnosed with this type of cancer should see it as "a wake-up call, an opportunity to improve their health," for instance by exercising more and eating a more healthy diet. That, she said, was much more likely to influence their chances of living a long life.



Ashulia RMG units shut from Tuesday


Dhaka report
Garment factory owners' association has decided to close down all units in Ashulia from Tuesday for an indefinite period. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association decided in an emergency meeting with the Ashulia factory owners on Monday that the units would remain closed for security reasons and due to 'illegal strikes'. The Ashulia factory owners have been suffering from insecurity due to the recent unrest among workers demanding a minimum wage of Tk 5,000 per month. Abdus Salam Murshedy, BGMEA president told bdnews24.com that the factory owners had taken the decision in light of the prevailing situation and the apprehension of the owners. The closure is set to continue till the situation improves, he added. The minimum wage of a RMG worker, set three years ago, is Tk 1,662.50. The apex business body at a press release also stated that the decision was to be implemented according to Section 13 (1) of Bangladesh Labour Law 2006. Monday's meeting said referred to the wildcat workers' strike as 'illegal' and said that insecurity was the main reason behind the sudden decision. More than 300 factories have remained closed down at Narasinghapur, Jamgora, Nishchintapur, Beron and Palli Bidyut areas fearing more violence at Ashulia where over 100 garment workers were injured in the day-long clashes between workers and the police. Earlier on Apr 28 labour minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, following repeated unrest of
garment workers, had pledged that their wages would be reviewed upwards within three months. Admitting that the existing wage did not correspond with the market situation, he declared that a new wage board would be formed with necessary reforms to the salary structure.

HRC NEWS

Joe's Weekly Message

DearMizan,

This Sunday is the centennial celebration of Father's Day in theUnited States. This year, like one century ago, America's fathers willbe treated to a special day and hear a much-deserved "thankyou" from their children and spouses. That never changes becauselove doesn't change.So much about the families we're celebrating is different now. Mostobviously for the LGBT community, Father's Day was once the exclusivedomain of different-sex headed households. It would be many decadesbefore same-sex couples could realize their dreams of parenthood andfamily, with all of the everyday joys that Father's Day celebrates.Now, same-sex couples are raising millions of children in nearly everycounty in this nation, but until recently, no laws recognized ourrelationships or protected our children in the event of unforeseentragedy. From the first civil union law in Vermont and the Goodridgemarriage case to today, governments are increasingly honoring ourfamilies' rights and recognizing the need to protect our spouse's andchildren's interests.HRC's Corporate Equality Index shows skyrocketing support for same-sexcouple headed families, with equal family benefits now the norm amongFortune 500 companies. Many states provide equal benefits to thefamilies of public employees. The federal government is starting tofollow suit thanks to the presidential memoranda on benefits, and thepresident favors complete equality for federal workers' families.And yet the work is far from over. This week the constitutionalchallenge to California's Proposition 8 was before a federal trialcourt. As these battles so often do, this challenge puts our fitnessas parents on trial. The pro-equality advocates have science and childwelfare on their side, but the fact is that even though we are equal
parents, Proposition 8 has forced us to prove it. To the millions ofchildren we are raising across this country, our fitness has beenproven already, but we alone are forced to defend it.In Hawaii, fair-minded legislators passed a civil union bill that isbefore the Governor for signature. Although nationally, the businesscommunity has led the way in treating same-sex couples equally, theHawaii Business Roundtable, without its members consent, sent a letterto the governor on June 4th urging her not to sign the bill. Thisweek, a number of HBR members, at HRC's request, disavowed the letter.The action of these companies is not only the right thing to do,experience shows that it makes good business sense.We have gotten to this centennial Father's Day thanks to the hard workof many people-pioneering families who were among the first toraise children in their communities; lawyers and their braveplaintiffs who dared to seek equal justice for our families; peoplewho campaigned for equal justice and those who fought againstdiscrimination; employers who saw us as families before our statesdid. But at its core, Father's Day is about fathers.It's about the gay, bisexual, and transgender dads who make it to theevening PTA meetings and then tuck their kids in at night. It's thestraight dads of LGBT kids who are knocking down the barriers to theirchildren's education. It's every father who models good citizenship tohis children, so that they can go out into the world and be decent andfair-minded friends, neighbors and voters. To all of you, happyFather's Day.Sincerely,Joe SolmonesePresident, Human Rights Campaign