Tag Archives: Montana

ADAP Crisis Makes Local News

by D Gregory Smith

 

An excellent story by Jessica Mayrer of the Missoula Independent highlights the National HIV Drug Crisis- and Montana’s link:

Montanans who can’t afford HIV drugs have recourse. The federally funded AIDS Drug Assistance Program provides medicine at no cost. What worries Smith and his clients is the fact that the program isn’t meeting demand. In January, 4,200 people nationally were waiting for entry into ADAP. At the end of August, that number grew to 9,200. ADAP now provides drugs to 107 of Montana’s 532 known HIV-positive patients, according to the state Department of Public Health and Human Services. In Montana, 28 people now await ADAP assistance. That’s up from 21 last year.

Full story here.

And if you haven’t signed the petition to Denny Rehberg, go here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Irony Of Rehberg’s Labor Day Column

by D Gregory Smith

…is not lost on Mr Pogreba:

Contrary to what subdivision ranchers in Congress might think, Labor Day is not the culmination of a month-long taxpayer funded vacation, but a celebration of the importance of the union movement and workers in this country. As the Department of Labor notes, the day is “dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.”

And that’s what makes printing Rehberg’s pablum today so absurd and so offensive. Throughout his career in government, Rehberg has been hostile to the unions and workers today is meant to celebrate.

And, oh, so much more…. For some fun facts, statistics and scathing analysis, read the rest here.

Rehberg’s (allegedly) Poor Polling Numbers

by D Gregory Smith

 Cowgirl has them:

Tester’s job approval is 50-26 whereas Dennis Rehberg’s is 41-34. There is a large swath of voters who say they have not decided. Strangely, Obama, in this same poll, is at 42-48, numbers that comport with polls we’ve seen in the press the last year or so. But it means that while Obama’s negatives are high in Montana (predictably so), his positive job approval is higher is than Rehberg’s. This is somewhat surprising. (emphasis mine)

I have never figured out what Montanans see in Rehberg- he’s not a leader, he’s never out in front of an issue- the exact opposite of Tester. Cowgirl again:

Rehberg doesn’t seem to really do anything in his job. He provides nothing beyond criticism of democrats in the form of regurgitated FoxNews talking points, whereas Tester is visibly active, always, and active on issues that resonate within important sectors of the electorate.

Exactly. Full story here.

Montana Petition To End ADAP Waiting Lists.

by D Gregory Smith

 

Hey friends,

I’m working with Project Inform to help with HIV Advocacy in the State of Montana. One of our projects is to work with Congress to increase ADAP (AIDS Drug Assistance Program) funding. Currently, there are over 9,200  people waiting for permanent funding to access these life-saving medications. 

We can do better. And your signatures can help make a difference.

Won’t you take a minute and sign the petition here? The letter to accompany the signatures is below.

Thank you- ten seconds can make a real difference.

 

 

Dear Chairman Rehberg:

The undersigned individuals and organizations in Montana are writing to urge your support for increased funding for AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) in the Fiscal Year 2012 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill.   ADAPs need at least a $106 million increase to continue to serve the thousands of new clients entering the programs every year.  As you are aware, ADAPs provide HIV-related medications to under insured and uninsured individuals living with HIV/AIDS in the United States. They are a lifeline for people who would otherwise be unable to get treatment they need to stay healthy and productive. We thank you for your past support for ADAP and are especially appreciative of the $50 million increase to ADAPs in Fiscal Year 2011. However, ADAP waiting lists continue to grow at an astronomical rate.

In January of this year, there were 4,200 people on waiting lists. As of August 26, 2011 the number more than doubled to 9,141people in 12 states – including 28 people in Montana – waiting for lifesaving medication. Nineteen ADAPs, including 11 with current waiting lists, have instituted additional cost containment measures since April 1, 2011 such as reduced formularies and enrollment caps. Additionally, ten ADAPs are considering implementing new or additional cost-containment measures by the end of ADAPs current fiscal year (March 31, 2012).

Because of your leadership role on the House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcomittee, you are in a unique position to help secure this badly needed increase in ADAP funding to help people with HIV in Montana and around the country. While we understand the gravity of the U.S. fiscal situation, we need to ensure that people with HIV and AIDS receive the vital medications that keep them alive. Again we ask that you do everything possible to ensure an increase of at least $106 million to help solve this ADAP crisis.

 

Sincerely,

 

WSJ Profiles Dramatic Increase In Montana Same-Sex Couples

by D Gregory Smith

The Wall Street Journal profiles the statistical rise of same-sex couples in the United States- especially outside of the LGBT mainstream cities like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington DC. This increase in same-sex couples is happening  extremely quickly in rural places- including Montana:

The Census Bureau doesn’t ask people about their sexual orientation. But since 1990, respondents have had the option to identify themselves as living with a same-sex partner. This group grew by half nationwide between 2000 and 2010, figures released this week show….The number of self-identified gay couples rose by nearly 90% in Montana, Nevada and West Virginia, for instance, while California, New York and Washington, D.C., saw increases of 40% or less, according to Mr. Gates’s analysis of the data. (emphasis mine)

Yep, looks like we’re here to stay. And there are increasingly more of us- probably due to more of us coming out earlier and feeling less threatened in our hometowns. All good news.

Polls suggest wider acceptance of gays nationwide. About 46% of people oppose gay marriage today, for instance, down from 65% in 1996, according to the Pew Research Center.

Montana native Ken Spencer, 46 years old, said he has seen the shift firsthand. Growing up, he said, he believed that “if you were gay, you had to leave Montana.” He kept his homosexuality a secret for years.

But gay people have become more visible in the state, with this year’s Montana Pride celebration in Bozeman drawing about 2,000 people, up from a few hundred in 2002.

Mr. Spencer said he identified himself as living with his same-sex partner for the first time in 2010. (My emphasis)

Yep, that’s my guy….

Ken and I made a conscious decision to stay in Montana and work for awareness and equality, just as many of you have chosen to do. We were born here, we like it here and we’re not going to be driven out by ignorance and fear. And neither should anyone else.

And, with these statistics, it’s looking like we’re all doing a fairly good job….

Court Orders Prison to Keep ACLU Client Out of Solitary

by D Gregory Smith

Raistlen Katka much improved after being returned to general population; Suit over unconstitutional conditions will continue

HELENA, MT — District Court Judge Jeffrey Sherlock has ordered the Montana Department of Corrections to refrain from placing teenage prisoner Raistlen Katka in administrative isolation and from imposing behavior modification plans on him until his release or February 2012 trial.

 

“The Court does this for a couple reasons. First, it is clear that Plaintiff is doing well under the current specialized treatment plan,” wrote Sherlock in his decision, adding that he has concerns that Raistlen could suffer irreparable harm (up to suicide) if placed in solitary confinement again.

 

“Since we were able to secure his release from solitary confinement last year and get him mental health treatment, he has done far better than he did under the prison’s ‘behavior management plans.’ He’s earned his GED and is learning a vocational skill,” said ACLU Legal Director Betsy Griffing of Raistlen’s current conditions. “He was prohibited from receiving real educational instruction and vocational training in solitary confinement.”

 

The ACLU of Montana filed a lawsuit against the state of Montana and the Montana Department of Corrections in 2009 over the illegal, inhumane and degrading treatment Raistlen was subjected to by being placed in solitary confinement when he was a juvenile and when it exacerbated his mental illness. Those conditions violated the Montana Constitution’s right to human dignity, and were particularly objectionable because they were imposed on a minor child with mental illness.

 

Raistlen was Tasered, pepper-sprayed, deprived of human contact, punished by torturous ‘behavior management plans,’ stripped in view of other inmates and traumatized to the point of attempting multiple times to kill himself.

 

Raistlen has a history of childhood abuse, and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental illnesses. His incarceration in the Montana State Prison’s restrictive “Special Housing Unit” began in March 2009 when he was just barely 17 years old. In the ensuing year his condition seriously deteriorated.

 

The ACLU was finally able to secure Raistlen’s release from solitary confinement, mental health treatment and a return to the general population after several more suicide attempts.

 

Though the most pressing goal of the ACLU’s litigation – to ensure that Raistlen would be removed from inhumane conditions – has been achieved, the lawsuit will continue.

 

“This lawsuit is for Raistlen, but it’s also for all the other adolescent and mentally ill prisoners subjected to these harsh, punitive conditions. MSP’s use of solitary confinement and BMP’s violates contemporary correctional practices as well as Montana’s constitutional guarantees,” said ACLU cooperating attorney Andree Larose. “As a society, we must be concerned not only about whether the treatment of inmates is humane, but also about what long-term effects such inhumane treatment has on these prisoners. When we ignore the core humanity of a prisoner, we not only violate the Montana Constitution, we make our community less safe in the long run.”

 

2011 GAY/BI HIV+ Men’s Health Retreat

by D Gregory Smith

 

To register, click here.

 

 

NYT sums up Montana Politics

by D Gregory Smith

…and does a pretty good job:

But the biggest question is whether anger — at Washington, at the parties, at the economy — can be in fact transmuted to hope for a better way, or whether anger just makes for more anger in a rolling cascade.

“United we stand, divided we fall — and we’re falling,” said DeAnne Asher, 64, who was chatting with friends on a recent morning in Lincoln, in the state’s wooded western half. Ms. Asher, who said she mostly voted Republican, does not plan to support Mr. Tester, but does not see voting for Mr. Rehberg either at this point. The entire system, she said, is broken.

“I’m fed up,” she said.

Full story here.

Bachmann Staffer Arrested For Terrorism

by D Gregory Smith

Denny Rehberg’s role model, Michele Bachmann, besides being an habitual liar, seems to be headed for a little Bachmanngate…. From The Atlantic:

The evangelical organizer who helped Michele Bachmann win the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa Saturday was previously charged with terrorism in Uganda after being arrested for possession of assault rifles and ammunition in February 2006, just days before Uganda’s first multi-party elections in 20 years.

Peter E. Waldron spent 37 days in the Luriza Prison outside Kampala, where he says he was tortured, after being arrested along with six Congolese and Ugandan nationals for the weapons, which were described variously in news reports as having been found in his bedroom or a closet in his home. The charges, which could have led to life in prison, were dropped in March 2006 after a pressure campaign by Waldron’s friends and colleagues and what Waldron says was the intervention of the Bush administration. He was released and deported from the east African nation, along with the Congolese. On Saturday, Waldron told The Atlantic in Ames that he was a staffer for Bachmann and responsible for her faith-based organizing both in Iowa and South Carolina. But he also declined repeatedly to give his name.

Oh, and it gets much more interesting. Full Story here.

But before you think you’ve got it all figured out- think again. Andrew Rice gives us even more:

Peter Waldron, an evangelical minister who told the publication that he is doing outreach on Bachmann’s behalf to the born-again community, spent more than a month in Kampala’s Luzira Prison in 2006, and possesses a resume more in keeping with a spy novel than a presidential campaign. Among other things, the Atlantic item reports, Waldron is now promoting an autobiographical movie on his website that asks, teasingly, “was he a businessman, a preacher, a spy?” Franke-Ruta adds that “one man who knew Waldron in 2004 told The St. Petersburg Times in 2006 that Waldron had told him he used to work for the CIA.”

I bring this up because I happen to be that man who knew Waldron.

Saying that I “knew” Waldron is putting it a little strongly: I met him in 2004 in the course of writing an article on the evangelical movement in Uganda, where we both lived at the time. The piece was published in The New Republic, and is now regrettably behind a paywall. (Update: Link here. Thanks to TNR and Ben Smith.)

To summarize, it was in part an examination of Muslim-Christian relations in the country and also a profile of Martin Ssempa, a popular, controversial and publicity-savvy Ugandan preacher who seemed emblematic of the a wave of fervent Christianity that has lately been sweeping Africa. Ssempa invited me to his church on the campus of Makerere University one Sunday, where he was joined by a curious guest: Waldron. The American’s role in the story was cut down a bit in the editing process, but since the question of how he presented himself at the time now seems important, I’ll reproduce below what I wrote about him in my first draft of the article, back when our interaction was fresh on my mind.

Looks like this guy represents something we’ve all come to see in Bachmann’s campaign- denial of the facts/reality in favor of extremist ideological fantasy. Rice sums it up perfectly:

When I look back now, my impression of him remains now what it was then, which is that he was a particularly flamboyant example of an archetypal character: the American who goes to Africa, a continent where a little money and a lot of talk can buy substantial power, in search of a position of influence.

It eluded him in Uganda, but maybe now he’s found it back home, with the Bachmann campaign.

I wonder how long Denny’s pal is going to be able to take this. And whether Rehberg will have the wits to distance himself from Bachmann… Anyway, his full article here.

 

 

ACLU Appeals MT Same-sex Partnership Dismissal

by D Gregory Smith

HELENA, MT — The American Civil Liberties Union today appealed a Montana District Court decision dismissing the same-sex domestic partnership case,Donaldson and Guggenheim v. State of Montana, to the Montana Supreme Court.

 

The Montana Constitution guarantees that all people, including gay and lesbian couples, should be treated equally and fairly, the ACLU said.  This case presents fundamental issues of privacy and equal protection that need to be resolved by Montana’s highest court.

 

“The couples we represent knew there might be some bumps along the way, but they are committed to seeing this case through so that they and all same-sex couples and their families can get the protections they need but are currently denied to them in Montana,” said ACLU of Montana Legal Director Betsy Griffing. “Our constitution requires that the state treat couples in committed relationships fairly and equally regardless of whether they are same-sex or different-sex couples.”

 

A recent poll, conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research for the American Civil Liberties Union, found that 53 percent of Montana voters favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to enter into domestic partnerships which include the same rights given to married couples. Only 40 percent oppose such partnerships.

 

The poll shows that Montanans understand that the lack of legal recognition of same-sex relationships leaves couples and their families extremely vulnerable — which is precisely what the evidence presented to the district court showed. One plaintiff was denied bereavement leave when her partner’s father died, and another lost her home because she was ineligible for worker’s compensation death benefits when her partner was killed in an accident.

 

Recently released 2010 U.S. Census numbers show 2,295 Montana same-sex households – a 54 percent jump since 2000. All are at risk without the legal protection of domestic partnerships.

 

“Right now gay and lesbian people can be kept from their partners in hospitals, denied medical leave to help their partners and even be left with nothing if those partners die without valid wills,” said Griffing. “This case is about treating people fairly and humanely, and allowing them to protect their family and loved ones.”

 

Plaintiffs in the case Donaldson and Guggenheim v. State of Montana are Mary Anne Guggenheim and Jan Donaldson of Helena, Stacey Haugland and Mary Leslie of Bozeman, Mike Long and Rich Parker of Bozeman, MJ Williams and Nancy Owens of Basin, Rick Wagner and Gary Stallings of Butte and Denise Boettcher and Kellie Gibson of Laurel.

 

In addition to Griffing, the couples are represented by Elizabeth Gill, a staff attorney with the ACLU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Project; James Goetz and Ben Alke of the Bozeman, MT, law firm Goetz, Gallik & Baldwin P.C.; and Ruth Borenstein and Neil Perry of the law firm Morrison & Foerster LLP.

 

Additional information about the case, biographies of the plaintiffs and links to videos of the plaintiffs can be found at www.aclumontana.org andwww.aclu.org/mtpartnerships.