My PSA on Diversity

This is a video I created for my media tools class that also goes with the poster I previously posted a few days ago. My video basically four different things diversity is, which are Change, Our Future, Unity, and Power. At the end of the video there's a message that states, "Stop Violence, Hatred, and Injustice and make a difference". The video is only about 30 seconds, but there is a clear message being stated in the video. Four people volunteered to help me with my video and their help is greatly appreciated. The song playing in the background of the video is Common - Come Close. I hope you enjoy my creation. 

The image shown above is a poster that I created for a project for my media tools class. This wasn't my original concept for my poster, but it came to me at once. There are four images shown on the poster connecting to the topic of my blog. The two images shown at the top are of the typical situations that happen at school. Both pictures show how a set of girls are gossiping about one girl who stands out from the group. The two images shown at the bottom of the poster are basically saying that it is wrong to discriminate against others. One image shows the word "STOP" in bold letters with different situations that effect the world in the text. The other image shows a globe of the world with several hands holding it upward. The hands are different skin colors, which represents and symbolizes unity between race, gender, and sexuality. The text shown says, "Stop Discrimination, Promote Diversity". 

On November 4, 2008 Proposition 8 passed in California, amending the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. The defeat provoked a groundswell of initiative within the GLBT community at a grassroots level, with many new political and protest organizations being formed in response.

The NOH8 Campaign is a photographic silent protest created by celebrity photographer Adam Bouska (http://www.bouska.net) and partner Jeff Parshley in direct response to the passage of Proposition 8. Photos feature subjects with duct tape over their mouths, symbolizing their voices being silenced by Prop 8 and similar legislation around the world, with "NOH8" painted on one cheek in protest.

Nearly two years since its inception, the NOH8 Campaign has grown to over 5,500 faces and continues to grow at an exponential rate. The campaign began with portraits of everyday Californians from all walks of life and soon rose to include politicians, military personnel, newlyweds, law enforcement, artists, celebrities, and many more.

The NOH8 Campaign has received overwhelming support from around the world, appearing on various local and national news programs and publications. The images are currently being used on various social networking sites to spread the message of equality, predominantly Facebook and Twitter. Eventually the images are expected to be compiled for a large-scale media campaign.

H.I.V. Discrimination Law Fails in Chinese Court

This is an article from The New York Times on the issue in Beijing, China where a young man was applying for a teacher position and was denied the job after the prospective employer finds out his has H.I.V. This is a form of discrimination because one shouldn't be denied something they have a passion for and put down from something they have been given. Continue to read the article to see what the result were. If you want to see the official article on New York Times click here 

BEIJING — In a rare, public test of the nation’s law prohibiting discrimination against people with H.I.V., a Chinese court on Friday ruled against a man who said he was wrongly denied a teaching job after his prospective employer learned he had the virus that causes AIDS.

The man who filed the lawsuit, a 22-year-old college graduate, had passed a battery of written tests and an interview when a mandatory blood test revealed his H.I.V. status, prompting the local education bureau in the eastern city of Anqing to reject his application.

“I’m heartbroken,” said the man, who used the alias Xiao Wu in legal papers to protect his identity. “I just wanted to find some justice for me and for others facing the same problem.” Lawyers for the man said they would appeal.

In his ruling, the judge agreed with the education bureau’s contention that regulations barring H.I.V.-infected civil servants trumped a four-year-old law that was supposed to protect people with the virus from the prejudice of employers. That measure, passed by the State Council, the government’s chief administrative body, states that “no institution or individual shall discriminate against people living with H.I.V., AIDS patients and their relatives.”

Li Fangping, a lawyer who argued Xiao Wu’s case during a three-hour trial last month, said the judge’s decision defied logic. “It’s an example of how the legal system enhances and expands discrimination against people who are H.I.V. positive,” he said.

People with AIDS have increasing access to medical treatment in China, but they are widely shunned and often barred from universities, state jobs and private corporations. The ostracism has serious implications: in a report last year, the United Nations said fear and ignorance kept many of the estimated 740,000 Chinese infected with H.I.V. from seeking treatment.

The government has come a long way since the 1990s, when it went to great lengths to cover up a scandal in which thousands contracted the disease at state-run transfusion programs.

These days, people with AIDS have access to free antiretroviral drugs, and China’s top leaders, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and President Hu Jintao, make a show of consoling people with AIDS each World AIDS Day. The government earlier this year lifted a ban on H.I.V.-infected foreigners’ visiting China.

But AIDS advocates say they face a wealth of restrictions that make it hard to carry out grass-roots activities. Wan Yanhai, the founder of the AIDS organization Aizhixing Institute, moved to the United States last May, claiming government harassment had made it impossible to carry out his work.

On Thursday, Beijing Loving Source, a children’s AIDS charity founded by the jailed dissident Hu Jia, announced it was shutting down after repeated scrutiny by the tax authorities.

In a closely watched case, Tian Xi, an AIDS activist who contracted H.I.V. through a blood transfusion, is awaiting sentencing in Henan Province on charges that his protests against the hospital responsible for his infection resulted in property damage.

In a way, the legal travails of Xiao Wu had been a bright spot for AIDS activists, who for years had seen a series of job-discrimination lawsuits rejected by Chinese courts before going to trial. Domestic media coverage of the case has been sympathetic, and given the central government’s laws against discrimination, legal advocates hoped a positive outcome would set a precedent.

Last month, an H.I.V.-positive college graduate, who was encouraged by Xiao Wu, filed a similar case in Sichuan Province.

Now advocates worry that Friday’s ruling will have the opposite effect, providing legal cover for employers who do not want to hire people with H.I.V.

“This is bad news, given that it was the first time an H.I.V.-positive person dared to stand up for his rights,” said Yu Fangqiang, an AIDS advocate whose organization, Beijing Yirenping, provided free representation to the defendant. “The entire H.I.V. community had high hopes, but now the door appears to be shutting for people who want to use the courts to fight against discrimination.”

Wal-Mart v. Class Action

This article is from The New York Times dealing with the law suit Wal-Mart has going on. They are being taken to court for sex discrimination against female employees and the amount they are paid. 

Click here for the full article 

Wal-Mart Stores is the largest private employer in the United States, with more than a million people on its payroll. It’s no wonder that a class-action lawsuit against the company would be major news when the suit alleges sex discrimination in pay and promotion against hundreds of thousands of female employees and could lead to back pay of billions of dollars.

The Supreme Court has even put the case on its docket, but no court has declared a winner at any level. The California federal trial court overseeing the lawsuit has yet to rule on the merits. Instead, as a judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, inSan Francisco, noted in a concurring opinion, the trial court has simply decided to let the group of women proceed against Wal-Mart in a class action.

Wal-Mart contends the group is too big to manage and spans so many types of employees that it doesn’t qualify as a class — and that, even if it did, it cannot get back pay. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case prematurely. It should be sent back to the trial court so everyone involved can get on with it.

Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, defining class actions, sets no limit on size. Its purpose is to make it more efficient to litigate cases involving many people with common claims — specifically challenges of a large group of plaintiffs. If Wal-Mart discriminated against female employees on a scale matching the company’s reach, justice must be expansive enough to give them their due.

Court-watchers would be wise to notice that the justices have again asked for briefs and arguments about a question not raised by either party. That is, whether there are legal grounds for recognizing the plaintiffs as a class and allowing them to pursue justice.

Based on the trial judge’s careful opinion and the appeals court’s equally careful majority opinion, the answer should be yes, resoundingly. Based on liberties the Roberts court has taken when it has reframed other cases, this one bears watching, closely. There is a risk that the court will shift from addressing whether the class is a class to assessing the merits of the plaintiffs’ claims and usurp the role of the trial court.