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The Food and Drug Administration hasapprovedOraQuick, a product that allows you to test for HIV in your own home. An over-the-counter test already existed but required you to prick your finger and send the blood sample to a lab.  But the new test allows users to take a swab from the inside of their gums and wait 20 to 40 minutes to see the results.

Dr. Robert Gallo, who headed the National Institutes of Health lab that developed the first American HIV blood test calls the news,“wonderful because it will get more people into care.” Mark Harrington, the executive director of the Treatment Action Group, (TAG), the independent AIDS research and policy think tank and advocacy organization,   agrees that, “[a]ny tool that speeds up diagnosis is really needed.” And Karen Midthun, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research said,

“Knowing your status is an important factor in the effort to prevent the spread of HIV…. The availability of a home-use HIV test kit provides another option for individuals to get tested so that they can seek medical care, if appropriate.”

Read more at Feministing

Katie Halper is a comic, filmmaker, and one of the newest contributors here at Feministing. Her work has appeared in sites like Guernica, Alternet, the Huffington Post, theNew York Times, Comedy Central and GritTV. When she’s not writing sharp and entertaining commentaries on politics, she’s doing stand-up comedy or working on her documentary called, “Got Camp.” Her comic routine encompasses everything from her Jewish heritage to sexism and homophobia. She’s performed at Town Hall, Symphony Space, The Culture Project, DC Comedy Festival, all five Netroots Nations, and The Nation Magazine Cruise. Her documentary tells the story of the summer camp Halper attended, which she calls “the opposite of Jesus camp,” where all religions and ideologies are encouraged. As she says, “It’s basically the right wing’s nightmare.” She’s one of the founders of the stand-up political comedy group Laughing Liberally, which is a project of Living Liberally that tours and performs in cities all over the U.S. On top of all this funny, political work, she teaches Latin American history during her day job.

Katie’s refreshing and funny voice has been a great addition to the site. No matter how serious the topic, she always finds a way to insert her comedic perspective into everything she writes about. Make sure you keep an eye out for Katie’s posts and get to know her better. Also, stay up to date on her comedic mashup videos on YouTube.

And now, without further ado, the Feministing Five, with Katie Halper.

Anna Sterling: What came first—politics or comedy?

Katie Halper: Politics came first. I went on my first anti-nukes march when I was one year old. I remember as a kid going to pro-choice rallies and anti-war rallies. I was very influential in the public discourse around Dukakis and Bush among 7 year olds, I’d like to think. I went to a very political summer camp where the bunks were named Harriet Tubman, Anne Frank and Pablo Neruda. And then people in college told me I should do stand-up and I remember thinking, “I’m not funny on command, maybe I’m funny spontaneously.” I did a stand-up show, it went well and since then, I’ve been doing comedy.

Read the whole interview at Feministing

Today, the Supreme Court ruled on Arizona’s controversial SB 1070 immigration law. The good news is that it struck down key parts of the law, which is  why it is being hailed as a victory for the Obama Administration, which brought the case to the Supreme Court. The bad news is that it upheld the “show me your papers” part  that encourages racial profiling, which is why Governor Jan “Finger” Brewer is praising the ruling as a victory.

Leslie Berestein Rojas at Southern California Public Radio (KPCC) lays out what the ruling does:

• Strikes down Section 3, which would make it a state crime for undocumented immigrants not to carry an alien registration document.
• Strikes down Section 5(C), which would make it a state crime fro undocumented immigrants to apply for work, solicit work in a public place, or work within Arizona. This was not upheld.
• Strikes down Section 6, which would authorize state and local police to arrest immigrants without a warrant where there is “probable cause” that the person committed an offense that would make them deportable.
• Upholds Section 2(B), which requires state and local police officers to attempt to determine the immigration status of any person stopped under state or local law if “reasonable suspicion” exists that the person is unlawfully present in the United States.

[…]

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Republicans want to cut spending for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP, as part of the Farm Bill.  Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala insists ”this is more than just a financial issue.” Government bills can be confusing but this infographic posted today by No Kid Hungry explains what the real moral issues behind these cuts are and the impact they would have on children.

See the infographic at Feministing

Last night, The Daily Show took on the GOP’s War on Women and more specifically, its War on Vaginas. Last week, Michigan Democratic legislators Reps. Barb Byrum and Lisa Brown (W. Bloomfield) responded to a bill limiting access to abortion with a provision that would limit men’s access to vasectomies. While addressing the house, Brown said: “I’m flattered that you’re all so interested in my vagina, but no means no.” The Republican House Speaker banned the women from speaking because of “their comments and actions yesterday that failed to maintain the decorum of the House of Representatives.”

Stewart joked,

“can you believe this lady bringing up vaginas in an abortion debate…. What are they worried about? Vaginas aren’t like Voldemort or Beetlejuice. Invoking the name ‘vagina’ doesn’t make them suddenly appear. Believe me, if it did, then high school would have been very different for me.”

Watch the video at Feministing

In light of today’s hearing on Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), it’s worth addressing the argument made by ENDA critics that protecting civil rights is just too gosh-darn expensive and will lead to all sorts of frivolous law suits. One, that’s a pretty indefensible argument, even if ENDA did cost money. Two, discriminating against people based on their sexuality and identification is pretty expensive as this Center for American Progress infographic illustrates. So, ENDA critics, don’t hide behind economic arguments. Just embrace your inner bigot.

See the infographic at Feministing

Today, Kylar Broadus made history by becoming the first openly transgender person to testify before the U.S. Senate. Broadus was speaking on behalf of  Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

So, who is Kylar Broadus and why is he a proponent of ENDA? He’s the founder of Trans People of Color Coalition (TPOCC) and a practicing attorney and professor of law Lincoln University of Missouri, which are just two of his many accomplishments. But despite his impressive resume, he’s faced discrimination too. […]

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It’s so refreshing when religious people actually ask themselves What Would Jesus Do. I’m no theologian, but I’m pretty sure he would walk with and not rally against people celebrating people’s right to be and love as they choose. So, I was thrilled to see that over 300 members of the Church of Latter Day Saints attended the Utah Gay Pride Parade on Sunday.

The group Mormons Building Bridges, started a few weeks ago by Erika Munson, a mom of five from Sandy, Utah,  posted the following message on their Facebook event page.

Please come join Latter-day Saints in extending a message of love and support to our LGBT brothers and sisters by marching in the Utah pride parade. Each step we take will be an outward demonstration of our commitment to loving our neighbors. We are marching for the values of empathy and compassion that the Mormon faith teaches. Recognizing that silence (though coupled with good intentions) may leave some LGBT individuals to seriously question their self-worth in their homes, congregations, and before God, we are marching to save lives.

This march is not a political gesture, rather it is a simple statement that average Mormons do love their LGBT brothers and sisters and want to make that message clear. All who wish to march whether currently active LDS and/or former LDS are welcome. Please feel free to invite all like-minded friends to join the march. Thank you for being willing to stand up and build bridges of love and understanding.

Participants grounded their support for the LGBT community in Mormon values and teaching. One woman’s sign read: “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” Another marcher’s sign had words from a Mormon’s children song: ”I’ll walk with you, I’ll talk with you. That’s how I’ll show my love for you.” Another participant lamented the number of gay suicides among Mormons: ”There have been too many LDS deaths… No doctrine is more important than God’s children.”

Read more at Feministing

What would Jesus do? Forget about protecting the meek, turning the other cheek, feeding the hungry and clothing the poor–he’d get himself a good lawyer! The University of Notre Dame, the Archdioceses of Washington, New York and Michigan, and the Catholic University of America are among the 43 Catholic organizations suing the Obama administration over regulations requiring most employers to provide birth control coverage as part of their employee health plans.[…]

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I am vehemently, philosophically opposed to the death penalty. Even if our criminal justice system were not racist, classist, and unfair, I’d be against the death penalty. Even if we somehow had a way to ensure that we only executed people we knew were guilty, I’d be against it.

But I respect the position of people who are for the death penalty in theory, but realize that the way it is implemented calls for, at least, a moratorium on capital punishment. Today, it is impossible to support the death penalty in the United States without tacitly supporting the execution of innocent people. You can try to defend the death penalty and convince yourself that it doesn’t kill innocent people, but you would be wrong. A recently-released Columbia Law School study details how Texas killed Carlos DeLuna, when the actual Culprit was Carlos Hernandez, who shared a first name and a striking resemblance with De Luna. Texas, don’t be so hard on yourself. A simple mistake, that only resulted in the state sanctioned and funded murder of an innocent person, who, not only proclaimed his actual innocence, but pointed the police to Hernandez. But, whatever, who can keep up with all the Carloses?

Read more at Feministing