These are difficult times. Most everyone we know is cutting back. Some of us are looking for work, myself included. But for many these times are especially tough, like those struggling with HIV and AIDS. A situation made worse by Gov. Schwarzenegger’s threat to slash $80 million in AIDS/HIV funding, which would be used for prevention, education, testing, treatment and housing.

This weekend is AIDS Walk 2009 in San Francisco, and we will walk as we do every year. If you are able, please consider making a gift, no matter how small, to continue the fight against AIDS, and to help make up the difference for those who are unable to give. The AIDS Walk is our community’s single most powerful and enduring response to the AIDS epidemic, as the struggle against this disease is far from over. Every 9 1/2 minutes someone becomes infected with HIV. In the U.S., one in five people already infected don’t even know. And in San Francisco alone, 25,000 live with HIV every day.

If you are unable to give, please consider walking with us instead. The greater our visibility, the louder our message.

If you would like to sponsor Inside, Looking Out by making a donation, visit http://aidswalksanfran2009.kintera.org/inlookout. Thanks!

Howard Dean sits down with Freshman Senator Kirsten Gilliband of NY to talk healthcare, the Employment Free Choice Act, and at the 4:50 mark, same-sex marriage and DADT. Watch:

There was a lot of concern when Gillibrand filled the vacancy left by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that she would not be a strong ally for the LGBT community. I think we can safely put those fears to rest.

Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) and Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) serve up more of the same lies and half truth’s in the Family Research Council video below. Watch:

For the record, the bill does not curb free speech; it only applies to people who commit physical acts of violence against other people. This is just more fear-mongering.

It appears the hate crimes bill will be voted on in the Senate later today, but is encountering resistance from the usual suspects, the measure being called “highly explosive!”

The Salt Lake City PD finally issued their report yesterday on a gay couple that was handcuffed and detained last month for refusing to leave after being harassed by LDS security guards for briefly kissing on church property. The full report, available here, appears to contradict the story told by LDS security guards at the scene.

Spokesmen for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Salt Lake City police department have thus far declined to specify the behavior that prompted guards to ask Matt Aune, 28, and his partner, Derek Jones, 25, to leave the plaza at 50 E. North Temple. Aune said that the guards “slammed him to the ground” while detaining him; a guard disputed that claim, according to the police report.

Aune and Jones said they have seen heterosexual couples holding hands and kissing without incident on the plaza. Church spokeswoman Kim Farah has said the Aune and Jones were not singled out for being gay and that they were “politely asked to stop engaging in inappropriate behavior.”

However, the police report does not indicate the men were given the option to stay if they stopped kissing or hugging. It states only that the guard told the men that “they need to leave [church] property for the behavior and that [it] is unwanted,” and that the men were detained when Jones said he would not leave.

Last weekend, nearly one hundred  protestors staged a “kiss-in” on church property in support of the couple. While LDS security was present, no arrests were made. Another kiss-in is scheduled for noon this Sunday.