Sometimes you just need some good news
Check
these stories out, but don’t get too excited – there are GOPers and
Conservatives lurking everywhere, waiting for you to leave your homes so that
they may go in an pillage and muckrake until they are drunk with false
accusations and blinded by their own images in the mirrors.
Same-sex couples = family
FINALLY
we’re making progress! Finally the federal government is doing what it does not
do best: keeping up with the changing times.
The Obama administration proposed on
Tuesday to recognize same-sex couples as families on customs forms, a small but
significant step, supporters said, toward equal recognition by the federal
government.
"It's very insulting to come to
the United States as an American citizen with your partner or your spouse and
be told you cannot be treated as a family," Steve Ralls, a spokesman for
Immigration Equality, said of the rule. "It is a symbolic step forward
toward making sure that gay and lesbian couples will no longer be subjected to
a different standard and they're no longer invisible in the process."
The proposed rule change, which was
posted to the Federal Register website on Tuesday, would expand the definition
of a family for the purpose of customs forms for entering the United States.
Under the current rule, same-sex partners must file separate forms rather than
entering as a family, even if they are legally married. Heterosexual couples
are only required to fill out one form.
It would be among the first wave of
changes by the administration to recognize same-sex families as part of an
initiative of President Barack Obama to allow for equal treatment to gays and
lesbians by federal agencies.
The Defense of Marriage Act prevents
the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages authorized by
individual states. But the proposed rule change does not address same-sex
marriage specifically but rather broadens the definition of families generally.
The definition would also be expanded to cover foster children, stepchildren,
half-siblings and guardian situations.
"[U.S. Customs and Border Protection]
believes that this proposed change would more accurately reflect relationships
between members of the public who are traveling together as a family,"
according to the rule proposed by the Treasury Department.
The rule is also meant to cut down on
paperwork during the inspection process as citizens and legal residents enter
the country.
Family Equality Council, an advocacy
group that worked with Immigration Equality to push for the rule change, is
also lobbying for other recognitions of same-sex couples by federal agencies.
"This is just another example of
the Obama administration making that step forward," said Emily Hecht
McGowan, the group's director of public policy.
(Soft
“Yippee” and small smile. They’re watching.)
Probe this!
Hey,
lawmakers, get out of my bedroom, get out of my UTERUS!
The Oklahoma County district court
judge found the law unconstitutional, agreeing with the plaintiffs' arguments
that it violates medical ethics by forcing doctors to perform medically
unnecessary procedures and discounting women's ability to make personal health
decisions without the government's interference.
The
article goes on.
"The court has resoundingly
affirmed what should not be a matter of controversy at all -- that women have
both a fundamental right to make their own choices about their reproductive
health, and that government has no place in their decisions," said Nancy
Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, in a
statement.
Again:
(Soft “Yippee” and small smile. They’re watching.)
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