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| Just a reminder to the trolls that this is not supposed to be taken literally. |
A year after the Supreme Court struck down a law barring federal recognition of gay marriages, the Obama administration granted an array of new benefits Friday to same-sex couples, including those who live in states where gay marriage is against the law.
The new measures range from Social Security and veterans benefits to work leave for caring for sick spouses. They are part of President Barack Obama's efforts to expand whatever protections he can offer to gays and lesbians even though more than half of the states don't recognize gay marriage. That effort has been confounded by laws that say some benefits should be conferred only to couples whose marriages are recognized by the states where they live, rather than the states where they were married.
Aiming to circumvent that issue, the Veterans Affairs Department will start letting gay people who tell the government they are married to a veteran to be buried alongside them in a national cemetery, drawing on the VA's authority to waive the usual marriage requirement.
In a similar move, the Social Security Administration will start processing some survivor and death benefits for those in same-sex relationships who live in states that don't recognize gay marriage. Nineteen states plus the District of Columbia currently recognize gay marriage, although court challenges to gay marriage bans are pending in many states.
My daughter says that some of her friends are disappointed in the President over the NSA spying and sending troops back into Iraq, but her gay friends think that he is the best thing since sliced bread.
Obama's Transgender Rights Campaign Gets Little Attention
ReplyDeletePresident Barack Obama, who established his bona fides as a gay and lesbian rights champion when he endorsed same-sex marriage, has steadily extended his administration's advocacy to the smallest and least accepted band of the LGBT rainbow: transgender Americans.
With little of the fanfare or criticism that marked his evolution into the leader Newsweek nicknamed "the first gay president," Obama became the first chief executive to say "transgender" in a speech, to name transgender political appointees and to prohibit job bias against transgender government workers. Also in his first term, he signed hate crime legislation that became the first federal civil rights protections for transgender people in U.S. history.
Since then, the administration has quietly applied the power of the executive branch to make it easier for transgender people to update their passports, obtain health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, get treatment at Veteran's Administration facilities and seek access to public school restrooms and sports programs — just a few of the transgender-specific policy shifts of Obama's presidency.
"He has been the best president for transgender rights, and nobody else is in second place," Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, said of Obama, who is the only president to invite transgender children to participate in the annual Easter egg roll at the White House.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/21/obama-transgender-rights_n_5517676.html
What really impresses me about this President and his administration is that they are helping our society to get past the 'ick factor' long associated with transgender people. Their matter-of-fact dealings with these financial and legal issues emphasizes the idea that transgender people are just that - people.
DeleteAt least 25 years ago, I worked in a state agency where the only woman in our engineering department became a man. It was a shock to many of the older employees who had never heard of someone undergoing this kind of transformation. However, the regional director sent out a very factual, unemotional memo to the entire staff, explaining what was going to happen to this coworker and how we should all react when he came back to work. It was made very clear that this person was to be treated with dignity and respect, and gossip and discrimination of any kind would not be tolerated. Because of the way the situation was handled, the return of this coworker back to the office after several months away for medical treatment was surprisingly smooth and uneventful.
It was my first experience with a transgender person and I'm sure the professional way it was dealt with influenced my perception of people who are experiencing that transition.
I commend the President for treating the transgender community with that same kind of respect, and insuring that they are afforded the same equality to the extent that his executive power allows.
Toronto is hosting (and celebrating) the first World Pride Week, with folks from all over the globe attending. Makes me proud to be a Canuck!
ReplyDeleteCorrection: First World Pride week in North America.
DeleteLook on the bright side. A couple of years ago, no one would have expected Federal courts to overturn gay marriage bans in a number of states.
ReplyDeleteYoung people have short perspectives. I guess your daughter's friends don't remember George W. Bush, The Patriot Act, the lies that brought on the war in Iraq, to say nothing of the economic disaster of 2008. We are all very fortunate that President Obama has been in charge to salvage and to repair this country. I hope your daughter's friends understand that not voting next November because they dislike some aspects of the Obama Administration could be disastrous for the country. There is no way that our democracy can withstand a Koch Brothers/Tea Party Senate and and House. I also hope your daughter's friends understand the mess that would have ensued had McCain or Romney won the presidency. Every vote counts, even those of young adults who seem to many of us adults to be more interested in selfie photos or mocha coffees.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom
I think Obama understands that gay Americans can't wait for a first gay president, so it takes a brave straight one to insist on the ideal that gay Americans deserve a degree of justice and equality not a whit less in value than straight Americans have long presumed. It's actually no new idea, indeed the very one our country is founded on, but it takes leadership with guts to keep it from slipping into an abandoned goal.
ReplyDeleteGryphen, totally O/T but a great article on the cult of ignorance in the US. A must read!
ReplyDeletehttp://thediplomat.com/2014/06/asias-cult-of-intelligence/
Absolutely euphoric about the second point, but I'm simply dying to hear or read Ken Cuccinelli's reaction!
ReplyDeleteMany years ago, a good friend of mine told me she was a lesbian. I had long suspected as much so I was not at all surprised. My reaction to her announcement was that the news would have no impact on our friendship, but that I hoped she didn't have to experience the discrimination against the LGBT community that was commonplace back then.
ReplyDeleteSince then, another close mutual friend of ours has married her partner and recently shared their wedding photos with me. That happy ceremony could not have taken place years ago and I was thrilled that they were able to share such a joyous occasion and receive all the legal and emotional benefits that accompany marriage.
I am so glad that all of my LGBT friends can now enjoy a much greater freedom, acceptance and equality than possible just a couple of decades ago. I look forward to the day when LGBT equality, including same sex marriage, is so common that it no longer even makes the news.
And, yes, despite the hundreds of miles that now separate us, we are even closer friends than we were all those years ago!
First Daughter Malia Obama, has a summer job working on movie set in LA, the new Halle Berry tv series, people already losing their damn minds saying she shouldn't have the position. Afro.com
ReplyDeleteThat "fox news math" boggles the mind. A hundred thousand people? LMAO
ReplyDeleteAmong his accomplishments, this is the one that took a steel spine to take on, but it was time for President Obama to change the laws. The constitution applies to all citizens. Every Marriage deserves equal treatment and settling for second class isn't an option.
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