Posts Tagged ‘discrimination’

Subverting the Cause


25 Jan

Awhile back, I signed up to get the AFA (American Family Association) emails. Basically, their newsletters telling me who to boycott serve as notices to me for companies I should support.

I got one this week telling me I should “Pray for Home Depot Chairman Frank Blake to make wise decisions regarding his company’s direction.” And that I should boycott the company because they sent an email to AFA stating ““We have never changed our commitment to diversity and inclusion of all people, and we have no intention of doing so.”

Thank you, Home Depot, for doing the right thing.

Marriage is Marriage


24 Jan

I want to say that I am proud ofWashingtonstate, and I am. At the same time, I still can’t believe it has taken us this long. Yesterday the first hearings were held for both the state Senate and House bills that will bring marriage equality to our state.

I don’t even want to call it gay marriage, because it’s not like it’s a separate thing. It’s marriage. Making interracial marriage legal did not change marriage. It was not a separate thing from same race marriage. This isn’t about gay rights. It’s about equal rights. And it’s about time.

Public Swimming Pool, White Only


14 Dec

Okay, how stupid do you have to be? Honestly, who thinks that in the US today, they can get away with a “White Only” sign restricting access to a supposedly public place? And the whole purpose was to discriminate against one girl, because the landlord for the pool claimed she used hair chemicals that would make the pool cloudy.

How do you know she uses any chemicals in her hair, let alone what chemicals? Find another way to deal, like requesting the people wear swimming caps. But don’t expect to be able to blatantly discriminate and be given a pass.

The era of DADT is officially over


21 Sep

As of yesterday morning,12:01am EDT, September 20, 2011, to be exact,  Don’t Ask Don’t Tell officially stopped being the policy of theUSmilitary. Let’s just take a moment to smile and celebrate that. All pending investigations and discharges have been halted. Applications are being accepted from openly gay recruits. This, my friends, is good news.

Yes, there will be some problems, as there still are with women serving, and some people (politicians) will try to blame the policy change, but overall, nothing about this policy change will hinder our military, and in many ways, we will all be helped.

Repeat: Report Discrimination (even if you’re not the victim)


05 Aug

Discrimination is bad. It’s bad for the person being discriminated against; it’s bad for their team. Reporting discrimination is not an easy thing, whether you’re the victim or an observer, but it is the right thing.

Forget the fact that obvious racial/religious/nationality discrimination opens the company up to a lawsuit. Forget the fact that the victim could report it himself “if it bothered him”.. It bothered you. You noticed it. The rest of your team noticed it. It made you mad.

People being victimized can’t always see clearly. Do the right thing, even if it is not the easy thing.

Respect for Marriage Act


21 Jul

Respect for Marriage. I like that. Because really, did marriage ever actually need defending? When people are willing to fight for the right to marry, I’m pretty certain marriage is in good shape.

Diane Feinstein has cred on this issue. She was one of only 14 Senators  who voted against DOMA to begin with. And, now, unsurprisingly, she’s the one to sponsor the bill to repeal DOMA.

Thank you, Senator, for the respect you’ve shown on this issue.

The fact that Obama is endorsing the Respect for Marriage Act is the icing, but you’re the baker.

Equal means equal, always.

No purpose other than discrimination


07 Jul

The Obama administration has not been perfect. I’ve had problems with some of their decisions. However, there are others that keep hope alive for me, and this is one of them.

The Administration has sent a brief to a California court, urging it to find the federal Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, and to rule in favor of a federal employee who is suing over health insurance benefits for her same sex spouse.

So now, not only is the Administration refusing to defend DOMA, its actively working to bring it down. This makes me very happy. This I can support.

New York says “I Do” to Gay Marriage


25 Jun

I would like to say Thank You to both legislative houses of the state ofNew York, but especially the Senate where Republican state lawmakers took a stand for decency and equality against the prejudices and hate of their party. Thank you,New York, for saying that all men are created equal, and opening an avenue for the pursuit of happiness to a portion of the population to whom we’ve been denying that path.

Thank you for standing up for the right thing, the human thing. Your stand is appreciated by all of us who believe that equal means equal.

“God says No” vs “God is Love” – Gay Marriage in NY


21 Jun

Take God out of it. We aren’t deciding church policy, we’re deciding a state law in theUS-a place that clearly spells out in it’s founding documents a distinct separation of Church and State. God doesn’t matter when it comes to our laws.

As for the “religious exemptions” the Republicans are supposedly asking for, do they not know how the law works? A church already has the right to refuse to marry anyone. The only thing they can’t do is refuse to rent their church out for a gay marriage if they rent it out for other random marriages.

Follow Up: Wal-Mart discrimination case


20 Jun

I am saddened, but sadly, not surprised, by the Supreme Court’s decision in favor of Wal-Mart in the huge class action case for gender discrimination that was brought against them. The court decided that these women did not deserve the protection of a class action, that the interests of Wal-Mart outweighed the interests of millions of women.

But it is a decision that makes sense for a court that has decided corporations are citizens, and that in most cases, they are more equal than the rest of us, or at least more equal than those of us with less money.

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