Within days of each other, the President and Vice President of the United States have come out in favor of gay marriage and domestic partner rights. In the advancement of human rights, this is another defining moment in the history of the USA and indeed, in the history of the world. It's one of those public breakthroughs like ending slavery, or even advocating for the ending of slavery in public in advance of ending slavery; it's like any expansion of voting rights and civil protections (the 14th, 15th, 19th, 26th amendments to the U.S. Constitution, for example); and it's like adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This is always a courageous move, because every step of the way, there are those and there have always been those who have remained and will remain adamantly opposed to these changes.
Joe Biden led the way for Barack Obama on this one.
Last December, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton invoked the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to advocate for the international protection of the civil and human rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. She may also become the first female American president, if she decides to run in 2016.
As of today, the biggest hitters of the Obama Adminstration are on the same page regarding civil and human rights, the idea of universal health care, universal education, and so on. Of the two national political parties that dominate the 2012 US election cycle, the Democrats are clearly the historically forward thinking group; the Republicans look downright creepy by comparison.
Today's Rune: Breakthrough.
1 comment:
It was definitely a good thing to see. Amazing how long it takes in politics to move toward anything, even if it seems a no brainer to me.
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