Ripples of Hope in All Directions

Positive attitudes toward gay and lesbian Americans, and codification of protections and rights, have come at lightning speed (for social change).

It was only 17 years ago that the Supreme Court ruled that LGBT Americans could not be jailed for who they are (Lawrence v. Texas). When Vermont governor Howard Dean signed a civil unions bill in 2000, he was pilloried as a heretic. Marriage equality nationwide and federal benefits came only five years ago (Obergefell v. Hodges).

Even while dissenting from today's landmark employment ruling, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote:

“Notwithstanding my concern about the Court’s transgression of the Constitution’s separation of powers, it is appropriate to acknowledge the important victory achieved today by gay and lesbian Americans.

“Millions of gay and lesbian Americans have worked hard for many decades to achieve equal treatment in fact and in law. They have exhibited extraordinary vision, tenacity, and grit — battling often steep odds in the legislative and judicial arenas, not to mention in their daily lives.

“They have advanced powerful policy arguments and can take pride in today’s result. Under the Constitution’s separation of powers, however, I believe that it was Congress’s role, not this Court’s, to amend Title VII.”

Congress must still pass ENDA. And we must remain vigilant for threats to all of our hard-won rights. Religious fundamentalists and the likes of Trump (who can still appoint rabidly anti-gay judges) abound.

I only wish my African American brothers and sisters and all POC could see hearts and minds change as dramatically.

As we understand George Floyd's death, there are signs of hope.

Marco Rubio Keeps Hurting All of Us

Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s denial of climate change science is breathtakingly dangerous, even more so since he represents a state that is battling rising seas, more CAT 4 and CAT 5 hurricanes, ocean acidification and fresh water shortages.

Rubio’s harmful actions on another front made headlines again last week when the Supreme Court essentially called him out in an 8-1 ruling.

Raw Story logged this update about Marco Rubio's longtime quest to destroy Obamacare.

Republicans and conservatives have complained that the ACA was not "affordable" -- yet premium increases had much to do with Rubio's tactic of eliminating "risk corridors" in the bill.

From a piece I wrote that was published in Blue Oregon nine days after the 2016 election:

"In 2010, 16% of Americans did not have health insurance; today that figure is 8.6%. Premiums increased for 2017, but that could have been alleviated had Senator Marco Rubio not stripped funding for ‘risk corridors’ in the Affordable Care Act. Risk corridors were designed to help insurance companies absorb the cost of more sick people, so they could keep premiums affordable until the marketplace attained stability. Rubio claimed they were an insurance industry bailout (Politifact rated that ‘mostly false’). Risk corridors were a key financing mechanism of the law; Rubio and other Republicans purposefully eliminated them to hasten the demise of Obama’s signature achievement."

Coronavirus has dominated the news, and rightly so, but let’s not forget which party — and especially which U.S. senator — has been working overtime to deny quality, affordable health coverage for ALL Americans.