Lesbians, The Wire and Obama
We’re watching The Wire and honestly don’t feel compelled to ever watch another episode of Treme after many episodes from Season One of The Wire – totally captivating. I do feel though that the lesbian make-out scenes are so gratuitous and unimaginable. Yes, one of the main characters is a lesbian, but does she always need to be groping or sucking face with her partner? Not really.
Meanwhile, there is a lot of criticism right now of Obama – people LOVE to criticize the president – I say give the guy a break for godsakes! Yes he is overwhelmed, he inherited an overwhelming agenda not to mention the crisis that have popped up in the meantime. And yes Republicans have shown time and time again that they will vote party rather than for the good of the country. But take a step back right now and look at a few of the victory laps that Obama has earned: Health Care Reform, Financial Reform and repealing don’t ask don’t tell and now taking one more step forward by allowing gay partners to care for their sick child.
In the New York Times this morning, there is an article about a law that allows gay workers being able to take leave to take care of their partner’s child, even if they have not adopted the child. Let me ask you a question, despite whatever you think about homosexuality, could you find any reason why a loving adult should not be allowed to care for a sick child? Though Obama is not pro-anyone particularly pro-gay-marriage, he is showing the law should not be against anyone either, which is more to the point. Bravo Obama.
Under a 1993 law, people who work for a company with 50 or more employees are generally entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a newborn or for a spouse, son or daughter with “a serious health condition.”
The new ruling indicates that an employee in a same-sex relationship can qualify for leave to care for the child of his or her partner, even if the worker has not legally adopted the child.
The ruling, in a formal opinion letter, tackles a question not explicitly addressed in the 1993 law. It is one of many actions taken by the Obama administration to respond to the concerns of gay men and lesbians within the constraints of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman as husband and wife.
In April, Mr. Obama announced plans to grant hospital visiting rights to same-sex partners, and the Justice Department concluded that the Violence Against Women Act protects same-sex partners.
On Tuesday, Mr. Obama plans to welcome lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights advocates to a White House reception celebrating June as “LGBT Pride Month.”