My Idea for How an Obama Administration Can Advance Gay Rights

by Michael Jones · 2008-11-24 13:40:00 UTC
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Equality NowIf you haven't yet checked out change.org's "Ideas for Change in America" page, I totally recommend that you pay a visit.  President-Elect Obama has said that he wants to hear change from all sectors of America, and that includes us LGBT folks (and our straight allies!).  Change.org is compiling a list of ideas, and will take the top 10 ideas and present them to the Obama Administration on Inauguration Day.  From there, change.org will marshall the support of our own site, MySpace, and dozens of other partner organizations to lobby for those issues.

And you want to know something cool?  Right now, the idea submitted by co-blogger Jen Nedeau over at the Women's Rights blog is catching steam.  Her idea?  Pass Marriage Equality Rights for LGBT Couples Nationwide.

How would you like to see an army of activists present that idea to an Obama Administration?!  I know I would...and if you agree, head on over and vote.

My original idea, significantly more pragmatic, is for the Obama Administration to work with Congress to pass the Matthew Shepard Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to our federal hate crimes laws.

Have your own idea?  Please submit it. And encourage your friends to do so, too.  And then vote on your favorites, and stay tuned to see which issues make their way to the front doorstep of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on January 21.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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