In February 2015, a pediatrician at Eastlake Pediatrics in Roseville, MI refused to treat an infant so as to uphold the religious right to discriminate against the infant’s lesbian mothers. The following month, Senator Rick Jones provided an example of how the proposed MI-RFRA bill could potentially be used to allow a baker to legally refuse service to a patron who requests a religious themed cake that offends the baker's personal belief system. Patrons do not deserve to endure the distress, humiliation and inconvenience associated with being refused service by a public business in their communities. Instead, business owners should assume the responsibility of communicating their biases publicly. It's clear that the Michigan legislature wants to permit businesses to legally sidestep civil rights protections under the guise of "Religious Liberty." If an individual or business can refuse to recognize a person's civil rights on the pretext of religious belief, those rights become effectively meaningless. Let's call it for what it really is, and require businesses who serve the public to specify who they discriminate against.

The Westboro Baptist Church has been protesting the funerals and weddings of gays, and have even picketed concerts in the past. This needs to be stopped, and needs to stop soon because it is causing a lot of pain to the families and members of these sort of events.

We urge you to do more to prevent "Religious Freedom" legislation from passing in Georgia. These harmful bills open the door to discrimination against Georgians, making Georgia unsafe for LGBTQ residents, as well as religious minorities and people of color. Last year, under your lead, Delta Airlines was instrumental in stopping these bills from becoming the law of the land in Georgia. As the state's largest private employer, Delta Airlines has a responsibility to it's employees, customers, and the residents of Georgia to do everything in their power to object to these bills. In the past, your company has shown a commitment to civil rights in the South, by investing over $1 million in the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, and sponsoring the 50th anniversary of the March on Selma taking place this weekend. While we value this commitment, we must do more to ensure that the civil rights of ALL Georgians remain intact. Please take a stand against these bills, and use your influence to urge other business leaders to do the same.

Children under these circumstances have no choice or say and I consider this so unfair and disrespectful. I have three children and they feel extremely aggravated when they see their peers in the cars next to them breathing air full of poison.

I am tired of seeing Jewish students attacked verbally and physically in our schools, Universities and Institutions. We must stand up to this hatred and ignorance. Violence and confrontations are not the way to make change happen. Understanding, cooperation, and education will stamp out anti-Semitism and hatred!

2017 UPDATE: Now that we have a president who is anti-LGBT, as well as a vice president who believes "conversion therapy" is an acceptable treatment for our community, this issue becomes more important than ever! OLD DESCRIPTION: I live in Oklahoma, where politicians continuously make every effort to discriminate against the LGBT community. One of the measure that has been proposed is to let "conversion therapy" of LGBT youth be legal. This blatant crime against humanity is torture, which often leads to psychological damage, including PTSD, identity issues, and even suicide. We need to speak out to all who support "conversion therapy" and make it illegal on a national level! This is brazen discrimination against those who cannot help who they are, who they were born to be, needs to end in every state! Let your voice be heard that you will not stand for such damaging torture of our younger generations! Sign the petition and let's work towards making such a crime against human beings illegal on a federal level!

Karla Brada was 26 years old. She met a man who she did not know was a violent offender. After moving in with him he killed her. Many members of AA have Asperger's syndrome. They get preyed on as well. I have Asperger's syndrome and I and others like me have been preyed upon and threatened and used by others in AA. I have watched girls get sexually harassed by people in AA. And I have seen teenagers get molested. After the death of Karla Brada, many of us have had enough. We are tired we are angry and we want some rules and boundaries.

To fire Kristi Capel for using Jigaboo to describe music on Fox 8 News for her ignorance and insensitivity! And then claiming on twitter that she didnt know what the word meant.

As a member of the Black community at Old Dominion University, it is imperative that the university support cultural understanding of Black students. As of now, institutional funding for Black programming is low and there is no central safe space for Black students to commune while accommodations for other marginalized groups have been made (i.e. the Women's Center, the Safe Space Committee, Lavender House -- a living arrangement for LGBT students, the Confucius Institute to promote understanding between US citizens and Chinese culture, and the Filipino American Center). The university is 22% Black in total and 46% Black on campus -- the time is now for Black students to be made an institutional priority. TO VIEW THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FOR THIS PROPOSAL, PLEASE VISIT: http://bit.ly/BSUatODUExecutiveSummary **When signing please comment whether you are a current student, alumni, staff/faculty, or other (parent of student, community member, etc.). If applicable, please also comment with any organization affiliations.

My child has Down syndrome and it is very upsetting to see the entertainment industry use our children in jokes to humiliate them and make them look less human. This allows special needs children and adults to be bullied and victimized by those around them because if it is okay for TV comedians, actors and movies to do so then it is okay to do it to them in school, work or where they live and play. I don't want my child and anybody else's child to be victims of bullying and hate crimes because they are different. Please sign my petition to make this a hate crime, it shouldn't be allowed because it is the right thing to do. People should not gain money by making fun of those that can't fight back.

Cause I'm African American & we deserve a check not the stuff they are trying to give us. African Americans need real action & this will change the game. Thanks Obama.

When the Herero (Ovaherero) people of Namibia revolted against the confiscation of their land and cattle by German colonists, more than 80,000 men, women and children were killed. On October 2, 1904 Lieutenant-General Lothar von Trotha publicly issued a written extermination order, Vernichtungsbefehl, of the Herero people in Namibia on behalf of Germany Kaiser Wilhelm II. This infamous extermination order decreed: “Herero found within the German borders with or without a gun, with or without cattle, will be shot. I shall no longer receive any women and children. I will drive them back to their people, or I will shoot them”. The United Nations and historians consider this to be the first genocide of the 20th century, and it is estimated that eighty percent (80%) of the estimated 150 000 tribe was killed. The Herero people suffered incalculable losses from mutilation, rape, slaughter, and banishment from their land. Survivors were confined to concentration camps where they performed forced labor. Today, descendants of the survivors continue to reside in Botswana, South Africa, and many other countries. The majority of the Herero people live in their homeland of Namibia, where they are now a minority. While the then German Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, Mrs. Wieczorek-Zeul, apologized for the genocide at a commemorative event in 2004, however the German government refuses to enter into a meaningful dialogue about reparations. In order to address the genocide of the Herero people, the late Paramount Chief Kuaima Riruako filed a lawsuit against the German government and German companies that benefited from slave labor in the US courts. However, the case was dismissed for technical reasons. We, the undersigned, urge the government of Germany to offer reparations to the Herero and Nama tribes of Namibia for the genocide committed against their people from 1904-1908. Sincerely, This petition is endorsed by many community leaders and it is the undertaking of the Ovaherero Diaspora and descendants. For more information contact us at [email protected]