• Supreme Court Justice Scalia Recuse Yourself
    Just days after Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia shockingly equated homosexuality with murder in an appearance at Princeton University, another troubling revelation has emerged: Scalia’s son Paul, a Roman Catholic priest, has served as chaplain for the Arlington, Virginia chapter of Courage, an official Catholic apostolate that ministers to people with so-called “same-sex attractions” — or what the rest of the world refers to as lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. In an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times, Michael McGough writes that Paul Scalia’s anti-gay beliefs are so extreme that he isn’t even willing to concede the fact that gay people exist: He has written: “We must always distinguish the person from the attractions. Most errors in this area come from the reduction of the person to the attractions: to say, ‘A person who has homosexual attractions must be homosexual.’ This reduces the human person to the sum total of his sexual inclinations.” The last time I heard that frighteningly dehumanizing lie was when I was undercover receiving “ex-gay” therapy at the Bachmann clinic. No joke. McGough also points out that when the Vatican acknowledged the reality of homosexuality, it too earned the wrath of Scalia the Younger: In a 2005 article in the magazine First Things, Paul Scalia warned against the labeling of high school students as “gay” and even took the Vatican to task for using the term “homosexual person,” which, the younger Scalia said, “suggests that homosexual inclinations somehow determine, which is to say confine, a person’s identity.” Of course, this is a straw man; psychologists and other who speak of a gay identity don’t argue that “gay” is an exhaustive description of an individual’s personality traits, only that there is more to being gay or lesbian than participation in sexual acts. Courage, the “ministry” that Paul Scalia was affiliated with, uses a 12-step program similar to Alcoholics Anonymous to encourage Catholics struggling with “same-sex attractions” to suppress their sexuality and live totally celibate lives. It’s essentially a Catholic version of the widely-discredited “ex-gay” programs, just wrapped in a more subtly-colored bow. As I read McGough’s op-ed I couldn’t help but be reminded of the lyrics of a song from the legendary musical South Pacific: You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear, you’ve got to be taught from year to year. It’s got to be drummed in your dear little ear — you’ve got to be carefully taught. . . You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late — before you are six or seven or eight — to hate all the people your relatives hate. You’ve got to be carefully taught.
    156 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Gerald Tolomeo
  • Defend free speech at La Trobe Uni
    La Trobe University is attempting to victimise several students who were involved in a campaign of peaceful civil disobedience against cuts to the La Trobe Humanities and Social Sciences department
    468 of 500 Signatures
    Created by Danica Cheesley
  • Pass the Uniting American Families Act
    My partner lives in Indonesia, and I cannot bring him here thanks to DoMA. Please repeal DoMA and support the United American Families Act.
    2 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Eric Berlin
  • Agent Orange Birth Defect Children
    In 2008 Congress has passed legislation (PUBLIC LAW 110-387 SECTION 408) to provide comprehensive health care for the birth defect A/O children of Vietnam combat vets exposed to Agent Orange.. Five Years LATER, the VA has STILL NOT provided the care legislated by Congress in 2008. They stall and verbally tap dance for year after year. My mission with this petition is to EMBARRASS the VA bureaucrats into simply obeying federal law PL 110 387 SECTION 408. I will do so, or bust a gut. All help appreciated. Ron Nesler 812 270 0699
    1,147 of 2,000 Signatures
    Created by Ron Nesler
  • Antonin Scalia: Recuse Yourself
    Soon after the Supreme Court agreed to hear cases on gay rights, Justice Antonin Scalia made inflammatory and insulting remarks comparing homosexuality to murder and bestiality. Antonin Scalia should recuse himself from the cases dealing with California's Proposition 8, and the Defense of Marriage Act. See story at http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2012/12/11/32163/
    571 of 600 Signatures
    Created by Kenton Gardner Shaffer
  • Tell Obama: Speak out on Prop 8 at the Supreme Court
    President Obama has said same-sex marriage is fine by him, but the Supreme Court will consider a more fundamental issue than that: whether Prop 8, and possibly state bans on same-sex marriage nationwide, violate the guarantee of Equal Protection under the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court often asks the Administration for its views on cases, and the position of the Department of Justice carries significant legal weight -- so we need the President and the DOJ to weigh in. As attorney Ted Olson commented on December 7th, 2012, "...given the stand the president of the United States and the attorney general of the United States made with respect to marriage equality, we would certainly hope that they would participate...I think that, given the position that the government has taken in the DOMA cases and the reasoning that they have used in filing their brief would apply with great effect in our case, the Perry case, as well." President Obama and the Department of Justice can fulfill this request by filing a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that a state ban on same-sex marriage violates the U.S. Constitution. With the Supreme Court hearing oral arguments in March 2013, and the civil rights, respect and dignity of potentially millions of same-sex couples on the line, we need the President to lead and speak out.
    116 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Adam Bink
  • Stop Serving Chick-Fil-A in the West Cafe!
    As we all know, Chick-Fil-A is a hateful organization. They have openly spoken out against the rights of LGBT citizens and have donated to organizations who promote beliefs similar to those of CFA. Unfortunately, my high school still serves Chick-Fil-A in their West Cafeteria.
    8 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Alec Camhi
  • Tell Scalia to apologize to homosexuals
    Justice Antonin Scalia recently compared homosexuality to murder in a speech at Princeton University.
    105 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Mary Jane Akel
  • Take Back Dishonorable and General Discharges from Don't Ask Don't Tell
    Don't Ask Don't Tell resulted in general and dishonorable discharges from the military that led military personnel to lose their employment, veteran status, veteran benefits, medical benefits, and ability to apply for unemployment benefits. Veterans have been subjected to insults, such as needing to repay their college assistance received from the military for their service. Now that we have recognized that our LGBT military personnel deserve our respect and admiration, regardless of sexual orientation, it is time for us to undo the wrongs against these veterans and offer a formal apology.
    8 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Erin Lavery
  • no RFID tag implants
    president obama has signed off on a bill that will require all Americans to be implanted with RF ID tags. he claims this to be for health benefits. however we should not have to subject ourselves to that kind of invasion of privacy. if this goes on, in 2014 every newborn child will have this tag implanted at birth.
    8 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Christian Duncan
  • U.S. Business's enslaving overseas workers
    8th grade Social Studies: freeing the slaves. But what about those workers who are slaves in other countries because US business practices? Many fashion companies are producing overseas where people are treated like slaves. Computer Co. 14 hr. work days/6 day weeks Here, we pay high dollar for those items when workers should get better compensated.
    4 of 100 Signatures
    Created by JudithFerraro
  • Legalize recreational use of marijuana.
    It's time to stop spending money to keep it illegal and tax it; Creating jobs and lowering national debt.
    665 of 800 Signatures
    Created by Jenna