At the beginning of March, the Nevada state legislature passed the Equal Rights Amendment, becoming the 36th state to do so. Of course, the deadline for passing the Equal Rights Amendment lapsed back in 1982, but given the, ah, stated proclivities of our Commander-in-Chief, it is entirely possible our activism could get two more states to pass the ERA, which would give us 38 states, or more than the three-quarters standard set by our Constitution. All we'd have to do then is get Congress to pass legislation removing the expiration date from the original ERA -- which H.J.Res. 53 and S.J.Res. 5 would do. The Constitution doesn't mandate expiration dates on proposed amendments; that started last century with the Prohibition amendment, and our most recent Constitutional amendment actually took over 200 years to get in. You can use the tools in the upper right-hand corner of this page (or on the bottom, if you're on a cellphone) to tell your Reps and Senators to get rid of the ERA expiration date so we can one day pass it, and give women the equal rights they deserve.
Meanwhile, CREDO helps you tell Congress to prevent the Trump Administration from selling weapons to countries that systematically and egregiously abuse fundamental human rights. The news hook here is the Trump Administration's lifting of human rights restrictions on sales of military equipment to Bahrain, restrictions the Obama Administration had put in place. Is this what Donald Trump means by "the mess he inherited"? Now, if you're prepared to say well, gosh, every country seems to abuse human rights, you'd be a bit glib: every government tries to get over on its citizens, but some countries are really into detaining and torturing people, or banning travel for citizens who criticize the government, or stripping their critics of their citizenship -- and, guess what? Bahrain does all of these things, plus they don't allow independent human rights observers across their borders. But I guess if there's a buck to be made, President Big Balls doesn't care. (Am I aware that we could justify banning arms sales to Saudi Arabia on the same basis? Of course I am! But hey, everyone has to sacrifice for the greater good.)
Finally, if you've missed previous opportunities to tell Russia to investigate the kidnappings and killings of gay Chechen men, then Anmesty International helps you do that. You may remember the drill: Chechen officials abduct gay men out of their homes, detain them, torture them, even kill them -- and sometimes out them to their families and encourage "honor killings." Why your "honor" as a human being would be sullied by having a gay child I have no idea, but this is a thing in some parts of the world. The fact that it's a thing in some parts of the world doesn't make it right, though -- saying that's what Chechens do out of their sincere religious beliefs would not be an act of "cultural tolerance," but would rather be (at best!) an example of keeping your mind so open that your brains fall out. Human rights are human rights everywhere, and no "cultural relativism" can tolerate depriving folks of their rights just because of their sexual orientation. And I would very much like to believe that there aren't any good Americans cheering this monstrosity on. I'm not sure I do believe that, but I would very much like to.
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