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Equal Rights for All Families
Target: President Obama and the U.S. Congress
Sponsored by: Human Rights Campaign
Sponsored by: Human Rights Campaign
Thanks to a string of state-level victories, tens of thousands of loving, same-sex couples across the country have finally been able to join in marriage in the last few years.
Yet because of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), enacted in 1996, the federal government doesn't recognize a single one. This hurtful and discriminatory law denies millions of Americans federal recognition of marriage and the protections that come with that -- Social Security survivors' benefits, equal treatment under U.S. immigration laws, the right to take leave to care for a spouse, and more.
New legislation to repeal DOMA has just been introduced! Now is the time to let Congress and President Obama know that DOMA must go. Send your message urging them to push forward legislation to REPEAL DOMA.
Yet because of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), enacted in 1996, the federal government doesn't recognize a single one. This hurtful and discriminatory law denies millions of Americans federal recognition of marriage and the protections that come with that -- Social Security survivors' benefits, equal treatment under U.S. immigration laws, the right to take leave to care for a spouse, and more.
New legislation to repeal DOMA has just been introduced! Now is the time to let Congress and President Obama know that DOMA must go. Send your message urging them to push forward legislation to REPEAL DOMA.
Send Letter see who signed this
We took action on “Equal Rights for All Families”!
# 12,895:
9:02 pm PST, Feb 9,
Orion Hudgins, California
# 12,894:
8:58 pm PST, Feb 9,
Greta Severson, Pennsylvania
# 12,893:
8:10 pm PST, Feb 9,
Name not displayed, Australia
# 12,892:
3:28 pm PST, Feb 9,
David Hoyne, New Zealand
# 12,891:
2:47 pm PST, Feb 9,
Barbara Klabunde, Oregon
I'm writing to urge you to push forward legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a hurtful and discriminatory law that is denying tens of thousands of legally married lesbian and gay couples across the country more than 1,000 federal protections they deserve. An important first step in this effort is to support Representative Nadler's legislation to repeal DOMA, HR 3567. The federal protections of marriage include Social Security survivors' benefits, family and medical leave, equal compensation as federal employees, and immigration rights, among others. All across this country, same-sex couples are living the same lives that heterosexual couples live -- raising children and trying to save for their educations; committing to each other emotionally and financially, paying taxes, serving on the PTA, and struggling to balance work and family. We are proud citizens of this country, we support and defend it...it is time to recognize all citizens rights! It's time to do away with DOMA once and for all and I look to you to lead the fight on this important issue. Thank you for your time and attention. Sincerely, Barbara Klabunde
I'm writing to urge you to push forward legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a hurtful and discriminatory law that is denying tens of thousands of legally married lesbian and gay couples across the country more than 1,000 federal protections they deserve. An important first step in this effort is to support Representative Nadler's legislation to repeal DOMA, HR 3567. The federal protections of marriage include Social Security survivors' benefits, family and medical leave, equal compensation as federal employees, and immigration rights, among others. All across this country, same-sex couples are living the same lives that heterosexual couples live -- raising children and trying to save for their educations; committing to each other emotionally and financially, paying taxes, serving on the PTA, and struggling to balance work and family. We are proud citizens of this country, we support and defend it...it is time to recognize all citizens rights! It's time to do away with DOMA once and for all and I look to you to lead the fight on this important issue. Thank you for your time and attention. Sincerely, Barbara Klabunde
# 12,890:
1:48 pm PST, Feb 9,
Jessica Garfinkel, New York
# 12,889:
12:13 pm PST, Feb 9,
Celia Graham, Alabama
# 12,888:
10:30 am PST, Feb 9,
Peter Cowan, Australia
# 12,887:
9:25 am PST, Feb 9,
Lynell Withers, Arkansas
# 12,886:
8:23 am PST, Feb 9,
Lisa R, Germany
# 12,885:
6:54 am PST, Feb 9,
HanneMarie BaloghBremer, Georgia
# 12,884:
8:00 pm PST, Feb 8,
Brittany Hunt, Colorado
# 12,883:
3:31 pm PST, Feb 8,
Janet Williams, Washington D.C.
# 12,882:
3:03 pm PST, Feb 8,
Sharon Purcell-Cuautle, Alaska
I believe that others should be able to do as they want, as long as they aren't hurting other people. How is it hurtful to anyone else if a couple in love wants to marry? Love is love, no matter who it is between and who are we to judge others?
I believe that others should be able to do as they want, as long as they aren't hurting other people. How is it hurtful to anyone else if a couple in love wants to marry? Love is love, no matter who it is between and who are we to judge others?
# 12,881:
1:55 pm PST, Feb 8,
May Agar, United Kingdom
Where there is love there can only be goodness
Where there is love there can only be goodness
# 12,880:
12:39 pm PST, Feb 8,
Name not displayed, California
# 12,879:
10:44 am PST, Feb 8,
Name not displayed, New York
It is time to allow those of us LGBT who are contributing members of society the same rights as all others.
It is time to allow those of us LGBT who are contributing members of society the same rights as all others.
# 12,878:
6:21 pm PST, Feb 7,
Sheryl Hennessy, Texas
I'm writing to urge you to push forward legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a hurtful and discriminatory law that is denying tens of thousands of legally married lesbian and gay couples across the country more than 1,000 federal protections they deserve. An important first step in this effort is to support Representative Nadler's legislation to repeal DOMA, HR 3567. The federal protections of marriage include Social Security survivors' benefits, family and medical leave, equal compensation as federal employees, and immigration rights, among others. All across this country, same-sex couples are living the same lives that heterosexual couples live -- raising children and trying to save for their educations; committing to each other emotionally and financially, paying taxes, serving on the PTA, and struggling to balance work and family. It's time to do away with DOMA once and for all and I look to you to lead the fight on this important issue. Thank you for your time and attention. Sincerely, Sheryl Hennessy
I'm writing to urge you to push forward legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a hurtful and discriminatory law that is denying tens of thousands of legally married lesbian and gay couples across the country more than 1,000 federal protections they deserve. An important first step in this effort is to support Representative Nadler's legislation to repeal DOMA, HR 3567. The federal protections of marriage include Social Security survivors' benefits, family and medical leave, equal compensation as federal employees, and immigration rights, among others. All across this country, same-sex couples are living the same lives that heterosexual couples live -- raising children and trying to save for their educations; committing to each other emotionally and financially, paying taxes, serving on the PTA, and struggling to balance work and family. It's time to do away with DOMA once and for all and I look to you to lead the fight on this important issue. Thank you for your time and attention. Sincerely, Sheryl Hennessy
# 12,877:
4:32 pm PST, Feb 7,
Sara Payo, Pennsylvania
# 12,876:
2:28 pm PST, Feb 7,
Angela Rose, Virginia
# 12,875:
1:53 pm PST, Feb 7,
Henriette Matthijssen, Canada
People are people regardless of their gender choices. Equal righst to all mankind is a right!
People are people regardless of their gender choices. Equal righst to all mankind is a right!
# 12,874:
1:18 pm PST, Feb 7,
Carolyn Haack, Michigan
# 12,873:
12:33 pm PST, Feb 7,
Robin Calhoun, California
# 12,872:
11:10 am PST, Feb 7,
Toki Jeevas, Texas
# 12,871:
10:57 am PST, Feb 7,
Veronica Macias, Texas
Please Mr. President, listen to our plea! We just want the same rights as everyone else. Isn't that what America was based on? To be free and let everyone have equal right.
Please Mr. President, listen to our plea! We just want the same rights as everyone else. Isn't that what America was based on? To be free and let everyone have equal right.
# 12,870:
12:26 am PST, Feb 7,
Marlene Patino Rangel, Mexico
# 12,869:
11:30 pm PST, Feb 6,
Victoria Powers, Indiana
# 12,868:
11:46 am PST, Feb 6,
D Beene, Texas
# 12,867:
10:22 am PST, Feb 6,
A Williams, Utah
# 12,866:
7:13 am PST, Feb 6,
Ed Shea, New Jersey
# 12,865:
2:42 am PST, Feb 6,
Lynna Mustapha, Malaysia
In the Bhaiṣajyaguruvaidūryaprabharāja Sūtra, the Medicine Buddha is described as having entered into a state of samadhi called "Eliminating All the Suffering and Afflictions of Sentient Beings." From this samadhi state he spoke the Medicine Buddha Dharani.[1] namo bhagavate bhaiṣajyaguru vaiḍūryaprabharājāya tathāgatāya arhate samyaksambuddhāya tadyathā: oṃ bhaiṣajye bhaiṣajye mahābhaiṣajya-samudgate svāhā. The last line of the dharani is used as the Medicine Buddha's mantra. Medicine Buddha Sutra, as a bodhisattva who made 12 great vows. On achieving Buddhahood, he became the Buddha of the eastern realm of Vaidūryanirbhāsa, or "Pure Lapis Lazuli". The Twelve Vows of the Medicine Buddha upon attaining Enlightenment, according to the Medicine Buddha Sutra[1] are: To illuminate countless realms with his radiance, enabling anyone to become a Buddha just like him. To awaken the minds of sentient beings through his light of lapis lazuli. To provide the sentient beings with whatever material needs they require. To correct heretical views and inspire beings toward the path of the Bodhisattva. To help beings follow the Moral Precepts, even if they failed before. To heal beings born with deformities, illness or other physical sufferings. To help relieve the destitute and the sick. To help women who wish to be reborn as men achieve their desired rebirth. To help heal mental afflictions and delusions. To help the oppressed be free from suffering. To relieve those who suffer from terrible hunger and thirst. To help clothe those who are destitute and suffering from cold and mosquitoes. Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Svāhā - Tara, whose name means "star" or "she who ferries across," is a Bodhisattva of compassion who manifests in female form. "She Who Saves." In particular she represents compassion in action, since she’s in the process of stepping from her lotus throne in order to help sentient beings. 1. Tāre represents salvation from mundane dangers and suffering. Tara is seem as a savioress who can give aid from material threats such as floods, crime, wild animals, and traffic accidents. Tara is therefore said to protect against ordinary worldly dangers. 2. Tuttāre represents deliverance into the spiritual path conceived in terms of individual salvation. In traditional terms, this is the path of the Arhant, which leads to individual liberation from suffering. This is seen in Mahayana Buddhism as a kind of enlightenment in which compassion does not figure strongly. Tara therefore offers individual protection from the spiritual dangers of greed, hatred, and delusion: the three factors that cause us individual suffering. 3. Lastly, ture represents the culmination of the spiritual path in terms of deliverance into the altruistic path of universal salvation – the Bodhisattva path. In the Bodhisattva path we aspire for personal enlightenment, but we also connect compassionately with the sufferings of others, and strive to liberate them at the same time as we seek enlightenment ourselves. Tara therefore delivers us from a narrow conception of the spiritual life. She saves us from the notion that spiritual progress is about narrowly liberating ourselves from our own suffering, and instead leads us to see that true spiritual progress involves having compassion for others. By the time we have been liberated from mundane dangers, liberated from a narrow conception of the spiritual path, and led to a realization of compassion, we have effectively become Tara. In Buddhist practice the “deities” represent our own inner potential. We are all potentially Tara. We can all become Tara. Svaha, according to Monier Monier-William’s Sanskrit Dictionary, means: "Hail!", "Hail to!" or "May a blessing rest on!" We could see this final blessing as symbolizing the recognition that we are, ultimately, Tara. Her mantra can therefore be rendered as something like "OM! Hail to Tara (in her three roles as a savioress)!" Om Tare Tuttare Ture Mama Ayuh Punya Jñana Pustim Kuru Svaha Mama means "mine" and indicates that you’d like to possess these qualities of long life, merit, wisdom, happiness, etc. You can of course choose to wish these qualities for someone else — perhaps for a teacher or for a loved one who is ill. Ayuh is long life (as in Ayurvedic medicine). Punya means the merit that comes from living life ethically, and this merit is said to help one to live long and happily. Jnana is wisdom. Punya and Jnana are known as the Two Accumulations. In order to become enlightened we need to accumulate merit (that is, to develop positive qualities through living ethically and meditating) but we also need to develop wisdom through deep reflection. Wisdom cannot arise without a basis of merit, but merit alone is not enough for us to become enlightened, meaning that becoming a nicer person isn’t enough — we have also to look deeply into ourselves and the world around us and to see the impermanent and insubstantial nature of all things. Pushtim means wealth, abundance, or increase.
In the Bhaiṣajyaguruvaidūryaprabharāja Sūtra, the Medicine Buddha is described as having entered into a state of samadhi called "Eliminating All the Suffering and Afflictions of Sentient Beings." From this samadhi state he spoke the Medicine Buddha Dharani.[1] namo bhagavate bhaiṣajyaguru vaiḍūryaprabharājāya tathāgatāya arhate samyaksambuddhāya tadyathā: oṃ bhaiṣajye bhaiṣajye mahābhaiṣajya-samudgate svāhā. The last line of the dharani is used as the Medicine Buddha's mantra. Medicine Buddha Sutra, as a bodhisattva who made 12 great vows. On achieving Buddhahood, he became the Buddha of the eastern realm of Vaidūryanirbhāsa, or "Pure Lapis Lazuli". The Twelve Vows of the Medicine Buddha upon attaining Enlightenment, according to the Medicine Buddha Sutra[1] are: To illuminate countless realms with his radiance, enabling anyone to become a Buddha just like him. To awaken the minds of sentient beings through his light of lapis lazuli. To provide the sentient beings with whatever material needs they require. To correct heretical views and inspire beings toward the path of the Bodhisattva. To help beings follow the Moral Precepts, even if they failed before. To heal beings born with deformities, illness or other physical sufferings. To help relieve the destitute and the sick. To help women who wish to be reborn as men achieve their desired rebirth. To help heal mental afflictions and delusions. To help the oppressed be free from suffering. To relieve those who suffer from terrible hunger and thirst. To help clothe those who are destitute and suffering from cold and mosquitoes. Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Svāhā - Tara, whose name means "star" or "she who ferries across," is a Bodhisattva of compassion who manifests in female form. "She Who Saves." In particular she represents compassion in action, since she’s in the process of stepping from her lotus throne in order to help sentient beings. 1. Tāre represents salvation from mundane dangers and suffering. Tara is seem as a savioress who can give aid from material threats such as floods, crime, wild animals, and traffic accidents. Tara is therefore said to protect against ordinary worldly dangers. 2. Tuttāre represents deliverance into the spiritual path conceived in terms of individual salvation. In traditional terms, this is the path of the Arhant, which leads to individual liberation from suffering. This is seen in Mahayana Buddhism as a kind of enlightenment in which compassion does not figure strongly. Tara therefore offers individual protection from the spiritual dangers of greed, hatred, and delusion: the three factors that cause us individual suffering. 3. Lastly, ture represents the culmination of the spiritual path in terms of deliverance into the altruistic path of universal salvation – the Bodhisattva path. In the Bodhisattva path we aspire for personal enlightenment, but we also connect compassionately with the sufferings of others, and strive to liberate them at the same time as we seek enlightenment ourselves. Tara therefore delivers us from a narrow conception of the spiritual life. She saves us from the notion that spiritual progress is about narrowly liberating ourselves from our own suffering, and instead leads us to see that true spiritual progress involves having compassion for others. By the time we have been liberated from mundane dangers, liberated from a narrow conception of the spiritual path, and led to a realization of compassion, we have effectively become Tara. In Buddhist practice the “deities” represent our own inner potential. We are all potentially Tara. We can all become Tara. Svaha, according to Monier Monier-William’s Sanskrit Dictionary, means: "Hail!", "Hail to!" or "May a blessing rest on!" We could see this final blessing as symbolizing the recognition that we are, ultimately, Tara. Her mantra can therefore be rendered as something like "OM! Hail to Tara (in her three roles as a savioress)!" Om Tare Tuttare Ture Mama Ayuh Punya Jñana Pustim Kuru Svaha Mama means "mine" and indicates that you’d like to possess these qualities of long life, merit, wisdom, happiness, etc. You can of course choose to wish these qualities for someone else — perhaps for a teacher or for a loved one who is ill. Ayuh is long life (as in Ayurvedic medicine). Punya means the merit that comes from living life ethically, and this merit is said to help one to live long and happily. Jnana is wisdom. Punya and Jnana are known as the Two Accumulations. In order to become enlightened we need to accumulate merit (that is, to develop positive qualities through living ethically and meditating) but we also need to develop wisdom through deep reflection. Wisdom cannot arise without a basis of merit, but merit alone is not enough for us to become enlightened, meaning that becoming a nicer person isn’t enough — we have also to look deeply into ourselves and the world around us and to see the impermanent and insubstantial nature of all things. Pushtim means wealth, abundance, or increase.
# 12,864:
2:12 am PST, Feb 6,
Candice Barnett, California
# 12,863:
8:15 pm PST, Feb 5,
John Coleman, Alabama
# 12,862:
7:11 pm PST, Feb 5,
Kathy And Judy Sutter, Florida
This is a civil right.
This is a civil right.
# 12,861:
6:53 pm PST, Feb 5,
Andrea Dillingham, Utah
# 12,860:
6:36 pm PST, Feb 5,
Nefertari Campbell, New York
# 12,859:
4:48 pm PST, Feb 5,
Izbase Loredana, Romania
# 12,858:
12:58 pm PST, Feb 5,
Rita De Vos, Belgium
Please stop the discrimination based on sexual orientation. Show respect for all human beings. Let all people who choose to live together as a loving couple the choice of marriage if that's what they really want. Every person should have the same civil rights.
Please stop the discrimination based on sexual orientation. Show respect for all human beings. Let all people who choose to live together as a loving couple the choice of marriage if that's what they really want. Every person should have the same civil rights.
# 12,857:
12:16 pm PST, Feb 5,
Megan Speight, Canada
# 12,856:
11:44 am PST, Feb 5,
Name not displayed, Florida
# 12,855:
11:01 pm PST, Feb 4,
Nicole Rooth, Canada
# 12,854:
1:20 pm PST, Feb 4,
Emma Spurgin Hussey, United Kingdom
# 12,853:
10:04 am PST, Feb 4,
Elizabeth Irving-Waddleton, Canada
I'm an American living in a country which legalized gay marriage years ago. This has not created any new problems--if anything, it has only increased tolerance and respect for the commitment of gay marriage. Please don't let DOMA pass: it's a step backward in the wrong direction!
I'm an American living in a country which legalized gay marriage years ago. This has not created any new problems--if anything, it has only increased tolerance and respect for the commitment of gay marriage. Please don't let DOMA pass: it's a step backward in the wrong direction!
# 12,852:
2:28 am PST, Feb 4,
Darko Markac, Croatia
# 12,851:
10:35 pm PST, Feb 3,
Rodin Mita, Romania
