Today I received a petition from the Care2 Petition Site asking me to sign a petition thanking President Obama for reversing the previous administration's policies regarding the U.N. and joining the Human Rights Council within that body.

While this is good news in the matter of our standing among the nations of the world, it is another slap in the face to the 1.5% of the population in this country who are still waiting to have their basic rights acknowledged.

So, I have an idea:
Right now the Obama administration is, most likely, congratulating itself for taking this stand and supporting the U.N.'s Human Rights Council. They are absolutely correct that the only way to make a difference in this extraordinarily important matter is by taking a seat inside the council and working to make changes from the inside. Scolding from the outside has less than no effect.

However, this is a terrific time to remind Obama that a disastrous human rights injustice is happening right here every day.
When people's careers are being ruined by our government's misguided policy of Don't Ask Don't Tell as a matter of course; when our Department of Justice puts out a statement comparing gay marriage to incest and the marriage of children, how can our country possibly act as an arbiter of justice in the U.N? The short answer is it can't.

So, I appended a personal message to the petition and sent a personal email to the White House to that effect. I attach it below. Please copy and paste it or edit it as you please or write your own and send it along to them.

Now, while they're focused on worldwide human rights issues, is the time to remind them that they need to get their own house in order before trying to tell other countries how to conduct their affairs, right?

Here's my letter-- please use it as a jumping off point for your own.
And, won't you pass this ms along to your email friends, too? Thanx.
xxx
I add my personal gratitude for your reversal of the former administration's policies regarding the U.N. in general and the Human Rights Council in particular.

Now, will you please also address the human rights issue here at home that is still languishing, waiting for your attention?

Please tell the Pentagon to stop enforcing Don't Ask Don't Tell until Congress gets around to addressing this miscarriage of justice.
And please speak out against the insult to all LGBT's put forth by your Justice Department last month.

Human rights are essential for dignity and freedom from fear. The people of the LGBT community still labor under fear for their own safety in this "land of the free". Maintaining their status as second class citizens and publishing misinformation about them do nothing to lift that fear-- in fact such measures increase it.

Thank you for turning your attention to this profoundly important matter.