So what are you up to next week on December 17-19? How about helping to shatter a glass ceiling? This week, EQUAL REP was formed calling on people across the nation to urge President-elect Obama to appoint Mary Beth Maxwell the next Secretary of Labor.
In more than 200 years, the United States Cabinet has never included an openly gay member. Growing national focus on GLBT civil rights has therefore made the Secretary of Labor appointment a national issue in the struggle for equal representation.
Maxwell is being closely considered for the position and she is highly qualified. She is the founding Executive Director of American Rights at Work, a national advocacy organization launched in 2003 whose mission is to modernize and reform the labor laws of our nation to better meet the needs of 21st century employers and workers. She is a longtime activist for better collective bargaining rules and a big proponent of the Employee Free Choice Act. She’s a vocal progressive and would make a fantastic Secretary of Labor.
In a short amount of time, Maxwell has also earned the endorsements of the AFL-CIO, Change to Win Federation, the CEO and President of American Income Life Insurance, and the Human Rights Campaign just to name a few.
Not only is Mary Beth Maxwell highly qualified, but she is openly gay too which is icing on the cake. With 2008 being such a historic year for shattering glass ceilings, now is the time to shatter one more for gay Americans and equal representation.
Join the facebook event, invite your friends, and plan on giving the Obama administration a friendly nudge to put his call of change into action. Here’s to hoping that Mary Beth Maxwell is the next Secretary of Labor!
I mean, black President of the US with a woman candidate right behind him AND a woman VP against him. Now another woman Sec of State, Woman President at Harvard… I mean when can we say there is no glass ceiling for women in politics or business? Now you talk about this woman is also gay so can we point to openly gay member in politics and say the ceiling is shattered? I’m not being facetious, what is the standard? There has never been a Mormon President so does a “glass ceiling” exist? If Romney got elected, would that still mean no Mormon woman has been President so a “glass ceiling” still exists?
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p>All these ceilings are absurd in my book as anyone can do anything these days and failure typically means the person has faults and imperfections which people don’t like. Talent trumps everything (gender, race, sexual preference…) and there are many examples of it.
once and for all when a candidate’s race, religion or sexual orientation are no longer obvious sticking points for the public.
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p>interesting that you feel anyone can do anything these days. i wish you would drive to tennessee and ask for a job at a bar or other “macho” hangout. be sure to tell them you’re a faggot and a bottom. they’ll give you something alright, but it won’t be employment.
So, as per your definition, what are we doing to remove the ceiling for Mitt Romney?
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p>As for your Tennessee faggot story, do you really thin we will ever get rid of all biases in this country? We are a nation of Freedom which unfortunately means we can be free to hate people if we want to, for whatever reason. If you wished Sarah Palin was never born or just disappeared, or anything else, that’s ok. You have the freedom of speech, the freedom of thought and the freedom to do anything you want, as long as it is legal.
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p>As for he “macho” hangout, what would happen to a few skinheads who happen into a bar in a South Philly or Harlem and ask for a job? They’ll get something but not a job too. Go to some parts of New York with a Red Sox shirt on and you might get beat up as well. This type of shit will happen forever, it is till happening to Northerners (real Yankees) who go down South and talk with the wrong accent. So what, just because there are places where people of “any” persuasion can get their ass kicked doesn’t mean a glass ceiling exists.
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p>My signature on my email says “Progressive improvement is better than delayed perfection” and that is a credo I live by and preach to my kids. Do woman make the same money as men, no but it keeps getting closer. Do blacks get represented in politics at the same percentage as the general population, no but more and more qualified blacks are running for office and winning (yes, even the POTUS). But rather than concentrating on the sound-bite, people need to look at the cause and fix it.
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p>There has been many fixes to the “systems” to resolve discrimination and there is certainly a shitload of effort going into trying to change society but it will take time. Until then people should be trying to better themselves to be more qualified for jobs. There has been a lot of “criticism” lately about the Gov not placing more blacks in judgeships. To his credit the Gov says he has tried but there are not enough qualified black lawyers to chose from (or he can’t pay the qualified ones the same salary as private industry). Racism is not the problem here and it shouldn’t be cast that way.
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p>I’ll be happy to see you at the next Romney for President fundraiser so you can walk the walk of breaking another glass ceiling “Mormons for POTUS”.
I think the sec. of labor position would be a lower ceiling than that.
has the ear of the president. most members of congress have very little ability to personally influence the thinking of the executive.
Also, don’t forget that it’s only in the House that there’s 2 openly gay people (a whopping 3 come January). And there has NEVER been an openly gay U.S. Senator or President for that matter either.
I believe that the last time the Senate had to confirm an openly gay person, Trent Lott refused to allow an up or down vote. So getting Senate approval will be a first.