September, 15 2009, 10:37am EDT
Americans for Democratic Action Calls for Marriage Equality
Congress Takes First Step to Repeal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
WASHINGTON
Michael J. Wilson, National Director
of Americans for Democratic Action, issued this statement following the
introduction of legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act:
"Americans
for Democratic Action applauds Congress for taking this first step to repeal
the Defense of Marriage Act. This
misnamed piece of legislation enshrined discrimination into Federal law. It treats legal marriages in some states
differently than legal marriages in other states. It denies thousands of Americans the
same rights and privileges as others.
It has no place in a fair and just society and it is time for it to end.
"Marriage, as a legal institution,
should only be limited to adults seeking permanent, committed relationships.
The inevitable discrimination that flows from permitting some marriages but not
others is both unfair and unconstitutional.
"The
road ahead is sure to be difficult but we are thankful to Representative Nadler
and the other sponsors of this bill for showing real leadership on this
important issue.
"The
battle against discrimination has never been easy, and social change has always
been hard but ADA has
always stood for justice, and history is on our side. "
ADA is America's most experienced independent liberal lobbying organization. In the spirit of the New Deal and ADA founders Eleanor Roosevelt, renowned economist John Kenneth Galbraith, and former Senator and Vice President Hubert Humphrey we lobby through coalition partnerships, through direct advocacy, and through the media.
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Database Exposes 'Illicit Network Undermining Democracy Around the World'
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Progressive International (PI) asks and answers this and other questions with an extensive new database published Wednesday that connects the dots in what the leftist group calls the "Reactionary International"—a loose global network of right-wing leaders and organizations working to subvert democratic institutions.
PI calls it an "illicit network undermining democracy around the world."
"Today is a mask-off moment for the Reactionary International and the parties, politicians, judges, journalists, foundations, think tanks, tech platforms, NGOs, activists, financiers, and entrepreneurs that comprise it," PI said.
"After a year of preparation, we finally open the doors to our new research consortium, exposing the global network of reactionary forces that corrode our democracies, destroy our planet, and drive us closer to world war," the group added.
"The twin insurrections at the U.S. Capitol in 2021 and Brasília's Three Powers Plaza in 2023 left no doubt about the international coordination of reactionary forces," PI argued. "Yet far too little is known about the entities of this network, their sources of financing, and their institutional allies operating inside our political systems."
Ultimately, PI aims to "support democratic systems to become more resilient to their insidious tactics."
From leaders like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and former U.S. President Donald Trump—the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee—to evangelical Christian groups influencing laws in African countries criminalizing LGBTQ+ people and tech companies empowering ubiquitous state surveillance, Reactionary International is a who's-who of the world's right-wing forces.
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Yanis Varoufakis, a PI member and secretary-general of the left-wing Democracy in Europe Movement 2025, called the database "a treasure chest of well-researched reports on how the reactionaries of the world unite."
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Led by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, Republican leaders in 23 states on Tuesday filed a petition making clear their aim to allow petrochemical companies and other corporations to continue operating pollution-causing facilities without regard for the "disparate impact" they can have on low-income communities of color.
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As Volkswagen workers in Tennessee began voting on whether to join the United Auto Workers, progressive critics on Wednesday continued to call out six Southern GOP governors for jointly saying they "are highly concerned about the unionization campaign driven by misinformation and scare tactics that the UAW has brought into our states."
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What actually threatens American workers?\n\u274c Anti-union, anti-worker propaganda like this\n\ud83d\udcb0 Corps that put profits over people\n\u26d1\ufe0f Safety standards not being met\n\n@GovAbbott & @GovernorKayIvey sound more like corporate lobbyists than governors here. @UAW backs American workers!— (@)
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