Although you probably do not know who Lilly Ledbetter is (I didn’t know until this past week), you should thank her.

For the last ten years of her life, Ledbetter has fought for equal pay rights in the work place for women. After experiencing pay-based discrimination because of her sex (and learning about it through anonymous letters in her work mailbox), Ledbetter filed a complaint of gender discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Making a long story short (however, you should read the whole story over at CNN), President Obama stepped in and signed the Lilly Ledbetter Equal Pay Restoration Act this past week making the fight for women’s rights and equality better upheld through the law.

While I feel gratitude for Ledbetter’s ongoing battle with the Supreme Court and Congress to pass this act that will give women the rights they warrant and money that is rightfully theirs, I know that work is still left to be done.

It may seem hard to believe, but to this day, full-time working women get paid “on average, only 77 cents for each dollar full-time working men get paid,” according to the Wage Project. This happens in every occupation across the nation, and while it impacts women in different ways, the reality of it is that hardworking women with outstanding college degrees lose money in their pockets simply because of their sex.

Think about it. Imagine working at the same place, doing the same job as a man (who has the same degree and amount of experience as you), putting in the same hours, only to find out he is, in fact, making more money than you on an annual basis. How is that fair? It’s not, at all.

But it is reality. Read More »

Someone very close to me is 22 years old and has never had a girlfriend. He is not gay (yes, I’m sure), and moreover, he doesn’t want a girlfriend. In my mind, I picture him as always being just by himself—that same picture with the inclusion of a romantic partner just seems weird to me.

Is there something wrong with that?

That’s the question, isn’t it? In a world where it’s normal to partner up, get married, and have children, it often seems to me that those who fall outside the norm are harassed for it. What exactly is so wrong about wanting to be single for always? In my mind, that’s a matter of preference and a personal choice for which no one should be discriminated against.

If a person is single and wants to be in a relationship or have children, that’s one thing. But if they don’t—lay off! Read More »

Not sure if any of you have heard – probably have by now – about Genarlow Wilson, who was convicted at age 17 of having consensual oral sex with a girl age 15. He was sentenced to 10 years and has already served 27 months — FINALLY, some judge took his head out his ass long enough to go…WHOA, WTF are we doing?

Half the internet has made this an issue of white vs. black, about double standards and race discrimination. Don’t get me wrong, there are still some places in the South that still think the Civil War was an impass, but this poor kid was convicted because we have a judicial system that goes by absolutes. “If/Then” statements rule half of the laws out there. Genarlow was considered an adult, while his partner was a minor – that is the legal justification of the “crime”. PLUS, they have demanded that he register as a sex offender.

In this case, there are many other factors: he was also accused of raping a 17 year old girl (ACQUITTED), he and all members at the party were drunk and stoned (NO CHARGES FILED) and some idiot video taped the whole thing for his personal whack-off library. Everyone is bringing up all of these other charges, when they discuss this case, but there is no reason – he was found NOT GUILTY – which is only the basis of our entire judicial system.

How does this case involve us?

Read More »