Justice Department Intervenes In Gay Rights Suit For First Time In A Decade

By GottaLaff

This is a good example of why it matters who you support/vote for in any election, and why it is vital that you vote, period:

Yesterday, for the first time in a decade, the Justice Department intervened in a gay rights suit. In August, an openly gay 14-year-old student named Jacob — with the help of the ACLU — sued the Mohawk Central School District in upstate New York because officials “did not appropriately respond to relentless harassment, physical abuse and threats of violence” that Jacob received because of his sexual orientation. NPR reported on some of the harassment to which Jacob alleges he was subjected.

The heartbreaking details are here.

So are the heartening ones, including:

Under Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, the Justice Department has had a dramatically different focus than it did during President Bush’s terms. While the Bush Justice Department was focused on installing political cronies, going after mythical voter fraud cases, and the suppression of minority voters while looking out for the voter disenfranchisement of whites. The Obama Justice Department, by contrast, recently announced that it would also start aggressively going after “banks and mortgage brokers suspected of discriminating against minority applicants in lending.”

"It doesn't matter if I vote. The candidates are interchangeable. Someone else will cancel out my vote anyway." Wrong.

This boy's life was changed because of who Americans elected. He knows the ObamAdministration is looking out for him. He won't feel quite as alone and helpless any more.

He may even feel optimistic that change is in the air, no matter how incrementally, and that there's reason for hope... all because enough people exercised their right to vote.

As frustrated as some of us may be with Obama, this is one time we can come together and unite behind him.