Each Friday we'll bring you updates on the latest civil liberties news from Maine and the nation.
Roe V. Wade Turns 40:
The ACLU of Maine celebrated the 40th anniversary of Roe V. Wade with our partners in the Maine Choice Coalition. In this news clip our Public Policy Advocate, Jill Barkley, notes that the ACLU and other members of the Maine Choice Coalition are collectively committed to doing all we can to defend and advance reproductive freedom.
Martin Luther King Junior Day:
We’re also committed to ending discrimination, which was this year’s theme at the Portland NAACP’s Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast. Staff from the ACLU of Maine were on hand to hear featured speaker Rinku Sen, who noted that racism may be less overt than in King’s day, but still drives many subconscious decisions. Read more about the breakfast in this news article.
Obama Mentions Stonewall:
Obama gave a historic inaugural speech this week. LGBT folks were recognized in unprecedented ways. The inaugural poet was the first-ever gay person and first-ever Latino person to be honored as such. It was also the first time that a president at an inauguration said the word “Gay” in reference to an LGBT person. And as Shenna blogged about here, he also included Stonewall in a list of places iconic to historical struggles for equality.
In other evidence of LGBT rights advancing, the Rhode Island House of Representatives passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage that now moves on to the senate.
Pentagon Set to Lift Ban on Women in Combat:
Now military women will get credit for the work they’re already doing, and be appropriately promoted and compensated for that work. More on that here.
