Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Public Acceptance Steadily Growing on Gay Rights


As Disney contemplated lifting its ban on facial hair, there are larger issues of importance in the area of civil rights. Just ask Gay and Lesbian groups. Delray soon will amend the City's Family and Medical Leave Policy to allow city employees to use family and medical leave to care for their domestic partners.

The Palm Beach Human Rights Council states that in Palm Beach County, public employers that provide domestic partnership health insurance and other benefits include Palm Beach County, the School District of Palm Beach County, Palm Beach State College, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, the Office of the Clerk and Comptroller, the Office of the Tax Collector, the Office of the Property Appraiser, the Office of the Supervisor of Elections, the Port of Palm Beach, the Solid Waste Authority, Palm Tran, Palm Beach County Children's Services Council, the Palm Beach County Health Care District, Seacoast Utility Authority, as well as the cities of Delray Beach, Lake Worth, and West Palm Beach, the Town of Jupiter and the Village of Wellington.

Soon, the State of Washington will be approving Gay marriage and will join the other states of Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and the District of Columbia.

As more and more younger citizens enter politics and business, this trend will continue. Public Religion Research Institute conducted a survey last year and found that there was at least a 20-point generation gap between millennials, people of ages 18 to 29, and seniors, those 65-years and older, on every public policy regarding gay and lesbian rights. So, as older folks die off and religion takes a back seat, all the stereotypes and beliefs of the past will be just that.

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