A Washington Post editorial today comes out in favor of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), which would allow gay Americans to sponsor their foreign-born partners and provide a legal path to U.S. citizenship.

The strain of the status quo on gay and lesbian binational couples should not be discounted. Because their relationships are not legally recognized by the United States, some couples have resorted to illegal marriages where the foreign nationals marry Americans to get green cards that allow them to stay in the country permanently. In other cases, Americans have exiled themselves to be with their partners. Sixteen countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, South Africa and the United Kingdom, allow residents to sponsor same-sex permanent partners for legal immigration. American gays and lesbians should not have to choose between their country and their partners.

Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy who introduced the bill spoke recently on Vermont Public Radio…

For more on the UAFA…

– Immigration bill to unite gay binational couples with path to citizenship
– Urge judiciary committees to take action on gay immigration bill (UAFA)

As horrible as it sounds, I’ve always taken a small measure of comfort in thinking Anita Bryant, who worked so tirelessly in the 70s to strip gays and lesbians of their human rights and reduce them to second class citizens, was no longer with us. Which is not the same as wishing them dead, not exactly anyway.

I guess I’ve been living under a rock. I was wrong. Terribly wrong.

And it looks like she may be up to her old tricks and more… (via Gossip Boy)

And in case we need to be reminded…

In what has to be one of the hardest-hitting news interviews in recent memory, John Stewart takes it to Jim Cramer on tonight’s Daily Show exposing the hypocrisy of CNBC and Cramer himself. And this from a comedy news show. Frankly the other news networks should be embarrassed.

Watch and enjoy…

Part 1

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Not surprisingly, a number of states — many of them conservative — are at odds with the easing of stem cell research restrictions put into effect by President Obama ealier this week. Currently Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota and South Carolina have bills that would impact stem cell research.

As reported by AP…

While Louisiana already bans the destruction of fertilized embryos, the courts have not yet weighed in, Charo said.

In Georgia, a measure that would ban some forms of stem cell research on fertilized embryos is moving quickly through the state Senate. The bill would outlaw the destruction of fertilized embryos, which the legislation defines as a person. It is expected to face a vote in the full state Senate on Thursday.

Similar “personhood” measures have cleared one chamber each in Montana and North Dakota.

They come in the wake of a Colorado ballot initiative that said human life begins at conception. It failed to win voter approval last year.

David Prentice, senior fellow for life sciences at the Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council, said Obama’s announcement Monday that he will free federal funds for embryonic stem cell research will rally conservatives.

“This is the beginning,” Prentice said. “I think there will be more to come.”

Many would suggest that any state that hampers or bans stem cell research shouldn’t be able to enjoy the fruits of its research. While I certainly wouldn’t go that far, the state should be penalized in some way without harming its constituents.

The true irony here is that nearly half of those states have some of the highest rates of heart disease and incidences of diabetes in the nation. Chronic conditions that could easily be reduced by breakthroughs in stem cell research.

It brings back that tired but true refrain “always voting against one’s self interest.”