more could be done? well, certainly, this imple meation of the supreme court decision is a huge and important goal for our community but there s a lot more that needs to be done. diskrim nas fasts lgbt people in all parts of their lives and that would be a huge step to protecting them all over the country so there s a lot more that can be done and continuing to push the administration to take those steps. brian, thank you very much. thank you. it was date night at the white house last night. with president obama and the first lady planning to spend most of valentine s day apart, the first couple headed out for a dinner at a d.c. restaurant last night. the president will be in california to meet with the king of jordan on friday which is valentine s day. like new parmesan crusted chicken, 3 courses, 2 people, just $25 at olive garden! also enjoy weekday signature favorites, four classic pastas, now just $10!
of justice stands on behalf of the united states, they will strive to ensure that same-sex marriages receive the same privileges, the same protections, and the same rights as opposite sex marriages under federal law. joining know now is brian molten. so, welcome. thank you for joining us today. thank you for having me. i want to start by asking you, how big a victory is this for the lbgt community? it is a big step forward and continued effort of the yd to make sure that that historic supreme court decision this past summer that brought federal regulation is implemented across the government all over the country. what are some examples of how having equal rights in the federal justice system will affect same-sex couples, particularly? sure. so this will mean that if someone is in a federal court, being prosecuted in a federal
native-americans, but house republicans refuse to do that and are planning to pass their own version next month. joining us now legal director of the human rights campaign brian molten. thanks for having me, alex. we re talking about the violence against women act. i want to quote something from the hard-hitting journalist of the daily beast. she s writing in the washington post this week republicans will have to answer to the women and men trying to escape domestic abuse, who may never receive the help they need, because they re not the right kind of victims in the eyes of today s laws and the politicians who write them. this brings focus back to social issues where republicans and democrats traditional disagree, one being rights for lbgt americans. right. i think the reauthorization reflects what domestic violence service providers have provided,
and senator santorum certainly reflects most of the presidential candidates with the possible exception i guess of jon huntsman. sure, i think we should focus on the fact that we re talking about 80 countries where it s still criminal to be an openly-gay person. look at uganda. nigeria is looking at a law in russia you have gay rights demonstrations and groups being cracked down on by the state. so we re talking about you know, agreeing that lgbt people should be treated as human beings internationally. and i don t agree with the senator that, that that s not a value that americans largely can get behind. briefly, brian, does that mean that the lbgt community is going to be actively engaged in the re-election of barack obama? i think absolutely. he s done tremendous work, this is one more example and we want to keep that moving forward. thank you so much. up next, white house senior adviser, valerie jarrett, the
forward. we re not worried about the next election. minor anybody else s. it should be about the next generation. thank you so much, senators kirk and mansion. and for the first time the u.s. says it will use diplomatic and economic pressure to promote gay rights worldwide in a landmark announcement in geneva. secretary of state hillary clinton said human rights and the rights of homosexuals are inseparable. joining me now, brian molten is the chief legislative representative here for the human rights campaign. thanks so much, brian for being with us this really mirrors what hillary clinton did in 1995 when she went to china and said women s rights are human rights. now she s saying gay rights are human rights. and saying it on a global stage. how did it make you feel? it was tremendous speech. and president s memo issued earlier that day, a tremendous public statement of the administration s position, particularly in conjunction with world human rights day coming up on december 10