LGBT rights in the USA today...

[Teacher Terry]

People are able to be friends with others with disabilities.

[bae]

If this NYT article is correct, the administration believes that people like me simply do not exist. Or perhaps that we need to be placed into some binary bins.

[Teacher Terry]

Alan if younger people are truly committed it’s different. We would see parents keeping kids home that could work in some capacity and once they died being st the mercy of the state wasn’t pretty. However,if they were working or in a workshop plus in a group home than life was good. If you have family committed until he dies then that will work. Very unusual

[Teacher Terry]

Bae, pretty disgusting isn’t it?

[Alan]

People are able to be friends with others with disabilities.

He has lots of friends, some with disabilities and many without. He is involved in two groups, one sponsored by a local church and another one secular, where he socializes with others with disabilities and due to the excellent work with his very dedicated and long term teacher he is able to connect with everyone he meets. As an example, last year there was some concern he may not be able to graduate high school with the rest of his class so the teacher in charge of the special needs programs arranged a private graduation ceremony for him, his family and friends. There were over 300 people in attendance! We all cried during the entire event, myself included.

[Teacher Terry]

That’s awesome!

[Yppej]

As for social programs, the only beneficial program to date (he's currently 21 years old) has been a state program which allowed him to stay in school until the age of 21 where his social skills were greatly enhanced. There are Federal programs which mainly seem designed to relieve the family from responsibility for his care although there's not a single person in his extended family willing to go that route. He continues to live at home and spends a day or two here each week as well as another day or two with his other grandparents which ensures that he has continuous care by people who love him.

It's not just additional years of schooling, but more costly special needs education with a lower student:teacher ratio.

And when he hits 26 and can no longer be on your medical insurance, how will that be covered?

[flowerseverywhere]

I think that your (and several others) comment(s) about my empathy are unfounded, unless your definition of empathy requires an abandonment of personal responsibility. I believe government interference is a poor substitute for a loving family.

government interference is a poor substitute for a loving family, but it is sometimes needed. And if there was no government interference what would all the abused, neglected and orphaned children do? Sex slaves? Street beggars? There are close to 500,000 kids in foster care any given day in the US so obviously there is a need

if several people have commented on you coming across as not having empathy perhaps you should pay attention. because I think we all believe that a loving family is the best for any child, sometimes it just is not possible to not have some government help. no matter how loving, hard working, and personally responsible you are.

I don’t think I could live in a world where someone reaches rock bottom (especially through no fault of their own) and there was no one to give them a hand up.

[LDAHL]

I don't see anywhere that Alan was advocating child abandonment. But that may be due to my own lack of empathy.

[gimmethesimplelife]

I remember once in the Spring of 2007 I was reading a copy of the Arizona Republic (the Phoenix newspaper) and there was an article in it regarding gay marriage being legal in Mexico City as of a few weeks before the article was written and there was a photo of two men, Mexican nationals, getting married. Imagine how it felt realizing that Mexico - yes Mexico, (At least Mexico City anyway, as this did not go nationwide and has not as of yet though there is hope for this under Lopez Obrador) - was light years ahead of many American municipalities......things have gotten better since 2007, I do have to admit that. Rob

PS Came back to add - To give America some credit for once, I am very grateful that after a long, long, long struggle that gay/lesbian marriage is legal in the United States, and I'm perhaps even more grateful that gays and lesbians can serve openly in the military. I also very firmly believe that having tasted legally recognized Basic Human Rights, should the Trump Administration try to take away this Civil Rights Progress......not only blizzards of lawsuits like never seen before but some souls starting over in other countries that maintain these rights....perhaps through regular immigration, potentially political asylum should things get really really threateningly nasty. We'll see though I am glad that Trump has publicly declared the marriage issue to be settled law. Rob

Came back yet again to add - I'm not proud that gay/lesbian marriage took longer to become legal in Austria than it did in the United States, either. One country I have a great deal of respect for in this area - Uruguay. Went against the church and made same sex marriage legal before some wealthier, more liberal countries did. Uruguay gets my two thumbs up and has for a number of years. Rob