Miranda July
Miranda July is a filmmaker, writer, and artist living in Los Angeles.
REASON 90: Obama expanded the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act to include leave for domestic violence and sexual assault.
Let’s say your boyfriend beats you up. And you’re desperate-feeling and you think everything is your fault and you keep saying sorry all the time and your body actually hurts and you’re gonna lose your job for missing work and that CAN’T HAPPEN because you have a kid. Does this sound like you? I really hope not. But if it does, Obama has made it so you can do the most important thing first—get help—without having to worry about losing your job. He expanded the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act to include leave for domestic violence and sexual assault.He did that.
And then guess what he did? He tried to widen up what family means in this scenario. If a kid is counting on you for survival, Obama doesn’t really think it matters if you’re a mom or a grandmother or a gay dad—what matters is that you’re getting beat up and you should be able to get help without losing your job.
This is why you vote. Not because you’re into politics necessarily or presidents, per se. But because when things are going really badly for you they can get much, much worse, so easily. Right now we have a president who understands this—in a week that might not be true. See you at the polls.
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Los Angeles, California
REASON 35:
Obama repealed Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. read essay →
REASON 36:
Mitt Romney plans to remove regulations on air and water quality and cut off funding for the National Labor Relations Board. read essay →
REASON 80:
Romney has called the Arizona immigration law SB 1070 a model for the nation.read essay →