Social Issues

61bb7684d1346902490f6a706700e8bb.jpg

FILE - In this 2006 campaign file photo released by David Agema, R-Grandville, a former Republican Michigan state representative and now a member of the Republican National Committee, is shown. Agema has come under increasing criticism from state Republican leaders and from opposition Democrats over his repeated criticism of gay people, support for anti-gay policies and questioning of Muslims’ commitment to charity. (AP Photo/Agema handout via The Grand Rapids Press, File) **NO SALES**

1bbd734fae675602490f6a7067008c10.jpg

FILE - This Sept. 19, 2013 file photo shows Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington. The opening of Postal Service retail centers in dozens of Staples stores around the country is being met with threats of protests and boycotts by the agency’s unions. The new outlets are staffed by Staples employees, not postal workers, and labor officials say that move replaces good-paying union jobs with low-wage, nonunion workers. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

df32116dae665602490f6a706700b3ea.jpg

FILE - This March 6, 2013 file photo shows a Staples office supply store Miami. The opening of Postal Service retail centers in dozens of Staples stores around the country is being met with threats of protests and boycotts by the agency’s unions. The new outlets are staffed by Staples employees, not postal workers, and labor officials say that move replaces good-paying union jobs with low-wage, nonunion workers. (AP Photo/ Lynne Sladky, File)

f70aaa10ae645602490f6a70670059de.jpg

Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union poses for a photo at their Washington headquarters, Friday, Jan. 17, 2014. The opening of Postal Service retail centers in dozens of Staples stores around the country is being met with threats of protests and boycotts by the agency’s unions. The new outlets are staffed by Staples employees, not postal workers, and labor officials say that move replaces good-paying union jobs with low-wage, nonunion workers. "It's a direct assault on our jobs and on public postal services," said Mark Dimondstein, president of the 200,000-member American Postal Workers Union. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

2110a551af765b02490f6a706700d379.jpg

In this Friday, Jan. 17, 2014 photo made available by Presidential Press Service on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to a translation during an interview to Russian and foreign media at the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, which will host Winter Olympic Games on Feb. 7, 2014. President Vladimir Putin once again has offered assurances to gays planning to attend the Sochi Olympics, but his arguments defending Russia’s ban on homosexual “propaganda” to minors show the vast gulf between how he understands the issues and how homosexuality is generally viewed in the West. In an interview with Russian and foreign television stations broadcast Sunday, Putin equated gays with pedophiles and spoke of the need for Russia to “cleanse” itself of homosexuality as part of efforts to increase the birth rate. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky, Presidential Press Service)

bdc544c5af745b02490f6a706700613d.jpg

In this Friday, Jan. 17, 2014 photo made available by Presidential Press Service on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to a translation during an interview to Russian and foreign media at the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, which will host Winter Olympic Games on Feb. 7, 2014. President Vladimir Putin once again has offered assurances to gays planning to attend the Sochi Olympics, but his arguments defending Russia’s ban on homosexual “propaganda” to minors show the vast gulf between how he understands the issues and how homosexuality is generally viewed in the West. In an interview with Russian and foreign television stations broadcast Sunday, Putin equated gays with pedophiles and spoke of the need for Russia to “cleanse” itself of homosexuality as part of efforts to increase the birth rate. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky, Presidential Press Service)

76b852e9b0c96102490f6a706700654a.jpg

FILE - This Monday Nov. 25, 2013 file photo shows Carol Schall, left, and her partner, Mary Townley, at their home in Richmond, Va. The couple, who were married in California in 2008, decided to join a lawsuit challenging Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage. Almost overnight, Virginia has emerged as a critical state in the nationwide fight to grant gay men and women the right to wed. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

e90d1196fc53e801480f6a70670019c7.jpg

ADVANCE FOR SATURDAY, JAN 18, 2014 - In this Jan. 3, 2014 photo, Janice Hayes-Williams sits in the Bertina Nick Historical Classroom at the Stanton Center in Annapolis, Md. In 2007 the Annapolis City Council passed a bill apologizing for slavery. The legislation also called for a time of education in the last week of October. But after four years without any observance, Hayes-Williams returned to the Annapolis City Council to follow up on its pledge. Her efforts led to another bill in 2011 forming the Annapolis Commission on Maryland’s Constitution of 1864 and the Abolishment of Slavery. (AP Photo/Capital Gazette, Joshua McKerrow)