Social Issues

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** FILE ** President Obama cited a respect for states' rights in connection with his "evolution" toward supporting gay marriage. (Associated Press)

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Althea Gibson competes at Wimbledon in England in 1956. She was among the more than a million black people who weren't counted in the 1940 census. The records were released April 2. (Associated Press)

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** FILE ** In this May 8, 2012, file photo, openly gay Sen. Pat Steadman, right, D-Denver, embraces gay Sen. Lucia Guzman, D-Denver, at a rally in support of Civil Unions at the Capitol in Denver, as Senate President Brandon Shaffer is pictured in the background. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski, File)

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Rep. Trent Franks, Arizona Republican, introduced the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act in January. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

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In this March 31, 2012 photo, items meant for Akira-Li, a child Sharon Brooks was planning to adopt, are shown at her house in New York. Brooks, 56, waited three and a half years for the release of a little girl in Vietnam after the U.S. froze adoptions there in 2008 amid serious fraud concerns. Finally, in January, Brooks learned the child she had named Akira-Li would instead be adopted by a Vietnamese family. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

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A towel with Akira-Li's name on it sits next to her picture in the New York home of Sharon Brooks, 56, who also bought other things for the child she hoped to adopt from Vietnam. But after 3 1/2 years of waiting because the U.S. froze adoptions there amid fraud concerns, Ms. Brooks (below) learned the girl would instead be adopted by a Vietnamese family. (Associated Press)

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In this March 31, 2012 photo, Sharon Brooks shows a room meant for a child she was planning to adopt in New York. Brooks, 56, waited three and a half years for the release of a little girl in Vietnam after the U.S. froze adoptions there in 2008 amid serious fraud concerns. Finally, in January, Brooks learned the child she had named Akira-Li would instead be adopted by a Vietnamese family. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

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**FILE** People wait in line to have their bags checked in what the Customs and Border Protection officers refer to as "Secondary" — the secondary screening area — at Washington Dulles International Airport on Feb. 16, 2012. This is where the agriculture experts check for items that are illegal to bring in to the United States, such as meat products and plant life. (The Washington Times)