And as we celebrate, let's be clear - these rights were won not by electing Democratic majorities into the state house and senate, but by the immense pressure that LGBTQ communities and activists have built for equality.

Judy Beishon of the Socialist Party executive committee addresses the crucial question: What programme should socialists adopt today on the route towards a Palestinian state and the ending of this protracted national conflict?

Late in the evening of Wednesday, March 27th the Arizona House Appropriations Committee voted, 7 to 4, to move forward to the House a bill restricting the right of transgendered people to use public bathrooms appropriate to the gender with which they identify. The original version of this bill, SB 1432, called the “papers please, bathroom bill,” would have made it a crime for a transgendered person to use a bathroom other than that for his or her birth gender.

"The hypocrisy of the mass media, owned by a handful of mega-corporations, is evident. While relentlessly blaming the protesters on Broadway, they maintain a polite silence regarding the gruesome violence of US wars or the devastating cuts to social services and education in Seattle and statewide."

It is said that where labour is cheap, life is cheap. This is never more so than in the recent horrific deaths of over 400 garment workers crushed in a collapsed building in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

The Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM, CWI in South Africa) is growing at a rapid pace due to leading a mineworkers’ strike and initiating a new political party: the Workers and Socialist Party.

May Day, International Workers' Day, saw over four thousand workers and young people in Seattle rallying and marching energetically, calling for the legalization of undocumented immigrant workers, and for the right of workers everywhere to unionize and live a dignified life. Kshama Sawant, a Socialist Alternative candidate for City Council, supports immediate, unconditional legalization and equal rights for all undocumented individuals. Our campaign was proud to participate in the peaceful march along with our brothers and sisters.

Capitalism is in an historic crisis. Economic recession and depression grip Greece, Spain, Portugal and other European countries. The austerity packages of the ruling class are driving millions into deeper poverty and destitution. Countries that have boosted an economic boom like Brazil, China and India now face a slow down and the prospect of joining the rest of the crisis ridden capitalist countries.

It took an entire term for President Obama to catch up with the majority of Americans (7 out of 10) who support a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants (Gallup, 2/5/13).

Sensational new evidence has emerged that Richard Nixon, former U.S. president, committed treason in securing his election victory at the height of the Vietnam War in 1968.

In June, the Supreme Court will likely deliver historic decisions on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California’s Proposition 8, leaving many to wonder, “Is marriage the final frontier of gay rights?” The verdicts of these cases regarding same sex marriage will come following a season of huge steps forward for the LGBTQ movement.

Recently, the U.S. government levied a $4.5 billion fine against BP, ordered to be paid over the course of four years. Despite being touted as the largest corporate negligence fine in US history, the settlement promised BP that no criminal charges would be pressed.

On April 9th, the Alabama Governor Robert Bentley signed “TRAP” bill HB-57. TRAP stands for “Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers”, but the acronym is quite apt given the implications of the bill. This latest assault on women’s rights has potentially catastrophic implications for women’s health, and most significantly impacts working and poor women in the state.

As battles against school closures and other attacks on public education rage in a number of cities, notably Philadelphia and Chicago, an important election is taking place in the largest local teachers’ union in the country, the United Federation of Teachers in New York City.

This past week in Boston has been almost surreal —- a horrific attack occurred on Marathon Monday that shouldn't be seen in this city or anywhere in the world. Countless acts of solidarity occurred starting with people running towards the explosion to help the hundreds caught in the path of devastation.