Reader deadlegsonwheels alerted us to this petition and the circumstances surrounding it:

Hi :) i was wondering if you could help. My friend Shrouk is originally from Egypt.Basically,the people who know her over there have found bout her orientation and it’s illegal for her to be gay and aethiast and not a virgin. If she gets sent back to there she will get alot of abuse and be forced to marry a man and get circumsised and i really dont want her to go and suffer all that.She’s already appealled in court for a visa but it’s been rejected which is why she needs to get as many people as possible to sign the petition.Shroukie is a very wonderful person with high morals and ethics,shes got a very big heart and cares about her friends and is very smart,she is a very passionate inspiring person. She’s got a lovely personality and is very smiley and fun.Please sign the petition and get as many people you know who’d support it to sign it too.Thanks very much xx

If you haven’t already, please go add your signature to this.  We cannot allow the US government to further hurt and shame rape victims out of some sense of faux-concern.  Allowing them to redefine rape in this way would open up a horrific opportunity for rape to be redefined in other ways or areas.

This is an attack on those who have already been hurt enough.  We cannot let it pass.  We cannot be silent.

One in three women worldwide will be beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime, with rates reaching 70 percent in some countries.

On March 17th, two American journalists - Euna Lee and Laura Ling - were taken into custody by the North Korean military.  The two women were reporting on the trafficking of women along the border with China.

This week, Euna and Laura were charged with “hostile acts” and illegally entering the country, then sentenced to 12 years of “reform through hard labor.”

We call on the Government of North Korea to release Euna and Laura on humanitarian grounds.  These women are wives, mothers, daughters, sisters; they are missed by their families and friends, who would like to see them safe and back at home. 

Please click the link to sign the petition.