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Obama's 'We the People' petitions were unprecedented. These 10 were our favorites.

The petition site is one of the cooler things to come out of the Obama administration.

A little over five years ago, the White House launched the "We the People" petition platform, creating a unique link between the president and the general public.

The premise was simple enough: Regular citizens could create petitions for issues they'd like to see the government act on, and if they received enough signatures (at least 100,000 names), they'd be guaranteed a response from someone within the president's administration.

This week, the Pew Research Center issued a report covering the platform's 4,799 publicly-available petitions and 227 responses from the White House, providing a fascinating look at what issues matter most to everyday Americans.


Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images.

While the platform has been used to make some pretty out-there requests — such as asking the White House to recognize International Talk Like a Pirate Day, to have President Barack Obama play in the 2017 NBA All-Star celebrity game, to release the recipe for the White House's home-brewed honey ale (and they did), and to mandate that states have an official character from Pokémon — it also served its intended purpose of bridging the gap between elected leaders and constituents.

The platform is a reminder that good government means that we all matter, as individuals and as groups.

So let's take a look back at 10 of our favorite "We the People" petitions and White House responses.

1. Recognize the Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group. (2012)

Coming in at more than 367,000 signatures, the petition to brand the notorious church as a hate group is one of the site's most popular entries. While the White House's answer may not have been entirely satisfactory to some (the government does not keep a registry of hate groups), the administration believes that the popularity of this petition (as well as a number of other WBC-related petitions) should bring its own brand of hope to signees.

"One of the remarkable things about this set of petitions is that it shows just how strong the bonds that unite us can be," the White House wrote in reply. "Together, we’re more resilient than those who would try to drive us apart."

Jacob Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church demonstrates outside the U.S. Supreme Court. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

2. Ban the practice of "conversion therapy." (2015)

Following transgender 17-year-old Leelah Alcorn's 2014 death by suicide, LGBTQ activists renewed a call to put an end to "conversion therapy," the practice of trying to "de-gay" or "de-trans" children. With more than 120,000 signatures, the petition earned an official response from the White House.

In addition to a thoughtful response from White House advisor Valerie Jarret, in which she stated unequivocally that the administration was opposed to the practice (which is, sadly, still legal in all but a few states), it led to a report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration on exactly why the practice is wrong.

3. Make unlocking cell phones legal. (2013)

What makes this one so special? It worked! Cell service carriers moved to make unlocking devices for use on other carriers illegal, and a lot of people pushed back. A little over a year after petitioning the White House, Obama signed the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act into law. 114,000 people asked, and the White House answered.

Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.

4. Require police to wear body cameras. (2014)

After an officer shot and killed Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, more than 154,000 people took to the We the People website to demand action to help hold law enforcement accountable for their actions (as well as protect them). A number of cities and states have since required police to wear body cameras, and the ACLU even drafted sample legislation for states, municipalities, and the federal government to take up should they so choose.

Photo by Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images.

5. Legally recognize non-binary genders. (2014)

People who identify outside the male-female gender binary are not new. Still, for the most part, non-binary individuals have struggled to get legal recognition of their gender.

Given that estimates of the transgender population sits at 1.4 million (or roughly 0.6% of the U.S.), and that includes those who identify with binary genders, it goes to reason that the non-binary portion of that population is even smaller. Making up just a fraction of the population makes it hard to get the attention of elected officials, and that's why this petition demonstrates the power that the We the People platform has for helping those typically ignored by society.

6. Deport Justin Bieber. (2014)

More than 273,000 We the People users had some rough words for our pop star neighbor from the north, urging the White House to "remove Justin Bieber from our society" for "threatening the safety of our people" and being "a terrible influence on our nation's youth." Harsh.

Having crossed the signature threshold, the White House was obliged to respond. While they did not boot the Biebs from the U.S., they used their clever response to discuss the importance of comprehensive immigration reform. They even compared immigration reform data to Bieber's debut  album sales. The response to the Bieber petition may very well be the best thing on the entire site and is worth reading in its entirety.

Bieber performs onstage during the 2016 Billboard Music Awards. Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images.

7. Repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. (2012)

"You're right — it's past time for DOMA to expire," began the administration's response to calls to end the 1996 law. "The Defense of Marriage Act is discriminatory and should be repealed. President Obama has long supported overturning the law through the legislative process. He also has concluded that Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional, as his Administration has argued in court challenges across the country."

In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that Section 3 of DOMA is, as the Obama administration argued, unconstitutional. The decision effectively legalized marriage equality nationwide.

Plaintiff in the DOMA case Edith Windsor waves to supporters outside the Supreme Court. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

8. Stop construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. (2016)

More than 378,000 people signed the August 2016 petition calling for the government to put an end to the pipeline planned near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. The argument put forth by the petition's authors is that if the pipeline were to leak into the Missouri River, Standing Rock's sole water source, it would make the reservation uninhabitable.

On Dec. 4, 2016, the Army Corps of Engineers announced plans to put the project on hold and explore other routes for the pipeline.

Photo by Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images.

9. Commute Chelsea Manning's sentence to time served. (2016)

(Update February 2017: In one of his last acts as president, Obama commuted Manning's sentence.)

Currently serving a 35-year sentence for leaking classified documents to Wikileaks, Chelsea Manning has endured multiple suicide attempts, extended periods of solitary confinement, and denial of medically necessary treatment related to her being transgender. As harsh as her life has been during her six-plus years behind bars so far, advocates for Manning imagine things will only get worse for her during a Trump administration.

What makes this petition worth following is the fact that while it has surpassed the 100,000 signature threshold, the White House has yet to issue a response.

Chelsea Manning is escorted by military police as she leaves her military trial July 30, 2013, after she was found guilty in 20 out of 21 charges. Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images.

10. Award Yogi Berra the Presidential Medal of Freedom. (2015)

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest civilian honor and is given out to a handful of citizens each year. In 2015, more than 111,000 people signed a petition asking Obama to give the award to the baseball legend Yogi Berra.

Acknowledging that while the Presidential Medal of Freedom is something awarded at the sole discretion of the president himself, and therefore something that the team at We the People couldn't directly address, they did note that Berra shared a number of qualities with past honorees.

In Nov. 2015, Obama posthumously awarded Berra the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a White House ceremony.

Larry Berra, son of baseball legend Yogi Berra, receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom on behalf of his father on Nov. 24, 2015. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images.

Marginalized voices don't always get heard. Too often, it seems like people in government only look out for those whose votes they need when the next election comes around. The We the People platform helps level that playing field because even some relatively niche issues can generate a significant number of signatures.

There's no telling whether or not the Trump administration will continue the We the People platform, but here's hoping they do.

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Three women, three MS journeys: How multiple sclerosis looks different for everyone

Gina, Nathalie and Helga share their reactions to being diagnosed with MS and how they stay informed and positive in the face of ever-changing symptoms.

Courtesy of Sanofi

Helga, Nathalie and Gina all have MS, and their experiences show how differently the disease can manifest.

True

It’s been 155 years since neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot gave the first lecture on a mysterious progressive illness he called “multiple sclerosis.” Since then, we’ve learned a lot. We know MS causes the immune system to attack healthy tissue, including damaging the brain and spinal cord. Resulting symptoms can be debilitating and include fatigue, blurred vision, memory problems and weakness. Huge advancements in our understanding of MS and its underlying causes, as well as treatment advances, have been made in the past few decades, but MS remains a complex and unpredictable reality for the 2.8 million+ people diagnosed around the world.

Ironically, the only real constant for people living with MS is change. There’s no set pattern or standard progression of the disease, so each person’s experience is unique. Some people with MS have mild symptoms that worsen slowly but sometimes improve, while others can have severe symptoms that drastically alter their daily lives.

All people with MS share some things in common, however, such as the need to stay informed on the ever-evolving research, find various lines of support and try to remain hopeful as they continue living with the disease.

To better understand what navigating life with MS really looks like, three women shared their MS stories with us. Their journeys demonstrate how MS can look different for different people and interestingly, how the language used to talk about the disease can greatly impact how people understand their realities.

woman with horse, woman riding horseGina loves riding her horse, Benita.Courtesy of Sanofi

Gina—Hamburg, Germany (diagnosed with relapsing multiple sclerosis in 2017)

When her youngest son was 4 months old, Gina started having problems with her eye. She’d soon learn she was experiencing optic neuritis—her first symptom of MS.

“Immediately after the diagnosis, I looked up facts on MS because I didn’t know anything about it,” Gina says. “And as soon as I knew what could really happen with this disease, I actually got scared.”

As her family’s primary income provider, she worried about how MS would impact her ability to work as a writer and editor. Her family was afraid she was going to end up in a wheelchair. However, for now, Gina’s MS is managed well enough that she still works full-time and is able to be active.

“When I tell somebody that I have MS, they often don't believe me the first time because I don't fulfill any stereotypes,” she says.

Overwhelmed by negative perspectives on living with MS, Gina sought support in the online MS community, which she found to be much more positive.

“I think it’s important to use as many positive words as you can when talking about MS.” It’s important to be realistic while also conveying hope, she says. “MS is an insidious disease that can cause many bad symptoms…that can be frightening, and you can't gloss over it, either.”

To give back to the online community that helped her so much, Gina started a blog to share her story and help others trying to learn about their diagnosis.

Though she deals with fatigue and cognitive dysfunction sometimes, Gina stays active swimming, biking, riding horses and playing with her sons, who are now 11 and 6.

Cognitive dysfunction is common in MS, with over half of people affected. It can impact memory, attention, planning, and word-finding. As with many aspects of MS, some people experience mild changes, while others face more challenges.

Gina says that while there’s still a lot of education about MS needed, she feels positive about the future of MS because there’s so much research being done.

woman in wheelchair holding medal, woman rowingNathalie is an award-winning rower with multiple international titles.Courtesy of Sanofi

Nathalie — Pennes Mirabeau, France (diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in 2002)

Nathalie was a teenager and a competitive athlete when she noticed her first symptoms of MS, but it would take four years of “limbo” before she was diagnosed.

“Ultimately, the diagnosis was more of a relief, than a shock,” she says. “Because when you have signs and you don’t know why, it’s worse than knowing, in the end, what you have.”

However, learning more about the disease—and the realities of disease progression—scared her.

“That glimpse of the future was direct and traumatic,” she says. Her neurologist explained that the disease evolves differently for everyone, and her situation might end up being serious or very mild. So, she decided to stop comparing herself to others with MS.

She said to herself, “We’ll see what happens, and you’ll manage it bit by bit.”

By 2005, Nathalie’s MS had progressed to the point of needing a wheelchair. However, that has not dampened her competitive spirit.

Nathalie began her international rowing career in 2009 and has won multiple world titles, including two Paralympic medals—silver in London and bronze in Tokyo. Now, at 42, she still trains 11 times a week. Fatigue can be a problem, and sometimes hard workouts leave her with muscle stiffness and shaking, but she credits her ongoing sports career for helping her feel in tune with her body’s signals.

“Over the years, I’ve learned to listen to my body, letting my body guide when I need to stop and take breaks,” she says.

Nathalie explains that she used to only look backwards because of the initial shock of her diagnosis. In time, she stopped thinking about what she couldn’t do anymore and focused on her future. She now lives in the following mindset: “Even when doors close, don’t miss out on those that open.” Instead of focusing on what she can’t do, she focuses on the opportunities she still has. Right now, this includes her training for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, where she will compete for another rowing medal.

“I only go forward,” she says. “Well, I try, anyway…It’s easy to say, it’s not always easy to do. But that’s what I try to do.”

woman exiting water after swimming, woman with great daneHelga's Great Dane has become a helpful and beloved companion.Courtesy of Sanofi

Helga—Johannesburg, South Africa (diagnosed with relapsing multiple sclerosis in 2010)

When Helga first started having balance issues and numbness in her feet, she chalked it up to her training as a runner. But when the numbness moved to her face, she knew something was wrong. She never guessed it was MS.

“When I was diagnosed, I felt completely overwhelmed and clueless,” Helga says. “I felt that I had nowhere near enough information. I did not know anything about the disease…I had no idea that it was going to be a process of continually monitoring and adjusting your lifestyle.”

In the beginning, Helga’s symptoms developed slowly, and she didn’t appear ill to others. She was even able to run for a few years after her diagnosis, but she couldn’t do marathons anymore, and she began to fall frequently due to balance issues and right-foot dragging. Then her cognition issues became more problematic, especially in her job as a trainer in a printing company.

“My executive function, decision-making and short-term memory were affected to the point that I was eventually medically unfit for work,” she says. She stopped working in 2017.

However, she didn’t stop living life. Even though she could no longer run, she continued to swim competitively. She got a Great Dane puppy and trained him as a service dog to help her walk. She also serves as vice chair of the patient support organization Multiple Sclerosis South Africa, and she advises others who have been diagnosed to join a patient advocacy group as soon as possible to get reliable information and meet others with MS.

Helga says she is “hopeful” about the future of MS. “I must say that I am so grateful that we have all the new medications available, because my life would not be the same if it wasn't for that,” she adds.

Part of how she manages her MS is by looking at the positives.

“If I could tell the world one thing about MS, it would be that MS is an incurable disease of the nervous system, but it's also the greatest teacher of valuing your health, family, friends, and managing change in your life,” she says. “My life is diversified in a way that I never, ever thought it would, and MS has been honestly the greatest teacher.”

Each MS journey is unique – with each person impacted experiencing different struggles, successes, and feelings as they manage this unpredictable disease. But the common thread is clear – there is a critical need for information, support, and hope. We are proud to participate in World MS Day and share these incredible stories of living life while living with MS. To learn more about MS, go to https://www.sanofi.com/why-words-really-matter-when-it-comes-to-multiple-sclerosis.

MAT-GLB-2301642-v1.0-05/2023

This article was sponsored by Sanofi. Participants were compensated when applicable.

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