The story of Laurel Hester and Dane Wells is one that proves we are not all that divided. Hester is a lesbian dying of cancer who has been fighting with the Republican freeholders in Ocean County, New Jersey, so that her partner can receive her pension benefits once she has died. Dane Wells is a Bush Republican who found friendship with Hester and became a changed man and her strongest ally. Hopefully, the laws passed Monday will give Hester's partner Stacie Andree the right to inherit her pension.

Heath Ledger speaks to the Herald Sun about Larry Miller's pulling of Brokeback from his Utah megaplex, equating homophobia with racism: “I heard a while ago that West Virginia was going to ban it. But that's a state that was lynching people only 25 years ago, so that's to be expected. Personally, I don't think the movie is (controversial) but I think maybe the Mormons in Utah do. I think it's hilarious and very immature of a society. If two people are loving . . . I think we should be more concerned if two people express anger in love, than love.”