1990 Americans With Disabilities Act is passed intending to put an end to discriminatory practices against the disabled. Aside from that...why our country is this way is a direct result of more or less extreme right evangelical Christianity (at least in terms of the debate over gay marriage and "don't ask, don't tell"). Compared to countless other Western nations, our attitudes towards sex, sexuality, and sexual orientation are Puritan at best considering how many in this nation are all too happy to portray it in a sense very much like that of the Old Testament (which in and of itself I feel is homophobic and intolerant, and the New Testament nothing less then racist propaganda).