A superhero named Tony
Today…
in 1962, Pres. Kennedy issued an executive order banning sex discrimination in hiring for federal jobs.
is the birthday of Bella Abzug (1920–1998) and Amelia Earhart (1897–1937, or so they say), both of whom are getting shorted because I’m running behind.
is Cousins Day. Yay, cousins, but also, have you ever seen the movie Cousins? 1989, Ted Danson and an absolutely gorgeous Isabella Rossellini. It’s included with Prime Video. It’s just a lovely little movie.
And a quick highlight. I complain plenty, but there’s also much to love about #thistown: Dr. Fauci takes a break from fighting the pandemic to throw the first pitch of the MLB season.
Look at that guy. Come ahn.
Have a good weekend, wash your hands, wear a mask, don’t forget to hit that share button.
Abortion
It’s Past Time to Defeat the Hyde Amendment
Rep. Ayanna Pressley 👑 | Medium
We are in a moment of reckoning and transformation as a nation. Without a doubt, now is the moment to dismantle systems of oppression and take a stand against racist and discriminatory policies. Empty gestures are not enough. We must enact sweeping policy change and draft budgets that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, no exceptions.
Alabama
Planned Parenthood will offer abortion at newly opened Birmingham clinic
Greg Garrison | Al.com
Planned Parenthood of Alabama has opened its downtown Birmingham clinic and plans to offer abortion services at the new location.
Kentucky
Kentucky Attorney General joins 18 states supporting Mississippi's law banning abortion at 15 weeks
Timothy D. Easley | WLEX-TV (Lexington, KY)
Attorney General Cameron announced today his office joined 18 states in filing an amicus brief before the U.S. Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. In this case, the 5th Circuit invalidated Mississippi’s 15-week law, which its legislature passed to protect unborn children once they have developed the brain structures necessary to feel pain.
Would you look at that? 🠱 And it’s not even a Fox affiliate.
Washington
Abortions could stop at Virginia Mason if merger is approved, advocates say
Aaron Kunkler | Seattle Weekly
Hospital representatives said “certain services” would cease, but wouldn’t give specifics.
LGBTQ
There's A New Wave Of LGBTQ+ Candidates Running For Office And They're Slated To Make History
Jonathan Greig | Blavity
A study from the LGBTQ Victory Institute found a 71% increase in queer elected officials across the United States.
The Magazine: The ACLU's Chase Strangio
Randy Shulman | Metro Weekly
In this week’s issue, John Riley speaks the ACLU’s Chase Strangio about the new documentary, The Fight, being a public face of the trans community, and why America can’t survive four more years of Donald Trump.
22 States Are Suing Trump for Targeting Trans Health Care Protections
Nico Lang | them.
22 U.S. states are suing to prevent the Trump administration from repealing critical health care protections for transgender people. The suit was filed on Monday after the Department of Health and Human Services announced that it intends to roll back trans-inclusive language in Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act.
LGBTQ Representation on Television Is Expanding, but Lived Experiences Are Still Vital
Kristen Lopez | IndieWire
"The queer experience has been part of the geek fandom for forever," Anthony Rapp said, during Thursday's Comic-Con panel on LGBTQ TV characters. Representation is always a hot button issue and it seems to be flowering of late, particularly with the transgender community.
‘Because of sex’ approach to protecting trans people
Dana Beyer | The Washington Blade
The road to LGBTQ equality has been long and winding, made up, legally, of two paths — sex (gender) stereotyping and “because of . . . sex.”
How Ceyenne Doroshow Is Leading the Movement for Trans Lives
Nico Lang | Wall Street Journal
Her organization G.L.I.T.S. says it’s crowdfunded over $1.3 million in the past month to provide housing and support for the LGBTQ+ community.
Idaho
Lawyers fighting over Idaho’s trans ban have their day in court
Karleigh Webb | Outsports
Gov. Brad Little’s mandated ban on transgender female interscholastic and intercollegiate athletics was the subject of a three-hour hearing in U.S. District Court in Boise, Idaho, Wednesday. The law took effect July 1.
New York
State Senate Bans Anti-Trans Discrimination in Child Custody Cases
Matt Tracy | Gay City News
The State Senate on July 23 passed a bill sponsored by out gay State Senator Brad Hoylman that would ban anti-LGBTQ discrimination in custody decisions and forbid judges presiding over child custody cases from refusing to allow a child’s transgender parent to undergo gender confirmation surgery.
North Dakota
North Dakota GOP platform says LGBTQ people “recruit” children & “prey” on women
Alex Bollinger | LGBTQ Nation
North Dakota’s Republican Party is facing harsh criticism for its 2020 platform, which accuses LGBTQ people of “recruiting [children] for their lifestyles” and calling transgender women “voyeurs who wish to prey on members of the opposite sex.
Federal News Network | North Dakota governor blasts party’s anti-LGBTQ resolution
Pennsylvania
PennDOT offers nonbinary gender designation on ID cards
Christen Smith | The Center Square
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will now offer a nonbinary gender designation on all identification cards, officials said Thursday. Now, residents can choose between an “F” for female, “M” for male and an “X” for nonbinary.
Pennsylvania governor blasts transphobic criticism of health secretary
Christen Smith | The Center Square
Gov. Tom Wolf criticized Bloomsburg Fairground organizers on Wednesday for enabling hate speech directed at Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine – the latest in what he considers a string of “vile” transphobic attacks against the state official.
Metro Weekly | Pennsylvania mayor condemns transphobic meme attacking transgender Secretary of Health
Pregnancy & Parenting
Will Coronavirus Deaths Affect the U.S. Population?
Joe Pinsker | The Atlantic
Three variables determine the fluctuations of a country’s population: births, deaths, and migration flows. The coronavirus pandemic is disrupting all three. The forces that have begun acting on America’s population are dramatic departures from the norm.
Science Magazine | The COVID-19 pandemic and human fertility
This Woman Launches Virtual Postpartum Doula Service For Black Mothers
Dana Givens | Black Enterprise
Mandy Major is founder and CEO of Major Care, a virtual postpartum doula agency to connect mothers with doulas all over the country to provide accessible and affordable care for BIPOC mothers after they give birth.
Raising the Bar for Menstrual Equity. Period.
Jennifer Weiss-Wolf | Ms. Magazine
Menstrual equity advocates are demanding clear, consistent policy authorizing people to carry and use their own period products while taking the bar exam.
Reproductive Health & Justice
Black Women Are Tired of People Trying to Control Our Bodies
Nia Martin-Robinson | The Root
Police murders, the racially biased treatment of Black women in labor, abortion restrictions are all acts of violence. As Black women, we are not safe from policing in our homes, in doctor’s offices or in schools. We are not trusted or supported to make decisions for ourselves and our families. We still have to defend our right to have an abortion to the rest of the world.
rePRO Film Festival Announces Inaugural Lineup
Laura Berger | Women and Hollywood
rePRO Film Festival has unveiled its inaugural lineup. Dedicated to exploring “women’s reproductive healthcare, awareness, advocacy, and bodily integrity in America,” the five-day virtual fest will take place online from August 12-16, 2020.
Work & Parenting
The child care crisis
The Pandemic Has Laid Bare Just How Much We Need Universal Childcare
Sady Doyle | GEN Magazine
Buried in Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s economic recovery plan, there is one surprisingly positive sign: Covid-19 may be the event that forces the United States to finally get serious about universal childcare.
How the Child Care Crisis Will Distort the Economy for a Generation
Zack Stanton | POLITICO
When economist Betsey Stevenson looks at the pandemic-era economic crisis, she sees a long-simmering child care crisis that has suddenly surged to the foreground of people’s lives—and whose true scope we’ve barely begun to reckon with. Its potential to inflict lasting damage to the economy is enormous, and it’s getting short shrift in the recovery plans coming out of Washington.
Forbes | Prioritizing Safety As Child Care Providers Reopen And The Market Grows
Motherly | 81% of Gen Z + Millennials say affordable childcare is an important issue
WUSA-TV (Washington, DC) | ‘Child care is the backbone of the economy’ | Experts say industry at risk of collapse
On schools (never, not ever) reopening
Teachers' mantra: 'I am not a child care provider'
Mackenzie Mays | POLITICO
Teachers are afraid and parents are desperate. Both want children to succeed. But the tension across the country over access to an education and the promise of a safe working environment has escalated as school start dates near, at times pitting them against each other in the pandemic.
Oooooohhh, I see it now. This is another story about women taking sides and hating on each other. This is Mommy Wars 2020. Cat Fight: Pandemic. I can’t believe it took me so long to get here.
As the School Year Approaches, Education May Become the Pandemic’s Latest Casualty
Molly Ball, Katie Reilly | Time Magazine
As the pandemic continues its rampant spread, children’s education is shaping up to be yet another avoidable tragedy of America’s dismal response.
The Indypendent | School Reopening Controversy Poses False Choice For Parents
“Remote learning,” for better and worse
Distance Learning Is Inevitable. Here’s How It Should Serve Working Parents Better
Popular Science | Meredith Bodgas
What if a good education weren't determined by where you live and how much in taxes parents can afford? What if classes weren't determined by age but instead by common ability and interests, but differing backgrounds?
MarketWatch | From nanny services to private tuition, wealthy parents pay up to $100 an hour for 'teaching pods' during the pandemic
Washington Post | Private ‘school pods’ are coming. They’ll worsen inequality.
This sucks
How School Closures Affect Working Parents
Julia Pollak | ZipRecruiter
ZipRecruiter survey finds school closures will reduce mothers’ working hours by 9%, fathers’ working hours by 5%
Work & Money
🠲 NLRB Catches Up To The #MeToo and #BLM Movements
Parker Thoeni | LexBlog
On July 21, the National Labor Relations Board issued what it described as “a long overdue” decision eliminating unwarranted protection for employees who engage in obscene, racist, and sexually harassing behavior under the guise of protected concerted activity.
HR Daily Advisor | NLRB Changes Course, Sets New Standard on Profane Outbursts
JD Supra | NLRB Updates Standard on Discipline for Offensive Conduct
The National Law Review | NLRB Upends Context-Specific Tests for Profane Conduct, Folding Such Discipline Into Traditional Motivation Tests For Evaluating Lawfulness
🠱 I occasionally see stories blow TF up in the serious court watcher outlets, but nary a peep elsewhere. Don’t miss this one.
Updated EEOC guidance 'reminding everyone of what they should be doing anyhow,' expert says
Jamie Herzlich | Newsday
Employers may think they’re helping older or pregnant workers by preemptively telling them to work from home, but that can be a form of discrimination, according to updated guidance on workplace discrimination from the EEOC.
🠲 Risks for the Future We Want
Mekaelia Davis | Stanford Social Innovation Review
Taking risk has always been part of the formula for change and securing racial justice will require risks like never before. That’s why those of us in philanthropy who are fighting for racial and social justice, advocating for racial equity, and working to close the racial wealth gap need to re-think how we calculate risk, and raise our tolerance for it.
Philanthropy Women | What Donors Can Do About Lack of Funding for Women and Girls of Color (Liveblog)
House lawmakers push for policies to boost representation of women, minority vets at VA
Nikki Wentling | Stars and Stripes
The House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs pushed Thursday to enact measures that would boost the representation of women and minority veterans at the Department of Veterans Affairs, all of which the department supported – except one.
Remote work is closing the wage gap
Nadine Mendoza | TechRepublic
A new Upwork report analyzes the economic impact of remote work and its potential to solve the growing geographic wage and opportunity gap in the US.
Psychedelic Women & Science: A History of Exclusion
Lucas Richert Ph.D | Psychology Today
The following interview with historian Erika Dyck addresses some of the historical attitudes about women in psychedelics, based on her research. She has studied an earlier generation of psychedelic science from the 1950s and 1960s
Redefining Employee Burnout In The Wake Of The Pandemic
Lorna Borenstein | Forbes
1 in 4 employees report feeling burnout specifically due to the pandemic. They need resilience for the new world in which they find themselves — and that means employers require a new understanding of employee burnout and a new approach to addressing it.
Women and Credit Through the Decades
Erin El Issa | NerdWallet
This series examines the financial progress made by women in the United States since the Equal Credit Opportunity Act was passed in 1974.
Florida
Miami-Dade could have historic election for women in 19th Amendment’s centennial year
Maya Lora | Miami Herald
The potential of a historic election for women in the county could spotlight a localized version of the success female candidates found in 2018, declared the second “Year of the Woman” as the number of women both running for and winning political offices skyrocketed.
More, More, More
'F**king Bitch' And The Everyday Terror Men Feel About Powerful Women
Emma Gray | HuffPost
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) eviscerated Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) on the House floor after he lobbed the insult at her. Here’s a closer, uncensored look why that matters.
30 Years Later, Disabled Americans Are Still Fighting For Their Civil Rights
Wendy Lu | HuffPost
The Americans With Disabilities Act has transformed the lives of disabled people everywhere. But three decades later, many disability rights activists say problems of inaccessibility and the stigma against disabled people persist.
U.N. director warns of a 'shadow pandemic' of violence against women
Tania Bryer | CNBC
The executive director of U.N. Women told CNBC that the Covid-19 crisis has significantly "set women back" through challenges including job losses and creating a worrying "shadow pandemic" of violence.