And oh no, and oh no
Today…
is National Rice Krispie Treat Day, ooo! Lemme tell you somethin’ about Rice Krispie Treats. You can impress people with a Rice Krispie Treat way, way out of proportion with the amount of work you actually put into them.
I did this last fall for a bake sale fundraiser and got ooohs and aaahs like I hadn’t just made a pile of Rice Krispie Treats. One batch, I stirred in some trail mix. Another got crumbled freeze-dried strawberries… chocolate chips… a layer of Oreos…
It’s also the birthday of Greta Garbo, but I have no more brain left for newsletter. Well, just one thing. In a 1937 letter she writes, “I go nowhere, see no one… It is hard and sad to be alone, but sometimes it’s even more difficult to be with someone.” We’re all a little Greta Garbo now, aren’t we.
If you’ve never heard this delightfully unhinged song… just… you should.
Abortion
‘Abortion is healthcare’ billboards across Chicagoland remind people that Medicaid covers the medical procedure
Christen A. Johnson | Chicago Tribune
To help provide more awareness of all that Medicaid covers, the Chicago Abortion Fund has a new billboard campaign affirming abortion as health care throughout Chicagoland and other areas in the state. The billboards read: “Abortion is healthcare. It’s covered by Illinois Medicaid. We’re here to help.”
Abortion may be the sleeper issue of 2020
Kevin Drum | Mother Jones
Social conservatives can practically taste victory at this point, and they’re voting like it. Social liberals are . . . not quite so single-minded. This is probably an underappreciated factor in the 2020 election.
What's at Stake: Access to Abortion
Martha Burk | Ms. Magazine
It’s now a matter of weeks until Election Day, and women’s votes are more crucial this year than ever. We must have not only the will, but also a firm grasp of what we need to hold candidates at all levels accountable for policies that work toward social justice and equity for women.
Why ‘Baby Lives Matter' Messages Are Popping Up All Over The U.S.
Carter Sherman | VICE
Abortion opponents, including ones in the White House, are co-opting the slogan of the Black Lives Matter movement for their own purposes.
Colorado Times Recorder | Prop. 115 Backers Co-Opt the Movement for Black Lives
Abortion isn’t the only issue on the presidential ballot*
Michael Gerson | Washington Post
It dishonors the pro-life cause to make it an inexhaustible permission slip for prejudice, deception and malice. And so I find myself in an uncomfortable but inevitable position: I am pro-life, and I intend to vote for Joe Biden.
*Huge if true
LGBTQ
DeVos Vows to Withhold Desegregation Aid to Schools Over Transgender Athletes
Luke Broadwater, Erica L. Green | The New York Times
The Education Department is preparing to withhold millions of dollars from Connecticut schools over their refusal to withdraw from an athletic conference that allows transgender students to compete on teams that correspond with their gender identity. The move to withhold about $18 million intended to help schools desegregate could have national implications for both transgender athletes and students of color.
LGBTQ Nation | Trump administration would take away funding from some schools that support LGBTQ rights
US reframing of human rights harms women and LGBT people, advocates say
Julian Borger | The Guardian
Mike Pompeo has stepped up his campaign to change the US approach to human rights, reframing them as “unalienable rights” rooted in American traditions, with a particular emphasis on religious freedom.
'This is about my safety': Trans Americans on November's high-stakes election
Elizabeth Kuhr | NBC News
Transgender voters say the upcoming presidential election is bigger than politics — it’s existential.
Kroger sued for allegedly firing workers who refused to wear rainbow symbol
Sakshi S. Venkatraman | NBC News
The suit says the ex-employees hold a "religious belief that homosexuality is a sin" and accuses the supermarket chain of religious discrimination.
This Kroger story really gets under my skin. Look at this. (Yes, I see his arms, and yes, I see that amazing price for avocados. Focus.) How damn petty and mean you have to be, to throw down over a tiiiiiny kinda-rainbow heart. Ridiculous, I swear to God…
Nearly 1 Million Same-Sex Couple Households in 2019, U.S. Census Bureau Says
Maria Caspani | Reuters
The number of same-sex married and unmarried couple households in the United States reached nearly 1 million in 2019, according to a U.S. Census Bureau survey that broke out the statistic for the first time.
TV News Stopped Covering Anti-Trans Violence After Pride Month
Serena Sonoma | them.
A new report finds that cable news channels stopped covering anti-trans violence altogether after Pride month.
Delaware
A drag queen whooped an anti-gay Democrat in the primary election. It was a landslide.
Bil Browning | LGBTQ Nation
Delaware progressive Democrat Eric Morrison has soundly defeated incumbent State Rep. Earl Jaques (D) in the state’s primary election, garnering 61% of the vote. Morrison is also a drag queen who performs under the name “Anita Mann.” Jacques, the incumbent, was a staunch opponent of LGBTQ rights.
More from The Advocate, Out Magazine, Metro Weekly
And more from this one, I hope…
Idaho
Group appeals US judge's Idaho transgender sports ban ruling
Keith Ridler | AP
A conservative Christian group is appealing a federal judge's ruling that temporarily blocked Idaho's law banning transgender women from competing in women’s sports.
Pregnancy & Parenting
Parents struggle with remote learning while working from home: 'I'm constantly failing'
Megan Leonhardt | CNBC
Working parents are panicking as they struggle to figure out how to juggle remote learning and full-time jobs. For many, the concern lies with their ability to keep everything running smoothly without neglecting their kids or their work responsibilities.
Of Course The Highest Paid Employees Are The Only Ones Getting Help With Childcare
Molly Osberg | Jezebel
Even in a pandemic, when both lives and the strength of the economy depend on access to safe, affordable childcare, that benefit is largely only available to educated, high-wage workers.
30 Percent of Parents ‘Terrified’ They’ll Lose Job While Balancing Childcare
Quinn Fish | Working Mother
For parents who have no choice but to work, a new survey shows the scope of the pandemic’s burdening effects. A recent study found that 30% of respondents are “terrified” of losing their job as they try to balance childcare amidst the pandemic. Another 33% said they were a “bit worried” about balancing the two.
100% me right here: Study Finds Screen Fatigue Is Taking a Toll on Work from Home Productivity. I’ve just grown accustomed to being fully blind by the end of the day. My poor eyes… and head… and entire body.
Reproductive Health & Justice
Immigrants allege mistreatment by Georgia doctor and whistleblower
Tina Vasquez | Prism
A complicated picture is emerging of both the doctor accused of sterilizing detained women without their consent and the nurse who brought the information to light.
Boston Globe | America’s shameful and ongoing history of sterilizing women
The Cut | ICE Tried to Deport a Woman Who Says She Was Sterilized in Custody
Essence | The Mississippi Appendectomies Of Today: Hysterectomies In ICE Detention Centers
The New Republic | ICE Is the New Face of America’s Legacy of Forced Sterilization
Vox | ICE immigrant hysterectomies: Pauline Binam says her fallopian tube was removed without consent
Work & Money
House Passes Key Protections For Pregnant Workers
Emily Friedlander Peck | HuffPost
The House on Thursday passed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which would provide key workplace protections for women, particularly those working in physically demanding jobs. The rights of pregnant women proved hard to oppose. The vote was 329-73, with 226 Democrats and 103 Republicans voting for the bill.
The Nation | For the First Time Ever, the House Has Passed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
Forbes | Microsoft, Salesforce And Other U.S. Employers Urge Congress To Strengthen Laws For Pregnant Workers
Women in Trump’s White House earn 69 cents for every $1 paid to male staffers
Chabeli Carrazana | The19th
The gender pay gap is wider than the national pay gap and wider than the gap in the Obama White House.
The Daily Beast | Women in Trump White House Make 69 Cents for Every Dollar Men Earn, Report Says
Talking Points Memo | Gender Wage Gap Higher In Donald ‘Champion For Women’ Trump WH Than It Is Nationally
‘It’s getting worse’: Frontline female firefighter on this year’s historic season
Ko Bragg | The 19th
Female firefighters remain underrepresented as more crews step up to contain one of the worst fire seasons in history.
The workplace lawsuits have begun
Kathryn Vasel | CNN
Hundreds of labor and employment cases pertaining to the pandemic have been filed nationwide, reports CNN's Robert Kuznia, who cited two legal trackers. And this is likely just the tip of the iceberg.
California
Millions of California workers will have family leave time under new state law
Melody Gutierrez | Los Angeles Times
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Thursday to give millions of California workers at smaller businesses job protections that will allow them to take time off to bond with a new child or care for a sick family member.
Associated Press | California paid leave law among nation's broadest
Washington, D.C.
Inside WAMU’s long struggle to dismiss a suspected sexual harasser
Elahe Izadi, Paul Farhi | Washington Post
In 2016, public radio station manager J.J. Yore made repeated attempts to get rid of an employee he suspected was a serial sexual harasser. But the administrators he answered to recommended warnings and reprimands instead. It wasn’t until late 2017 that anything changed.
More, More, More
Donald Trump accused of sexual assault by former model
Lucy Osborne | The Guardian
A former model has come forward to accuse Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her at the US Open tennis tournament more than two decades ago, in an alleged incident that left her feeling “sick” and “violated”. In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Amy Dorris alleged that Trump accosted her outside the bathroom in his VIP box at the tournament in New York on 5 September 1997.
Jezebel | The 26th Woman to Accuse Donald Trump of Sexual Assault Deserves Just as Much Attention as the First
NBC | Amy Dorris' Trump sexual assault allegation deserves America's full attention
More from The Cut, Daily Beast, HuffPost, Newsweek, New York Times, Slate, Vox, Washington Post
Billie Jean King Becomes First Woman To Have Major Sports Event Named After Her
Danielle Rossingh | Forbes
The International Tennis Federation announced a major overhaul of its elite women’s team competition, rebranding its 57-year-old Fed Cup as the ‘Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas.’
Constitution Day-Time for ERA!
Rep. Carolyn Maloney | Ms. Magazine
After ratifying the 19th Amendment, suffragist Alice Paul, an ancestor of my late husband, went to work immediately on another amendment, one she saw as the logical next step after suffrage—the Equal Rights Amendment. It was first introduced in Congress in 1923 and over the last century, we have been fighting to spell out equality for women.