Back at it
Today…
is a Supreme Court decision day? Maybe? Who even knows anymore.
was the birthday of Thelma Hill (1924–1977), ballet dancer, choreographer and instructor, co-founded the New York Negro Ballet Company in 1954 and precursor to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1960.
was the birthday of Sally Ride (1951–2012), an astronaut and physicist, and in 1983 became the first American woman in space.
is Cherry Dessert Day and Blueberry Cheesecake Day but not Cherry Cheesecake Day. I’m calling that some poor coalition management, or Big Blueberry has more sway than I realized…
Abortion
America Never Paid Its Debt to Jane Roe
Emily Alford | Jezebel
Pop culture has not been kind to Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff at the center of Roe v. Wade. Cinematic and written depictions of McCorvey have alternated between painting her as a dumb country bumpkin or a calculating con artist, someone who is willing to pump both sides of the abortion picket lines for financial gain. FX’s new documentary about McCorvey’s life, AKA Jane Roe, allows McCorvey to tell her own story.
Vice: ‘I Can Always Go Back to the Other Side:’ How Jane Roe Demanded a Raise From Anti-Abortion Activists
I Went to Christian Summer Camp and Left an Abortion Activist
CoWanda Rusk | Rewire.News
I wanted to put my abortion behind me. I didn't want anyone to know about it. But I wouldn't feel that way for long.
Pandemic abortion crisis: More women need services, but access is harder than ever
Amanda Marcotte | Salon
As soon as stay-at-home orders came down across the country, a number of Republican-controlled states tried to argue that abortion was a "non-essential" service and that women who want abortions could just wait until the pandemic was over. That's a blatantly false and cruel argument.
Texas
I Traveled To Texas During The Pandemic To Provide Abortion Care. Here's What I Saw.
Glenna Martin | HuffPost
As I flew out of Texas in February, I never imagined the tragedy and upheaval that would take place before I was able to return eight weeks later.
Inside the Plan to End Legal Abortion
Esther Wang | Jezebel
Waskom [Texas] leaders stated their main goal was to prevent an abortion clinic from opening in their town of about 2,000; the town, located right next to the state’s border with Louisiana, was only a 25-minute drive from Shreveport’s Hope Medical Group abortion clinic, the provider at the heart of the Supreme Court case that anti-abortion advocates are hoping will “overthrow Roe without overthrowing Roe.”
LGBTQ
Pixar Releases First Film With a Gay Lead in 'Out'
Daniel Reynolds | The Advocate
The Disney animation studio released its first film with a gay lead, Out. Directed and written by Steven Clay Hunter, and "based on a true story," according to an opening title card, Out centers on Greg and his inability to come out to his parents about his relationship with another man, Manuel.
Entertainment Weekly: Pixar's first gay main character arrives in moving Disney+ short film
LGBTQ Nation: Pixar releases new animated short for Pride month about coming out as gay
NBC: New short film 'Out' features Pixar's first gay main character
Romper: Pixar's New Short 'Out' Tells One Man's Story About Coming Out To His Parents
Variety: Pixar Short Film ‘Out’ Features Studio’s First Gay Main Character
Vulture: Disney Short Film ‘Out’ Features First Gay Main Character
“I Hid My Transition For Years. I Regret It Now.”
Meredith Talusan | BuzzFeed News
"I came to understand that what I wanted was to be seen as my complete self — my gender, my race, my history — without being judged because of it." An excerpt from Fairest: A Memoir.
How GLAAD is changing Hollywood's LGBTQ narrative — one script at a time
Gerrad Hall | Entertainment Weekly
Once "a watchdog" when "positive stories and… accurate and fair representation" about LGBTQ people in TV and film were hard to come by, GLAAD has transitioned in its 35 years to "a partner to Hollywood," especially in the past decade, says president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis.
Senate Democrats urge Trump admin to stop easing discrimination rules during COVID pandemic
Alex Bollinger | LGBTQ Nation
Thirty Senate Democrats and one Independent have signed a letter urging the Trump administration to roll back a rule that makes it easier for health care professionals to refuse to treat LGBTQ people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Congressional leaders call on government to collect LGBTQ data on COVID-19
John Riley | Metro Weekly
A group of nearly 100 U.S. senators and representatives have demanded that the federal government collect data on sexual orientation and gender identity during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in order to measure the effect the virus has had upon historically marginalized communities.
Trump and the GOP Are About to Give a Rabidly Anti-LGBTQ Judge a Lifetime Appointment on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals
Daniel Villarreal | The New Civil Rights Movement
On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee conducted a hearing of Cory Wilson, an anti-LGBTQ Mississippi judge nominated by President Donald Trump to have a lifetime appointment on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Florida
New Florida policy aids transgender students doing distance learning amid coronavirus
Emily Bloch | USA Today
The abrupt switch from in-person classes to online learning hasn’t always been easy. But experts say it can be even worse for transgender students. Now, the school district in Jacksonville, Florida, is working to make things a little easier.
New York
NYC Fire Department Promotes First-Ever Lesbian Battalion Chief
Kim Wong-Shing | GO
For the first time in the history of the New York City Fire Department, a lesbian woman has been promoted to the rank of battalion chief. Michele Fitzsimmons, formerly a captain with the FDNY, is also the second woman ever to hold the rank.
The Advocate: NYC Fire Department Gets First Lesbian Battalion Chief
Ohio
Ohio Lesbian Sheriff Candidate Could Replace the Man Who Fired Her
Trudy Ring | The Advocate
Taking over the job of the boss who fired you is a dream for many workers — and for Charmaine McGuffey, it may come true. McGuffey, a lesbian who’s running for sheriff of Hamilton County, Ohio, is already partway there. She defeated that boss, Sheriff Jim Neil, in the Democratic primary in April, winning nearly 70% of the vote. Now she’s set to face Republican candidate Bruce Hoffbauer in November.
Pregnancy & Parenting
The ‘Wine Mom’: Who Is She?
Ashley Fetters | The Atlantic
She’s a mother and she drinks wine. Technically, that’s all it takes to join the ranks of “wine moms,” and yet the phrase has come to represent so much more than motherhood and wine enjoyment.
The coronavirus 'baby boom' is only for the rich and famous. Most people are too terrified to think about having kids right now.
Julia Naftulin | INSIDER
At the start of the coronavirus outbreak, people speculated that the health crisis would result in a baby boom due to stay-at-home orders across the U.S. But the majority of coronavirus pregnancy announcements seem to be from celebrities like Lea Michele, Gigi Hadid, and Rooney Mara.
Reproducing Racism
Priska Neely, Julia Simon | Reveal
As racial disparities in health come into the spotlight amid COVID-19, we explore how the legacy of racism affects maternal health in the United States.
‘It’s one of the silver livings’: How COVID-19 pandemic could boost access to maternal health care
Marina Starleaf Riker | San Antonio Express-News
The coronavirus has disrupted prenatal care and birthing plans, sometimes leading to canceled appointments and limited visitors in hospital delivery rooms. But the pandemic has also spurred another change: a shift toward telemedicine, which could remove barriers to care for women and their families.
Reproductive Health & Justice
U.S. regulators approve new type of contraceptive gel
Linda Johnson | AP
U.S. regulators on Friday approved a birth control gel that works in a new way to prevent pregnancy. Phexxi comes in an applicator that women insert before sex. The gel made by San Diego-based Evofem Biosciences contains lactic acid, citric acid and potassium bitartrate, all of which are common food additives. The new gel has some similarities to spermicides, which block the entrance to the cervix and slow sperm down. But Phexxi works differently.
Bloomberg: Birth Control Gel Approved as First No-Hormone Option in Decades
Fortune: Birth control gel approved as first no-hormone option in decades
MarketWatch: Evofem stock rallies as FDA approves birth-control gel
San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego biotech gets FDA approval for new kind of female contraceptive
The Trump administration is demanding that Planned Parenthood affiliates give back their PPP loans
Anna North | Vox
Earlier this year, 38 Planned Parenthood affiliates around the U.S. received over $80 million in loans from the federal Paycheck Protection Program. Now, the Small Business Administration is pressuring those affiliates to return the loans, arguing that they were not eligible for them in the first place.
CBS: Planned Parenthood's $80 million PPP loan draws controversy
USA Today: Republicans call for DOJ investigation into Planned Parenthood over coronavirus relief loans
Washington Post: SBA demands Planned Parenthood affiliates return PPP loans granted under the Cares Act
Pharmacist-Prescribed Birth Control Is Expanding Access, Research Finds
Morgan Brinlee | Romper
A new study suggests pharmacist-prescribed birth control can help expand access to this vital reproductive health resource.
Work & Money
Women are told more lies than men in workplace reviews, new research suggests. And that can prevent gender equality.
Leah Asmelash | CNN
New research suggests that women are lied to more than men in professional settings. Those lies could be preventing workplace advancement and, in a broader sense, gender equality.
An Extreme Example Of Domestic Inequality Exposes A Premise That Holds Back Many Women’s Careers
Tami M. Forman | Forbes
The basic premise – that it is the mother’s job to care for a child, a job that can be replaced by another woman (a paid childcare provider, a grandmother) but not by a man – is a premise we see played out every day. [T]his particular story is a stark example – that woman’s career may never be what it would have been if she’d had, frankly, a better husband. But I have to tell you, I meet women every day whose careers aren’t what they would have been if they’d had a better husband.
At work, in the mirror…
COVID Leads To A Pink Collar Recession
Nancy Wang | Forbes
Statistics from NWLC show the number of women who lost employment last month is greater than all the jobs women gained between the end of the Great Recession (in 2010) and COVID-19. Some are calling this the “pink collar recession.”
What Might Have Been: The Forgotten History Of Women On The Supreme Court Shortlist
Jill Ament | KUT-FM (Austin, TX)
In their new book, “Shortlisted: Women in the Shadows of the Supreme Court,” Renee Knake Jefferson and Hannah Brenner Johnson tell the story of nine women who were considered for positions on the country's highest court in the decades before Sandra Day O'Connor's appointment.
Sexual Harassment at McDonald’s Is Even Worse Than We Knew
Bryce Covert | The Nation
New polling suggests 75% of female employees have experienced sexual harassment on the job.
Female Scientists Are Bearing the Brunt of Quarantine Child-Rearing
Melody Schreiber | The New Republic
That’s bad news for all of us, particularly when it comes to research relevant to our current crises.
More, More, More
Men are dying more from coronavirus. But the lockdown will hurt women and their rights
Ivana Kottasova | CNN
The novel coronavirus seems to be more deadly for men. But in every other way, women are bearing the brunt of this pandemic. From a spike in domestic violence and restricted access to family-planning services to disproportionate economic impact, the lockdown measures put in place to stop the outbreak are hurting women and their basic rights a lot more than men.
Domestic Violence Victims Suffer as Coronavirus Paralyzes the Courts
Emily Shugerman | The Daily Beast
Experts say domestic violence rates in New York have increased at least 30% amid the COVID-19 pandemic, owing to a dangerous cocktail of anxiety, economic turmoil, and almost everyone being trapped inside. At the same time, the courts have been hamstrung by staffing cuts and remote-only operations.
How the COVID-19 pandemic changed men’s relationship to chores
Lois Collins | Deseret News
Women still do more at home, but men have been tackling more household chores and child care than they were before the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report.
'It Just Burns Me Up': Disability Activist Alice Wong Reminds California This Pandemic Is Far From Over
Ariella Markowitz, Sasha Khokha | KQED-TV (San Francisco, CA)
“They're still advising high-risk people like myself to just stay at home. I feel like this sets up this very unfair dynamic where the burden of staying safe and healthy falls upon those who are the most marginalized and the most impacted. It's going to create additional complications, consequences that all of us are going to suffer.”
Why do we only care about long-term care in a crisis?
Jonathan Gruber, Richard Frank, Bianca K. Frogner, David C. Grabowski | The Hill
The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the tremendous sacrifice that Americans are willing to make to protect our most vulnerable people, including older adults and disabled individuals. Four-fifths of COVID deaths are among those over age 65, and the share of COVID deaths in long term care facilities is as high as 50% in some states.
Lana Del Rey and Alison Roman flaunted white women's privilege. But they're not alone
Lorraine Ali | Los Angeles Times
Forget #MeToo for a minute. Right now, it’s all about #WhiteWomenBehavingBadly. Callous comments from two famous white women about other female celebrities of color have hit multiple progressive triggers in recent weeks, causing cancel culture to wrest the upper hand back from COVID-19 on social media.
Me & White Supremacy: How To Check Your White Privilege
Zoe Beaty | Refinery29
For the last few years, Layla Saad has been placing important questions in the minds of white women – white feminists – all over the world. She launched a challenge on Instagram in response to her essay, "I need to talk to spiritual white women about white supremacy.” The piece went viral but Saad was left fielding questions from white women who were trying to understand it more fully.
How social conservatives traded causes for clichés
Matthew Walther | The Week Magazine
The new social conservatism is libertarian, if not libertine. Many of its totems – sentimentality about the flag and the military, contempt for environmentalists, an absolutist understanding of the 2nd Amendment – are old, but others, including the cherished rights of pornographers and male undergraduates who wish to engage in fornication while intoxicated would have been incomprehensible to the Buchanan Brigades of the early '90s.