Epic gamer
Today…
I know, ridiculous late. The 12yo was already up, and good God he’s got a lot to tell me at 6am.
was the birthday of Myrtle Lawrence (1891-1980), a longtime sharecropper who became a leading labor organizer as part of the Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union. (The STFU, heh.) I like this – the union was happy enough with her results, “but considered her ‘not respectable’ due to her ‘spitting publicly and acting exuberantly.’”
You think any of ‘em had the nerve to say that to her face?I reckon she and my friend Icie Macy would’ve gotten along.
Abortion
Sen. Hawley lays down new antiabortion marker for Supreme Court nominees
Robert Costa | Washington Post
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Sunday that he would not support any future nominee for the Supreme Court unless they had publicly stated before their nomination that Roe v. Wade was “wrongly decided.”
Christian abortion critics urge Dems to change platform
Elana Schor | AP
A group of more than 100 Christian pastors, religion professors and other advocates is urging the DNC to adopt a party platform that’s friendlier to abortion opponents.
A top HHS aide’s last job was ‘Labradoodle breeder.’ He’s one of many unqualified appointees.
Editorial | The Washington Post
The man responsible for overseeing the child separation policy at the border, for instance, had never spent any time resettling refugees before he was put in charge of refugee resettlement. He was, however, an antiabortion advocate, which perhaps explains why he sparked scandal by trying to stop detained minors from getting abortions.
Why using inclusive language in abortion care is an essential aspect of equal rights
Aspen Ruhlin | Beacon (Maine)
When discussions and language around abortion access only include women, trans people are excluded, which is an example of transphobia, even if it is unintentional. Most feminists would agree that a key tenet of feminism is that people should not be reduced to reproductive capacity and the body parts they do or don’t have.
Nebraska
Nebraska Lawmakers Resume Session With Virus in Mind
Scott Stewart | Omaha Daily Record
Lawmakers are also expected to consider legislation to further clamp down on abortion rights and impose anti-bias training requirements for police.
Tennessee
Federal judge blocks sweeping anti-abortion law in Tennessee
Kimberlee Kruesi | AP
Tennessee will not be allowed to enforce one of the strictest abortion bans in the country as a legal battle over the measure’s constitutionality moves through court, a federal judge ruled Friday.
LGBTQ
Transgender leaders facing more hate and discrimination as visibility grows
Casey Quinlan | The American Independent
There has been a 21% increase in LGBTQ people serving in elected offices and 40% increase in transgender women serving in elected office in the past year. But with that broader visibility has come an increase in hate and discrimination.
Washington Post | Pennsylvania health secretary Rachel Levine is attacked over transgender identity amid covid response
Supreme Court may hold key to fair housing for LGBT+ Americans
Oscar Lopez | Reuters
According to a 2018 survey, 13% of LGBT+ homeowners said they had experienced prejudice when trying to buy a home, while nearly half said they feared discrimination in the home-buying process. Now legal experts and rights advocates say a landmark Supreme Court ruling in June protecting gay and trans people from discrimination at work could permeate housing, too.
The Supreme Court has invited the military to rethink excluding transgender people
Jennifer Mittelstadt, Ronit Y. Stahl | Washington Post
Despite its uneven history, military leadership knows that full and immediate inclusion of transgender personnel would maximize individuals’ military contributions, minimize harmful discrimination and improve military effectiveness.
Metro Weekly | Trump's ban on transgender military service could be easily reversed in 30 days, memo says
Study: 6 in 10 Queer Men Are Hiding COVID-19 Symptoms From Partners
Daniel Reynolds | The Advocate
Gay and bi men are reporting record levels of abstinence. But stigma around the virus could be aiding transmission.
As transgender rights debate spills into sports, one runner finds herself at the center of a pivotal case
Roman Stubbs | Washington Post
Lindsay Hecox never expected to become an activist, let alone a leading voice in a potentially groundbreaking case.
Alaska
We must maintain shelter protections for our most vulnerable
Aria Phillips | Anchorage Daily News
We agree with Sen. Lisa Murkowski: People should not live in fear of being discriminated against because of their LGBTQ+ status.
North Dakota
North Dakota GOP director apologizes for anti-LGBTQ statements in official party platform
John Riley | Metro Weekly
The executive director of the North Dakota GOP has apologized for several anti-LGBTQ statements that state party delegates approved as part of the party’s official extended policy platform.
ABC | North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum goes against GOP, condemns anti-LGBTQ resolution
Fox News | GOP governor condemns LGBT provisions in state party platform: 'Hurtful and divisive'
Pregnancy & Parenting
Over Half of Millennials and Gen Zers Say Childcare Costs Might Keep Them from Having Kids
Audrey Goodson Kingo | Working Mother
Daycares are shuttering across the country and working parents are panicking. No wonder people without kids are looking around and saying, no thanks. But childcare in the US has long been a problem—well before the pandemic made it painfully clear—and a new survey proves it.
Alaska
Recent maternal deaths in Alaska are preventable, report says
Jared Griffin | KMXT-FM
All maternal deaths in Alaska that occurred in 2017 and 2018 were preventable. That’s according to the Maternal and Child Death Review Committee, a program of the Alaska Division of Public Health.
ALL of them. That is astonishing.
Reproductive Health & Justice
Why Planned Parenthood Has Been Reluctant to Confront Its Founder’s Troubling History
Ruth Graham | Slate
There is a fine line between supporting family planning for the sake of individual families, and supporting it because you believe it’s better for society to keep certain families small. Sanger’s beliefs were complex, but her broad support for the movement is unmistakable.
Prison Abolition Requires Decriminalizing Sex Work
Rewire.News
Four activists explain how the prison industrial complex and law enforcement put sex workers in danger.
Portland’s Moms Are Just The Latest In A Long Line Of Moms Getting Sh*t Done
Lindsay Wolf | Scary Mommy
While it’s totally awesome that a bunch of fabulous moms from Portland are in the national spotlight for joining the Black Lives Matters protests last week, we need to remember something really important. Moms, especially Black mothers, have been harnessing their collective mama bear powers to champion social causes for a long ass time.
Ohio’s Senator Brown wants racism declared a public health crisis
Kathryn Ghion | WCMH-TV (Columbus, OH)
Several Democratic Senators from across the country are addressing racism in our country through health.
Ohio
Cincinnati Council Looks to Declare Racism a Health Crisis
Michelle Alfini | Spectrum News 1 Ohio
Cincinnati City Council members hope to make the city the latest in the state to declare racism a public health crisis.
Work & Parenting
How The Pandemic Could Force A Generation Of Mothers Out Of The Workforce
Neil Paine, Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux | FiveThirtyEight
[C]hild-care services have been much slower to hire again (a useful proxy for re-opening) than other areas of the economy. Combine that with the news that many schools will remain closed in the fall, and it’s easy to see the crisis at hand. If polling is any indication, the vast majority of the fallout is being weathered by mothers, who were already doing the majority of household work even before the pandemic began.
WGBH-TV (Boston, MA) | COVID-19’s Cost To Working Mothers
WGBH-TV (Boston, MA) | Child Care Crisis Is 'A Rot' At The Core Of Women's Employment, Public Policy Expert Says
On schools (never ever? never ever? ever, ever? ever, ever?) reopening
With back-to-school starting online, parents need to study up on 'pandemic pods' – and what they mean for equity
Wyatte Grantham-Philips | USA Today
As classes head online, many families lack access to internet or a computer for every child. The unequal use of "pandemic pods" and child care options are likely to exacerbate the already devastating class and race divides in education.
Business Insider | 'Pod'-style learning benefits affluent kids and exacerbates education inequality — but it does address 3 key issues. Here's how to solve those problem
Frederick News Post | Homeschooling parents hope to show others the possibilities of an alternate education
POPSUGAR | More Parents Are Considering Microschools Amid COVID-19: Here's What They Entail
New York Times | The Great Au Pair Rush
New York Times | ‘Home-Schooling Won’t Kill Us. Covid-19 Might.’
Parade Magazine | Micro-Schools and Learning Pods Are On the Rise—Here's What You Need to Know
Romper | What's The Difference Between Homeschooling & Virtual Learning? Experts Explain
The child care crisis
Covid-19 proves childcare in the US is broken - can it be fixed?
Bobbi Dempsey | The Guardian
Childcare has become central to US economic recovery, but daycares are struggling to safely reopen during a pandemic and recession
Forbes | Tackling Childcare: How The Coronavirus Challenges Business As Usual
Los Angeles Times | Working parents face a child-care crisis. Here's how L.A. employers are handling it.
Gillibrand seeks $50B for child care providers to 'reopen safely'
Victoria Freile | Democrat and Chronicle
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand visited Rochester on Friday to say she is seeking $50 billion in funding as part of the next federal COVID-19 stimulus package to help child care providers cover spiraling costs.
WHEC-TV (Rochester, NY) | Sen. Gillibrand shares details on Child Care is Essential Act
Work & Money
Breast-Pumping Black Employee to Get Race, Pregnancy Bias Trial
Patrick Dorrian | Bloomberg Law News
A Pennsylvania medical equipment supply business may have discriminated against a Black customer service representative by denying her equal access to a private area to pump breast milk and not allowing her all the time she biologically needed to do so, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled.
The fall of the girlboss is actually a good thing
Hillary Hoffower | Business Insider
The girlboss has long been seen as a champion of female empowerment, but June 2020 proved to be a tipping point in her reign.
Low Pay and High Risk at the Nail Salon
Michelle Chen | Dissent Magazine
Salon technicians are struggling to balance safety precautions with the inherently intimate nature of their work.
This is how leaders can end economic inequities, for good
Kathryn Kolbert | Fast Company
Recently, corporate leaders have been publicly committing themselves to hiring more Black and brown employees, alongside more women, as part of newly formed and reimagined diversity and inclusion programs. But in a climate in which there may be more layoffs and workforce reductions than workforce expansions, we cannot depend on new hiring alone to level the playing field.
Women Plaintiffs ‘Sex-Plus-Age’ Discrimination Claim Stands
Sheila Callaham | Forbes
A new precedent was set by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month when the federal circuit court covering Oklahoma ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 permits “sex-plus-age” claims.
Despite Growing Job Insecurity, A Quarter Of Women Are More Likely To Look For New Jobs During The Pandemic
Georgene Huang | Forbes
Why are women looking to leave their employers when uncertainties around job security are at all-time highs? Some are working in industries that have been hit hardest by the economic downturn … and are looking for “recession-proof” jobs that offer more stability. But for others, perhaps it could be because of their employers’ responses to the pandemic.
Fellow Female Entrepreneurs: It’s Partly Our Own Fault That Male Entrepreneurs Earn More
Susan Guillory | Forbes
[S]ome of our challenge in asking for what we’re worth comes from the struggle it took to get where we are. So we don’t ask for what we want. We quote a rate we’re fairly confident a client will pay. We don’t ask for an increase, even if we’ve been working with a client for years. We play it safe and have to work longer and harder to make ends meet
American Workers Need Paid Leave, Fast
Sarah Jones | New York Magazine
In the U.S., paid family leave is a luxury, not the status quo. A quarter of the American workforce lacks paid leave; according to Pew Research Center, that figure doubles for workers making less than $13.80 an hour. Uneven access to leave has far-reaching implications for workers and may even blunt the usefulness of pandemic relief bills, a new poll suggests.
Women are patriots who serve. The VA's motto needs to reflect that. Right now, it doesn't
Aryanna Hunter | Pennsylvania Capital-Star
When people ask me why i joined the Army two months after the terror attacks of September 11th, I usually quip, “because I’m a f****ing patriot.” And honestly, that’s true. I am a patriot, but to be a true patriot you have to recognize when your country is right and to call it out when it’s wrong. Well, Department of Veterans Affairs, you are wrong.
More, More, More
Eclipsed Race and Class? Calling AOC a 'B*tch' Is Not Just About Sexism
Nafisa Tanjeem | Common Dreams
What Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez experienced last week is a continuation of the trend of using sexist and racist slurs against powerful women of color.
The Boston Globe | AOC, like all women, is somebody’s daughter. But that’s not why she deserves respect
Cosmopolitan | Calling AOC's Remarks About Rep. Yoho "Fiery" Is Insulting to Latinx Women
The Cut | What’s So ‘Disruptive’ About AOC Standing Up for Herself?
New York Times | A.O.C. and the Daughter Defense
Teen Vogue | AOC Shut Down a Congressman Who Insulted Her, Reminding Me Why I'm Proud to Be a Fcking Btch
Protest Delivered the Nineteenth Amendment
Margaret Talbot | The New Yorker
For a country that prides itself on its democracy, the United States has forced a lot of its citizens to fight for the privilege of voting.
Metro Weekly | Celebrating 100 years of women's voting rights
The New York Times | Meet the Brave but Overlooked Women of Color Who Fought for the Vote
Inside the Violent and Misogynistic World of Roy Den Hollander
Nicole Hong, Mihir Zaveri, William K. Rashbaum | New York Times
He was known for his hatred of women and frivolous lawsuits. Then he killed the son of a New Jersey federal judge before taking his own life, officials said.
Does the New U.S. Envoy for Women’s Rights Have Anything to Do?
Fiona Shukri | Ms. Magazine
Kelley Currie, US ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues, has had the job since January. The Trump administration tried to eliminate the post at one point but the Senate made it permanent.
Nadine Taub, Early Leader in Women’s Rights Law, Dies at 77
Penelope Green | New York Times
Along with other feminist lawyers Ms. Taub made legal history in cases that argued that the Constitution protected women’s rights. She litigated cases for rape victims, for women seeking access to abortion and for employees battling workplace discrimination and sexual harassment.