Today…
…is the start of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. Begins every year on November 25, International Day Against Violence Against Women, ending on December 10, International Human Rights Day.
The 2020 focus is “informal women workers, whose lives and livelihoods have been acutely impacted by COVID-19 and the unprecedented economic crisis that has followed.”…we start the Thanksgiving Lasagna. (It’s been established, no, I don’t have a recipe – more of a narrative.) The sauce will get started in a few. I’m lobbying for fresh pasta – no school today so it’s not like the kids are busy – but I bought a box of Barilla just in case.
Each year, the Great Lasagna rises out of the oven that she thinks is the most melodramatic.
Abortion
NPR | Under Trump, New Anti-Abortion Rules Shook Fragile Health Systems Around the World | Sarah Varney
Abortion is illegal under all circumstances in Madagascar, and Trump administration policies led to shortages of birth control there, health workers say.
Rewire News Group | Did You Know That Saying 'Pregnant People' Isn’t Just Inclusive-It’s Correct? | Imani Gandy
Our abortion politics must be inclusive of trans and nonbinary people, or the fight that we are waging for human rights is a farce.
Arkansas
CNN | Arkansas is trying to ban all abortions in the state | Chris Cillizza
Arkansas Republican legislators have filed legislation that would amount to an outright ban on abortion in their state, a provocative move aimed at forcing the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision legalizing the procedure in the 1973 Roe v. Wade case.
Texas
San Antonio Current | Appeals court rules that Texas can eject Planned Parenthood from its Medicaid program | Sanford Nowlin
LGBTQ
Instinct Magazine | Rejecting Gay Athletes Is Now An Exception. Acceptance Is The New Rule | Cyd Zeigler
Having written about gay athletes for over 20 years, I’ve seen a sea change of attitude, visibility and policy in sports, all trending full-speed toward acceptance once thought impossible in sports.
The 19th | Lambda Legal sues to put transgender nondiscrimination protections back into ACA | Kate Sosin
Lambda Legal is taking Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois to court for refusing to cover transition-related care that a 15-year-old boy’s doctors, parents and mental health providers say he needs.
them. | A Trans Teenager Is Suing After He Was Denied Gender-Affirming Care | Henry Giardina
Prism | The future of LGBTQ+ families is currently with the Supreme Court | Elizabeth Brico
The Supreme Court is still out on Fulton v. Philadelphia.
Rewire News Group | Trump Judges Say Free Speech Rights Includes Shaming LGBTQ Kids | Lisa Needham
The U.S. Supreme Court has stayed out of the conversion therapy fight so far but this case could change that.
Changing America | A federal court struck down a Florida ban on conversion therapy | Anagha Srikanth
Slate | Indiana Asks the Supreme Court to Let It Strip Rights From Same-Sex Parents | Mark Joseph Stern
On Monday, Indiana AG Curtis Hill asked the Supreme Court to strip same-sex couples of their equal parenting rights. He did so at the request of the court, which is considering taking up his case.
USA Today | Hollywood's casting dilemma: Should straight, cisgender actors play LGBTQ characters? | David Oliver
Hollywood celebrities just can't quit playing LGBTQ characters – even when they mean well.
UPROXX | Sarah McBride Had A Simple But Amazing Response To An Anti-Trans Troll | Matt Prigge
Just ‘cause I wanted you to see this. So good.
Arkansas
Law360 | Kroger Says Apron Symbol For Workers Isn't LGBTQ-Related | Alexis Shanes
Kroger Co. is urging a federal judge to toss an EEOC suit brought on behalf of two workers who alleged the grocery chain put a symbol on their aprons in support of the LGBTQ community, saying the logo has nothing to do with sexual orientation.
Georgia
The Advocate | Trans Woman: 'I've Been Sexually Assaulted 14 Times in Georgia Prison' | Trudy Ring
Transgender woman Ashley Diamond is suing the Georgia Department of Corrections for a second time, saying it failed to protect her from sexual assault and did not provide her with adequate health care while incarcerated.
Refinery29 | A Black Transgender Woman Is Suing The Georgia Prison System For Sexual Assault | Elly Belle
New Jersey
NBC News | Starbucks barista says she was fired for refusing to wear Pride shirt | Dan Avery
A New Jersey woman has filed suit against Starbucks, claiming she was wrongfully terminated for refusing to wear an official company Pride T-shirt that she says violated her religious beliefs.
Vermont
The Advocate | Lesbian Named Vermont's First Woman Senate President Pro Tempore | Trudy Ring
Democrats in Vermont’s Senate have nominated Becca Balint, a lesbian, to be president pro tempore, and she will be the first woman and first member of the LGBTQ+ community to hold that position.
Pregnancy & Parenting
You know how I occasionally advise my pregnant friends to keeeeeep scrolling, do not pause in this section? This is how I feel at every one of these “mothers struggle to feed their children” articles. I have to go stare at the pantry for a few minutes to catch my breath.
The 19th | The pandemic has left mothers struggling to feed their kids | Shefali Luthra
School closures and the struggling economy have created a national hunger crisis — and experts say it will only get worse as the pandemic deepens this winter.
Jezebel | The Endless Wait for Pandemic Relief Is Starving Mothers and Children | Emily Alford
SheKnows | What We Know About The Increase In Suicidal Thoughts In Pregnant People & New Moms | Katherine Speller
While the larger picture of maternal mortality rates in the U.S. is one that can be traced to many different factors, a new study published in JAMA Psychiatry looks closer at instances of suicidal thoughts and intentional harm in people who are pregnant or recently gave birth and found that there was as significant increase in a 12 year period between January 2006 and December 2017.
Georgia
Georgia Public Broadcasting | Expert: ‘Legacy Of Racism’ Leads Georgia To Fail Repeatedly On Premature Birth Rate | Ellen Eldridge
Georgia earned an "F" for the second year in a row on the latest March of Dimes score card report related to maternal mortality and infant care. The underlying reasons involve an unwillingness to ensure health care coverage for people of color, March of Dimes President Stacey Stewart said.
Reproductive Health & Justice
AP | US agrees for now to stop deporting women who alleged abuse | Nomaan Merchant
The U.S. government has agreed temporarily not to deport detained immigrant women who have alleged being abused by a rural Georgia gynecologist, according to court papers filed Tuesday. In a motion that must still be approved by a federal judge, the Justice Department and lawyers for several of the women agreed that immigration authorities would not carry out any deportations until mid-January.
INSIDER | Inside the hidden campaign to forcibly sterilize thousands of inmates in California women's prisons | Julia Naftulin
Between 1997 and 2014, over 1,000 women were forcibly sterilized in California prisons, most of them Black.
Texas
Dallas Morning News | Sex education in Texas just joined the 21st century | Editorial
Finally, the State Board of Education has aligned sex education guidelines with the realities of the world.
And you know I don’t do international news, but how could I not…
The Daily Beast | Scotland Makes History With Plan to Stock Pads and Tampons in Bathrooms Throughout the Land | Tori Powell
Scottish parliament on Tuesday voted unanimously to make tampons and pads free* for anyone that needs them in the country, making them the first in the world to do so. Under a nationwide program, the bill will require period products to be accessible in schools and public organizations and will require bathrooms to remain stocked.
More from Axios, CBS, CNN, Complex, Forbes, The Hill, HuffPost, Jezebel, Mashable, Newsweek, New York Times, POPSUGAR, Reuters, UPI, VICE,
*Not free. Not free. You pay with your taxes.
Work & Money
CNBC | This woman is working 5 jobs to stay afloat after being laid off. It’s still not enough | Carmen Reinicke
Mary Roberts has been working five jobs since August to stay afloat after the coronavirus pandemic decimated the cruise industry, where she was a director and choreographer.
The Conversation | Online attacks on female journalists are increasingly spilling into the 'real world' – new research | Julie Posetti, Silvio Waisbord, Jackie Harrison
The insidious problem of online violence against women journalists is increasingly spilling offline with potentially deadly consequences, a new global survey suggests.
The Daily Beast | A Study Claimed Male Mentors Are More Helpful to Women Scientists – and It Did Not Go Over Well | Emily Shugerman
A scientific paper on the merits of women mentors has sparked a fierce debate, prompting the journal that published it to launch an investigation and the editor in chief to disavow the study’s conclusion that male mentorship might be more helpful.
Jezebel | Women Scientists Are Calling Bullshit On a Study Claiming That Women Make Bad STEM Mentors | Emily Alford
Georgia
The Telegraph (Macon) | Op-ed: Mayor should sign legal, constitutional anti-discrimination ordinance
Editor’s note: This is an open letter from local attorneys and law professors on the legality of Macon-Bibb County’s comprehensive civil rights ordinance.
New Jersey
Bridgewater Courier News | Fired NJ Catholic school teacher can sue over premarital sex, court rules | Mike Deak
A state appeals court has reinstated a gender discrimination lawsuit brought by a former teacher at St. Theresa School who claims she was fired because she was pregnant and unmarried.
More, More, More
HuffPost | U.S. To Execute Only Woman On Federal Death Row 8 Days Before Biden Inauguration | Melissa Jeltsen
Lisa Montgomery, the only woman on federal death row, is set to be executed on Jan. 12, just days before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, who has pledged to end the death penalty.
More from Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The 19th, USA Today
Los Angeles Times | Black women got Biden elected. Of course they did | Carla Hall
As we approach Thanksgiving at the end of a bleak year beset by virus, violence and fractious politics, one of the few things we can give thanks for are the legions of Black voters who helped Biden win — and the Black women, in particular, who spearheaded registration drives and exhorted their communities to find their power in voting.
The New York Times | Will White Women in Georgia Put Family or Culture War First? | Isabel Sawhill, Morgan Welch
As the crucial swing voting bloc in the state’s two pivotal Senate runoffs, they have a clear choice.