Today…
is Homemade Bread Day. One of the many, many awful things about this year is the emotional baggage now tied up with homemade bread! It’s an all-time good thing that, for me at least, now also has a twinge of #basic March and April sourdoughs and are-we-ever-getting-out-of-here exhaustion. But. It has spurred me to branch out into skillet flatbreads, pretzels and different no-kneads - anything that lets me avoid sprinkling flour everywhere - so, you know.
is International Happy Gose Day oooOOOOooo. I discovered sour beers maybe three years ago now and have never. looked. back. Dogfish Head SeaQuench has become a go-to (and makes an exceptional michelada), but yes please to a SuperEight, an Old Pro or its seasonal cousin Cold Pro, a Two of Tarts, I could go on.
Yes, simple morning brain made simple morning connection, and now I can’t get this out of my head. (You assumed I’d go with a Moonstruck reference because bread? Next time.)
Abortion
The American Independent | GOP's anti-abortion extremism didn't work with Catholic voters as they'd hoped | Lisa Needham
When it comes to voting on abortion, Catholics' views tend to align with those of others in their party.
Ms. Magazine | How Telemedicine Startups Are Revolutionizing Abortion Health Care in the U.S. | Carrie Baker
The growth of medication abortion has dovetailed with expansion of telehealth to provide new opportunities for pregnant people to access abortion in a safe and private way.
Texas
Rewire News Group | Texas Is Once Again Ground Zero for the Abortion Rights Fight | Mary Tuma
A flurry of prefiled bills offer a glimpse into the anti-choice strategy in Texas for 2021.
LGBTQ
The Advocate | Hate Crimes, Including Anti-Trans Crimes, Rose in 2019 | Trudy Ring
Hate-related homicides in the U.S. reached a record level last year, while hate crimes against transgender and gender-nonconforming people increased, as did crimes overall, according to a new FBI report. And, as activists point out, the report just skims the surface of such crimes.
Daily Kos | Hate crimes continue to rise in America under Trump, but police increasingly won’t report them | David Neiwert
The Advocate | 350 Transgender Lives Lost to Violence in Past Year | Trudy Ring
As Transgender Awareness Week continues, to be capped by Transgender Day of Remembrance November 20, figures released by Transrespect Versus Transphobia Worldwide show the shocking level of violence faced by trans people globally.
The Daily Beast | These LGBTQ Foster Parents and Kids Want the Supreme Court to Listen to Them | Tim Teeman
The Supreme Court is considering whether religious entities can turn away same-sex parents. Here, LGBTQ foster parents and children speak out on the discrimination they have faced.
NBC News | Nearly 1 in 10 transgender Americans use nonprescription hormones, study finds | Dan Avery
Nearly 1 in 10 transgender Americans are turning to nonprescription sources for gender-affirming hormones — including friends, relatives and internet pharmacies — according to a new study.
NPR | Religious Freedom Arguments Give Rise To Executive Order Battle | Tom Gjelten
Key government policies on religious freedom and discrimination, once set through legislation, are increasingly dictated by presidential orders, meaning they shift capriciously from one administration to the next.
Out Magazine | Queer Couples Are Protesting Amy Coney Barrett By Marrying En Masse | Donald Padgett
The nonbinary "Fickle Witch" Raynie Castaneda took a break from performing oracle and tarot card readings to help five LGBTQ+ couples get married before newly-seated conservative Associate Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett has a chance to rule on marriage equality.
LGBTQ Nation | Texas town hosts 6-hour Marriage-A-Thon for queer couples officiated by a “fickle witch” | Bil Browning
Shondaland | What the Next Presidency Could Mean for LGBTQ Rights | Seth Plattner
President-elect Biden has announced an ambitious plan for furthering LGBTQ inclusion in the United States. Here’s what should come first on the agenda.
California
The Advocate | Nonbinary, Gay, Mixed-Race, Dem Socialist Candidates Win in Bay Area | Trudy Ring
Colorado
AP | Court weighs challenge to Colorado discrimination law | Colleen Slevin
West Virginia
Metro Weekly | Three West Virginia residents sue over ban on transgender health care coverage | John Riley
Pandemic Parenting
New York Times | When Schools Closed, Americans Turned to Their Usual Backup Plan: Mothers | Claire Cain Miller
when the pandemic hit, it was largely mothers who took on the additional child care duties; became remote teachers; and, in large numbers, quit their jobs. The sudden return to 1950s-style households wasn’t an aberration. Rather, it revealed a truth: In the United States, mothers remain the fallback plan.
CNN | Keep schools open -- and shut down almost everything else | David M. Perry
Refinery29 | Working Parents Are Breaking Down. Why Aren’t We Helping Them? | Whizy Kim
As we near the end of this hellish year, it’s only becoming clearer that we’re leaving working parents, and especially lower-income working mothers, in the dust.
Reproductive Health & Justice
Federal News Network | After 70 years of integration, military health system still isn’t addressing women’s needs | Scott Maucione, Jared Serbu
Even though some military services have made recent changes — like offering refrigerators for women to store breast milk and trying to find better ways for women pilots to use the bathroom in-flight — a yearlong study by the Defense Health Board suggests the Pentagon is not providing proper medical care to women, and therefore wasting money and hurting readiness.
Forbes | Women Are More Likely To Swap Prescribed Medication For Medical Cannabis, Study Finds | Alice Broster
A new study has found that a significant number of women would use cannabis to treat chronic conditions and pain.
Scary Mommy | Kamala Harris Isn’t Promoting Prostitution, But She Should Make It Safer | Amber Leventry
Harris has been a little wishy-washy on her stance when it comes to decriminalizing sex work, and many sex worker advocates see her as doing more harm than good when it comes to their safety.
Vox | Biden can do 3 things on day one to unwind Trump’s war on reproductive health | Anna North
There is likely an end in sight for many of the Trump administration’s policies: Since they were enacted by executive action, they can be undone by President-elect Joe Biden when he takes office, without any help from Congress.
Courier | How the Biden-Harris Administration Could Improve Reproductive Health on Day One | Elle Meyers
Ms. | How to Move Forward on Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy Decisions in 2021
Rewire News Group | What Vice President Kamala Harris Could Accomplish for Abortion Rights | Caroline Reilly
Shondaland | The Future of Reproductive Rights in America | Alexis McGill Johnson
Work & Money
Blavity | Why I Believe President-Elect Biden Should Pass Paid Family Leave In His First 100 Days | Quentin Michael Savwoir
Family centered public policy and a strong economic environment aren’t competing interests. When we take care of our people, industry and commerce also wins.
HR Dive | EEOC to propose religious guidance update | Lisa Burden
The revisions include updates to employee protections from religious discrimination in the areas of reasonable accommodations and harassment and defenses that may be available to religious employers, EEOC said.
MarketWatch | A grim test case on how progressive paid-leave and child-care policies fail to address the gap in men and women’s wages | Andrew Keshner
The U.S. is the only highly-developed country without a federal paid parental leave law. This is especially critical as millions of American women face a coronavirus-induced recession that’s hit them especially hard, advocates for paid leave say.
Morning Consult | In a Shift, We’re Becoming More Cognizant of the Obstacles Women Face in Their Own Workplace | Joanna Piacenza
50% in poll say corporate culture creates challenges for women in their industry or company -- a 13-point increase since 2019
NBC News | Bringing women back into the workforce is Biden's greatest opportunity to recharge the economy | Joanne Lipman
Little attention has been paid to perhaps the greatest opportunity to recharge the battered economy: Bringing women back into the workplace. The coronavirus pandemic has exposed deep structural flaws in America’s workplaces, setting back women’s advancement by decades.
New York Times | Women and Leadership: Looking Beyond the Global Health Crisis
We asked female leaders in crucial disciplines to talk about the role women can have in determining what the world looks like after the pandemic
Texas
KIAH-TV | Texas cities rank low in gender wage gap | Tyler Gibson
Law360 | UT Austin Should Face Gender Pay Gap Suit, Judge Says | Jon Steingart
More, More, More
AP | Women crucial to Biden's win, even as gender gap held steady | Jocelyn Noveck
HuffPost | ACLU Challenges ‘Torturous Conditions’ Of Only Woman On Federal Death Row | Melissa Jeltsen
Psychology Today | How Growing Populism Harms Women | Rosalind C. Barnett
Stars and Stripes | Female combat deaths don’t erode war support, study finds | Nancy Montgomery
Women's Republic | Ladies, You Do Not Owe Anybody Your Emotional Labor | Ingrid Jones