The bitter-suite life
Today…
is the birthday of Louise Blanchard Bethune (1856–1913) considered the first American woman to work as a professional architect. (Fun fact: she’s said to have bought the first woman's bicycle to go on sale in Buffalo.) She specialized in schools and industrial buildings; among her designs that are still standing is the Hotel Lafayette in Buffalo. Look at this beauty.
in 1923, fresh off the Seneca Falls Convention, the National Woman’s Party launches a new campaign for an equal rights amendment to the constitution. One of these days, ladies, one of these days.
is National Junk Food Day. Where even to begin? Where even to end? The limit does not exist.
God, remember hotels? Right now I could be sitting by the pool at the Omni, one of my very favorite places in DC, with a book and a mango margarita…
Abortion
DNC Attempts to Convert the 3 Republican Voters Who Hate Trump More Than They Hate Abortions
Esther Wang | Jezebel
According to the AP, former Ohio governor and failed Republican presidential candidate John Kasich has been “approached and is expected to speak” at the DNC, as part of the Biden campaign’s efforts to appeal to the three Republican voters who hate Trump more than they hate abortions.
Despite Supreme Court Win, Abortion Rights Are Still Not Safe
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand | Rewire.News
Attacks on reproductive freedom have the greatest effect on communities that already face significant barriers to accessing health care.
Federal Courts to Georgia and Tennessee: Nice Try on Abortion Bans
Imani Gandy | Rewire.News
Last week, two federal courts told Georgia and Tennessee to take their near-total abortion bans and shove them. That’s exactly what the courts should have done, and Georgia and Tennessee surely expected it.
How the pro-choice movement’s big win at Supreme Court might prove to be a huge loss
Mary Ziegler | Salon
When the Supreme Court handed down its ruling striking down a Louisiana law that would have limited abortion access, progressives celebrated. Their reasoning was simple: By joining the court's liberal justices, Roberts had proven his commitment to the principle of precedent. But the court had also sent several cases – all big wins for abortion rights – back to lower courts for reconsideration.
LGBTQ
U.S. Military is Now Banned From Displaying the Pride Flag at Work
David Artavia | The Advocate
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper signed an order that will prohibit military bases from flying flags other than the U.S. flag, state flags, and military-related flags. Under the new guideline, LGBTQ+ groups affiliated with the military will not be allowed to display the rainbow flag at any time, even during Pride Month. Furthermore, LGBTQ+ service members are no longer permitted to display the flag in their workspaces.
Dem AGs sue to stop rule revoking transgender protections
Michael R. Sisak | AP
A coalition of Democratic state attorneys general sued the Trump Administration on Monday, seeking to block next month’s implementation of a rule overturning Obama-era protections for transgender people against sex discrimination in health care.
Courthouse News Service | States Sue Over White House Rollback of Transgender Health Care Protections
Trump administration memo explains how to spot a transgender woman
Alex Bollinger | LGBTQ Nation
A copy of the new rule that will allow homeless shelters to refuse transgender people has been leaked to the media, and it contains instructions on how to spot transgender women to target them for discrimination.
The Advocate | HUD: Trans Women Could Be ID'd at Homeless Shelters by Adam's Apples
The American Independent | Trump administration rule lets shelters decide who is a woman based on facial hair
Mic | The Trump administration is reportedly finalizing a transphobic rule for homeless shelters
Science Suggests Some Men Really Are Bisexual
Alan Mozes | HealthDay
Is male bisexuality real? According to a new review, the answer is a definitive "yes.""The current study found very strong and consistent evidence that bisexual men do in fact tend to have bisexual arousal patterns," noted study author J. Michael Bailey. "There is no longer reasonable doubt."
U.S. Finally Reacts To Reports Of LGBTQ Torture, But Will It Help?
Randy Slovacek | Instinct Magazine
Mike Pompeo “publicly designated” Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation, under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act. Section 7031(c) requires the Secretary of State to bar from U.S. entry foreign officials about whom the Secretary has credible information indicating that they have been involved, directly or indirectly, in “gross violation of human rights.”
What's at Stake for LGBTQ Americans in 2020
Zoe Larkin, Katie Fleischer | Ms. Magazine
From President Trump allowing medical professionals to discriminate against trans people, to the fifth anniversary of marriage equality and the Supreme Court decision protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination in the workplace, this summer has been a rollercoaster of emotions for LGBTQ Americans.
Transgender Facebook content dominated by right-wing sources, study finds
Tim Fitzsimons | NBC News
Anti-transgender Facebook content shared by right-wing news sources generated more engagement than content from pro-transgender or neutral sources combined, according to a Media Matters for America study of 225 viral social media posts.
Alaska
New protections for LGBTQ individuals unanimously approved in Ketchikan
Eric Stone | KTOO Public Media
An ordinance that prohibits discrimination against LGTBQ individuals in Ketchikan city limits was passed Thursday, July 16th. The local law was approved by the Ketchikan City Council over the objections of religious advocates. Ketchikan’s new protections for LGBTQ individuals unanimously approved by the City Council are wide-ranging.
Maryland
Transgender man sues University of Maryland Catholic hospital for denying him medically necessary surgery
John Riley | Metro Weekly
A transgender man is suing the University of Maryland Medical System, and specifically, the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center, after doctors at the hospital refused to perform a hysterectomy on him because of religious objections.
Reproductive Health & Justice
Why Achieving Reproductive Justice Requires Investing In Black Futures
Monica McLemore | Blavity
One of the startling realizations about Black futures is the possibility that there might not be Black people in the future. COVID19 and unarmed shootings of Black people by police already compound the existing and shameful Black maternal health crisis.
What 'Racism Is a Public Health Issue' Means
Lila Thulin | Smithsonian Magazine
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, whether cases are flaring up, slowing to a simmer, or back on the rise in areas across the United States, the data makes one fact apparent: The viral disease has disproportionally sickened and killed marginalized communities.
Connecticut
Giveaway Targets "Period Poverty"
Courtney Luciana | New Haven Independent
The National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) worked with the Heavenly Hands Food Pantry on Edgewood Avenue Saturday to give away 150 bags of sanitary supplies to combat “period poverty.”
Work & Parenting
Only 32% of companies returning to work have plans for employees' child-care needs even as many schools postpone reopening full-time
Megan Leonhardt | CNBC
Among companies that have already had their employees return to the office, 42% do not have a dedicated plan to help employees balance child-care responsibilities, according to SHRM’s recent research. And only 32% of organizations that are planning to return to work have not outlined child-care plans.
Bloomberg Opinion | Parents’ Work-From-Home Struggles Are Employers’ Problem Too
Newsday | Parents' work-from-home struggles are employers' problem too
WTOP-FM (Washington, DC) | Parenting in a pandemic: The one benefit employers will focus on even more
Distance Learning Is Inevitable. Here’s How It Should Serve Working Parents Better
Meredith Bodgas | Working Mother
While there is still much about which to be anxious, the health risk of schools reopening should be viewed as an opportunity to improve remote learning in a way that makes it preferable, at least for some families.
Grand Forks Herald | Working parents can’t become pretend public-school teachers again this fall
InsideNova | Virtual learning this fall will challenge students and parents
San Francisco Examiner | ‘Pandemic pods’: miscroschooling phenomenon takes off in wake of fall distance learning plans
To Open the Schools Safely, Uncle Sam Will Have to Pay Up
Girard Miller | GOVERNING
Washington's wrangling over the politics of public education will put our kids and communities at risk unless politicians face up to fiscal and physical realities. They need to get it done now.
COVID-19 is a disaster for mothers' employment. And no, working from home is not the solution
Leah Ruppanner, Caitlyn Collins, William J. Scarborough | The Conversation
Our new study on workers in the U.S. shows that in the first months of the pandemic, mothers noticeably reduced their employment, but fathers’ time at paid work was unchanged. Parents can have a hard time doing it all under normal circumstances. But during these extraordinary times, our research shows mothers’ employment is suffering.
Working Mother | More Than Half of Women Have Made Career Changes Because of Childcare Needs During COVID
To propel a successful post-COVID economy, we must rebuild a stronger child care system
Liz Bell, Sepideh Saidi | EducationNC
The COVID-19 crisis is exposing what working parents have known for years — that sustainable, affordable, high-quality child care is essential to their livelihood and to their family’s health and well-being. That’s why we need a new model for child care services in our state to propel a vibrant and successful economy.
We Should Pay Parents To Stay Home
Elliot Haspel | Romper
Millions of U.S. students will be at home on any given weekday this fall … shifting an untenable burden onto parents and create a massive secondary child care crisis aimed squarely at working mothers. The only viable solution that honors the needs of parents, children, and teachers is as simple as it is bold: pay one parent per household as a caregiver until schools fully reopen.
Work & Money
Joy Reid Will Make TV History as a Black Woman: 'It's a Privilege to Represent Who I Am, Not a Burden.'
Jenny Singer | Glamour
On Monday night, when her new show The ReidOut premieres on MSNBC, Joy Reid will make TV history. She will become the first Black woman to host a prime-time talk show on a major network.
Wanted: CEO to fight income inequality by cutting executive pay
Chris Tomlinson | Houston Chronicle
More and more business leaders are joining activists to address society’s most divisive issues. Where are the top executives, though, taking concrete steps to address income inequality? Who is taking a pay cut to give their employees a higher standard of living?
The Violence of Racial Capitalism Hurts Us All
Pam Spritzer | LA Progressive
The pandemic has laid bare all the ways our society devalues care, epitomized by nurses in garbage bags for lack of personal protective equipment – in telling contrast to the high-tech full-body armor of the military and police. We habitually treat the labor of care like garbage; the mostly women who perform home care, for example, are low-paid, low-status workers, many living in poverty. Teachers, to whom we entrust the education of our children, frequently struggle to make ends meet, as do childcare workers.
There’s No Money In Working Anymore
Whizy Kim | Refinery29
Last year, Brookings took a deep look at pay across the U.S., and found that almost half of workers — 44% — earn low wages. Almost a third of low-wage workers were below 150% of the federal poverty level. The median pay among low-wage workers was around $10.22/hr. And when wages stay the same, they’re not really staying the same. Factoring in inflation, workers are getting paid less and less every year. It’s not enough to live on.
California
Supreme Court narrows gap between federal, California discrimination laws
Dan Eaton | San Diego Union-Tribune
The U.S. Supreme Court just issued two important opinions addressing workplace discrimination. Those rulings narrow the difference between the federal and California employment discrimination statutes.
Georgia
Black Georgians more likely to experience food scarcity during pandemic, data suggests
J.D. Capelouto | Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Troubling disparities surrounding food insecurity along racial lines existed before COVID-19 hit, research shows. But preliminary survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates those gaps have only widened in Georgia as the pandemic forced millions out of work, disproportionately affecting Black and Hispanic families’ ability to put food on the table.
More, More, More
Your Feminism Isn't Intersectional If It Doesn't Include Prison Abolition
Aliza Pelto | BUST Magazine
Survived and Punished’s charts on race, gender, and incarceration show that the fight for prison abolition must include women and members of the LGBT+ community — and our feminism must advocate for all womxn, including those who are unfairly impacted by the criminal justice system.
For The Sandwich Generation, COVID-19 Presents Entirely New Challenges
Leila Barghouty | Bustle
According to a 2013 study by Pew, 15% of middle-age adults in the United States give financial support to both their children and at least one elderly parent. As the U.S. population ages, and Americans have kids later in life, that demographic is growing.