My hands are shaking; my adrenaline is surging. No, it’s not from the latte I just inhaled or because this is the first time in two years I’ve been in a Starbucks since declaring a boycott on its open-carry gun policy. What’s got me jittery this morning is the 9mm Glock that’s holstered on my [...]
Although technology was, on one hand, a tool maliciously used for prolonging the harm done by the now-infamous Steubenville, Ohio, rape (via texts, tweets and shared photos), it was, on the other hand, also where public outcry fueled the case that ultimately saw the two teenage perpetrators convicted in March. And, once again, frustrated justice-seekers [...]
Transgender students in California could soon enjoy more rights and protections. A bill was approved Thursday in the California Assembly that would allow transgender students to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities. This means that athletic teams that are all girls or all boys will be open to students who identify with either gender. [...]
“The big question is, ‘Why didn’t they leave earlier?’” I heard Elizabeth Vargas ask on the morning news last week, not even 24 hours after the country learned that three women were free after a decade of captivity. I could feel the heat under my skin making my neck red and my face blotchy. “So many [...]
UPDATE: The Minnesota state Senate voted 37-30 today to approve same-sex marriage in the state. The governor’s office said he will sign the bill into law tomorrow. As marriage equality is gradually–and, lately, rapidly!–being embraced state by state (let alone being considered by the highest court in the land), a statement that Martin Luther King [...]
You never know what to expect entering a school bathroom, but one of the last things I expected was to be told that my school had a rapist. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so surprised. Someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted every two minutes, and an estimated 350 women per college campus of 10,000 [...]
As we wait for the Supreme Court decisions on marriage equality to come down in June, commentators have been dissecting the oral arguments and making predictions about the possible outcomes. But there’s one SCOTUS judge who leaves no doubt about how he will rule: Justice Antonin Scalia will undoubtedly vote against gay rights. He disapproves [...]
“The one thing a violent rapist deserves to face is a good woman with a gun.” When the NRA’s Wayne La Pierre made this statement at the recent CPAC conference, the women in the room stood up and cheered. You might think that, as a rape survivor, I would share their enthusiasm. But instead, I was [...]
Lawyer, author and long-time feminist activist Brenda Feigen was at the Supreme Court yesterday and today to watch and hear the Proposition 8 and DOMA case arguments. Here’s her report on the DOMA hearing: As I got close to the U.S. Supreme Court on my way to the DOMA hearing today, I was greeted with [...]
Lawyer, author and long-time feminist activist Brenda Feigen was at the Supreme Court today to watch and hear the Proposition 8 case arguments. Here’s her report: My feelings are full and complex after today’s Proposition 8 hearing at the U.S. Supreme Court. Since the hearing on Hollingsworth v. Perry started with Chief Justice John Roberts [...]
