Search Results for: LGBTQ

When Women Are Safe, We Will Finally Be Free

Safety is our most fundamental need, but the U.S. denies it to women—especially women of color. Every attack on our safety stands in the way of our freedom. We need to get serious about the problem with serious policy solutions. 

Securing safety for women is possible. State legislatures across the country are proposing legislation to ensure that people who have committed violence can’t get access to guns, support families who experience domestic violence, improve investigative processes for missing Indigenous people, and fund mental health crisis services.

(This essay is part of The Majority Rules project—an artful essay and op-ed series from Ms. and Supermajority Education Fund.)

71. Cheated: Every Woman’s Story (with Tracey Meares)

Transcript: Michele Goodwin: Welcome to “On the Issues with Michele Goodwin” at Ms. magazine, a show where we report, rebel and you know, we tell it just like it is. On this show, we center your concerns about rebuilding our nation and advancing the promise of equality. Join me as we tackle the most compelling […]

War on Women Report: Mike Pence Calls for Nationwide Ban on Abortion Pills; Minnesota Is First State to Protect Abortion Rights in 2023

U.S. patriarchal authoritarianism is on the rise, and democracy is on the decline. But day after day, we stay vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. The fight is far from over. We are watching, and we refuse to go back. This is the War on Women Report.

This month: New mother Arleta Ramirez was ordered to use a bottle instead of breastfeeding; tracking multiple attacks on access to medication abortion; CNN co-anchor Don Lemon knows when women are in their prime; both Harvey Weinstein and R. Kelly were sentenced, and more.

Lawmaker Urges Biden to ‘Ignore’ Texas Judge Who May Order FDA to Ban Mifepristone and Abortion Pill by Mail

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a long-time advocate for access to abortion pills who held the first congressional hearings on mifepristone in 1990, is calling on the Biden administration and the FDA to defy any ruling restricting abortion pills.

“There are moments in history where Americans and their leaders must look at circumstances like this one and say, ‘Enough.’ Not ‘let’s see how the appeals process plays out,’ or ‘Let’s hope Congress can fix this down the road.’ Just, ‘Enough.’”

ChatGPT: New Technology, Same Old Misogynoir

Machine learning inputs reflect the biases of their writers. The contributions to human history made by women, children and people who speak nonstandard English will be underrepresented by chatbots like ChatGPT.

I love technology and love it when new applications hit the market. My only wish is that AI designers ensure Black women, and all marginalized people, are fairly represented in their datasets.

U.S. Rape Culture Is Sidelining and Silencing Future Female Leaders

The recent CDC report on the health of U.S. high school students was sharply contextualized by chief medical officer Dr. Deborah Houry’s headline-grabbing remark at the report’s release: “America’s teen girls are engulfed in a growing wave of sadness, violence and trauma.”

Rape culture is defined in part by its tolerance of subjection of women to a continuum of threats. Rape culture is also characterized by sexism, which involves normalized denigration and dismissal of women. Failure to address these conditions for young girls creates more hurdles on their paths to success and the possibility of public leadership—where the ranks of women leaders continue to be proportionally much smaller than they are for men.

Proposed California Law Would Block Digital Surveillance of People Seeking Abortion and Gender-Affirming Care

Republicans in multiple states have introduced bills that would allow authorities to criminally prosecute women and pregnant people who have abortions and prosecute parents for obtaining gender-affirming care for their children. Reproductive justice advocates are concerned that police and prosecutors in these states will attempt to find these people using digital dragnet surveillance of their search histories and location data.

On Feb. 14, California Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland) introduced Assembly Bill 793 to protect people from unconstitutional searches of their data. “No one should face or fear criminalization for their abortion or gender-affirming care. When we decide to end our pregnancies, we should be able to do so with dignity, and without fear of being arrested, investigated or jailed.”

Biden Administration Releases First-Ever Report on Diversity in Federal Government

The human resources arm of the federal government has released its first-ever report on diversity across the federal workforce. The 31-page document breaks down hiring and retention across agencies and gives a snapshot of the administration’s efforts to remove barriers for applicants from underrepresented communities. It’s an area where the federal government has historically struggled.

The government can’t change what it doesn’t measure, said Dr. Janice Underwood, director of the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) at the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

Dream Schools Can Be a Nightmare—But a New Data Tool Empowers Student Survivors

To fight for change effectively, we must listen to students and survivors nationwide and provide them with critical information on how campuses handle sexual assault. We built the Campus Accountability Map and Tool (CAMT) to do just that.

There is no “one size fits all” approach to addressing campus sexual assault, but the CAMT centralizes data to shift focus to one that keeps students first in mind and an institution’s bottom line and reputation last. 

‘The Stroll’ Showcases the Lives of Trans Sex Workers Through Their Own Eyes

The Stroll is a feature-length entry into Sundance’s U.S. Documentary competition that won this year’s Special Jury Award for Clarity of Vision. The film is about several blocks of 14th Street in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, colloquially called as “The Stroll,” where trans sex workers, mostly women of color, were known to gather.

Kristen Lovell and Zackary Drucker’s compassionate and authentic portrayal is about solidarity and hope—asking viewers to understand the past while looking forward into the future.