More Than A Magazine, A Movement
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is a conceptual framework held by many organizations. It promotes the fair treatment and full participation of all individuals. DEI is increasingly under attack.
A sweeping, year-one rundown of how Trump’s second-term power grabs and policy rollbacks are eroding women’s rights, healthcare and economic security, including—from dismantling the Women’s Bureau at the Department of Labor and shuttering reproductive health clinics, to passing historic cuts to the Medicaid program and sowing mistrust in abortion pill safety.
Vice President JD Vance gave the closing keynote speech at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2025 conference in Phoenix on Dec. 21. It was the first TP gathering since the right-wing organization’s co-founder, Charlie Kirk, was killed in September, and thus bound to attract an extraordinary amount of media coverage and commentary.
His speech cycled through a laundry list of right-wing Christian nationalist gripes about Democrats and the “left.” It’s certainly his right, and prerogative, to share his views. But it’s up to us—his audience—either to accept or push back on those takes.
That’s what I’m doing here.
I recently discovered two glossy magazines published by and for young people: Alice, which focuses on fashion, beauty, personal health, wellness and lifestyle; and Nineteen Fifty-Six, which brings a Black cultural lens to coverage of news, style and the arts.
Both are student-run publications housed at the University of Alabama. And on any other day, they would make one think the future of journalism look very bright indeed. Except that the sole reason I found these magazines at all is because they are now officially suspended. Last week, campus officials announced their permanent shuttering. Yet another casualty of the Trump administration’s attacks on free speech and public higher education—all in the name of stamping out supposed diversity, equity and inclusion.
MAGA Republicans are back in the White House, and Project 2025 is their guide—the right-wing plan to turn back the clock on women’s rights, remove abortion access, and force women into roles as wives and mothers in the “ideal, natural family structure.” We know an empowered female electorate is essential to democracy. That’s why day after day, we stay vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. We are watching, and we refuse to go back. This is the War on Women Report.
Since our last report:
—North Dakota’s Supreme Court reinstated a total abortion ban, making it the 13th state with a near-total ban on abortion.
—Trump ordered Catherine Lucey, a woman reporter for Bloomberg, to be “quiet, piggy.”
—The U.S. moved to categorize countries with state-sponsored abortion and DEI policies as violators of human rights.
—Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has sued Planned Parenthood over allegedly “misrepresenting the safety” of abortion pills.
—On Thursday, Dec. 4, an unprecedented law banning doctors from shipping abortion pills takes effect in Texas.
—”The country’s most respected newspaper hosted a conversation about whether women’s equality and freedom was a mistake.”
—Doctor Maj. Blaine McGraw, an OB-GYN at Fort Hood military base in Texas, the third-largest base in the country, is under investigation for sexual abuse against patients. As of Monday, 85 victims have come forward.
—With Jeffrey Epstein survivors watching from the gallery above, the House agreed in a near-unanimous vote to force the release of all files related to the investigation of the convicted sex offender.
… and more.
Professor Melissa McCoul was dismissed in September after teaching LGBTQ+ themes in her children’s literature course at Texas A&M. Just this week, a faculty council determined McCoul’s firing violated her academic freedom.
But politicians and activists who oppose what they call “woke gender ideology,” are galvanized and doubling down, using this Texas A&M case to push for curricular reviews aimed at eliminating women’s, gender and sexuality studies from public colleges and universities across Texas.
Framed as bureaucratic oversight, conservatives seek to eliminate gender studies and related fields through procedural mechanisms that evade public scrutiny. The assaults on gender studies in Texas are not just a local issue; they are a national bellwether. They signal a coordinated effect to dismantle feminist and queer inquiry and remind us that silence, in the face of repression, is complicity.
Many of the military officers who sat through Pete Hegseth’s and Donald Trump’s speeches about not tolerating “fat generals” and the need for “male standards” of physical fitness, are men who have not only served with highly capable, talented and accomplished women; many of them have mentored and promoted them as well. They know how vital and indispensable women are to functioning militaries in the modern era.
Secretary Hegseth’s speech was more than an announcement of new Pentagon priorities. It was, in many ways, a performative declaration of what is a much wider right-wing culture war against feminism.
Kim Snyder’s The Librarians follows women in a long-undervalued and underpaid profession—who are now coming under attack. The film premiered to acclaim at Sundance and later SXSW, and will be released in select theaters this fall.
Texas A&M University president Mark A. Welsh III has resigned after a viral video of a student confronting a professor over gender content in a children’s literature course sparked a firestorm of political interference. The professor, Melissa McCoul, along with two administrators, were removed from their positions after Republican lawmakers demanded action, framing the discussion of gender identity as a threat to state values. Faculty and student leaders had rallied in support of Welsh prior to his resignation, emphasizing the importance of defending academic freedom and thoughtful leadership in higher education.
The incident at Texas A&M is emblematic of a broader assault on educators’ ability to address gender, sexuality and identity in the classroom. Laws like Senate Bill 37 and executive orders restricting discussion of “gender ideology” weaponize state power against both students and professors, undermining constitutional protections and silencing marginalized voices.
As Zeph Capo of the Texas American Federation of Teachers notes, these public calls for removal based on viral clips constitute an abuse of power—and yet, they are becoming normalized. This moment underscores the urgent need to protect feminist and LGBTQ+ perspectives in education, to ensure that classrooms remain spaces for inquiry, critical thinking and the affirmation of all students’ lived experiences.
Since the Trump administration made diversity, equality and inclusion “immoral” and “illegal,” a large part of workplace discrimination in the country still remains to be experienced by women and members of racial minority groups. Now, these groups have less of a platform to make complaints about such discrimination.
Academic leaders today face a defining test. As the Trump administration seeks to strip research funding, eliminate diversity and inclusion, and give political appointees sweeping control, presidents and provosts must decide what legacy they will leave. The attacks on women’s, gender and sexuality studies—as well as Africana, Indigenous, disability and other interdisciplinary programs—are part of a broader campaign to delegitimize fields that challenge systems of privilege. We are again in turbulent times, not unlike past eras when leaders had to defend the teaching of evolution, admit women and Black students, or resist political interference. The choices made now will echo for decades.
Despite claims that these programs are too small or unsustainable, the evidence tells a different story. These courses draw students across disciplines, fulfill general education requirements, and prepare graduates for a diverse global workforce. Market data show they are often cost-effective, with faculty teaching across departments and reaching wide audiences. Employers stress the importance of the very skills our graduates carry: critical thinking, collaboration and cultural humility. The question for higher education leaders is clear: Will you stand with these programs that represent the best of our democratic values—or allow them to be dismantled by political opportunism and short-sighted cuts?