Tag: Trans Rights

BANNED: Gender, Race and Sexuality Studies

A new Florida law severely restricts gender, race and sexuality studies at state-funded colleges—and eliminates diversity programs altogether. Far from just a “Florida problem,” this is one piece of an alarming right-wing strategy spreading nationwide. Gender studies advocates warn, “Thiis is about to be the entire country’s problem. Every Republican-dominated state legislature is watching closely what is happening in Florida.”

Far-right conservatives fear that younger generations will be taught to think critically about the rampant misrepresentation and sanitization of American history and the continued discrimination against women, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.

Keeping Score: Fighting Florida’s Book Bans; Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom Gather Signatures for November Ballot Measure; HIV Infections Down 12%

In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.

This week: Rhode Island expands guaranteed abortion coverage; PEN America and Penguin Random House file lawsuit against Florida book ban, while NAACP issues Florida travel ban; Michigan protects abortion patients from employment discrimination; rock fans mourn the death of star Tina Turner; South Carolina votes to pass six-week abortion ban; HIV infections decreased in the U.S.; and more.

Pride Month Begins, as Attacks on LGBTQ+ Rights and Women’s Rights Escalate

The anti-abortion playbook that uses violence and threats as a crucial tool has been co-opted by other movements—including anti-trans extremists, who are employing many of the same tactics as anti-abortion extremists.

From targeting specific doctors, to bombarding clinics with phone calls and protests, these groups incite violence against clinicians who are providing care that is widely regarded as best practice by all major medical associations.

War on Women: Arson at Abortion Clinics Is up 100 Percent; Trump Is Guilty of Sexual Abuse and Defamation; Republicans Try to End No-Fault Divorce

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: Jane’s Due Process is now providing travel funding for Texas teens accessing abortion; states continue to face anti-LGBTQ legislative attacks; Donald Trump was found liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll; Indiana’s medical licensing board fined Dr. Caitlin Bernard; and more.

Time to Put the Equal Rights Amendment Into the Constitution: Sign4ERA

A new generation of young feminists are organizing shoulder-to-shoulder with seasoned activists, demanding the Equal Rights Amendment be immediately added to the Constitution.

To demonstrate this support for the ERA, students at Hunter College in New York City launched a petition drive to send a message to Congress that the time is now to put the Equal Rights Amendment into the Constitution. Sign the petition and get involved in the drive at www.sign4ERA.org.

Keeping Score: 78% of Americans Say Abortion Is a Decision for a Woman and Her Doctor; Trans Kids Are Under Attack in at Least 17 States; FDA Allows Queer Men to Donate Blood

In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.

This week: 16 states (and counting) pass bans on gender-affirming treatment for trans kids; FDA updates its policy on gay and bisexual men donating blood; Colorado bans “abortion pill reversal” groups; Hey Jane is first telemedicine abortion provider to accept insurance; New York SUNY and CUNY students will have guaranteed access to medication abortion; Manhattan jury finds Trump guilty of sexual abuse; New York launches successful gun buyback initiative; and more.

The Patriarchs’ War on Women

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Assaults on women’s and LGBTQ+ rights—and attempts to put women “in their place”—constitute a backlash against feminist progress expanding women’s full inclusion in public life.

As women’s participation becomes more prominent in domestic and international politics, here’s why political sexism and gender policing are also becoming more virulent—and what to do about it.

(This essay is part of Women’s Rights and Backsliding Democracies project—a multimedia project made up of essays, video and podcast programming, presented by Ms., NYU Law’s Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network and Rewire News Group.)

Feminist Concerns Are Democracy Concerns

As our rights backslide, so too does our democracy—which is why feminist concerns are always and inevitably democratic concerns. This is a point we need to reinforce over and over and over again as this country gears up for the 2024 presidential election—the first since the Court stripped core rights away in Dobbs. 

(This essay is part of Women’s Rights and Backsliding Democracies project—a multimedia project made up of essays, video and podcast programming, presented by Ms., NYU Law’s Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network and Rewire News Group.)