Posts Categorized: Uncategorized
Understanding Obergefell v. Hodges
Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will be hearing oral arguments for Obergefell v. Hodges, a pivotal case addressing same-sex marriage. In preparation for tomorrow’s oral arguments. I wanted to share some facts surrounding the case. The case relates to the states of Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, and Tennessee where same-sex couples have sued the state for refusing to recognize legal marriages in other states. Facts: Obergefell v. Hodges involves James Obergefell and John Arthur James from Ohio. John James Arthur was diagnosed with ALS in 2011 They were married in the state of Maryland on July 11, 2013. Same-sex marriage is illegal in Ohio, They wanted Obergefell to be named as James’ surviving spouse on his death certificate. The couple was issued a temporary order to recognize their marriage on Arthur’s death… Read more »
The Importance of Acknowledging the Spectrum of Sexuality
Something that’s often hard for me to navigate as a queer person is the own intersections of my identity. When I was taught, or rather researched on my own, the different sexualities one could possess I came across an extremely binary interpretation of sexuality. Gay, bisexual, and straight were the three orientations that I understood to exist when I was initially doing my own self discovery, so naturally because I knew I was attracted to women I figured that meant I was gay. I figured that the physical attraction I had had for men in the past was merely me mimicking the sexualities of my friends in order to appear straight and fit into our heteronormative society. But now that I’ve grown in my knowledge I’ve learned that sexuality does not… Read more »
Earth Day and Reproductive Justice
As many of you know, yesterday was Earth Day. Some of us may celebrate by making a pledge to reduce waste, or to avoid driving, or plant a tree. But what isn’t usually on our mind on Earth Day is how Environmental Justice and Reproductive Justice are connected. As RJ advocates, we should look to any opportunity to expand our fight beyond the traditional issues and include other social justice issues that affect our communities. So you might be asking, how does Environmental Justice relate to RJ? The answer lies first in how our environment is linked to our health. Issues such as pollution can directly impact health, including reproductive health. And in addition to that, women and children are often more susceptible to the effects of toxins in the… Read more »
Human Trafficking and Abortion Care
Human trafficking is one of the largest systems of organized criminal activity. It is frequently considered in the realm of international human rights. Because of lack of media coverage and education on human trafficking in the United States, I was recently surprised to learn that Lorain County, where my school is located, has one of the highest human trafficking rates in the United States. As a county with three major interstate highways running through it, Lorain is an epicenter for exchange. In Ohio, almost 1,100 minors are trafficked each year. Organizations such as Project Unbound and the Human Trafficking Collaborative of Lorain County are working to stop the epidemic, get people who are in hostage situations to safety, and provide care to survivors. Many of the projects to get help… Read more »
Female Empowerment Means Having Options
I was talking with a friend the other day about a girl she knows—an incredibly smart girl, with a 4.0 GPA in her engineering classes, who plans on getting married and becoming a stay-at-home mom after college. My friend told me that it seemed like such a disappointment that this incredibly intelligent girl was giving up a promising career for an “M.R.S. degree.” I told her that it was tempting for me to agree. Feminism and female empowerment means that ladies don’t need to get married or have kids—pursue academia and independence, girls! But don’t feminism and female empowerment actually mean that women can do, well, whatever they want? This girl should have every right to be a mother as I have every right to have a career. I struggle… Read more »
How are Jeans and Sexual Assault Related?
View image | gettyimages.com In observance of April’s Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, individuals wear jeans to bring awareness to sexual assault on April 23rd or 29th, 2015. How are Jeans and Sexual Assault Related? In the year 1992, a 45-year-old driving instructor picked up an 18-year-old driving student, Pagliuca Rosa for a driving lesson. I was able to find the name of the perpetrator, but will not use his name in this post. It is important to speak the names of survivors. Some articles I have read state that the perpetrator drove her home while other articles state that she was abandoned and found her own way home. For more information about the case refer to: 1. Why Denim Day? 2. Sex, Lies, and Honor in Italian… Read more »
Take Back the Night at Texas State
This week I attended my first Take Back the Night event at my university. For those who aren’t familiar Take Back the Night is a national organization that serves to create safe communities and respectful relationships. They seek to end sexual assault, domestic and dating violence, sexual abuse. The way my university organized was with a march through campus that culminated with a spoken word open mic at our outside amphitheater. I got a couple of my friends together and we met up with the other organizations that were sponsoring it and decided to march. It was a little nerve-wracking just because it was the first time that I openly marched for anything on campus. I’m an anxious person so I usually choose to show my activism in different ways, but this… Read more »
Pregnancy and Incarceration: Intersectional Justice
Reproductive justice within prison communities does not get discussed nearly enough. People who are pregnant and incarcerated are subject to many injustices. These injustices are particularly felt by low income communities and people of color. This week there was a workshop held at my school to talk about these issues hosted by Students United for Reproductive Freedom (SURF), our URGE branch. They write, “The mainstream pro-choice movement focuses on protecting the right to choose abortion, but the right to carry your pregnancy to term safely and with full agency is often overlooked. However, in the United States today, the personhood of pregnant people is systemically under attack. Fetal personhood legislation, the “War on Drugs,” and the medical industrial complex all chip away at the humanity of pregnant persons, and these… Read more »
Call It Anti-Choice, Not Pro-Life
I’ve never understood why “pro-choice” and “pro-life” are considered to be opposites. More specifically, I’ve never understood why people are called pro-life when they would be more accurately referred to as anti-abortion or anti-choice. Why? Because a lot of “pro-life” people aren’t even what I’d consider to be pro-life. Breaking the label down, pro-life means that you’re in support of, well, life, just as pro-choice means you’re in support of the right to choose. Making “pro-life” the antithetical adjective to “pro-choice” makes it seem like the two are opposite. But I consider myself to be very much pro-choice and also very much in support of life. By that, I mean that I support the right to live how you should choose to live. The right to a good life. The right… Read more »
California’s Cruel Policy that Keeps Families in Poverty
At the end of last month SB 23 passed its first committee in the California Legislature. For those of you who don’t know, SB 23 is a bill that seeks to repeal the CalWORKs Maximum Family Grant Rule (MFG) which bars families from receiving additional aid for any child born during the time that family is already receiving CalWORKs aid. A family receiving CalWORKs is a family who is struggling. How can a state say that they are not willing to provide assistance to any additional children knowing that children who grow up in poverty end up with poorer health, have behavioral and emotional problems, and are at higher risk of unintended pregnancy in their teen years? This is inhumane. What’s worse is that the rule applies to every member of… Read more »
