Posts Categorized: Uncategorized
Kansas Regressing on LGBT Workplace Protections
This past Tuesday, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback issued an executive order that removed workplace protections from being harassed, discriminated against, or fired based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The original order that extended those protections was signed in 2007 by former Governor Kathleen Sebelius. The protections included in the original order were fairly narrow in scope, and rarely enforced. As with any executive order, there are limits to what can be done. This particular order applied only to government agencies under direct control of the governor, affecting roughly 25,000 people. These people are important, and removing workplace protections may affect the job status of some. But, in a time when states are expanding protections for people, this move flies in the face of progress. There are few examples of… Read more »
Creating Change: Affirming, Empowering, Inspiring
This weekend, I attended the Creating Change conference in Denver, hosted by the National LGBTQ Task Force. There, along with 4,000 other individuals, I spent four days discussing the issues that face queer people in our everyday lives. Prior to this weekend, I had never attended such a large conference, much less one on LGBTQ+ issues. I was constantly surprised, and overjoyed, to see how many people attended the events and how diverse these people were. To me, this was the best part of Creating Change. As a young person, I often feel like I, and my effort in the fight for LGBTQ+ equality, don’t matter. As a queer person, I feel like my identity is not real and recognized by the majority of people. All of that was different… Read more »
Tweets that Create Change
I have finally settled back in from the exhilarating, life-changing, and dynamic Creating Change conference hosted in Denver, Colorado. The conference, organized by the National LGBTQ Task Force, was a meeting grounds for college campus organizers, leaders in the LGBTQ movement, and other organizers dedicated to the intersection of LGBTQ equality with race, health and wellness, and religion. URGE, Planned Parenthood, Advocates for Youth, and several other non-profit organizations were in attendance. The conference also served as a healing space to grieve the loss of friends and family. In addition, attendees recognized some of the accomplishments made in terms of marriage equality and the setbacks like the repeal of sections of the Voting Rights Acts of 1965 and police brutality largely aimed at queer communities of color. Silence is definitely… Read more »
Kansas Is Poised to Ban Second Trimester Abortions
Recently introduced in the Kansas Legislature was a bill that could shape up to be the strictest abortion law in the country. The proposed bill is a ban on a specific type of procedure that is primarily used in the second trimester, Dilation and Evacuation. Anti-choice advocates have been pushing to define this method as “dismemberment abortion.” If this bill were to pass, it could effectively outlaw any access to safe abortion care beyond 14 weeks of pregnancy. This past Monday, I attended an Advocacy Day at the Kansas Legislature that was hosted by URGE. Our focus for the day was a sex education bill that was recently introduced, outlined in my preview several weeks ago. However, in the days leading up to our trip, we were made aware of… Read more »
5 Black Feminists you should know this Black History Month
View image | gettyimages.com Today is the second day of Black History Month. While I know that the accomplishments of the sung and unsung heroes that have helped advanced modern technology,share their music with the masses, and push the Civil Rights Movement forward should be celebrated everyday, Black History Month is a time to reflect on how far America has come. Black feminists have tried to create their space at an intersection between race, sexuality, gender, and class. They faced sexism in the Civil Rights Movement and other race movements and sexism in feminist movements. In honor of Black History Month, I have listed the names of some well-known and some not so well-known black women from the United States and abroad whose insight and actions has expanded my thinking…. Read more »
The battle for accurate history textbooks in Texas
View image | gettyimages.com Texas is often known for its political conservativeness; if you take a look at the bills that have been proposed during the 84th session of the Texas Legislature that began January 13 you see many examples of that. These bills include many attacks on reproductive justice. It is often forgotten though, just how important the power of testimony is when it comes to preventing some issues from making this far in legislation. In September of 2014 the State Board of Education (SBOE) held a public hearing to discuss possible changes that wanted to be made to Texas high school social studies textbooks. On the surface this doesn’t seem like that large of an issue, after all shouldn’t textbooks be updated with the most current and accurate… Read more »
Queer & Feminist Musicians That You Should Be Listening To
We need more female-identifying musicians, and as activists we need to seek them out and listen to them! In high school, I played music quiet a lot and was in a few bands. This is probably because I went to a performing arts high school, but I did notice a disparity in female artists being the only girl in the guitar department. The music scene continued to be male dominated in college, but recently I posted a status on my Facebook to request anyone who was not a white straight man to reach out to me if they were interested in starting a band. The status got a lot of attention compared to most of my posts (almost 40 likes!), but unfortunately I only received three serious inquiries to play…. Read more »
An Activist’s Guide to the First Amendment
I’m always a little surprised when my college classes —most of which are for my major, journalism—relate to activist work. So last week when we discussed the First Amendment in my Law of Mass Communication class, it came as a pleasant shock to see how much of the lesson could be applied to social justice. Activism sometimes requires toeing the line of the law—protesting, picketing, writing petitions—so it’s important to be aware of what that law actually says. Stick around for First Amendment 101—don’t worry, there won’t be a quiz after. The First Amendment is a constitutional and fundamental right, and the government needs a compelling interest to restrict that right. It protects some basic freedoms—freedom of religion, of speech, of the press, of assembly and the freedom to petition…. Read more »
5 Tips for Navigating Social Justice Discussions
View image | gettyimages.com I’m part of a group at my university called Feminists United and every week we hold discussion based meetings that focus on different social justice topics ie. ableism, rape culture, classism, race, gender, etc. Having our meetings be mostly discussion based is really important because it provides a safe for people to speak on topics they are passionate about as well as learn about the unfamiliar through the help of their peers. I’ve attended these meetings and been a part of this group for a couple of semesters now, but this is the first semester where I’m going to be in the position of a group facilitator. Usually during our meetings because we have such a large group (between 30 and 40 people) we like to… Read more »
SMH: The 20-Week Ban
View image | gettyimages.com On Thursday, January 22, 2015, we will reflect upon the progress made in terms of abortion care policies as we commemorate the 42nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, a 1973 Supreme Court ruling (7-2) that people have the right to safe abortions in the first trimester of or up until around 22 to 24 of pregnancy. Roe v. Wade established that the decision to get an abortion exists within a “zone of privacy” free from state regulation. Interestingly enough, the House of Representatives is reviewing The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act bill on January 22, the same day as Roe v. Wade decision. The bill would prevent people from having safe abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy due to “evidence” that fetuses can experience pain 20… Read more »
