Arkansas governor’s surprising veto of anti-trans law
“Though I can’t speculate as to Gov. Hutchinson’s true intentions, this decision demonstrates the beginning of a shift among conservative politicians about whether interfering with the health and well-being of transgender young people is a bridge too far,” Preston Mitchum told me Monday. Mitchum is the policy director for Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity, a network of community activists founded by Gloria Steinem and focused on sexual health.
Arkansas May Bar Gender Transition Care for Minors
That law “is just so harmful for people who just want to play sports,” said Preston Mitchum, JD, LLM, policy director at URGE.
‘We Need to Talk About Abortion as Necessary Healthcare and a Social Good’
This week on CounterSpin: The same day’s news can include a story noting anti-abortion anger as an element in the “domestic extremism” the FBI is tracking. And one in which Joe Biden’s press secretary answers a question about the policy that denies US funding for foreign groups that perform abortions (or “counsel, refer or advocate” for abortion) by reminding reporters that Biden “attends church regularly.” And an obituary of anti-choice agitator Joseph Shiedler—a “funny,” “self-deprecating” guy, whose harassment of women at clinics the New York Times describes as “finding women who were considering abortions and persuading them not to follow through.” Amid all that, a book review tosses off a reference to the post–World War II period as a time when ”surprise pregnancies were an obstacle to a better life,” and abortion was “taboo.” We’ll talk about actual realities of present-day… Read more »
What happens when white Americans have no moral arc to bend?
OPINION: As many celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., many are also still incensed at the white insurrectionist attacks at the Capitol
Election a matter of ‘survival’ for LGBTQ Latinos
[Kimberly] McGuire noted state legislatures in recent years have sought to restrict access to abortion, implement anti-LGBTQ sex education curricula and pass religious freedom bills and other measures that discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity. “We all want justice at home, which means if you are queer, if you are trans, if you are an immigrant, you should not have to feel like your home is a hostile place,” said McGuire.
Democrats Hold Abortion Rights Hostage
A partial answer is that the parties were less polarized on the issue in the 1990s, when Bill Clinton, trying to appeal to the center, said abortion should be “safe, legal and rare.” Democrats have since evolved closer to the absolutist position that Kimberly Inez McGuire of Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity calls “abortion positive.” As she told Vox in 2019: “For us that means, not only do we think abortion should be legal, but we think it’s a really good thing when people can get abortion care who need it.”
What Do Voting Rights & Reproductive Justice Have In Common? Everything
My grandmother, Lizzie Mae Kelly, fought for her rights. In 1965, she marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the late, great Rep. John Lewis from Selma to Montgomery, but not before she was beaten on Bloody Sunday. Through it all, she, like so many other Black women, persisted…
Shocker: Supreme Court Preserves Abortion Rights, Strikes Down Louisiana Hospital Privileges Law
“The Louisiana law is gone, but [other] restrictions remain,” said Kimberly Inez McGuire, executive director of URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity. “Though abortion is still legal in this country, it is inaccessible to far too many. We cannot stop fighting until each person can get the abortion care they need.”
6 Reasons Why ‘Defund The Police’ Is Also An LGBTQ Issue
As a Black queer man in America, I know far too well that the police have only continued to hurt bodies like mine throughout history even after many alleged reforms, writes Preston Mitchum.
Right Wing Protesters Are Not Now, Nor Ever Will Be, Rosa Parks
“These protesters are not Rosa Parks. They aren’t liberating anyone. They are spreading diseases as they have done since Europeans invaded the Americas more than 500 years ago. Given this selfish, dangerous, genocidal behavior, I fear many more Black, Indigenous, and Latinx lives will be snatched away.”
