Health Race

PSA Targets Increase in Asian-American Harassment Linked to Fears of COVID-19

A new public service announcement (PSA), released by the Advertising Council (Ad Council) and created by Emmy-award winning writer Alan Yang, aims to combat the increase in harassment against Asian-Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the last three months, the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council, along with Chinese for Affirmative Action, have collected reports […]

Courts LGBTQ

Masterpiece Cakeshop Owner Faces Second Lawsuit for LGBTQ Discrimination

Autumn Scardina is the plaintiff in the second lawsuit against Masterpiece Cakeshop Owner Jack Phillips for LGBTQ discrimination. The lawsuit argues that the business unlawfully refused service to Scardina, a transgender woman, who requested a trans-themed birthday cake. Scardina had previously filed a complaint against Phillips when the refusal happened in 2018, but Phillips sued […]

LGBTQ Politics

Anti-Trans Bill Dies in Iowa State House

A proposed bill that would have removed gender identity protections from the Iowa Civil Rights Act will not advance in the state legislature. Rep. Steven Holt, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, called the bill “dead” after deciding not to send it into subcommittee. Iowa law has prohibited discrimination based on gender identity since […]

Global

Saudi Arabia Ordered a Series of Reforms aimed at Women’s Rights

The Saudi Arabian government announced last week a series of reforms aimed at expanding women’s civil rights including allowing Saudi women over the age of 21 to travel abroad alone and allowing women to file for birth certificates, marriage, and divorce. The new laws require equal employment regulations and criminalize discrimination based on gender, disability […]

Global

India Supreme Court Considering Allowing Women into Mosques

India’s Supreme Court is now considering a case to allow women into mosques. Currently, most mosques in India do not allow women in at all or have a separate entrance for women to worship in a segregated area. Individuals began a petition to allow women into mosques, arguing that women were allowed to do so […]

Afghanistan Global

“Virginity Exams” in Afghanistan Continue Despite Government Efforts

Invasive and medically meaningless examinations, which are meant to determine a girl or women’s virginity status by inspecting their hymen or inserting fingers into their vagina, have persisted in Afghanistan, despite the government’s official public health policy that bars health workers from engaging in the abusive practice. The prevalence of virginity exams continues as prosecutors […]

Uncategorized

Trump Transgender Military Ban Takes Effect

President Trump’s highly controversial and discriminatory military policy to ban all transgender individuals from serving in the United States Military will officially take effect today at the Pentagon. In addition to banning transgender individuals from military service, the Pentagon will also prevent using any DoD or DHS resources to fund sex reassignment procedures or surgeries, […]

Education

Judge Rules Dress Code Requiring Skirts Unconstitutional

A judge ruled that a North Carolina school’s dress code prohibiting girls from wearing pants is unconstitutional because it violates the equal protection clause, after three girls, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, sued the Charter Day School. Judge Malcolm J. Howard wrote that the, “skirts requirement causes the girls to suffer a burden […]

Politics

Paycheck Fairness Act Passes U.S. House

On Wednesday, the Paycheck Fairness Act, also known as H.R. 7, passed the U.S. House of Representatives, with a final vote of 242-187 that included seven Republicans. The bill must pass the Senate and be signed by the President to become law. The Paycheck Fairness Act aims to strengthen protections against wage discrimination and amend […]

Uncategorized

Michigan Will No Longer Fund Religious Based Adoption Agencies

Michigan will no longer fund adoption agencies that refuse to provide services based on religious beliefs. Previously, Michigan was one of nine states that provided funding for adoption agencies who refused service based on religious beliefs. Attorney General Dana Nessell reached the settlement with the ACLU, stating that “discrimination in the provision of foster care […]

Uncategorized

Discriminatory IAAF Rule to Monitor Female Athletes’ Testosterone Levels

The British Medical Journal has released a study stating that the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) rule requiring women track runners with five nanomoles per liter of testosterone in them to take hormonal treatment is not scientifically accurate. The IAAF have delayed the implementation of this rule after a South African runner, Caster Semenya, […]

Uncategorized

Anti-LGBTQ+ West Virginia Delegate Called To Resign

This week, Delegate Eric Porterfield (WV-27) is facing numerous calls for his resignation after he compared the LGBTQ+ community and gay activists to the Klu Klux Klan (KKK), a white supremacist group, and called the LGBTQ+ community a “terrorist group.” Despite criticism and backlash for his homophobic comments, he refuses to resign. These comments were […]

Global LGBTQ

Japan’s Supreme Court Upholds Law Requiring Sterilization to Legally Change Gender

The Japanese Supreme Court unanimously upheld Law 111, which requires transgender people looking to officially change their gender to undergo sterilization by removing their original reproductive organs, causing human rights and LGBT activists to immediately denounce the ruling. The Supreme Court denied Takakito Usui, a transgender man, an appeal against the 2004 law, citing that […]

Uncategorized

California Bans Gender-Based Rating for Car Insurance Premiums

California has joined multiple states in banning discriminatory gender-based criteria in determining car insurance premiums, practices that charge higher premiums for women based solely on their gender. The Gender Non-Discrimination in Automobile Insurance Rating Regulation was put into effect this month by the California Commissioner’s Office. Doug Jones, the California Commissioner, approved this regulation as […]

Politics

Congress Finally Passes Updated Sexual Harassment Policy

Yesterday, Congress finally passed a deal to update its sexual harassment policy; the new policy now requires lawmakers to use their own money, not taxpayer funds, to settle suits for workplace sexual harassment. The new policy no longer allows members of Congress to use tax dollars to pay for sexual harassment settlements. Provisions such as […]

Global LGBTQ

LGBTQ Migrants are the First to Reach US Border

This week LGBTQ members from the migrant caravan were the first to reach the U.S. border in Tijuana, Mexico. LGBTQ members arrived at the border before the rest of the caravan because they were escaping discrimination and harassment from within the caravan itself as well as the dangers members faced traveling through Mexico. While fleeing […]