Author: Feminist Newswire

Monsignor William Lynn, the high-ranking Philadelphia Catholic Church official convicted of covering up priests’ sexual abuses in a landmark court case, was sentenced to three to six years in prison yesterday. The Washington Post reports that Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said Lynn “enabled monsters in clerical garb … to destroy the souls of children” during his sentencing.

Lynn was charged with child endangerment and conspiracy for allegedly failing to act in response to cases of priest sex abuse of children. He was accused of not removing priests suspected of abusing children and for covering up the scandal. Lynn was convicted on one count of child endangerment, though acquitted on one count of conspiracy and an additional count of child endangerment. This conviction is being hailed as an historic victory, as Lynn is the first senior official in the church to be convicted of covering up sexual abuse by priests.

“We are grateful that Msgr. Lynn was not able to escape with the minimum sentence for his years of concealing heinous crimes against children. But cover ups would be better deterred had he gotten the maximum penalty, and justice would have been better served,” the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) wrote in their media release. “Still, this sentence sends a powerful message: cover-up child sex crimes and you’ll go to jail. Not house arrest. Not community service. Not a fine. You’ll be locked up. It says, loud and clear, that child sex crimes are taken extremely seriously, and will be punished as such.”

Media Resources: Washington Post 7/24/12; SNAP Media Release 7/24/12; Feminist Daily Newswire 6/25/12

Photo credit to Flickr user Tom Ipri.

Yesterday Sam’s Club announced their decision to withdraw ads from The Rush Limbaugh Show, following in the footsteps of over 150 other businesses. Advertisers have been fleeing from association with Limbaugh’s show since the talk show host’s sexist rants against Georgetown Law student and women’s rights advocate Sandra Fluke in March.

Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation, celebrates advertiser’s efforts to force right-wing hosts to take responsibility for their attacks on women’s rights. Smeal stated, “The cooling off period won’t work. Misogyny is not ok.”

The Feminist Majority Foundation, the National Organization for Women (NOW), and a whole host of women’s groups together with Think Progress and Media Matters have rallied in support of Sandra Fluke. Supporters of women’s healthcare continue to bombard advertisers with emails, phone calls, tweets, and Facebook posts urging them to pull their ads from Limbaugh’s show. The addition of Sam’s Club to this list demonstrates that the campaign against Limbaugh continues.

Media Resources: Huffington Post 7/9/12; Think Progress 7/9/12; Feminist Daily Newswire 6/10/12

Photo credit to Wikimedia Commons user Sam’s Club.

Senate Democrats, including Barbara Boxer (CA), Patty Murray (WA), and Richard Blumenthal (CT), went to the Senate Floor yesterday to ask the House Republican leadership to pass the bipartisan Senate version of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

The Senate passed the VAWA reauthorization in April with provisions to increase protections on college campuses in addition to protections immigrant and Native American women and LGBT survivors. The House bill omitted these provisions which, according to Senator Boxer’s statement yesterday, would result in 30 million survivors denied protections under VAWA.

Calling on House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to pass the inclusive Senate bill, Senator Boxer said in her remarks on the Senate floor, “Please hear our plea…What we are saying in a bipartisan way is that we have figured out a bill that will protect everybody…When someone is bleeding on the floor we help them in this country…we don’t ask them are you gay, are you straight, are you an immigrant, are you a college student.”

Media Resources: The Hill 7/24/2012; Senate Floor Speech, Sen. Barbara Boxer, (D-CA), 7/24/2012

Photo credit to Flickr user Neon Tommy.

Sally Ride, who made history as the first American woman in space in 1983, passed away on Monday at age 61 from a 17 month battle with pancreatic cancer. In addition to her achievements as an astronaut, Ride held a Ph.D. in astrophysics and was a lifelong advocate of women and girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

In 2001 she founded Sally Ride Science, an organization that provides STEM-oriented educational programs, materials and teacher training. As President Obama said in a statement on Monday, “She inspired generations of young girls to reach for the stars and later fought tirelessly to help them get there by advocating for a greater focus on science and math in our schools.”

Ride was well-known as a public figure who valued her privacy. According to the New York Times, NASA kept Ride’s illness secret at her request. The world outside Ride’s family and friends learned of her life-partner of 27 years, Tam O’Shaugnessy, in her obituary posted on Sally Ride Science.

“People did not know she had pancreatic cancer, that’s going to be a huge shock. For 17 months, nobody knew — and everyone does now. Her memorial fund is going to be in support of pancreatic cancer,” Ride’s sister said today in an interview with Buzzfeed. “The pancreatic cancer community is going to be absolutely thrilled that there’s now this advocate that they didn’t know about. And, I hope the GLBT community feels the same. I hope it makes it easier for kids growing up gay that they know that another one of their heroes was like them.”

Media Resources: New York Times 7/23/12; Education Week 7/24/12; Huffington Post 7/23/14; BuzzFeed 7/23/12

Photo credit to Flickr user NASA Goddard Photo and Video.

Air Force Staff Sergeant Luis Walker was found guilty of 28 rape and sexual assault charges by a military jury Friday and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Walker was convicted of sexually abusing 10 women Air Force trainees. In addition to the prison sentence, Walker will also be demoted to the lowest Air Force Rank, be dishonerably discharged, must forfeit pay, and is required to register as a sex offender.

Five women Walker assaulted spoke during sentencing. One woman, who was assaulted by Walker in 2011 at Lackland, testified that “In Afghanistan, I was a little bit more scared of everything…I couldn’t work with certain individuals, just since they remind me of Staff Sgt. Walker, reported the Associated Press. ” Another woman testified that she couldn’t sleep at night as a result of the assault. She also stated that “It’s gotten to where I had anger issues even at work…If anyone makes even the slightest sexual reference, I go off. I have zero self-control.”

The Walker case is the first to come to trial in the Lackland Air Force Base sex scandal. Thus far, 12 instructors at Lackland are being formally investigated and at least 31 victims have come forward.

Air Force Colonel Polly Kenny, who led the prosecution, told Reuters, “We are very concerned about the public perception that basic training is not a safe place to be. Our entire goal is to make it safe and secure. We are going to continue to take serious action against anyone who is shown to have violated the rules we have in place to protect the trainees.”

A 2012 Pentagon report found that 3,192 cases of sexual assault were reported within the U.S. military in 2012, which is a 1 percent increase from 2010. However, according to the Defense Department, only an estimated 15 percent of actual incidents are reported, which brings the estimated number up to 19,000 assaults each year. Currently, reports of sexual assault are handled within the military’s chain of command.

Media Resources: Feminist Daily Newswire 7/16/2012; Reuters 7/21/2012; Associated Press 7/21/2012

Photo credit to Flickr user http2007.

The ACLU of Arizona released thousands of emails last week that they argue prove that SB1070, Arizona’s harmful anti-immigrant law, was racially motivated. The emails are cited in a new legal effort by the ACLU to challenge the remaining provision of SB1070 that requires police to determine the immigration status of anyone arrested or detained where there is “reasonable suspicion” that they are undocumented. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld this part of the law last month in Arizona v. United States.

The emails, found through a public-records request, were sent or received over the last six years by former State Senator and sponsor of the law, Russell Pearce. Emails include such statements as “Can we maintain our social fabric as a nation with Spanish [speakers] fighting English [speakers] for dominance? … It’s like importing leper colonies and hope we don’t catch leprosy. It’s like importing thousands of Islamic jihadists and hope they adapt to the American Dream.” Another email reads, “Tough, nasty illegals and their advocates grow in such numbers that law and order will not subdue them. They run us out of our cities and states. They conquer our language and our schools. They render havoc and chaos in our schools.” (More excerpts can be read here.)

The ACLU hopes to persuade the courts to overturn the law by proving that there was a pattern of discrimination in Pearce’s motive, which would violate the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Since SB1070 was passed in 2010, over two dozen similar bills have been introduced across the country, and five have passed in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Indiana, and Utah.

A recent poll shows that 66% of registered Latino voters oppose the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold part of SB1070, and 79% are concerned about racial profiling.

Media Resources: Arizona Republic 7/23/12; Associated Press 7/20/12; Arizona Central 7/20/12; Think Progress 7/20/12; ACLU Website

Photo credit to Flickr user Gage Skidmore.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa has called for the decriminalization of homosexuality everywhere in the world as a necessary step in combating HIV/AIDS. The archbishop wrote in The Lancet last week, arguing that increasing acceptance and reducing stigma of homosexuality is a crucial step in the fight against HIV/AIDS. His statements appeared in The Lancet as part of a series on HIV transmission, on the eve of the 2012 International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC.

“I have no doubt that in the future, the laws that criminalize so many forms of human love and commitment will look the way the apartheid laws do to us now–so obviously wrong. Such a terrible waste of human potential,” the archbishop said. His statements coincide with his continued efforts to combat HIV/AIDS through treatment and research with his organization the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation in Cape Town, South Africa. His letter was published the same week as protestors flooded the streets of Johannesburg on Nelson Mandela’s 94th birthday to raise awareness of anti-LGBT hate crimes. At least five anti-LGBT murders have occurred in Johannesburg within the last two months alone.

A paper published in The Lancet series by an international team of researchers, led by Professor Chris Beyrer of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, also called for homosexuality to be decriminalized in all countries. “In too many settings in 2012, MSM [men who have sex with men] still do not have access to the most basic of HIV services and technologies such as affordable and accessible condoms, appropriate lubricants and safe HIV testing and counseling,” they said. “The struggle for equity in HIV services is likely to be inseparably linked to the struggle for sexual minority rights–and hence to be both a human rights struggle, and in many countries, a civil rights one.”

Currently, more than 70 countries criminalize homosexuality. This week over 20,000 people from around the world are convening in Washington, DC for the 2012 XIX International AIDS Conference.

Media Resources: Pink News 7/20/12; BBC 7/19/12; Care2 7/20/12

Photo credit to Flickr user Port of San Diego.

In an interview with the Philadelphia Gay News, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), chair of the Democratic National Committee, backed the inclusion of marriage equality in the party platform. “I hope that marriage equality, and expect that marriage equality, will be part of our platform,” Rep. Wasserman Shultz said. In May, President Obama became the first sitting president in history to support marriage equality.

“Over the past few months, the LGBT community has seen a groundswell of support for marriage equality, largely stemming from President Obama’s announcement,” said Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA), who is leading a group of 27 House Democrats in signing Freedom to Marry’s letter urging an endorsement of marriage equality in the platform. “Marriage equality would extend one of our most basic rights of citizenship to all Americans — the right to marry the person you love. Everyone should enjoy all the benefits and responsibilities of citizenship without discrimination. By making our belief in freedom and equality for all, including those in the LGBT community, part of the Democratic party platform, we can make marriage equality one step closer to becoming the law of the land.”

Several state Democratic parties already include marriage equality in their platforms, but if the language put forward by Freedom to Marry is adopted it will be the first time marriage equality is included in the national party platform. In 2008 the platform openly opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and in 2004 it disavowed Republican attempts to pass a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, but it has never explicitly endorsed same-sex marriage.

“The president has made his position clear — he, like the majority of Americans, a substantial majority of independents, and an overwhelming majority of Democrats — supports the freedom to marry,” Eric Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, said to the Washington Blade. “Freedom to Marry launched the call for a freedom to marry plank in the platform, continues to work hard to get it done, and is confident that we will succeed and the Democratic Party will be on record and on the right side of history.”

The first meeting of the platform committee will be the weekend of July 27 in Minneapolis, and the platform will be ratified at the Democratic National Convention, which begins September 3 in Charlotte, NC.

Media Resources: Huffington Post 7/19/12; Think Progress 7/19/12; Washington Blade 7/19/12; Advocate.com 7/19/12

Photo credit to Flickr user Cliff.

Members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to pass a ban on abortions after 20 weeks in the District of Columbia. Introduced by Representative Trent Franks (Ariz.) in January, HR3803 prohibits physicians from providing abortions at or after 20 weeks of pregnancy unless the woman’s life is at stake.

The passage of the bill highlights not only a growing amount of legislation targeting reproductive rights, but also the lack of voting rights and autonomy for citizens in the District of Columbia. D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who has steadfastly denounced anti-abortion bills targeting the District, was refused the right to testify on the bill. Although she was elected by her constituents, as the D.C. Delegate, Norton is not allowed a vote in Congress.

Norton announced her opposition to the bill in a written statement “on behalf of the residents of the District of Columbia, who have no vote in this committee or on the House floor.” Calling the bill “an abuse of power and denial of democratic rights,” she notes that “the committee, acting at the insistence of special interest organizations, is using District women to abet a national campaign to defy Roe v. Wade.”

Supporters of D.C. voting rights protested outside of Franks’ Arizona office and his office on Capitol Hill. Ilir Zherka, executive director of DC Vote remarked in a statement, “Representative Trent Franks should be ashamed of himself for trying to impose his personal political agenda upon a group of Americans that have no vote in the Congress.”

Media Resources: DCist 7/19/12 and 7/17/12; DC Vote Press Release 7/18/12; Center for Reproductive Rights Press Release 7/18/12; The Hill 7/10/12

Photo credit to Flickr user Gage Skidmore.

A federal judge in Nebraska dismissed a federal lawsuit yesterday that sought to block part of the new healthcare policy that will require insurance plans to cover birth control with no co-pays. The lawsuit, filed by attorneys general in seven states – Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Michigan, Florida, South Carolina, and Texas, claimed that the contraception mandate violates First Amendment rights guaranteeing religious freedom.

U.S. District Judge Warren Urbom sided with the U.S. Justice Department in dismissing the case, saying that the states lacked legal grounds to sue over this provision and face no immediate harm from the having to offer the coverage.

Urbom stated, “Although the rule that lies at the heart of the plaintiffs’ complaint establishes a definitive, final definition of ‘religious employer,’ the ACA’s contraceptive coverage requirements are not being enforced against non-exempted religious organizations, and the rule is currently undergoing a process of amendment to accommodate these organizations.”

The federal government has provided an exemption for religious institutions from birth control coverage under their insurance policies by requiring the insurance companies to cover the cost. It has also delayed enforcement of the provision until August 2013, though for non-religious institutions it will go into effect next month.

Media Resources: Reuters 7/17/12; Ms. Magazine 7/17/12; Huffington Post 7/17/12; Journal Star 7/17/12

Photo credit to Flickr user M. Markus.

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell appointed anti-choice obstetrician Dr. John W. Seed to the Virginia Board of Health this week. He is a vocal public opponent of legal first-trimester abortion. He serves as vice-chairman of anti-choice group “OBGYNS for Life”; is a member of the “medical resource council” of The Family Foundation, a religiously-based anti-choice group; and has testified many times in the Virginia General Assembly against abortion.

Virginia Coalition to Protect Women’s Health Chair, Tarina Keene, said in a press release (see PDF), “For Governor McDonnell to appoint Dr. James Seeds, a prominent member of an ideological anti-choice organization, to a public health body charged with acting objectively on the side of patient safety, is a clear and shocking conflict of interest…With this appointment, this activist governor continues to display a disdain for women’s health, playing politics with lives instead of acting in the public interest.”

Just last month, the Virginia Board of Health voted 7 to 4 to exempt existing clinics from building regulations that would have required substantial renovations. Early this week, Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli refused to certify the new Virginia targeted regulations of abortion providers (TRAP), which contain the building regulations. The regulations require that new first-trimester abortion clinics are built to meet hospital construction standards. Also under the regulations, state authorities, without notice, can enter any clinic, existing or new, to examine patient medical records, gather a list of current patients, and interview patients on site, potentially violating both patient and provider privacy. The regulations will now be reviewed by anti-choice Governor Bob McDonnell.

Media Resources: Virginia Coalition to Protect Women’s Health Press Release 7/16/2012; Feminist Daily Newswire 6/18/2012, 7/17/2012

Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli refused to certify the new Virginia targeted regulations of abortion providers (TRAP) yesterday that were passed by the Virginia Board of Health last month. The regulations contain an amendment, added in a 7 to 4 vote by the Board of Health, that exempts existing clinics from building regulations that would have required substantial renovations. The regulations still require that new first-trimester abortion clinics are built to meet hospital construction standards. Also under the regulations, state authorities, without notice, can enter any clinic, existing or new, to examine patient medical records, gather a list of current patients, and interview patients on site, potentially violating both patient and provider privacy.

Progress Virginia Executive Director Anna Scholl criticized Cuccinelli’s decision and said, “The Attorney General has no basis to exert veto power over these regulations. In Ken Cuccinelli’s desperate crusade to regulate away reproductive health access for Virginia’s women, he’s willing to completely ignore the parameters of the Attorney General’s office. By way of reminder to Mr. Cuccinelli, I would note that the role of the Attorney General is as a consumer advocate. The only thing Cuccinelli is advocating for is shutting down women’s health clinics and preventing thousands of Virginia women from accessing safe and legal reproductive health care” in a press release.

The regulations will now be reviewed by Governor Bob McDonnell, who is also a staunch abortion opponent. Attorney General’s office spokesman Brian Gottstein defended the refusal to certify the regulations and told the Washington Post “Our office merely reviews the regulations and certifies whether they are compliant with the law or not “We make that determination solely on a legal basis, not on the basis of whether we agree with the policy or not.”

Media Resources: Washington Post 7/16/2012; Progress Virginia Press Release 7/17/2012; Feminist Daily Newswire 6/18/2012

Photo credit to Flickr user Election Night 2010.

A Judge ruled on Friday to let a strict new anti-choice law stand, but will allow Mississippi’s lone abortion clinic more time to comply with the new regulations. Under this law, House Bill 1390, doctors must have admitting privileges at a local hospital and they must be board certified OB-GYNs. The Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the only provider of legal abortions in Mississippi, would have been shut down without U.S. district Judge Daniel Jordan III’s partial preliminary injunction, ruling that the clinic “will be permitted to operate lawfully while continuing their efforts to obtain privileges.” Reuters reports that although both of the clinic’s abortion providers are OB-GYNs, neither of them have been able to obtain admitting privileges at any local hospital, despite an ongoing three month effort.

The clinic filed a lawsuit with assistance from the Center for Reproductive Rights contending that the law is not medically necessary and is designed to close the clinic. As reported by the New York Times, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant stated while signing the bill that he wants the state to be “abortion-free.” Similar statements are included on the website of Lt. Governor Tate Reeve.

“Today’s decision has ensured, for the time being, that anti-choice politicians in Mississippi cannot relegate the women of their state to a second class of citizens that can be denied their constitutional rights with the stroke of a legislator’s pen,” Nancy Northup, president and chief executive officer of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement.

If the doctors are ultimately refused admitting privileges, the closing of the Jackson clinic will force women needing abortions to drive three hours to the nearest legal abortion provider. Jackson Women’s Health Organization owner Diane Derzis has expressed concern that women will seek abortions from “backstreet providers” if her clinic is forced to close. Mississippi already has some of the strictest abortion laws in the country, one of the lowest abortion rates, and the highest rate of teen pregnancy.

Media Resources: Washington Post 7/14/12; The Guardian 7/14/12; Reuters 7/13/12; RH Reality Check 7/16/12; Feminist Daily Newswire 4/17/12, 7/2/12

Photo credit to Flickr user chmeredith.

Today, Air Force Sergeant Luis Walker’s court-martial in the Lackland Air Force Base sexual abuse scandal begins in Texas. Walker faces 28 charges including multiple counts of rape, aggravated sexual contact and aggravated sexual assault. If convicted of all counts, he could get life in prison and a dishonorable discharge. A seven-member jury of military-personnel will decide the case, which is only the first of at least 12 cases in the Lackland Air Force Base scandal.

In a phone interview with The Daily Beast, California Congresswoman Jackie Speier “expressed her frustration with repeated but seemingly empty calls for ‘zero tolerance'” of sexual assault by the military. Speier is joining forces with Paula Coughlin, a woman who came forward as a Navy Lieutenant in 1992 with her own story of sexual assault in the military, and the organization Protect Our Defenders, in calling for a congressional hearing into the Lackland case.

Vice-chair of the House Armed Services Committee Representative Mac Thornberry (R-TX) said there is “no evidence” of a serious sexual assault problem at Lackland. Thus far, one quarter of Lackland’s instructors have been charged or are being investigated for sexual misconduct and at least 31 victims have come forward.

A 2012 Pentagon report found that 3,192 cases of sexual assault were reported within the U.S. military in 2012, which is a 1 percent increase from 2010. However, according to the Defense Department, only an estimated 15 percent of actual incidents are reported, which brings the estimated number up to 19,000 assaults each year.

Currently, reports of sexual assault are handled within the military’s chain of command. Elizabeth Hillman, president of the National Institute for Military Justice, claims that the military’s emphasis on hierarchy and authority creates an environment where many officers are more inclined to protect the institution than the victim. “Look at Penn State,” she said, “what happened there is just what happened in the Catholic Church and the U.S. Military.”

Media Resources: The Daily Beast 7/16/12; Think Progress 7/16/12; AP 7/16/12; Protect Our Defenders Press Release 7/11/12

Photo credit to Flickr user Vince Alongi.

The Center for Reproductive Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on Thursday in an attempt to block an anti-choice law in Arizona. The law was signed into effect by Governor Jan Brewer this April, and is scheduled to go into effect August 2nd. The law prohibits women from getting an abortion 20 weeks after a woman’s last period, which is approximately 18 weeks after fertilization. The definition of medical exception is also narrowed through the law. The law is the most restrictive in the nation.

The law cites highly challenged scientific claims of fetal pain. As reported in the New York Times, this lawsuit is of significance because it “might bring the first major courtroom test of pre-viability time limits” as well as question fetal pain allegations. Center for Reproductive Rights Chief Executive Nancy Northup said, “This is the most extreme example yet of these early-limit laws. This law also has a radically limited health exception that is completely unacceptable under the constitutional standard.” Northup also said to Reuters that the law “displays a callous disregard for the complicated and very difficult circumstances many pregnant women face.”

According to the Guttmacher Institute, seven other states – Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska and North Carolina – ban abortion after 20 weeks, with exceptions for a woman’s physical health. Similar legislation in Georgia, Louisiana, and New Hampshire is scheduled to go into effect later this year and early 2013. Thirty-one other states ban abortion after viability.

Media Resources: New York Times 7/12/2012; Reuters 7/12/2012; Arizona Republic 7/12/2012; Associated Press 7/12/2012; Guttmacher Institute 7/1/2012

Hanifa Safi, a provincial head of women’s affairs, was assassinated on Friday in Afghanistan. Safi was driving with her husband and daughter when a car bomb exploded, killing Safi and leaving her husband in a coma. Safi was the department head for women’s affairs in the Laghman province, and was a prominent advocate for women’s rights in Afghanistan. No group has taken responsibility, but a government official attributed the attack to “enemies of the people.” As the Los Angeles Times reports, the phrase “enemies of the people” is often used to describe the Taliban or other insurgent groups.

The assassination occurred in the midst of a rise in violence against women in Afghanistan. Last week a woman was executed publicly because of an accusation of adultery. The murder was carried out by a known member of the Taliban and captured on video. Afghan schoolgirls have also been the targets of violence; three attacks since April have threatened the lives and education of Afghan girls. The Taliban is thought to be the perpetrator of these attacks as well.

The rise in violence has sparked concerns from Afghan women and advocacy groups. Afghan women have been regaining basic rights since the Taliban lost power in 2006, but fear that these rights will be lost as the threat of violence and the Taliban rises

Safi is the second provincial head of women’s affairs to be assassinated. In 2006, Safia Amajan, the provincial director of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Kandahar, was killed by gunmen outside of her home. There is speculation that she was killed in retaliation for her outspoken support of women’s rights and her work opening schools for women in Afghanistan. Amajan had unsuccessfully requested bodyguards and secure transportation from the Afghan government; at the time of the attack, she was getting into a taxi to go to work.

Media Resources: BBC 7/13/12; Reuters 7/13/12; RT News 7/13/12; Los Angeles Times 7/13/12; Feminist Daily Newswire 5/24/12, 7/25/06

The first lesbian Super PAC, LPAC, was launched yesterday. LPAC, which is supported by actress Jane Lynch and tennis star Billie Jean King, will support pro-lesbian candidates and issues. LPAC has already received pledges of $200,000 and aims to raise one million dollars this election cycle. The group has not announced which candidates or issues it will support, but Representative Tammy Baldwin’s Senate race is a strong contender. If elected, Baldwin will be the first openly gay Senator.

The group will support candidates regardless of party affiliation, gender, race, or sexual orientation as long as the candidate support LPAC’s goals: ending discriminatory treatment of LGBT individuals and their families; supporting sexual and reproductive freedom and women’s access to quality healthcare; and furthering social, racial, and economic justice for all Americans. Urvashi Vaid, LGBT activist and LPAC supporter, said in a statement, “I’m involved in starting LPAC because I want to create a fresh politics, one in which the lives of ordinary working women and men, LGBT people and people of color matter, and because I believe lesbians must step up and lead in solving our country’s challenges.”

In addition to its election goals, LPAC also aims to create a political community for lesbians that extends beyond the 2012 election. The group also hopes to become a fierce activist presence in US politics. Sarah Schmidt, LPAC Chair, said to The Advocate, “We feel like we’re fighting for something as women. We are fighting for basic human rights and we’re not going to apologize for that.”

Media Resources: Huffington Post 7/11/2012; The Guardian 7/11/2012; The Advocate 7/11/2012; Politico 7/11/2012

Following in the footsteps of many major businesses, including Toyota, Geico, and McDonald’s, UPS denounced Rush Limbaugh’s misogynistic rhetoric by pulling their ads from the Rush Limbaugh radio show on July 3rd. Huffington Post reports that UPS received a number of complaints on Twitter about the appearance of their ads on his show. The total number of advertisers who have removed their programing from the show is now over 150.

Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation, celebrated the advertiser’s efforts to force right-wing hosts to take responsibility for their attacks on women’s rights. Smeal stated, “The cooling off period won’t work. Misogyny is not ok.”

The Feminist Majority Foundation, the National Organization for Women (NOW), and a whole host of women’s groups together with Think Progress and Media Matters have rallied in support of Sandra Fluke since the attacks against her earlier this year. For the last five months, tens of thousands of supporters of women’s healthcare have bombarded advertisers with emails and phone calls, urging the cancellation of ads and to support Sandra Fluke. The addition of UPS to this list months after the initial attack shows how powerful the movement continues to be. The internet is still on fire with thousands of supporters tweeting, blogging, and Facebook-ing in support of campaigns to #FlushRushNow.

Media Resources: Huffington Post 7/9/12; Think Progress 7/9/12; Feminist Daily Newswire 3/13/12