Last week the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Wisconsin school district violated Ash Whitaker’s civil rights when they prevented the transgender student from using the boys’ bathroom. The court ruled that Whitaker’s civil rights are protected under the sex discrimination ban in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
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Illinois Legislature Unanimously Passes Automatic Voter Registration
The 2017 bill, SB 1933, would automatically register eligible individuals who have been entered into any number of state databases, such as the DMV, unless they opt out.
Oregon Governor Signs Bill to Progress Transgender Rights
HB 2673 will make the process of making changes to birth certificates more private, an important step towards decreasing housing, medical, and employment discrimination against transgender people in Oregon by judges, employers, landlords, and others with access to public records.
Devastating Kabul Bomb Kills 90, Wounds 400
The suicide bomb was detonated at 8:22 am near Zanbaq Square, a busy market and diplomatic area. The attack, which hit just days after the start of Ramadan, targeted civilians, killing many innocent women and children.
Today is National Gun Violence Awareness Day
“Every credible scientific study of women and guns in the last two decades strongly indicates that a firearm in a woman’s home is far more likely to be used against her or her family than to defend against an outside attacker.”
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Americans with Disabilities Act Threatened by New Bill
The House Judiciary Committee is currently considering the ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017, a bill that directly attacks the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) by imposing limitations that would complicate and elongate the process to file complaints and lawsuits against businesses violating ADA regulations.
U.S. Cities and States Take Leadership In Wake of Climate Agreement Withdrawl
President Trump announced on Thursday that the United States will withdraw support from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, an international promise reached among 195 world leaders to reduce the impact of climate change and limit greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide emissions to help reign in global warming. The only countries not to sign onto the original agreement were Nicaragua, Russia and Syria.
Draft Leaks of Trump Administration Massive Loophole for Birth Control Mandate
Under Trump’s advisement, federal officials have drafted a rule creating a massive loophole for employers to bypass the Affordable Care Act’s mandate requiring health insurance plans provided to employees to include contraception coverage. The draft, published by Vox, still requires said coverage, but greatly widens the scope exemption by allowing for anyone to issue claims of religious or moral objection in order to bypass the mandate.
Trump Budget Proposal Aims to Reduce Civil Rights Enforcement Throughout Federal Agencies
According to the White House’s proposed budget for the 2018 fiscal year, the Trump administration is set to disband the Labor Department division that has been tasked with policing discrimination among federal contractors for nearly forty years. Such budget cuts are not limited to the Labor Department, but are also seen in the budgets of a wide array of agencies as part of efforts to limit federal government programs that promote and protect civil rights.
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Texas to Sign Into Law Fetal Burial Requirement
Senators voted last week to send anti-abortion bill SB 8 to the desk of Governor Abbott, who is expected to sign it into law soon. The bill itself, an overt attack on women’s physical and psychological health, requires fetal remains to be buried or cremated, prohibits donations of fetal tissue, and implements sweeping bans on certain types of second trimester abortions.
FACE Act Anniversary Prompts Concerns of Enforcement Under Trump Administration
On the anniversary of the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, advocates for abortion access fear that an increase in anti-abortion violence will be met with limited enforcement by the Trump administration, which has shown unprecedented support for restricting abortion access. Signed into law by President Bill Clinton on May 26, 1994, […]
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Activists Gather at the Capitol to Denounce Trump Budget
Members of Congress joined civil rights leaders and activists at the Capitol yesterday afternoon for a “Hands Off” rally and press conference to denounce damaging cuts to life-saving programs in President Trump’s new budget proposal.
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Seeking to Spark “New Conversations,” Young Afghan Women Create Women’s Magazine
The editor of Afghanistan’s new women’s magazine knows that her publication, Gellera, which features fashion tips alongside information about women’s health and legal rights, may be met with criticism from some within Afghanistan. But, Fatana Hassanzada, 23, is not deterred. “Without agitation, we won’t reach an equilibrium,” she told the New York Times.
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The Trump Budget is a Cruel Attack on Women, Children and the Poor
The Trump Administration today released its FY 2018 budget, calling it “A New Foundation for American Greatness.” Early analysis of the budget, however, shows that it’s anything but.
Organizations Raise Money to Bail Out Women for Mother’s Day
Black Lives Matter, Color of Change and dozens of groups affiliated with the racial and criminal justice movement were able to raise over $500,000 to bail black mothers out of jail in time to celebrate Mother’s Day with their families this past weekend.
Last Clinic in Kentucky Blockaded by Anti-Abortion Extremists
The doors to the last remaining abortion clinic in Kentucky were blockaded on Saturday by a group of anti-abortion extremists, leading to the arrest of ten people outside the EMW Women’s Surgical Center in Louisville. Under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrance (FACE) Act, it is a federal crime to block access to a reproductive healthcare center because of the services offered there.
Boko Haram Releases 82 Chibok Girls 3 Years After Kidnapping
Last week the Nigerian government announced that 82 of the nearly 300 schoolgirls from Chibok that were kidnapped by the terrorist group Boko Haram in April of 2014 had been released in exchange for five Boko Haram commanders. The kidnapping has been an ongoing subject of public concern, prompting the massive #BringBackOurGirls movement on social media.
Supreme Court Declines to Hear Case of North Carolina Voting Laws
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear North Carolina’s appeal to reinstate their restrictive 2013 voting laws that had previously been struck down by a federal appeals court.
Feminist Majority Foundations Sues University of Mary Washington For Title IX Violation
The university’s administration, including President Hurley, was aware of the over 700 “Yaks”, many of which directly threatened the women with physical harm, including rape, and yet failed to take any action to enforce Title IX and ensure the women’s safety, citing misguided First Amendment concerns.
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Bill to Outlaw Conversion Therapy Introduced in Congress
Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) joined Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA) to reintroduce the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act (S.928) to ban so-called “conversion therapy” across the nation.