Judge Sonia Sotomayor was officially sworn in as an associate justice of the Supreme Court on Saturday. Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath to Sotomayor in two small ceremonies at the Supreme Court building, reports the New York Times. During the first ceremony, Sotomayor took the oath required of all federal employees to “support […]
Fox News commentator Glenn Beck joked about poisoning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) wine on his show last week. The sketch mocked an upcoming Napa Valley fundraiser for the Speaker and featured a staffer sitting across from Beck wearing a Pelosi mask, according to the Huffington Post. Beck repeated “Drink it. Drink it. Drink it,” […]
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, to denounce atrocities against women in the war-ravaged country. Clinton is visiting for two days to raise awareness of the prevalence of sexual assault and the use of rape as a weapon of war. Tomorrow she will visit Goma, […]
Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Barack Obama’s first Supreme Court nominee, was confirmed yesterday by a 68-31 vote in the Senate. The vote was largely split along party lines, with only nine Republicans voting in favor of Sotomayor, reports the Washington Post. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) supported Sotomayor, but was not present for the vote because […]
A judge in Oakland, California ruled Wednesday that an ordinance prohibiting protesters from approaching women entering abortion clinics is constitutional. The bubble ordinance, passed by the Oakland City Council in December 2008, bars protesters from coming within eight feet of women seeking access to a reproductive health clinic, reports the LA Times. The plaintiff in […]
Chair of the Joint Economic Committee, Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), and her colleagues released a report yesterday stating that more than 1.4 million women are adversely affected by the recession because they are losing their health insurance through their own or their spouse’s job loss. In addition, there is an increase in uninsured children due […]
The American Psychological Association (APA) announced yesterday that psychologists should not advise gay clients that therapy can help them become straight. A six-member task force completed two years of research on 83 studies of sexual orientation conducted since 1960 and found no evidence that therapy can change an individual’s sexual orientation. The APA governing council […]
George Sodini shot and killed three women and injured 11 more before killing himself in a hate crime against women Tuesday night in Pennsylvania. Sodini entered an aerobics class at a gym in the Pittsburgh area intending to take revenge on women, who he saw as rejecting him en masse, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. Sodini […]
Cases of rape against men are skyrocketing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where rape against women has been increasingly frequently as a weapon of war in recent years. The American Bar Association reported that in addition to being used as a weapon of war by militias, assailants also include police officers and […]
All high school students in DC will be offered free and confidential testing for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the upcoming school year, school officials have announced. The policy follows last year’s successful pilot program, which found 13 percent of 3,000 students tested had at least one STD, reports the Washington Post. Health officials are […]
Two Planned Parenthood officials resigned from Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s (R) Commission on Women’s and Children’s Health last week amidst growing concerns about the governor’s policy on women’s health issues. Planned Parenthood Arizona (PPA) Chair Dr. Candace Lew and PPA President and CEO Bryan Howard submitted a letter of resignation that accuses Governor Brewer of […]
Police clashed with a group of 100 women protestors outside a courthouse where Sudanese journalist Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein’s trial for wearing pants commenced yesterday. Witnesses say police sprayed the women with tear gas and beat several women with batons. One of Hussein’s lawyers, Manal Awad Khogali, was among those attacked, according to the Associated Press. […]
Today is the first day Wisconsin same-sex couples can legally register as domestic partners. Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle signed legislation creating domestic partnerships in the state. According to The Advocate, the partnerships grant property, inheritance, and visitation rights to domestic partners. Wisconsin is the first Midwestern state to afford legal rights to same-sex partnerships as […]
Corazon Aquino, the first female president of the Philippines, died on Saturday from colon cancer. Aquino installed democracy in the Philippines when her administration replaced the dictatorial regime of Ferdinand Marcos after a successful civilian coup. In office she survived seven coup attempts and was the inspiration for nonviolent protests, some of which resulted in […]
A hotline was launched in Buenos Aires, Argentina last week to give women information they need to terminate pregnancies using the drug Misoprostol. Created by Lesbians and Feminists for the Decriminalization of Abortion and supported by Women on Waves and the Coordinadora Juvenil por la Equidad de Genero in Ecuador, the hotline plans to give […]
The White House announced last week that President Barack Obama will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to a number of pioneering feminists and civil rights leaders. The medal is the highest honor a civilian can receive and given to those who make significant contributions in world peace, culture, or other public pursuits. The recipients […]
The Italian Pharmaceuticals Agency (AIFA) has approved mifepristone, also known as RU-486, for use through the seventh week of pregnancy. Last week’s ruling stipulates that the drug can be administered by doctors in a hospital but can not be sold in pharmacies, according to the BBC. As the host country of the Vatican, Italy has […]
A gay youth center was attacked by a gunman in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Saturday. A masked man entered the Tel Aviv Gay and Lesbian Association building and opened fire on a group of young people gathered for a weekly support group meeting, reports the BBC. The shooter fled on foot and remains at large. […]
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger cut $489 million yesterday from the state budget passed last week by the state legislature. The cuts were directed primarily towards health and human services programs, and will eliminate all state funding for domestic violence shelters, reports The Sun. Shelters were preparing for the 20% funding cut proposed by the legislature, […]
British Quakers, or the Religious Society of Friends, have decided to perform same-sex marriages. During their annual meeting in York the Quakers came to a consensus, according to the Times Online, to “to treat same sex committed relationships in the same way as opposite sex marriages, reaffirming our central insight that marriage is the Lord’s […]
