A new report published by the Campaign for America’s Future and Media Matters for America finds that, although Americans commonly believe that the majority of the country is conservative, Americans are actually progressive in their views and voting trends. The report, titled “Why Conservative America is a Myth,” looks at broad ideological convictions rather than […]
With backing from President Alvaro Uribe, a Colombian bill giving same-sex couples rights to health insurance, inheritance, and social security that recently passed by a 62-43 vote in Congress is likely to become law. If ratified by the Senate, Colombia will be the first Latin American country to offer such rights on a national level. […]
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for a suicide bomber who blew up a bus transporting police recruits in Afghanistan yesterday. The attack killed 35 people, the Los Angeles Times reports, making it the deadliest bombing since US-led forces overthrew the Taliban in December 2001. At least 35 other people were wounded in the attack. Since […]
The Senate Judiciary Committee has again delayed voting on the nomination of Leslie Southwick to the US Court of Appeals for the fifth circuit. Southwick was nominated this year by President Bush, receiving criticism from women’s rights and civil rights groups, including formal opposition from the Feminist Majority. Among the cases that caused concern was […]
Legislators defeated a proposed amendment 151 to 45 to change the Massachusetts constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman. Massachusetts is the only state in the US where same-sex marriage is legal and has been since May 2004. Five other states provide civil unions or their equivalent. The amendment would have […]
The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee approved the DC Voting Rights Bill (S 1257) yesterday in a 9 to 1 vote. The legislation, which passed the House in April, will now go the full Senate for a vote. If the bill is passed and signed into law by President Bush, it will add […]
President Bush’s recent nominee to the position of surgeon general has a history of condemning and criticizing homosexuality, making him “unworthy” of the surgeon general’s post, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) asserts. Dr. James W. Holsinger, Jr., who was nominated by Bush in late May, wrote a paper in 1991 to present to the Committee […]
Two gunmen killed two girls and wounded six others, including a teacher, outside a girls’ school in Logar Province, Afghanistan on Tuesday. The gunmen, who were on a motorbike and have not been identified, attacked the school at midday as students were leaving. Girls’ schools in Afghanistan have been under constant threat from extremists who […]
Lilly Ledbetter, the plaintiff in a wage discrimination case against the Goodyear Rubber and Tire Company, spoke yesterday before the House Committee on Education and Labor, highlighting the difficulties employees face when reporting incidents of discrimination in the workplace. The Supreme Court recently ruled against Ledbetter, and members of the House and Senate have vowed […]
More than 100 members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) were arrested June 11 in Filabusi, Zimbabwe during a peaceful demonstration to launch the Peoples’ Charter, which includes demands for social rights and liberties. According to WOZA, “The Peoples’ Charter is the result of an eleven-month process of consulting ordinary Zimbabweans on what they want […]
The Kuwaiti Parliament unanimously passed a law earlier this week to restrict women’s rights by restricting the hours that women are allowed to work. Women will be banned from working between 8:00 pm and 7:00 am with an exception only for women working in the medical profession. Women will also be prohibited from jobs that […]
Lilly Ledbetter, the plaintiff in a recent workplace discrimination lawsuit against Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, will be joining House Democrats in a press conference on Capitol Hill this afternoon to address the way in which the Supreme Court’s interpretation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 failed to protect her against […]
New polls show that Senator Hillary Clinton’s (NY) solid lead in the polls for the Democratic candidate for president is a result of women voters. The Washington Post and ABC News conducted a poll among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents between May 29 and June 1. While men are almost equally likely to support Clinton and […]
The United Kingdom government published today a consultation document that included proposals for a Single Equality Bill that will cover England, Wales, and Scotland. The legislation aims to modernize the current sex, race, and religious discrimination laws currently contained in nine major pieces of legislation, 90 statutory instruments, and various guidance documents. A government statement […]
The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that women forced to undergo abortions in other countries are eligible for asylum in the US. The decision was made in the case of a Chinese couple, Li Zhen and her partner, Zi Zhi Tang, who was forced to undergo an abortion in 1980 because […]
In order to improve the health and safety of women, policymakers in Mozambique have announced that they will consider lifting the country’s ban on abortion. Mozambique’s Health Ministry finds that, while illegal abortions are greatly underreported and the true numbers are probably much higher, some 100 women die annually from botched abortions, while many more […]
The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the National Partnership for Women and Families, and the Center for American Progress organized a panel yesterday Capitol Hill on the often-overlooked intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, and poverty in the US. Panel members, including Avis Jones-DeWeever of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Kiran Ahuja of the National […]
On the 42nd anniversary of Griswold v Connecticut, the Supreme Court case that established the right to birth control, new poll results showed yesterday that an overwhelming majority of Americans support access to birth control and other family planning services. The results of a survey conducted by Celinda Lake and released this week by the […]
The House voted yesterday for the third time in the past two years to approve legislation that would lessen restrictions on stem cell research. The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (S. 5), which would authorize federal dollars to fund research on frozen embryos at fertility clinics that would otherwise be destroyed, passed in a 247 […]
Oregon law might soon make it easier for a husband to take his wife’s name. State Senator Vicki Walker (D) introduced an amendment to a marriage certificate bill that would clarify the name-changing process for grooms and for couples who wish to adopt a hyphenated name. A story in the spring issue of Ms. magazine, […]
