Category Archives: Civil Rights

Update on Iranian protests

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From Sept. 20, this is the first video I saw from the protests in Iran. Unprecedented scenes in Iran: woman sits on top of utility box and cuts her hair in main square in Kerman to protest death of Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the morality police. People clap their hands and chant “Death to the dictator.” #مهسا_امینی pic.twitter.com/2oyuKV80Ac — Golnaz Esfandiari (@GEsfandiari) September 20, 2022 A report from Arash Azizi at Newsweek: Iran’s Regime May Have Just Sparked a Revolution On Sept. 17, Mahsa’s funeral in her native Kurdistan province was accompanied by massive protests which soon spread … Continue reading →

Good news from Michigan

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In an earlier post I pointed out that Michigan’s state legislature had intervened against the will of the electorate and refused to allow abortion rights to be enshrined in the state. Today the Lege was overruled by the state Supreme Court and the measure will be on the ballot after all. BREAKING: Michigan Supreme Court in a 5-2 decision ordered the Reproductive Freedom For All measure placed on the ballot after the Board of State Canvassers deadlocked. This measure will enshrine abortion rights into the state’s Constitution (irrevocable by SCOTUS OR Congress). — Andrew Wortman 🏳️‍🌈🇺🇸 (@AmoneyResists) September 8, 2022 … Continue reading →

Fired up

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This matches what I see/feel around the mid-terms this year (gift link, will get you through the paywall for a while). Women Are So Fired Up to Vote, I’ve Never Seen Anything Like It …once the actual Dobbs decision came down, everything changed. For many Americans, confronting the loss of abortion rights was different from anticipating it. In my 28 years analyzing elections, I’ve never seen anything like what’s happened in the past two months in American politics: Women are registering to vote in numbers I’ve never witnessed. I’ve run out of superlatives to describe how different this moment is, … Continue reading →

What patriarchy looks like in everyday life

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Beaten for no reason, dragged off the street for violations of modesty laws, subject to torture in those detention centers, refused school and work choices—this report shows exactly how women in Afghanistan are treated by the Taliban. Women who dare to protest, and some women do dare to, are treated even more harshly.   In the New York Times (gift link, no paywall) another report shows the same brutal situation. Taliban Rewind the Clock: ‘A Woman Is a Helpless and Powerless Creature’ Girls are barred from secondary schools and women from traveling any significant distance without a male relative. Men … Continue reading →

This energy is what we need…

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…to win in the mid-terms. These organizers in Kansas walked door-to-door, day after day, getting out the vote to defeat Kansas’s abominable abortion law. They raised tons of money to support the effort. They coordinated with Indivisible and never gave up. Every one of us has to match their heart and their efforts to win this fall. This is an interview with community organizer Yazmin Bruno-Valdez, and with Olivia Julianna of Gen-Z for Change. You may have heard of Olivia. She was attacked by Matt Gaetz, body-shamed publicly, and she used that attention to raise more than two million dollars … Continue reading →

Victor Orban, Leader of CPAC

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An authoritarian white nationalist, just the sort of politician Republicans love. Listen to his words below, and hear the cheers. Orban’s type of patriarchal government—anti-gay, anti-feminist, anti-multiculturalism—is the government they wish to impose on the rest of us. Don’t look away.   Viktor Orban is an authoritarian who trafficks in antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories, embraces antisemitic imagery, and engages in racist rhetoric. Republicans welcoming him with a standing ovation at #CPAC is all you need to know about the danger of today's @GOP. https://t.co/kvtoTOBXOo — Jewish Dems (@USJewishDems) August 5, 2022 ETA: Laura Jedeed has more.

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Kansas!

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The first vote in the post-Dobbs era has ended, and Kansas, considered a very red state these days, has voted to keep abortion legal in the state. (gift link, no paywall) This is an enormous victory for women, and for freedom everywhere. That the vote was not even close should be somewhat reassuring, but there is still a very long road ahead to the mid-terms. Let’s not get complacent. Remember: The people who will put themselves in charge of our bodies to demand our reproductive labor, will put themselves in charge of our bodies to demand every other kind of … Continue reading →

Still continuing

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Please don’t look away. 20 GOP-led states are suing the USDA over a rule from the agency that prohibits discrimination against LGBTQ students in free school lunch programs. The AGs argue schools have the right to deny queer and trans kids lunch money. https://t.co/xM3IGonUIB — Gillian Branstetter (@GBBranstetter) July 27, 2022

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