Far-right campaigns aim to ban sex and LGBTQ+ themed books from children’s and teen’s sections in public and school libraries. Nevertheless, resistance finds multiple paths to defend the freedom to read.
sexuality
Review: ‘The 1619 Project’
May 14, 2022‘The 1619 Project’ tackles U.S. history since the first enslaved Africans were brought to Virginia—from multiple perspectives. Each essay is grounded in original sources, scholarly works, interviews and oral histories. Historical events, photographs of ordinary African-Americans and poetry surround each essay, adding a human touch.
Review: ‘The 1619 Project’
April 22, 2022‘The 1619 Project’ tackles U.S. history since the first enslaved Africans were brought to Virginia—from multiple perspectives. Each essay is grounded in original sources, scholarly works, interviews and oral histories. Historical events, photographs of ordinary African-Americans and poetry surround each essay, adding a human touch.
Queer Notes: March-April 2022
March 19, 2022LGBTQ+ students are protesting injustice in Kenya, Florida and Texas; the suspected suicide of Gay mayor Kevin Ward highlights suicide risks for gay men; Black Trans woman Ju’ Zema Goldring’s unjust arrest; and the banning of conversion therapy for people under 18 in New Zealand.
Women WorldWide
October 21, 2020Girls revolt against discriminatory dress code at Wisconsin high school; the death of Shere Hite, author of “The Hite Report: A Nationwide Study of Female Sexuality”; the struggle against mass hysterectomies performed without informed consent on immigrant women detained in Georgia; and in Mexico City feminists seized the National Human Rights Commission building for five days, renaming it “House of Refuge Ni Una Menos.”
‘Last Days at Hot Slit’
August 31, 2019A review of “Last Days at Hot Slit: The Radical Feminism of Andrea Dworkin,” edited by Johanna Fateman and Amy Scholder.
Woman as Reason, November-December 2018: Solidarity with Trans
December 11, 2018The Trump administration’s latest outrage is its attempt to erase Transgender people. Its tactic this time is to declare that Trans people do not exist, subverting the spirit of Title IX, enacted in 1972.
Queer Notes: January-February 2017
February 3, 2017Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe bans discrimination on the basis of gender identity; a Transgender boy is thrown out of a Cub Scout pack in New Jersey; and a vigil held by friends and family of people at the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, California.
North Carolinians protest anti-LGBTQ law
May 7, 2016North Carolina’s Queer community and their supporters agitate against the state’s anti-Transgender and anti-LGB legislation.
Women Worldwide: November-December 2015
December 10, 2015A roundup of short notices of women’s actions and thoughts worldwide including women at Access Living in Chicago creating a reproductive health guide for women with disabilities; women fighting femicide in El Salvador, and how the Ada Developers Academy is helping women learn coding.
LGBTQ gains in Africa
September 3, 2015A roundup of progressive legislation and legal victories involving LGBTQ people in Mozambique, Kenya, Botswana, and Zambia.
International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia
July 3, 2015A report of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, observed around the world each year on May 17 to raise awareness of human rights violations against LGBTI people and to advocate for our full human rights.
Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights — a review
November 22, 2014From the November-December 2014 issue of News & Letters
Pro by Katha Pollitt is a wake-up call to the pro-choice movement to reclaim abortion as a positive social good. Ever since Roe v. Wade legalized abortion, we have allowed religious Right rhetoric to sneak into our own discussions so that even we now [=>]
Iranian girls learn bodies not sinful
April 2, 2013In Iran, after the Islamic Revolution the whole issue of sexual health education was forgotten. Years later, a law made it compulsory for all marrying couples to attend a one-hour session at a local clinic on family planning and genetic diseases, including thalassemia— a serous inherited blood disorder.
We hypothesized that offering sexual health education to [=>]
Komen and capital vs. self-development
March 24, 2012Woman as Reason
by Terry Moon
Our Bodies Ourselves, 1971 first edition and 2011 40th anniversary edition
Over 40 years ago, 12 Boston women got together to talk about women’s health. This was in 1969, when no one talked about women’s sexuality. Abortion was illegal and birth control had been legalized nationally—for married couples—only in 1965. [=>]
Women World Wide, July-August 2011
August 6, 2011by Artemis
The reactionary majority of the U.S. Supreme Court gutted all future class action suits by throwing out the case against Wal-Mart, which has discriminated against over 1.5 million women workers as well as implemented extreme anti-union policies. Not surprisingly, big business was delighted with the verdict.
The International Criminal Court at the Hague, Netherlands, issued [=>]