#CIVIL RIGHTS

[unityoasis]

Why Legalizing Sex Work Can Make Things Safer For Women

A chain of recent comments with @renniejaeger has inspired me to write this defense so good job on making me stop being lazy and going all out! However I emphatically disagree with all points you make. Sex work, or when people are paid for sexual activities, is a hot topic that many people disagree about. But it's important to understand why making it legal can actually help people who choose to do this kind of work. Here's why:

Keeping People Healthy and Safe

If sex work is legal, we can make rules to keep people healthy and safe. Workers can get regular health check-ups, which helps stop the spread of diseases. They can also work in safe places where they are less likely to get hurt or treated badly. When sex work is illegal, workers have to hide, which makes it much more dangerous for them.

Protecting Workers' Rights

When sex work is legal, workers can go to the police if someone hurts them or treats them unfairly. Right now, if sex workers are hurt, they might be too scared to ask for help because they could get in trouble themselves. This leads to relying on pimps who take their money and abuse them further. Legalizing sex work means workers can stand up for their rights and make sure they are treated fairly. It also gives them economic sovereignty to hold their own money and go after those who steal from them or exploit them.

Respecting People's Choices

Many people choose to do sex work. It might not be a choice everyone understands or agrees with, but it is their decision. Saying "all sex work is bad" or "all sex workers are victims" ignores that some people choose this job and find it empowering. Legalizing it means we respect their choice and help make their work safe.

Fixing Bigger Problems

People often become sex workers because they need money and don't have other job options. We should work on fixing these bigger problems, like not having enough good jobs, and governments manipulating our money after we already work for it. If sex work is legal, we can also have more means to make sure people are not tricked or forced into it and that they have other opportunities if they want them or can leave the profession.

Stopping the Myths

There are a lot of wrong ideas about sex work. Some people think "all sex work is the same as rape or abuse", but that's not true. When sex work is consensual and legal, it’s a job like any other. If we keep thinking it’s all bad, we make it harder for workers to be safe and treated with respect. Further stigmatizing sex workers will only lead to further dehumanizing treatment by exploiters.

What We Should Do

Making sex work legal doesn’t mean saying everyone should do it. It means creating a safer, fairer environment for those who choose it. We need to listen to sex workers and give them the same protections and rights as any other worker. This way, we make sure everyone is safe, respected, and treated fairly.

By changing how we think about sex work and making it legal, we can protect people, help them stay healthy, and respect their choices. It’s time to make real changes that help sex workers feel safe and valued.

[boreal-sea]

This thread is incredibly important to read.

It is also extremely difficult to read. I don't know if I need to point this out, but the document itself is obviously full of bigotry so please take care of yourself if you choose to read it. Antisemitic phrases like "cultural marxism" and "global elites" appear before the document even really gets rolling, and are mixed in with transphobia, racism, and more.

If you want a taste of how this document starts in the first main section about "The Family", here is a taste:

"This starts with deleting the terms sexual orientation and gender identity (“SOGI”), diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”), gender, gender equality, gender equity, gender awareness, gender-sensitive, abortion, reproductive health, reproductive rights, and any other term used to deprive Americans of their First Amendment rights out of every federal rule, agency regulation, contract, grant, regulation, and piece of legislation that exists."

It is all bad. ALL of this document is bad, and dangerous, and threatens the lives and the safety of everyone living in this country.

[thoughtportal]

[zoomar]

And what are your views on Civil Rights?

Jet Magazine, 1966

[biblicalhorror]

THE Dr. Angela Davis speaking at the student encampment on Auraria campus in Denver this weekend.

"I want you to know how important it is that you are taking this stand and this moment," Davis said, addressing the protesters. "I want to emphasize what this means for history. As you imagine this period being narrated 10 years, 20 years, 50 years from now, you will be the historical actors who made it possible for a breakthrough for the struggle against Zionism and the struggle for a free Palestine."

Civil rights icon Angela Davis speaks at Auraria campus in Denver after 40 protestors arrested

Please take the time to donate to the Colorado Palestine Coalition and the encampment here if you can!

[blackcentric]

[lilithism1848]

[vsthepomegranate]

Born in Flames (1983)

by Lizzie Borden

[brandyschillace]

I turned in the book manuscript for INTERMEDIARIES, the forgotten history of the first transgender clinic 1918-1933.

It follows the story of Dora Richter, the first transgender woman to undergo complete MTF surgery (not Lili Elbe; she was third!) It’s taken me two years of blood, sweat, and tears. A lot of tears, actually.

The Nazis raided the Institute for Sexual Science; they burned the library. They banned the books that remained. They attacked, arrested, and ultimately killed trans and homosexual people along with disabled people, minority groups like the Roma people, political opponents, and 6 million Jews. (One commenter suggested 11 million people over all, and really, that estimate may still be conservative).

The news today, 2023, reads a lot like news in 1923 with the rise of hatred against LGBTQ, attacks on reproductive rights, and increasing racism and antisemitism. The Nazis rose throughout the 1920s, coming into power 1930-1933.

The world said never again; we must now be the ones to stop a slide into hatred and violence. Before it’s too late.

Here is a preview of the book; it will be available for pre-order this winter (I hope), coming out in 2024.

[beam-of-sunlightbb]

[batboyblog]

What Joe Biden has Done for LGBTQ+ People

I wanted to list out everything The Biden Administration has done for Queer people in the last 3 and a half years, but according to GLAAD it'd been 337 moves (and I noticed they missed a few things...) there was just no way to list every ground breaking first Queer person ever nominated to fill this or that job, every ally with a historic LGBT rights record nominated for a top job, every beautiful statement of support, every time he tried to get Congress to pass the Equality Act (support it!) So I've gone through and done my best to pick the ones I think were the most important, but everyone should check out the full list!

Day 1: Signs executive orders banning discrimination and ordering a full review of all federal agencies policies to better include and support LGBT people

Pete Buttigieg becomes the first openly gay person nominated and confirmed for a cabinet level post as Secretary of Transportation

Revokes Trump’s 2018 ban on transgender military personnel

Department of Housing and Urban Development implements LGBTQ protections in housing, becoming first federal agency to implement Pres. Biden’s executive order

First President to recognize and proclaim Trans Day of Visibility

Department of Justice Civil Rights Division issues an official memo that the Supreme Court's Bostock decision against LGBT workplace discrimination also applies to education through Title IX

HUD withdraws a Trump Administration proposed rule change, and reaffirms trans people's rights to seek shelters matching their gender identity

HHS announces the withdrawal of Trump Administration rules that allowed discrimination by healthcare organizations against LGBT people.

The State Department and later Homeland Security announce babies born to Queer couples overseas will be American citizens if one parent is American, in the past the child only qualified if they were genetically related to the American citizen parent.

The Justice Department files against a West Virginia law banning trans students from school athletics

Department of Veterans Affairs announces it will offer gender confirming surgery for transgender veterans. There are an estimated 134,000 transgender veterans in the U.S. and another 15,000 transgender people serving in the armed forces.

President Biden Signs a law making the Pulse Night Club a national memorial

The State Department creates an X gender marker for passports and other documents, allowing gender affirming identification for non-binary and intersex people for the first time.

The Census Bureau for the first time issues a Survey with questions about sexual orientation and gender identity

On the 10th anniversary of the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, Veterans Administration announces that soldiers discharged for homosexual conduct, gender identity or HIV status qualify for veterans' benefits

Dr. Rachel Levine becomes the first trans person confirmed by the US Senate when she was nominated to be Assistant Secretary for Health, she also became the first trans flag rank officer when she was sworn in as a 4 star Admiral for her job as head of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, his makes her the highest ranked trans person in government

Holds the first ever vigil in the White House for Transgender Day of Remembrance

HHS announces rule change to reinstate and expand protections against discrimination in the Affordable Care Act, including denying coverage for gender-affirming care.

Social Security Administration reverses a Trump Administration policy and allows benefits claims by surviving partners in same-sex relationships, whose partner died before marriage equality was legal

President Biden signs the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (a bill he helped originally craft in the Senate) which for the first time has grant programs dedicated to expanding and developing initiatives specifically for LGBTQ survivors of domestic violence

The TSA announces new technology and policy shifts to improve the customer experience of transgender travelers who have previously been required to undergo additional screening due to alarms in sensitive areas.

The Social Security Administration allows people to edit their gender and name on records for the first time without legal and medical documentation

The US Air Force announces it'll offer medical and legal aid to any personnel families affected by state level anti-trans youth bills.

Karine Jean-Pierre becomes the first Lesbian to serve as White House Press Secretary

on 50th anniversary of Title IX The Department of Ed strengthens protections for Students against sexual harassment and discrimination

Veterans Affairs announces survivor benefits now extended to partners from relationships before marriage equality was legalized in 2015

President Biden signs the Respect for Marriage Act into law enshrining protections for marriage equality for same-sex and interracial couples

The Department of Ed announces new rules around athletic eligibility under Title IX, declaring blanket bans on trans students violate the law and setting up strike standards for schools

The White House announced a suit of new protections for LGBTQ people, including a new job at the Department of Ed to combat book bans, a joint DoJ Homeland Security effort to combat violence and threats and HHS evidence-based guidance to mental health providers for care of transgender kids

President Biden signs an Executive Order directing HHS to protect LGBTQI+ youth in the foster care system, a rule they later passed requiring Queer foster children to be placed in affirming homes

The Biden administration joins families of transgender youth in Tennessee and Kentucky in petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to review and reverse a circuit court ruling allowing a ban on mainstream health care to be enforced

President Biden Signs a EO expanding on past EO on equality and helping underserved communities

The Department of Education's Civil Rights office opens an investigation into the death of Nex Benedict. President Biden in his statement said: "Every young person deserves to have the fundamental right and freedom to be who they are, and feel safe and supported at school and in their communities. Nex Benedict, a kid who just wanted to be accepted, should still be here with us today. Nonbinary and transgender people are some of the bravest Americans I know. But nobody should have to be brave just to be themselves. In memory of Nex, we must all recommit to our work to end discrimination and address the suicide crisis impacting too many nonbinary and transgender children.”

[neotaissong]

Via blackarchives.co

Students protest with a library sit-in at the University of Connecticut (April 1974) via the UCONN Library Archives & Special Collections Students staged a protest to pressure the university to meet a number of demands, including a cultural center and better support for Black and minority students. *unknown photographer

[thoughtportal]

[mysharona1987]

[twixnmix]

Martin Luther King Jr. playing with his children Dexter King, Yolanda King and Bernice King in their backyard in Atlanta on November 8, 1964.

Photos by Flip Schulke

[probablyasocialecologist]

King’s harshest and most famous criticism of Malcolm X, in which he accused his fellow civil rights leader of “fiery, demagogic oratory,” appears to have been fabricated.

“I think its historic reverberations are huge,” Eig told The Washington Post. “We’ve been teaching people for decades, for generations, that King had this harsh criticism of Malcolm X, and it’s just not true.”

The quote came from a January 1965 Playboy interview with author Alex Haley, a then-43-year-old Black journalist, and was the longest published interview King ever did. Because of the severity of King’s criticism, it has been repeated countless times, cast as a dividing line between King and Malcolm X. The new revelation “shows that King was much more open-minded about Malcolm than we’ve tended to portray him,” Eig said.

[...]

Some of the phrases added to King’s answer appear to be taken significantly out of context, while others appear to be fabricated.

It is a standard practice in journalism when publishing Q&A-style interviews to make minor changes, such as removing excessive “ums” or truncating long answers where the subject repeats their point over and over again or wanders from the topic at hand. But journalists typically take great pains to ensure any changes do not alter the intended meaning of an interviewee’s response. In addition, outlets commonly will include an editor’s note informing the reader of such changes.

What Haley appears to have done amounts to “journalistic malpractice,” Eig said.