#ada discrimination

[karmaphone]

yo if anybody's well-versed in the ADA & its applications PLEASE hmu

[deathtoskinnyjeans]

so apparently, the US census is about to make 40% of disabled people disappear in its data.

they gonna change the disability-related questions, and then only count the two most negative answers as a disability. and also the new version will do even worse than the old version at counting disabled ppl who are chronically and/or mentally ill. and just in time for long covid to create more of exactly those kinds of disabled ppl [/tinfoil hat]

article about the change they're trying to make:

https://nationalpartnership.org/new-census-proposal-would-reduce-disabled-women-girls-counted-nearly-10-million/?fbclid=IwAR09pGjYoMwdik6mo-uzEOf3kD7xe2oLIEU7wlm7wWlV9ykbgq02_fljJr8

on how to leave a public comment to try to make that not happen:

[frogeyedape]

fuuuuuuuuuuuck

[officialbabayaga]

losing the will to live right before writing the conclusion 😭

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Ada Akpala

Published: Oct 3, 2023

I recently found myself reflecting on a radio program I once listened to on BBC Sounds. The featured guest was Simon Woolley, a distinguished figure in British society. The program was the iconic "Desert Island Discs," which invites celebrities and public figures to envision themselves stranded on a deserted island. During the show, the guest must select and discuss eight pieces of music, a book, and a luxury item they would want to have on the island. These choices are intended to reveal their personal tastes, cherished memories, and life experiences.

Throughout the podcast, Lord Woolley openly discussed his life's trials and triumphs, including personal family issues, his experience as an adoptee, and his complicated feelings towards his birth mother. The conversation was a poignant and captivating mix of humour, inspiration, deep reflection and heart-warming moments — all the ingredients that make for an enjoyable listening experience. 

Around 15 minutes into the episode, just before he played his fourth selection, 'Titanium' by David Guetta featuring Sia, a statement he made momentarily dampened my enjoyment of the show. At this point, he was sharing his struggles with identity and bullying, becoming emotional as he described the profound conflict he experienced when he reconnected with his birth mother at the age of 16. It felt as though he had somehow betrayed his adopted mother. He went on to explain that his choice of the song 'Titanium' was based on the lyrics, “knock me down and I get up… I won’t fall, I am Titanium.” According to him, this resilience to keep getting back up represented the black experience.

However, this resilience needed to confront life's challenges is not an exclusive attribute of the black experience; instead, it is a fundamental aspect of the human condition. Such capacity to adapt, grow, and endure in the face of adversity is a shared characteristic that transcends racial and ethnic boundaries. In fact, this trait applies not only to human beings but also extends to various species within the animal kingdom and other life forms, where survival often depends on an organism's ability to adapt to changing environments and challenges.

The insistence on attaching racial prefixes to universally applicable concepts is not only illogical but also serves to alienate us as black individuals. It implies that our existence, our experiences, and our humanity are so foreign and unrelatable that those "outside of our group" can simply never comprehend what it means to be black.

This attitude also has the effect of implying that struggle, hardship, and pain are direct synonyms for being black. This means that anyone who identifies as black is assumed, by default, to have experienced such gruelling hardships throughout their lives. So much so that if a black person expresses otherwise, they are often labelled as one of three things: an exception, a traitor, or deluded.

It's undeniable that black individuals have faced a distinct set of challenges throughout history, but it's equally important to acknowledge that various groups, too, confront their own unique obstacles and adversities. The notion that one group's challenges are more “real” or “unique” than another's oversimplifies the complex dynamics of human experience.

Usually those who speak of the “black experience” are speaking in terms of black people dealing with racism and discrimination, both past and present.

I would argue that throughout history, different groups have been demonised, ostracised, and dehumanised simply because of their group identity. In today’s world, there are numerous accounts of individuals from various racial groups finding themselves excluded and discriminated against based on their skin colour or racial identity, ironically in the name of equity and inclusion. Being a victim of racial discrimination is not exclusive to being black.

Various groups have their own distinct histories and cultural dynamics, and no two life experiences are identical. However, universal and timeless themes in life, such as joy, love, pain, rejection, loss, and death, transcend cultural boundaries and resonate with all of us to some extent.

As we continue our efforts to find effective solutions for easing intergroup tensions and improving social harmony in our multicultural and multiracial societies, a foundational step toward achieving this goal is to actively address and eliminate racialised and separatist language and thinking from our discourse and collective consciousness.

[margoshansons]

Guys…I’m so tired

I’m so burnt out

[coochiequeens]

“Anti‑Discrimination Commissioner Sarah Bolt refused Hoyle’s application in July. In her justification, Commissioner Bolt claimed “sex” was not a protected attribute, but gender identity was.”

A Tasmanian court has ruled that woman-only events are discriminatory towards men who claim that they are women, on the basis of their self-declared “gender identity.” The ruling was in response to an application filed by lesbian women seeking to hold women-only events at a venue in Launceston. 

In May 2021, Jessica Hoyle, a representative for LGB Tasmania, contacted Equal Opportunity Tasmania (EOT) to apply for an exemption under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 (ADA), requesting the right to exclude males from lesbian-focused events on the basis of their biological sex. Hoyle explained she was affiliated with LGB Alliance Australia (LGBAA) at the time of the filing, and as a result, the Commissioner treated the appeal as an exemption sought on behalf of the LGBAA.

“We wish to hold an event primarily for Lesbians and women (those who are adult human females, or female-bodied humans),” Hoyle stated in her filing. “We do not want participants who are male-bodied humans attending regardless of how they identify. Lesbians are homosexuals, this is an event to celebrate lesbians and in particular, provide a safe venue without unwanted presence, attention or aggression of male-bodied people.”

In her filing, Hoyle also pointed to the loss of single-sex spaces as an infringement of lesbian rights. 

“We have seen in recent times the rights of women and lesbians erased,” she said. “We have found in the LGBTQ community despite the mantra of ‘inclusion and diversity’ many female people are finding themselves excluded and feel invisible.” 

As evidence of this phenomenon, Hoyle highlighted the disappearance of lesbian venues across Australia, saying, “Of the 102 spaces and events that used to exist, 99 no longer exist.”

Nevertheless, Anti‑Discrimination Commissioner Sarah Bolt refused Hoyle’s application in July. In her justification, Commissioner Bolt claimed “sex” was not a protected attribute, but gender identity was.

“As I understand it, the exemption is sought to permit discrimination on the basis of sex, specifically against ‘biological men’. Sex is not a protected attribute.”

The Anti-Discrimination Act, passed in 1998, was amended in 2019 to include the subjective category of gender identity, but does not provide legal protections on the basis of biological sex.

The Commissioner’s decision to refuse Hoyle’s request was justified on the grounds that granting the exemption would permit discrimination on the basis of gender identity – despite Hoyle having clarified that her intention was to only exclude “individuals who are male, regardless of their gender identity,” and asserting that “females are welcome no matter how they identify.”

Undeterred, Hoyle contacted the Anti‑Discrimination Tribunal (ADT) on July 16 of last year, requesting a review of the Commissioner’s rejection. After reviewing the case, the Tribunal sided with the Anti‑Discrimination Commissioner, and, on November 24, refused Hoyle’s request to permit women-only events.

In the ruling, Kate Cuthbertson of the ADT emphasized again that neither the terms “sex” nor “biological sex” are protected characteristics under the Anti-Discrimination Act.

“The Act does not expressly proscribe discrimination on the basis of such attributes in those terms. That has always been the case in Tasmania. The predecessor to the Act, the Sex Discrimination Act 1994, also proscribed discrimination on the basis of gender,” reads the ruling.

Cuthbertson took particular issue with an argument made in Hoyle’s request regarding “males who claim to ‘identify’ as lesbian.”

In defense of her application, Hoyle pointed to the academic literature which describes autogynephilia.

“Many of these men have a sexual fetish called autogynephilia. There are a myriad of academic articles written about this fetish,” Hoyle said. “Many autogynephilic males come into lesbian spaces in order to achieve sexual gratification for themselves, at the expense of lesbians. This is widely documented.”

Hoyle referred generally to instances of lesbians being harassed by men who identify as transgender, with same-sex attracted women being labelled as “transphobic” for refusing to date trans-identifying males. She further described the term “cotton ceiling,” a term coined by porn star and trans activist Drew DeVeaux in 2015. 

“Cotton ceiling” is inspired by the concept of the “glass ceiling,” which is used to describe discrimination women face in the workplace that prevents them for reaching upper management levels. The “cotton” refers to the material of a women’s underwear, and frames a lesbian’s refusal to have sexual relations with males as a form of discrimination.

Yet Cuthbertson denied the existence of such harassment, and chided Hoyle for bringing up the issue, saying that such arguments “do a great disservice to transgender and transsexual” people.

“Many of the assertions, particularly those regarding paraphilias, patterns of criminality and nefarious motivations for attending female-only events were unsupported by empirical research or compelling evidence,” Cuthbertson stated in the ruling.

Speaking with Reduxx, Hoyle referred to a specific case in Tasmania involving a trans-identified male who was convicted of possessing child exploitation material last year. 

Anna Koizumi Umpisa Simmons was found in possession of “anime and cartoon images of children in sexual poses,” but was not required to register as a sex offender. According to Hoyle, Simmons had also complained to staff at the Devonport swimming center after being refused entry to the women’s changing area.

Last October, The BBC reported on the testimonies of lesbians who had received violent threats, including of sexual assault, for refusing to accept the idea that “a penis can be a female sex organ“. Women were told they were bigoted and were called “genital fetishists” for being same-sex attracted. The BBC released a statement revealing that a flood of complaints had been received following the article’s publication.

Hoyle personally experienced similar abuse. Speaking with Sky News Australia, Hoyle told of how a man in a Facebook group for lesbians tried to “coerce” her into a sexual relationship. “He tried to coerce me and wanted to come spend a week with me… I said, ‘I’m sorry, I’m same-sex attracted. The next thing I know, I’m getting abused on Facebook messenger and being called a ‘genital fetishist’.”

“It is pretty clear by this ruling that lesbians and women have zero rights to freedom of association, nor are seen as belonging to a minority group. This ruling is misogynistic and lesbophobic in nature,” Hoyle told Reduxx.

A legal recognition of biological sex is necessary for the preservation of the rights of women and of the gay and lesbian community, Hoyle said. “If sex is not a protected attribute, women and same-sex attracted people are not protected. Men claim to be lesbians in order to harass same-sex attracted women.”

“Tasmanian men and women did not know this had happened,” she added, referring to the implementation of gender identity policies in law. “These laws where rushed through with no proper community consultation.”

In nations around the world – including England, Wales, Germany – lesbian women have reported being terrorized for asserting their same-sex attraction. In Norway, a woman is facing up to three years in prison for saying that men cannot be lesbians. In the United States, a prominent trans activist and trans-identifying male was recently convicted of the 2016 murders of a lesbian couple and their son.

Until 1997, Tasmanian law criminalized homosexuality, and allowed for a maximum prison sentence of 21 years, the harshest penalty in the Western world. The legislation repealing the law against homosexuality passed by just a single vote. 

Hoyle has confirmed that she intends to appeal the ruling barring her from hosting women-only events, provided she is able to raise the legal funds required to proceed.

By Genevieve Gluck Genevieve is the Co-Founder of Reduxx, and the outlet's Chief Investigative Journalist with a focused interest in pornography, sexual predators, and fetish subcultures. She is the creator of the podcast Women's Voices, which features news commentary and interviews regarding women's rights.

[nationallawreview]

EEOC Unveils Final Rule Implementing Pregnant Workers Fairness Act PWFA

Go-To Guide: Effective June 18, employers covered by the Pregnancy Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) are required to offer reasonable workplace accommodations to workers who are pregnant or have a condition related to pregnancy or childbirth. PWFA applies to covered entities, which include public and private employers with 15 or more employees, unions, employment agencies, and the federal…

[si-cucumber]

I love ableist fuckwads 😀 Just the highlight of my week. The perfect way to start the weekend

[gwydionmisha]

SCOTUS Lets Trans Woman's Discrimination Suit in Virginia Go Forward

[penisincorporated]

My friend who works in a deli got fired for taking bathroom breaks every 15 mins during a severe IBS and endometriosis episode. Her boss was a male and thought she was lying. It happened to her three times in three months. Welcome to work in 2023. This occurrence is brought to you by Wal*Mart 🔆

On god I wish she would've just started fucking blasting at the deli. Pants on and all.

[archaalen]

AP News: Supreme Court rules for deaf student in education case

[alisainez]

Short Read: #DisabilityLawsAndHumanRightsWhat are the five differences of eustress and distress?

Distress can cause anxiety, while eustress makes you feel excited and helps your confidence. Eustress fuels you to be more productive and take action, while stress can make you feel overwhelmed and almost paralyzing. Eustress improves your performance and quality of work, whereas distress decreases it. Aug 19, 2022 ADA Symbols https://youtu.be/_mYVtKnbLNk #DrStenEkberg There is a condition of…

[lifewithchronicpain]

Physicians are using excuses to intentionally dissuade people with disabilities from their practices, researchers say in a new study exposing just how pervasive discrimination against this population is in health care.

In focus groups, doctors described making strategic choices to turn away individuals with disabilities. They reported telling patients with disabilities that they would require specialized care and that “I am not the doctor for you.” In other cases, physicians said they simply indicate that “I am not taking new patients” or “I do not take your insurance.”

The findings come from a study published this month in the journal Health Affairs. It is based on focus groups conducted in late 2018 by researchers at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, the University of Massachusetts and Harvard Medical School with 22 primary care and specialist doctors who were selected from a national database.

Many of the participants described accommodating people with disabilities as burdensome and some used outdated language like “mentally retarded.” Doctors frequently indicated that individuals with disabilities account for a small number of patients, making it hard to justify having accessible equipment. They also had little knowledge of their obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, with one suggesting that the law works “against physicians.”

The latest study builds on findings published earlier this year from a survey of 714 doctors that was done by some of the same researchers. Just 56% of physicians who participated in the survey said they welcome people with disabilities at their practices and only 41% indicated that they could provide such patients with a similar quality of care to others. Meanwhile, more than a third of doctors queried said they had little or no knowledge of their legal obligations under the ADA.

“Taken together, the focus groups and survey responses provide a substantive and deeply concerning picture of physicians’ attitudes and behaviors relating to care for people with disabilities,” the study authors note.

The findings suggest that bias continues to greatly influence health care more than 30 years after passage of the ADA, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities, including in medical services.

Tara Lagu, a professor of hospital medicine and medical social sciences at Northwestern University and an author of the study, described the doctors’ attitudes toward the ADA in particular as “upsetting and disappointing.”

“Our body of work suggests that physician bias and discriminatory attitudes may contribute to the health disparities that people with disabilities experience,” Lagu said. “We need to address the attitudes and behavior that perpetuate the unequal access experienced by our most vulnerable patients.”