California Supreme Court rules in favor of same-sex marriage

MAJOR VICTORY: California's Supreme Court has ruled the ban on same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional!

This is huge. California is arguably the most influential high state court in America. Hopefully now, other states will follow California and Massachusetts's examples.

But of course, people who want to keep gays and lesbians as second-class citizens are taking steps to oppose the decision. They have already gotten enough signatures to put an initiative on the November ballot that would overrule the decision.

Get involved to fight against opponents of equality. We need to hold onto this historic decision. Visit the ACLU's GLBT project: Get Busy Get Equal.

In the words of the ACLU GLBT director Matt Cole: "how sweet it is."

Students protest Schlafly

Just an update on the recent incident involving Washington University giving Phyllis Schlafly, avid opponent of feminism and the equal rights amendment, an honorary doctorate.

Many students are outraged by this, and rightfully so. Schlafly has done and said some outrageous things regarding where she feels a woman's place in society "should" be. I can't imagine what Washington University was thinking when they chose to honor this woman.

Students have made a website, organized protests, and are planning to silently protest Schlafly's ceremony by standing up and putting their backs to her. Schlafly's response to this uproar? Well, she claims that "students today have too much time on their hands," and she has also stated in interviews that she thinks these protests shows how "mischievous" the feminist movement is. She also doesn't think it is justified for students to disagree with her based on her opposition of the ERA in the 70s, because "they weren't alive back then." Right. Because only those who were alive in the 70s will be affected by the ERA. She also accused Women's Studies classes of fueling these protests.

Washington University's response? Well, they defend their position by saying that with such a diverse student body that holds varying viewpoints, it would be impossible to honor someone that everyone would agree with.

They just don't seem to get the difference between students disagreeing with someone, and students feeling degraded by someone. Schlafly preaches making women into second-class citizens. How can they honor someone who has spent her life trying to keep women in the kitchen?

Adopting moms not "real" moms

This story makes me wonder if TV executives actually think before they act.

Recently, Teleflora, NBC, and several other companies ran an America's Favorite Mom special in honor of Mother's Day. The contestants were grouped into different categories - single moms, working moms, military moms. One of the categories was titled "non-moms" and consisted of grandmothers, stepmoms, and adoptive mothers. "Non-moms"? Wow, happy Mother's Day. I think we can all agree that these women are just as much mothers as those who have blood-related children.

After backlash, Teleflora immediately changed the title to "Adopting Moms." Their response:

"After closer examination, we can see how this may have been offensive to moms who have adopted children — moms who are indeed real moms to their children in every sense of the word. In fact, many of us at Teleflora are ‘adopting’ parents ourselves, including our president and owner."

I just wonder how they could possibly have let that slip by. Very insensitive move, if you ask me.

Full article here.

Obama t-shirt sparks protests

In Georgia, people are protesting the selling of a t-shirt that they have deemed racist.





I'm curious to find out what some of you think of this. Racist? Harmless?

You don't know Dick

Jon Stewart's hilarious commentary on the Today Show entering the unknown realm of Dick Cheney's home.

Senator Schumer's response to my e-mail about affordable birth control

Dear Ms. Rubinson:

Thank you for your letter supporting the Prevention Through Affordable Access Act. I agree that it is very important for women to have access to affordable contraceptives and I am working hard to see that this bill is enacted into law.

I believe that this legislation is necessary because the Bush Administration has issued new regulations that reduce access to affordable contraceptives. Soon after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule in 2007 that would exclude non-profits, safety net providers and college health centers from receiving contraceptives at a nominal cost, I wrote to the Administrator of CMS expressing my grave concerns that the rule would have a devastating impact on the facilities and the women that they serve. I urged this Administrator to revise this rule to follow the intent of Congress and include safety net providers, but CMS did not do so. Because CMS refused to fix this problem through their rule-making process, I joined my colleagues in introducing the Prevention through Affordable Access Act, S. 2347, which is legislation that would restore safety-net and university clinics’ ability to access low-cost contraceptives. This bill is currently pending in the Senate Finance Committee, of which I am a member, and I am committed to finding a way to pass this legislation as quickly as possible.

Thank you for contacting me about this important issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me again if I can ever be of assistance to you on this or any other matter.



Sincerely,

Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator

I vote we don't reward the anti-feminists

Guess who's receiving an honorary doctorate from Washington University!

Phyllis Schlafly.

Avid opponent of feminism. Actively fought against the Equal Rights Amendment. Advocated banning women from "male" occupations like construction and firefighting. Believes a husband owns his wife's vagina and thus married women cannot be raped by their husbands. Called sex education "in-home sales parties for abortions."

Basically, all-around crazy.

I wonder how in the world a university can honor a woman who wants to put an end to everything that has allowed women to receive educations in the first place!

The campus is supposedly in an uproar. For those of us who aren't in St. Louis, we can make our voices heard here.

Full article about Schlafly and anti-feminism in the Chicago Tribune.

Oh, Fox News...

Slightly older video, but worth seeing nonetheless.






(Special thanks to Nikki!)

New programs for imprisoned mothers

This is wonderful. New nursery programs in prisons are allowing imprisoned mothers more time to bond with their newborn babies. An article on Yahoo says that New York, Washington, Ohio, California, Nebraska, and soon West Virginia are all states that are a part of the growing trend of launching prison nurseries. The Indiana Women's Prison now allows new mothers to keep their babies with them up until eighteen months.

Studies show that children benefit from having extended contact with their mothers. Children who are separated from their imprisoned parents are more likely to have emotional problems, do poorly in school, and/or have trouble with the law.

In the end, it's better for both the child, and the mother.

Happy Mother's Day, by the way :) If you can, give big hugs to your mother, grandmother, aunt, etc.

Jenna Bush wedding souvenirs

Ick.

Gutfeld goes after GLAAD

I've said it before and I'll say it a million more times: I HATE FOX NEWS' GREG GUTFELD!

He is a fucking ignorant fool. Watch him attack the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation for contacting him regarding his ill-informed and malicious coverage of Thomas Beatie, the transgendered man who is pregnant. Gutfeld insists that Beatie is a woman, and goes even farther in this video by perpetuating even more ridiculous and outlandish statements regarding GLAAD, claiming they are "humorless creeps" and they believe that only gay & lesbian people matter.

FUCK YOU, GREG GUTFELD.





Send angry e-mails to redeye@foxnews.com. I already sent one.

Happy Mother's Day... from a man who wants to take all rights away from women

Uh oh. McCain's playing the motherly love card in his new advertisement.





Can I just say that the McCain family must have some sort of genes within them that allow them to age well? I've seen many jaw drops when I tell people that John McCain is 72, and I could NOT believe that the woman in this commercial is 96.

Lesbian couple punished for sit-in

A Denver jury recently found a lesbian couple guilty of trespassing due to a brief sit-in they held in response to Denver refusing to issue them a marriage license. Sheila Schroeder and Kate Burns strongly believed that Colorado's ban on same-sex marriage violates their right to equal protection, and thus engaged in a peaceful protest. They were both ordered to pay fines and perform 28 hours of community service.

Wow, what kind of a fucked up country are we living in when these women are punished for fighting against one of the greatest injustices of our time? It so unbelievably frustrating. I just wish that people would hurry up and realize that there is only so long that they can ignore and shun same-sex couples. Same-sex marriage will be legalized. Stop fighting it.

But major props to these wonderful women for doing this. After all, it did take many sit-ins, boycotts, and protests to achieve progress during the civil rights movement.

Nasty political ads

The Daily Show did a segment about political attack ads, and it got me thinking about some of the worst political ads I have ever seen. These four are definitely at the top of my list. Whether it's through (not so) subtle homophobia, racial profiling, or invoking unnecessary fear into the American public, these ads are all doing something horribly, horribly wrong.








Aaaand the worst of all:

Anti-choicers want to make women into criminals

The lovely ladies over at Feministing already posted about this, but I wanted to echo it because I feel it's really important. There's a great pro-choice campaign called "How Much Time Should She Do?" It basically questions anti-choicers and their desires to make abortion illegal, exposing the dangerous repercussions that would have. This campaign is more crucial than ever because we have a very anti-choice presidential candidate (fuck you, McCain). Visit the campaign's website here and learn about ways to get involved.

Zainab Salbi helps thousands of women

I may have mentioned before that I'm currently sponsoring a woman in the Democratic Republic of Congo through the wonderful organization Women for Women International. If you have the means, I highly recommend donating or sponsoring a woman in a war-devastated country. In these countries, the toughest tasks of rebuilding life fall on the shoulders of the women. Additionally, they must worry about becoming victims of violence or rape. They need help.

Time magazine wrote an article about the founder of Women for Women, Zainab Salbi. She's an amazing lady. She was born in Iraq and forced to move to the U.S. for marriage when she was 20. Her husband was abusive, and thus she courageously left him to start a life alone in a foreign country.

In 1993, Salbi read about women in Bosnia's so-called rape camps--brutal military brothels--and was appalled by the slow response of the international community. "In wars, trust is lost," she says. "Betrayal leads to silence. Rape victims do not talk. Women disappear just when their families and their societies need them most--because you can't rebuild a strong economy without strong women." Raising funds through a church in the Washington area, Salbi founded Women for Women International later that year. The group has now served 153,000 women in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo and Sudan.

Inspiring, isn't it? :)

Mildred Loving: amazing woman

I have to pay homage to the wonderful Mildred Loving, who unfortunately passed away today at the age of 68. For those of you who don't know, Loving was a pioneer advocate for interracial marriage. In 1967, she challenged Virginia's ban on interracial marriage with the Supreme Court case Loving vs. Virginia. The Court ruled to abolish all laws that banned interracial marriage. It was an amazing achievement and I want us to all remember it.

The Democratic Primary in 7 Minutes

One of my professors showed this to our class and I thought it was amazing, so enjoy!

We want our female leads back!

Where are all the women in Hollywood? Perhaps filling supporting roles to all the male actors who are starring in all the movies. Manohla Dargis wrote an article today in The New York Times, examining the "post-female American cinema." She mentions that word on the street was that after The Invasion (with Nicole Kidman) and The Brave One (with Jodie Foster) proved to be unpopular, the president of production for Warner Brothers vowed to no longer make movies with female leads.

As if movies with male leads have never tanked. Fred Claus, anyone?

This summer especially, female-oriented movies are scarce. Dargis asks: where are all the bad ass and beautiful women that we love to see grace our screen?

Among the pleasures of the movies are the new worlds they open up, but there are pleasures in the familiar too, like seeing other women bigger, badder and more beautiful than life. And whether it’s Sigourney Weaver in 'Alien,' Rosario Dawson in 'Death Proof' or Meryl Streep in whatever, I am there. The black filmmaker Tyler Perry has built his success partly on the truth that when audiences look up at the screen what they want to see are faces much like their own. In 2008, when a white woman and a black man are running for president and attracting unprecedented numbers of voters partly because they are giving a face to the wildly under-represented, you might think that Hollywood would get a clue.

I agree. Because seriously, you cannot honestly tell me that you didn't thoroughly enjoy watching the ladies of Death Proof beat the shit out of Kurt Russell. Bring it back, please.

Sexual harassment in schools

There's short blog entry on the New York Times website about the increasing problem of sexual harassment in schools. Whether it's being a victim of crude language, kids being teased for their sexual orientation, or boys grabbing at girls' breasts in the hallway, it's a major issue that can lead to poor academic performance and emotional scarring. Recent studies show that more than a third of middle and high school students may be victims of sexual harassment.

The problem is that principals and teachers just aren't doing enough to stop it. Too often, sexual harassment is dismissed as "normal" teenage behavior, or is labelled as "bullying," when it's so different from "bullying." From the blog entry:

Overall, 35 percent of kids reported they had been victims of some form of sexual harassment. Boys and girls reported equal levels of harassment, but girls and sexual minorities were far more upset by it, suffering from lower self-esteem, poorer mental and physical health, and more trauma symptoms.

When I was in sixth grade, I was constantly harassed by a few pathetic and worthless boys. They felt the need to harass me because I had developed breasts sooner than most of the other girls. My self-esteem plummeted, and I started wearing baggy sweatshirts to school all the time... no matter how hot it was outside. They made disgusting comments about my body all year and it damaged me severely. Now, eight years later, I'm proud of my body, but I'm still scarred by their harassment.

I doubt they even knew what "sexual harassment" meant. I think schools need to implement educational programs about sexual harassment from elementary school to high school. They need to cover all grounds - boys calling other boys "faggots" in gym class, GLBT teens being teased for their sexuality, girls being the object of crude comments or gropes, etc etc. More needs to be done to stop it.

Buffet of the Week

Here's some interesting current events from all around the world.

• In South Africa, police rescued eight women who were lured into forced prostitution.

• The Times printed an article about Fox News attempting to be more balanced by conducting interviews with both Clinton and Obama. We'll see how long their "balance" lasts. Click here to see an interview on Fox News with Obama, and here to see one with Clinton.

• Every minute, somewhere in the world a woman dies during pregnancy or in childbirth.

• TV personality Sam Newman went on a sexist rant recently, claiming that women serve "very little purpose" in AFL boardrooms and that women have done nothing for football. Umm... maybe because no one will let us.

• Several women have come out and accused Bloomberg L.P., a company founded by Mayor Mike Bloomberg, of discrimination against pregnant employees.

• AlterNet posted a video, showing a voter asking McCain if he really called his wife a cunt. Watch McCain get all flustered. It's fun. (For those of you who don't know, a few reporters came out and said they overheard McCain call his wife the C-word to her face a couple years ago).

• Pro-choicers and anti-choicers are grappling with one another in Tennessee.

• A new study shows that not all doctors are talking to their patients about breast reconstruction after a mastectomy. The results of the study show that doctors are more likely to tell educated white women about breast reconstruction, and less likely to tell less educated Hispanic women.

• Interesting article over at AlterNet that explores bisexuality.

If I missed anything significant, please comment!

Obama not "manly" enough... Hillary too "manly"?

I found this interesting video on Fox News about the factor of masculinity in the Democratic race.




I'm not sure about their accusations that Clinton is attempting to make Obama look "less manly." Personally, I disagreed with her "3AM and the phone is ringing" ad because I found it to be taking advantage of the fear in the American people, but I genuinely think that the message she was trying to portay in that ad is that she's the best person for the job... not that Obama isn't "manly" enough.

I'd also like to point out that Bob Beckel's supporting evidence for Obama's "lack" of masculinity is the fact that Obama isn't a good bowler. Right. Only REAL men are good at bowling.

On the other hand, they did make a good point in saying that Clinton took a shot and drank some beers with voters to show that she is "one of the guys." I do think that's what she was trying to do. The fact is that she's a woman in a man's world, and thus she has to put on a "tough" and "tomboyish" image to survive. I mean, look at what happened when she shed ONE tear on national television - she got attacked. If she has any fighting chance, she does have to put on a tough exterior. It's sad, but it's reality... and she very well knows that.

"Voodoo man" forces sex on underage girls

This is horrifying.

The gist: Hector Aviles, a 51-year-old man who claims to practice Voodoo, admitted to forcing underage girls to have sex with him by telling them that terrible things would happen to them and their families if they didn't. He manipulated three girls, aged 14 and 16, into thinking that he could help them with problems if they engaged in a "sexual ritual" with him, but he could curse them if they backed out. Aviles plead guilty to second and third degree rape and could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

Ugh.

I do... now give me healthcare!

A new study shows that 7% of Americans say they or someone in their household decided to get married solely to receive healthcare benefits from their spouse.

To me, this means two things:

1. Our health care system is atrocious.

2. Marriage has really lost all meaning to me when two men or two women who love each other can't get married, but a man and a woman who have no love for one another and want to marry solely for healthcare benefits, are legally allowed.

Yep, this country's in great shape.

Jon Stewart on abstinence-only education

Feministing posted this fantastic clip from The Daily Show. I just had to put it in here.