W.E.B. Du Bois’ Essay “Of the Ruling of Men” in “Darkwater”
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Category Archives: human rights
Transgender Woman Says TSA Detained, Humiliated Her Over Body ‘Anomaly’
“A transgender woman said she was detained and harassed at an Orlando, Fla., airport security checkpoint Monday by Transportation Safety Administration agents after a body scanner detected an ‘anomaly’ on her.
“Shadi Petosky, who runs a Los Angeles interactive entertainment studio, said she was trying to fly out of Orlando International Airport but was stopped after entering the scanner.
“In her tweets about the situation, Petosky said that TSA agents calibrated the scanner for a woman, and the machine flagged an anomaly — ‘my penis.’
“She said she ‘disclosed [her] reality immediately,’ but the situation quickly escalated: Over the course of 40 minutes, Petosky said, officials patted her down twice, ‘fully disassembled’ her luggage and put her in an empty room with an officer holding the door.
“At one point, she said, an agent told her to ‘get back in the machine as a man or it was going to be a problem.’
“The ordeal caused her to miss her flight, she said….”
More at LA Times
Anti-Gay Discrimination Is Sex Discrimination, Says the EEOC
“The Supreme Court may not think bans on gay marriage are sex discrimination, but the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission thinks anti-gay discrimination in the workplace is.”
More at Washington Post
Military to Allow Transgender Members to Serve Openly
“The Pentagon announced Monday that it will allow transgender members of the military to serve openly starting next year, marking an end to a long-standing policy that barred them from the armed forces.”
More at Washington Post
Criminalization of Queer People Worldwide
While celebrating the gains of queer people, such as the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriages, I feel it’s important to remember that you can still be arrested for your sexual orientation in 75 countries and punished by death in 10 countries around the world.
5 Powerful Images from Istanbul
“Those of queer and Muslim have been enjoying the pride parade in Istanbul for over a decade, using it as an example of what is possible in a Muslim country. But this month’s pride left many of us angry. Vasip Şahin, the Governor of Istanbul, who belongs to a political party that lost in this year’s elections, and his government have banned the pride last minute, using the holy month of Ramadan as a pretext.”
Images no longer available…
More at Islam and Homosexuality
Internet Entrapment of Queer People in Egypt
“…police in Egypt are definitely using phone apps to entrap people they suspect of being gay or transgender.”
This blog post lists precautions LGBT people in Egypt can take to try to protect themselves, but the situation appears to be very grim.
More at A Paper Bird
Art Display Pulled From Maryland School After Complaints
“Honors students at Oxon Hill High School were given an assignment to create a display that shows what social justice means to them. The exhibit was in the school’s lobby for weeks. It was taken down on Monday.
The display featured a white police officer reading an obituary section. Next to that was a figure of a black man in a blood-stained shirt with his hands up.”
More at Fox 5
The Assault on Kiev Pride
Thanks to Masha Gessen for this excellent first-person account of the outrageous brutality faced by queer folks attempting a March for Equality on June 6 in Kiev, Ukraine.
More at The New Yorker
Edward Snowden: The World Says No to Surveillance
“TWO years ago today, three journalists and I worked nervously in a Hong Kong hotel room, waiting to see how the world would react to the revelation that the National Security Agency had been making records of nearly every phone call in the United States….”
More at NY Times