Category: Civil Equality

Judge Overturns Dress Code Requiring Girls to Wear Skirts

~ mcequality

First #LeggingsGate, now this: a judge in North Carolina has ruled against a charter school’s sexist dress code requiring girls to wear skirts, deeming it unconstitutional.The New York Times reports that the ruling was part of a multi-year effort spearheaded by three girls attending Charter Day School in Leland, North Carolina. The students, ages 5, 10, and 14, launched a petition calling for an end to the school’s uniform policy prohibiting girls from wearing pants, arguing (correctly) that it was unfair for their movement to be restricted when the boys were free to move as they pleased.

via Judge Overturns Dress Code Requiring Girls to Wear Skirts

Mum’s plea for girls to ditch leggings sparks protests – BBC News

~ mcequality

A letter written by a mother concerned by the number of women wearing leggings on a university campus in Indiana has sparked backlash and protests.
“I’m just a Catholic mother of four sons with a problem that only girls can solve: leggings,” Maryann White wrote in a letter published in the student newspaper.
Ms White explained that the sight of leggings “obtruded painfully” on her during a visit with her four sons, and made it “difficult for young guys to ignore” women’s bodies.
“Think of the mothers of sons the next time you go shopping and consider choosing jeans instead,” she suggested to the female students of the University of Notre Dame.

via Mum’s plea for girls to ditch leggings sparks protests – BBC News

Despite Being Unable to Spell Menstrual, Scott Lloyd’s ORR Tracked Teens’ Periods on a Spreadsheet 

~ mcequality

Last spring, a judge ruled that incompetent scumbag Scott Lloyd and his shit show Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) could no longer prevent underage refugees from legally seeking abortions. However, new documents suggest after the ruling, he continued to track pregnancies in order to do just that.

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow revealed documents unearthed by American Bridge, a liberal super PAC, that seem to indicate Lloyd and the ORR were tracking the periods and pregnancies of refugees ages 12-17 as recently as June 2018. The 28-page document was in spreadsheet format, with columns recording deeply personal information such as whether the pregnancy was a result of consensual sex, “gestational age,” and last menstrual cycle (it’s spelled “mentsral” in the spreadsheet).

via Despite Being Unable to Spell Menstrual, Scott Lloyd’s ORR Tracked Teens’ Periods on a Spreadsheet 

It’s High Time Congress Passed the Equality Act | American Civil Liberties Union

~ mcequality

On Wednesday, the Equality Act — legislation that would provide LGBTQ people with explicit and comprehensive nondiscrimination protections — was introduced in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives with the support of nearly 300 members of Congress. If passed, it would transform the civil rights landscape in the United States.

The harsh reality — despite increasing support among the public and representation in popular culture — is that discrimination remains a persistent problem for LGBTQ people across the country. From discrimination and harassment of LGBTQ youth in our nation’s schools to older same-sex couples who are denied housing in retirement communities because of their sexual orientation, this is something that LGBTQ people confront throughout our lives and in every corner of the country.

via It’s High Time Congress Passed the Equality Act | American Civil Liberties Union

What It’s Like to Date a Woman With a Chronic Illness – MEL Magazine

~ mcequality

Zack, a 39-year-old writer and college professor in Raleigh, North Carolina, was happy to oblige. In fact, he felt the same way about his own chronic condition, a social anxiety disorder related to autism, though the metaphor he preferred was “social battery” — i.e., he could only spend so much time around others before needing to recharge by himself.
Still, Cara’s illness required Zack to adjust what he calls his “bachelor issues.” For example, when he was living alone, he never noticed toothpaste or hair piling up in the sink. But since Cara was prone to infection, such dude-dom debris wasn’t just disgusting to her, it was potentially life-threatening. Also, while Cara could walk short distances with a cane, she was predominantly confined to a wheelchair. Thus, an errant laundry basket in the hall between the kitchen and bathroom could add precious minutes to Cara’s trek to the toilet. And if she did successfully make it, a whole new set of problems arose if Zack had taken a shower earlier and left water on the floor.

via What It’s Like to Date a Woman With a Chronic Illness – MEL Magazine

Testing Rape Kit Backlog Leads to Over 1,000 Arrests Nationwide

~ mcequality

After New York City cleared its own rape kit backlog, the Justice Department and Manhattan District Attorney’s office in 2015 awarded nearly $80 million in grants to help address the national backlog on rape kits. The result of that effort, the Associated Press reports, is more than 1,000 arrests and hundreds of convictions according to officials.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office poured $38 million into a grant that tested a backlog of 55,252 rape kits and has led to 186 arrests and 64 convictions across the country. The Justice Department, meanwhile, funded testing through a parallel initiative for an additional 45,000 rape kits that resulted in nearly 900 prosecutions and 500 convictions and plea bargains nationwide.

via Testing Rape Kit Backlog Leads to Over 1,000 Arrests Nationwide

How to Stay Safe as a Female Solo Traveler

~ mcequality

raveling on your own is an incredibly rewarding experience, but it has its dangers. The number of women traveling alone has been on the rise in recent years, and the tactics for staying safe while on the road have gotten increasingly sophisticated—and important.

In a recent article, the New York Times interviewed female travelers, some of whom have survived assaults or violence while abroad. The piece touches on how the rise of women taking solo trips is being connected to the rise of violence against women. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, executive director of non0profit UN Women, told the Times that most countries don’t accurately track data regarding threats to women travelers—they don’t want to discourage tourism, for one thing. But it’s also not necessarily about a specific country having a problem:

“The root cause of this kind of violence against women in communities and in public and private spaces has a lot of do with the underlying gender stereotypes, social norms, entitlement and patriarchy,” Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka said.
This may all sound very grim; yet, most of the women interviewed say that the potential for violence, or actual dangerous encounters, isn’t enough to stop them from exploring. In emails with Lifehacker, Dianelle Rivers-Mitchell, the founder and creator of Black Girls Travel Too, and Tracey Nesbitt, editor of Solo Traveler and moderator of the Facebook page Solo Traveler Society, both shared their safety tips that help them keep exploring.

via How to Stay Safe as a Female Solo Traveler

‘Outrageous’ and ‘disgusting’: segregated playground sparks fury | Cities | The Guardian

~ mcequality

The government has joined widespread condemnation of developers who blocked children living in social housing from using the playground on a London development.

The Conservative housing minister, James Brokenshire, called the situation on the Baylis Old School site in Lambeth “outrageous”. He said the developers, Henley Homes, and the local council should immediately change the site.

via ‘Outrageous’ and ‘disgusting’: segregated playground sparks fury | Cities | The Guardian

Thousands of ICE Employees Have Access to Massive, Nationwide License Plate-Tracking System

~ mcequality

Records obtained by the ACLU of Northern California in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit show that local city governments are piping automated license plate reader (ALPR) data to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, the organization wrote on Wednesday.

The ACLU-NC wrote the records show that more than 9,000 ICE officers have been granted access to an ALPR database run by a private company, Vigilant Systems. More than 80 law enforcement organizations in more than a dozen states have also begun sharing license plate data with ICE, and in some cases “local police [have handed] driver information over to ICE informally, violating local law and ICE policies,” the ACLU-NC wrote.

via Thousands of ICE Employees Have Access to Massive, Nationwide License Plate-Tracking System