A 33-year-old transgender Honduran woman who was part of the so-called refugee caravan has died after being detained by immigration authorities.
Immigration officials identified the woman as Jeffry Hernandez, but LGBTQ immigrant rights advocates with the Transgender Law Center said she was an asylum seeker named Roxana Hernández.
A representative with the group Pueblo Sin Fronteras, which organized the caravan, confirmed Hernández was a member of the caravan.
Category: Social Equality
Wall Street Journal Worries About ‘Illicit’ Sex Workers Hurting Multi-Million-Dollar Dating Sites
As Heidi Vogt and John D. McKinnon write, FOSTA has led to the shuttering of sites used by sex workers—and “some worry that could drive the pay-for-sex market to legitimate dating platforms.” They continue to explain, paraphrasing a legal expert, that “it could easily create liability for legitimate services if sex workers simply use their platforms.” The article is filled with moralizing language that poses “legitimate dating platforms” and “legitimate services” opposite “prostitutes.” It’s Match.com versus “bad behavior.” OKCupid versus “illicit behavior.” Tinder versus “those peddling sex.” Peddling sex! I get it, it can be hard to find synonyms for sex work—a phrase the Wall Street Journal article does not once use—but the word choices here are revealing, my dudes. (Note that the Wall Street Journal editorial board came out strong against FOSTA—but their argument had nothing to do with sex workers’ rights.)
via Wall Street Journal Worries About ‘Illicit’ Sex Workers Hurting Multi-Million-Dollar Dating Sites
Illinois Waited 46 Years to Ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, but What’s Four Decades Between Friends
The Illinois House voted on Wednesday to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, following approval last month in the state Senate. The state is now the 37th to do so, following Nevada in 2017. What this means is that we’re now one state away from maybe enshrining women’s equal rights in the United States Constitution, a mere….. 231 years after the document was first ratified. Hey alright, ladies!
The ERA—which declares, rather simply, that the “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex”—was originally proposed in 1921, approved by the House of Representatives in 1971, and then by the Senate in 1972. Congress then sent it to the states for ratification, and set a deadline for a vote: June 30, 1982, which was 36 years ago. This means that, should another state ratify it, Congress would need to remove the deadline in order for it to become the 28th amendment. Given that Congress is full of misogynists, I can see that being a real fight!
Black People Created Memorial Day—Literally
Think barbecues, lemonade. A precious three-day weekend full of sun, sales and slacking off. But this is The Root, and you know there’s another part of this story.
Little-known fact: African Americans created Memorial Day.
Rewind to the end of the Civil War. In 1865, Charleston, S.C., was in ruins, and many Union soldiers were being held prisoner in a converted racecourse. At least 257 of the captives died because of the horrific conditions, and their bodies were discarded in a mass grave.
Multiple Women Say They Were Sexually Abused By Their Legendary Equestrian Coach
The Chronicle report, by Mollie Bailey, quoted five women who say Williams abused them in ways ranging from talking about his sex life to forcibly kissing them to trying to force one’s face onto his penis. The Times talked to 38 “former students, trainers, grooms, equestrian officials and members of the Flintridge Riding Club,” where Williams taught.
via Multiple Women Say They Were Sexually Abused By Their Legendary Equestrian Coach
Aberdeen sanitary product pilot to start across Scotland – BBC News
A project to provide free sanitary products to women from low income households in Aberdeen is to be rolled out across the country.
The Scottish government scheme – designed to tackle “period poverty” – was launched in July last year.
The six-month pilot was continued in March, and has distributed free products to more than 1,000 women.
Equalities Secretary Angela Constance has announced the project will be extended across Scotland.
via Aberdeen sanitary product pilot to start across Scotland – BBC News
The Government Is ‘Not Legally Responsible’ For Losing Nearly 1,500 Refugee Children
As for what happens to those children, migrant rights expert Michelle Brané told Mother Jones on Friday that frankly “we don’t know,” as the ORR “does very little to no follow-up.” In 2014, the Washington Post got a preview of what can happen to those children, as in the case of a group of minors who were given over to traffickers posing as family friends and ended up enslaved in an Ohio egg farm, where they lived in roach-infested trailers and spent their days debeaking chickens and cleaning the pens.
via The Government Is ‘Not Legally Responsible’ For Losing Nearly 1,500 Refugee Children
What some women and girls have to put in their underwear each month – BBC News
We asked photographic artist Maisie Cousins to interpret the lengths that some people in the UK have to go to because of their periods.
Poverty, homelessness or stigma forces some women and girls to come up with makeshift sanitary products.
Her photographs here are in contrast to the sanitised images of periods often seen in advertising and media.
Here are some of the items that a 2018 survey by charity Plan International found that women and girls use instead of traditional sanitary products.
via What some women and girls have to put in their underwear each month – BBC News
Federal officials lost – yes, lost – 1,475 migrant children
The Trump administration recently announced a new, get-tough policy that will separate parents from their children if the family is caught crossing the border illegally.
It was a big news story. So big it overshadowed the fact that the federal government has lost – yes, lost – 1,475 migrant children in its custody.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told Congress that within 48 hours of being taken into custody the children are transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services, which finds places for them to stay.
“They will be separated from their parent,” said Democratic Sen Kamala Harris.
via Federal officials lost – yes, lost – 1,475 migrant children
I’m Tired of Enduring the Abuse and Pain That Makes Me a ‘Strong Black Woman’
It started because I couldn’t hear my co-workers. We were returning from a trip where we had seen an exhibit that discussed the explicit manifestation of racial bigotry and how it was perpetrated by those meant to govern and protect. We used the words that we are comfortable using in the safety of our offices, words that I had temporarily forgotten are triggers for the outside world.
“White privilege” is not a term up for debate among my co-workers. “Systemic inequity” is the basis of our discussions. The analysis that drives our work is an understanding that racism is the cause for negative life outcomes for folks who look like me.
With this conversation going on, I asked the driver to please lower the volume on the radio. He responded rudely. He was not going to do so. I let it go. I was in the first row of four in a van and nearest the driver.
via I’m Tired of Enduring the Abuse and Pain That Makes Me a ‘Strong Black Woman’