USC Students Sue School, Campus Gynecologist for Decades-Long Sexual Misconduct

~ mcequality

Last week, Jezebel reported on George Tyndall, the University of Southern California student health center’s primary gynecologist who was allowed to continue practicing at the school despite years of sexual misconduct allegations. Since the 1990s, Tyndall has been accused of making sexualized comments about patients’ bodies while giving exams, photographing their genitals, and racially targeting Chinese patients, among other crimes. On Monday, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Tyndall, USC, and its board of trustees by “a proposed class of hundreds, if not thousands, of women students,” according to attorneys from Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, a nationwide litigation law firm.

via USC Students Sue School, Campus Gynecologist for Decades-Long Sexual Misconduct

Rise in Pop-Up Brothels Inspires Ham-fisted Push Against Sex Work in the U.K.

~ mcequality

A new report has found that women are increasingly being sexually exploited in the United Kingdom in so-called “pop-up brothels.” The nonpartisan group of UK politicians behind the study is using the alarming findings to call for the criminalization of the purchase of sex and a crackdown on classified-style websites that host adult ads. These recommendations fly in the face of Amnesty International’s recent call for an end to the “Nordic model”—in which the purchase of sex is criminalized, but sex workers themselves are often punished as a result.

via Rise in Pop-Up Brothels Inspires Ham-fisted Push Against Sex Work in the U.K.

The Filmmaker Behind ‘The Tale’ Explains What We Don’t Understand About Sexual-Abuse Survivors

~ mcequality

In January at the Sundance Film Festival, Fox unveiled the result of that inner exploration. The Tale is a remarkable drama starring Laura Dern as Jennifer Fox, a successful documentarian who receives an anxious phone call from her mother (Ellen Burstyn), who discovers a short story her daughter wrote as a 13-year-old about having an affair with an older man, Bill (Jason Ritter). Jennifer hasn’t thought about the affair in years, but she’s compelled to reexamine that time in her life, having conversations with her younger self (Isabelle Nélisse), who we see in flashbacks as she enters into the relationship. In The Tale, Fox’s present and past selves are engaged in a debate about what this sexual assault meant and how it affected her for years to come.

via The Filmmaker Behind ‘The Tale’ Explains What We Don’t Understand About Sexual-Abuse Survivors

Federal Court Rules in Favor of Transgender Teen Gavin Grimm

~ mcequality

A U.S. District Court judge in Virginia has ruled that transgender teen Gavin Grimm has a valid claim to sex discrimination under both Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause, after his former school board implemented a policy to prevent him from using the boys’ restroom at his school.

Started in 2014, the policy said that bathrooms “shall be limited to the corresponding biological genders, and students with gender identity issues shall be provided an alternative appropriate private facility.” Because this is a cruel and isolating thing to do to a teenager who just realized that he’s transgender, Grimm—who graduated from high school in 2017—refrained from using the bathroom at school, and as a result developed a urinary tract infection. With the help of the ACLU, he sued the school board in 2015.

via Federal Court Rules in Favor of Transgender Teen Gavin Grimm

Why Is New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell Working With White Nationalists?

~ mcequality

Now the city has a new mayor, and the fate of the Robert E. Lee statue is again up for debate. When asked about the future of the removed Confederate monuments in April, a few weeks before her inauguration on May 7, Mayor LaToya Cantrell—the city’s first black female mayor—told the Gambit: “My plan is to work with those who care about [the statues] and come up with a plan that I could support. And they will pay for it.”

via Why Is New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell Working With White Nationalists?

Belarus slams UK embassy over rainbow flag on day against homophobia – BBC News

~ mcequality

Belarus has slammed the UK embassy in Minsk for flying a rainbow flag on the International Day Against Homophobia, calling LGBT relationships “fake”.
In a lengthy statement, the Interior Ministry said the UK was challenging the country’s “traditional values”.
“The LGBT community, and all this fight for ‘their rights’, and the very day of the community are just a fake!”
A spokeswoman for the embassy said it would not comment. Homosexuality is not illegal in Belarus but it is a taboo.

via Belarus slams UK embassy over rainbow flag on day against homophobia – BBC News

Danish minister Stojberg provokes Ramadan row – BBC News

~ mcequality

Denmark’s immigration minister has been widely rebuffed after she suggested Muslims should take time off work during Ramadan because of potential safety risks to the rest of society.
Inger Stojberg, who has a reputation for hardline immigration policies, said fasting throughout the working day raised challenges for modern society.
She cited potential risks for bus drivers and in hospitals.
Bus companies were among the first to say they had no problem with Ramadan.

via Danish minister Stojberg provokes Ramadan row – BBC News

Voter ID: 340 did not vote after failing to show documents – BBC News

~ mcequality

About 340 people in five areas of England were turned away from voting in council elections because of a pilot scheme requiring proof of identity.
At least 688 were initially stopped but later returned to the polling station with the correct documents.
The Electoral Reform Society said requiring ID risked denying people their “democratic right”.
The government said an “overwhelming majority” of voters had the right documents.

via Voter ID: 340 did not vote after failing to show documents – BBC News

10 Women Just Filed Sexual Harassment Complaints Against McDonald’s 

~ mcequality

he Fight for $15, which campaigns around pay increases for low-wage workers, and the TIMES UP Legal Defense Fund, which grew out of #MeToo, are joining forces on behalf of 10 women who say they’ve been subjected to indecent exposure, sexual comments by supervisors, and propositions for sex while working at McDonald’s restaurants. The women behind the harassment suits work at franchises across the country, and one of the complainants is just 15 years old. “McDonald’s advertises all over television saying it’s ‘America’s best first job,’ but my experience has been a nightmare,” said the teen, Breauna Morrow, in a press release emailed to Jezebel.

via 10 Women Just Filed Sexual Harassment Complaints Against McDonald’s