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| Bi-Weekly Sexual Freedom Newsletter Wednesday, September 29, 2021 |
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Top Stories This Week 1. Investing in LGBTQI+ rights; 2. Abortion as a disability issue; 3. Porn stars becoming cam stars; 4. Incarcerated queer and trans folks; 5. Challenging Roe v. Wade; 6. Forced sterilization; and 7. The LGBTQ+ housing crisis. |
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| Investing in LGBTQI+ Rights Woodhull Freedom Foundation is proud to have joined our allies in calling for President Biden’s FY23 Budget Request to include dedicated funding for global LGBTQI+ rights programs. We know that LGBTQI+ rights are fundamental to the fight for sexual freedom, and we know that increased investments in protecting and promoting such rights are much-needed. |
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SB 8 Is a Reminder That Abortion Is a Disability Issue (Bitch Media) Samantha Chavarria explains the effects SB 8 will have on various communities, including the disability community: “Proponents of pro-choice ideology often misuse valid concerns from the disability community as anti-abortion rhetoric—for instance, weaponizing the claim that selective abortion bans lead to the elimination of disabled people. Anti-abortion advocates also argue that access to prenatal testing and genetic counseling lead to the “death” of ‘disabled babies.’ This stance isn’t just untrue, it isn’t even really meant to help disabled people. Co-opting the disabled community’s valid fears about eugenics is just another way for abortion foes to limit information and bodily autonomy. It’s clear that this anti-abortion talking point doesn’t come from a place of sincere care for the well-being of actual disabled people: If it did, it would acknowledge that it’s actually disabled adults—not hypothetical disabled fetuses—who bear the brunt of anti-abortion legislation.” Read more. |
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Porn stars are trying to become cam stars. It’s not as easy as it looks (Input) Jessica Klein profiles various porn stars who are trying to become cam stars, including Spencer Bradley: “With her upcoming shoots canceled, Bradley plans to get back into camming—which she started doing sporadically in 2019—and other solo revenue streams, such as recording and selling clips. While it might sound like a natural transition, performing in professionally produced porn requires a different skill set than doing solo online work. ‘I’m so incompetent when it comes to online stuff,’ Bradley sighs. ‘There’s just so much to it. I feel very confident in my performing abilities, and the way I interact with people. But I don’t know where my fans are coming from, where they’re finding me, how to even put myself in the best position to be looked up.’” Read more. |
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As Prison Staff Try to Erase Queer and Trans Folks, We Assert Our Right to Exist (Truthout) Jessica Phoenix Sylvia describes the experience of being trans and incarcerated: “As I sit wearing an oversized orange jumpsuit and silver bracelets around my wrists, I listen to the intensive management unit (IMU) supervisor at Monroe Corrections Complex say something I never expected to hear: ‘The Washington State Reformatory doesn’t want to take you. They say the transgenders are taking over.’ [...] It is April 11, 2018, and prison staff are trying to figure out where to send me. I have recently been kicked out of two different prisons, and I have a reputation for resistance. The prospect of being in a prison yard with trans solidarity is intriguing. These people are running out of places to send me, and I feel like they don’t have a choice.” Read more. |
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Supreme Court Announces Date for Case Directly Challenging Roe v. Wade (Common Dreams) Julia Conley highlights the Supreme Court’s announcement to hear a case that directly challenges Roe v. Wade: “Abortion rights advocates geared up for a major fight as the U.S. Supreme Court announced [September 20] it will soon hear arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case in Mississippi which poses a direct challenge to Roe vs. Wade. The high court confirmed it will consider the case December 1 after months of speculation regarding when it would take up the dispute over Mississippi's ban on most abortion care after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The question before the court, as the Center for Reproductive Rights explains, is ‘whether all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortion are unconstitutional.’” Read more. |
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Buck v. Bell: The Supreme Court Case That Fueled the Eugenics Movement (Teen Vogue) Bongo Thompson shares the history of Buck v. Bell: “There was nothing wrong with Carrie Buck. Nonetheless, several well-respected men had a tremendous interest in proving that there was. Harry Laughlin, director of the Eugenics Record Office, who had never met Carrie, swore that she was an immoral, lying prostitute. Aubrey Strode, a former Virginia legislator, who authored the Virginia Sterilization Act of 1924, argued in front of the Supreme Court that Carrie's reproductive capabilities needed to be taken away. Although it was of very little interest to anyone at the time, Carrie’s harrowing experience in the spotlight stemmed primarily from circumstances out of her control.” Read more. |
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The LGBTQ+ Housing Crisis (Woodhull’s Sex & Politics Blog) Tess Joseph writes about the LGBTQ+ housing crisis: “According to an August 2021 report from the Williams Institute, an LGBTQ+ public policy research center at the UCLA School of Law, just 25% of non-LGBTQ+ adults rent their homes, as compared to 41% of LGBTQ+ adults. Per the report, nearly half of LGBTQ+ renters who are behind on rent risk eviction within the next two months. Oliver Haug puts it clearly: this is a housing crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated already-existing housing insecurity issues in LGBTQ+ communities. And in response, LGBTQ+ communities have organized.” Read more. |
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