Blackburn & Blumenthal Introduce Terrible, Dangerous Bill To Make Sure Children Are Constantly Surveilled Online (Techdirt) 

Mike Masnick describes a new bill that will facilitate surveillance of children online: “Senator Richard Blumenthal is apparently a bottomless well of terrible internet regulation ideas. His latest is yet another ‘for the children’ bill that will put children in serious jeopardy. This time he's teamed up with the even worse Senator Marsha Blackburn to introduce the Kids Online Safety Act, which as the name suggests is full of a bunch of overbearing, dangerous nonsense that will not protect children at all, but will make them significantly less safe while giving clueless, authoritarian parents much more power to spy on their kids.” Read more.

De-gendering Care (ROAR ) 

The Care Collective asks us to center care in our advocacy: “From inadequate care for the elderly, to macho politicians ripping up gender equality laws, to the large-scale global failure to ban fossil fuels, we are surrounded by different forms of structural carelessness. All of these problems are political issues: but they are also issues of care. Care has never been a focal point of the radical left. But what might looking at the problems of the present through this perspective give us? Historically, care has been gendered and marginalized as women’s work. This gendered marginalization of care has been particularly pronounced for the working-class and people of color, who have had to share a more substantial part of the care burden whilst themselves being insufficiently cared for.” Read more.

Eight Red States Are Suing to Keep Migrants and Their Kids Apart (Mother Jones) 

Pema Levy highlights a lawsuit to maintain family separation: “Eight Republican-led states sued [on January 28, 2022] to stop a Biden administration program that allows Central American child refugees to legally join their parents in the United States. The Central American Minors Refugee and Parole Program, which allows minors in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to join their parents in the United States, began under President Barack Obama to provide a legal alternative for children who relied on smugglers to rejoin their parents. The Trump administration halted the program in 2017, and it remained defunct until last year, when it was restored and expanded under President Joe Biden.” Read more.

Meet the Formerly Incarcerated Advocates Revolutionizing Giving Birth in Prison (Rewire News Group) 

Tiffany Diane Tso writes about efforts to revolutionize giving birth in prison: “During her time in prison, Topeka K. Sam suffered through untreated uterine fibroids and a surgery that did not relieve them and caused excessive bleeding. Meanwhile, the commissary limited the amount of menstrual pads Sam could purchase and forced her to show male guards her used pads in order to purchase more. Alongside her own reproductive health traumas, she witnessed the poor conditions of pregnant incarcerated women. After her release, she founded the Ladies of Hope Ministries and began organizing and advocating for legislative change, including demanding dignity for incarcerated women by ending abusive policies like the shackling of pregnant people and making menstrual products free.” Read more.

Amendment to Florida “Don’t Say Gay” Bill Would Force Teachers to Out Students (Truthout) 

Chris Walker covers an amendment to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill: “Legislation aimed at curtailing conversations relating to LGBTQ issues in Florida classrooms may become more restrictive than originally planned, as the bill’s author has placed an amendment on the proposal that would require teachers to ‘out’ their students to their parents if they discover their sexual orientation is anything but heterosexual — even if doing so produces predictable harms to a child’s well-being. The legislation, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Joe Harding, bans discussion of LGBTQ issues in primary school classrooms and places severe limits on how such topics can be talked about in older grades, subjecting a wide range of discussions to an undefined age-appropriate litmus test.” Read more.

5 Expert Tips to Manage Burnout and Find Queer Joy (them.) 

Naveen Kumar shares expert tips to manage burnout and find queer joy: “Queer people have every right to be furious. Systems and institutions that were not set up to support us have failed us many times over. Living within those systems, and fighting them, is exhausting. We’re tired, we’re pissed, and we should absolutely be pointing fingers. [...] The idea of self-care can tend to place responsibility for well-being into the hands of individuals. While we need to acknowledge that systems are largely to blame, one aspect of life we can largely control is how we treat ourselves and others.” Read more.

Tess’ Take: The Human Right to Childcare (Woodhull’s Sex & Politics Blog) 

Tess Joseph writes about our human right to childcare: “The sexual freedom movement advocates for all to have support when creating and sustaining families. Universal childcare is a nonnegotiable part of the better future we’re building toward. It’s a fundamental human  right. We at the Woodhull Freedom Foundation firmly believe that no one should worry about whether they can secure childcare. We believe that all parents and caregivers deserve to have accessible, guaranteed services to, in Brisport’s words, “educate, keep safe, and nurture our most vulnerable population.” Read more.