Bi-Weekly Sexual Freedom Newsletter
Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Disabled people are sharing the worst ‘compliments’ they’ve received (Metro)

The everyday ableism people experience often goes unnoticed. Imani Barbarin, longtime activist, has had enough. That’s why she went to Twitter to expose the ableist  “compliments” she experiences using the hashtag #DisabilityCompliments. It resonated. People across the world tweeted their experiences with harassment and offensive comments disguised as compliments, and the hashtag went viral. “The goal of my work is for disabled people to feel like they have more of an opportunity to feel seen and heard and build community with others using similar experiences,” Barbarin said. Read more.

Queer Elders Tell Us About the Stonewall Riots, and How Their Lives Changed After (them.) 

June 28, 2019 marked the 50 year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, a pivotal moment in the queer liberation movement. Elyssa Goodman interviewed four queer elders about their lives and perspectives on queer culture before, during, and after Stonewall in commemoration of the anniversary. One interviewee, Charles “Valentino” Harris, says, “I feel like Stonewall was one of the first times everyone said enough is enough, we’re not gonna take it anymore. We’re human beings born to be free. They stood up that night not knowing they stood up for all of us. They stood up because they were tired. They didn’t know they were rebelling for all generations.” Read more.

It’s Pride. Don’t Forget Trans Women Dying at the Border. (Truthout) 

As Mike Ludwig contends, when discussing violence faced by the LGBTQ+ community, centering trans women of color is imperative; so too is recognizing that much of this violence takes place on the U.S./Mexico border: “Afterall, the Stonewall riots were a rebellion against the police, who systematically raided bars, assaulted queers and threw them in jail. Border Patrol officers and ICE agents are police who work with local police in many parts of the country to tear apart families and destroy lives. Trans women of color of any background still face high rates of police profiling and criminalization, but what about those who are seeking asylum or are living in the U.S. undocumented?” Read more.

An Abortion Rights Movement for All (Jacobin) 

The fight to protect organizations such as NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood is certainly central to the abortion rights movement. But as Rachel Zibrat argues, the Left must do more than counter-protest at abortion clinics: “there is reason to question the tactic of counter-protesting—both on its own terms, and claims that it can fuel a newly mass, militant abortion rights movement. The Left does need a new strategy for winning true abortion rights in the United States; and that strategy can’t be dominated by established nonprofits. But that new path doesn’t necessarily run through clinic defense.” Read more.

The Candidates’ Silence on Disability Rights During the Debates Is Nothing New (Rewire.News) 

Over two nights of debates, not a single 2020 Democratic candidate mentioned disability rights. Outraged, Robyn Powell writes, “Although candidates were not explicitly asked any questions about disabled people, they had several chances to mention us. For example, both nights included robust discussions about health-care policy, a significant issue for people with disabilities. With growing support from many Democratic presidential primary candidates for Medicare for All or some type of government-run, universal insurance, there was ample opportunity for candidates to discuss how these policies affect disabled people—or adequately support them.” Read more.

Marshae Jones Is Proof Pro-Lifers Don’t Care About Life (The Nation) 

In Katha Pollitt’s words, if there were any doubt that pregnant people “are rapidly becoming little more than fetal containers, consider the case of Marshae Jones.” Jones, a 28-year-old Black woman from Alabama, was shot in the stomach and charged with manslaughter of her fetus. While the charge was eventually dropped, it bears mentioning that what Jones faced is not uncommon: “Women have been prosecuted for the deaths of fetuses as the byproduct of car accidents, attempted suicide, drug overdoses, and more. [...] Now, with Roe threatened as never before, we see that the people who warned [fetal homicide] laws were a stalking horse to criminalize abortion and had nothing to do with the safety of pregnant women were right.” Read more.

Fighting for Home: Queer People of Color Are Leading the Battle against Gentrification (Bitch Media) 

“How do we build this neighborhood in a way that doesn’t usher in gentrification?” This is a question, as Kim Tran writes, that many queer people of color across the country are asking “as their neighborhoods, cities, and homes are transformed—sometimes decimated—by gentrification.” But perhaps more importantly, in her exploration of the intersections between queerness, race, and place, Tran poses another question: Who is building the neighborhood? As Tran suggests, “In the movement against the churning financial, political, and social forces of gentrification, who fights—and how they fight—matters.” Read more.