[RD] LGBTQ news

[Crezth]

It'll be 5-4 Gorsuch had been oddly strong in his support for consistency in civil rights stuff like that. It's possible Roberts flips as well but I'd doubt it.

Unhinged
Moderator Action: Warned for flaming. The_J

 

[KMRblue1027]

He was literally the deciding vote on Bostock which was less then 5 years ago but okay unhinged sure.

 

[Crezth]

If you're using that as the basis to trust in our leadership's decisions about queer issues, you are lost. Especially since you're responding to a hypothetical about the direction things are going culminating in trans illegality. And you're like "Well the balance of powers is working and the supreme justices aren't all bad." Really? It's a good thing you don't care about genocides other people are experiencing because it'll make the angels' work administering your karma a lot easier.
Moderator Action: Warned for trolling. The_J

 

[KMRblue1027]

Your making hilarious logical leaps here. I don't trust the court to do the right thing but Gorsuch has a strong track record going back literally over a decade we know how he'll vote on most issues this is no exception. And you already know I'm trans I've said it to you like 4 times so saying I don't care just proves you don't pay attention at all.

 

[Crezth]

You know it is possible to be a part of a marginalized group and also a huge traitor to that group ultimately allied to the forces of its destruction?

 

[KMRblue1027]

I love how you're acting like I titled SCOTUS to the way it is too it's actually highly amusing that you assume that. You are terrible at reading people.

 

[NinjaCow64]

It'll be 5-4 Gorsuch had been oddly strong in his support for consistency in civil rights stuff like that. It's possible Roberts flips as well but I'd doubt it.

Didn’t Gorsuch concur with the majority opinion of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization?

 

[KMRblue1027]

I knew someone would bring up Dobbs. It was a different kind of case involving enumerated rights versus interpretation of the constitutionally of a law/ how a law should be applied. If Roe was codified like it should have been he would have ruled the other way. Do I like Gorsuch, no he's way out of where I am politically but I'm not ignorant to his judicial history so we can predict with quite good accuracy where he'll vote.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Didn’t Gorsuch concur with the majority opinion of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization?

Small clarification: Gorsuch wrote joined the majority opinion, and didn't write one of the concurring opinions. (Alito wrote the majority opinion. Thomas, Kavanaugh and Roberts wrote concurring opinions.)

 

[Qactus]

Watched a documentary today which I found really beautiful and moving, so I thought this would be a good place to share it.

When Naissa tells his mother Daniela that he identifies as a man she struggles to understand. Through candid personal letters exchanged over three years, Dear Mamma follows Naissa as he stands firmly for his independence and identity, and Daniela as she wrestles with her fear of losing her beloved child. While Naissa embarks on a professional dance career and proudly embodies his gender, his mother also makes a journey towards understanding and accepting her son’s choices

What impressed me especially was how the mother was able to articulate her fears and concerns honestly while still conveying that kind of unshakable, unconditional love.
It left me feeling like this is probably a good example how such a process should be navigated, but at the same time I thought such a level of mutual understanding is also probably very rare and many will not be so fortunate to be able to communicate their feelings with their family like these two did.

 

[Birdjaguar]

In upstate New York, Casa Susanna was a safe haven for trans women in 1960s America​

[/URL]
Susanna Valenti poses in the garden of her and her wife's home in the Catskills, "Casa Susanna," circa 1964-1968.
Art Gallery of Ontario/Courtesy Thames and Hudson

CNN —
With coiffed black hair, pearls, a hand on her hip and a high-heeled pointed toe, a woman poses jubilantly for the camera on the steps outside her home. Her name is Susanna Valenti, and her home is Casa Susanna, located in the Catskills, in upstate New York. In the 1950s and ’60s, Casa Susanna served as a safe haven and a sanctuary for people to explore their gender identity and expression in ways they were not able to in daily life. Photographs taken there show individuals in scenes of comfortable domesticity and community, getting dressed in traditionally feminine clothes and celebrating occasions and holidays together.
These images, part of the Art Gallery of Ontario’s (AGO) permanent collection, are brought together in a new publication, “Casa Susanna: The Story of the First Trans Network in the United States, 1959-1968,” and offer valuable insight into the environment that Valenti and her wife Marie Tonell created. Purchased in 2004 at a New York City flea market by two art dealers and later acquired by the AGO in 2015, this particular selection of 340 Casa Susanna images are part of a much wider archive, including some currently in the personal collection of photographer Cindy Sherman.

In recent years, the photographs have come to the attention of artists, scholars, activists and more interested in the intersections between queer identities, photography and the arts—and more collections of photographs made by members of the community who visited Casa Susanna have been found and archived, such as the Louise Lawrence Transgender Archive. In the last decade, Casa Susanna has inspired a Broadway musical, Harvey Fierstein’s “Casa Valentina”; been referenced in the television series “Transparent”; and was the subject of an acclaimed documentary film released last year.

More here:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/26/style/casa-susanna-trans-photo-archive/index.html

Casa Susanna: The Story of the First Trans Network in the United States, 1959-1968

In the 1950s and '60s, an underground network of transgender women, gender nonconforming people, and men who dressed as women found refuge at a modest house in the Catskills, New York. Known as Casa Susanna, the house provided a safe place to express their true selves and live for a few days as...

www.thamesandhudsonusa.com

 

[Broken_Erika]

Calgary pastor on trial for library drag storytime protests guilty of harassment​

Derek Reimer, 38, breached bail conditions, acquitted of causing disturbance​

A Calgary pastor on trial for protesting at several library drag storytime events has been found guilty of criminal harassment and breaches of his bail conditions but was acquitted Wednesday on charges of causing a disturbance.
Derek Reimer's trial wrapped up this week after Justice Karen Molle heard closing arguments from prosecutor Matt Dalidowicz and defence lawyer Andrew MacKenzie.
On Wednesday, Molle convicted Reimer on four counts of breaching his bail conditions and one count of harassment. A date for sentencing will be set later this week.
Reimer runs Mission 7, a street ministry which, according to its website, hosts gatherings four days a week in Calgary.

• Calgary pastor accused of hate-motived crimes against LGBTQ community arrested again

All of Reimer's charges relate to protests of Reading With Royalty events hosted at Calgary Public Libraries.
The events involve drag queens and kings reading stories to children who are encouraged to dress in their best outfit, cape or crown.

Intention to 'deter and intimidate'​

Reimer, 38, repeatedly referred to the program as "pervert grooming sessions" on social media and when he shouted into a microphone attached to a speaker at people headed into the events.
The charges dealt with on Wednesday stem from incidents at the Saddletowne and Country Hills libraries between March 25 and April 2, 2023.
At the time, Reimer was on bail conditions that prohibited him from attending the storytime events or communicating, directly or indirectly, with any participant, performer or spectator.
But Molle found that on four occasions, the pastor breached his conditions with an intention to "deter and intimidate" people from attending the reading events.

• Calgary pastor accused of hate-motivated crimes at drag storytime has history of violence

On March 27, Reimer attended the Saddletowne Library and asked to speak with the manager. He proceeded to record their conversation, during which he again made derogatory comments about drag queens.
Later that day, he posted the video to Facebook, encouraging his followers to contact the manager to express their "disgust."
He also included the library phone number, name and the date, time and location of the next drag event.
She ended up locking down her social media and testified the post made her feel upset, threatened and anxious.
Molle found Reimer knew the manager was harassed by his conduct and acted "so that she would be intimidated and would stop the Reading with Royalty event at her library."

• Man accused of hate-motivated crimes at drag storytime won't commit to staying away from LGBTQ events

But when it came to the charges of causing a disturbance, connected to Reimer yelling at people outside the library, at times using the microphone and speaker to get his message across, the judge ruled that "shouting in a public place is not in itself a criminal offence."
Molle also said in her ruling that there was no evidence complaints were made by community members at the time.

3 sets of charges​

In the spring of 2023, Reimer was arrested three times in five weeks and as a result faces three sets of charges.
The first incident took place Feb. 25, after he attended a Reading with Royalty event at the Seton Library and allegedly pushed to the front of the room, shouting homophobic and transphobic slurs at children and their parents.
Reimer was arrested and charged with mischief and causing a disturbance.
A trial on those charges has already taken place with Justice Allan Fradsham set to make his ruling next month.
After his first arrest, Reimer spent several days in custody because he refused to sign his bail conditions but eventually agreed to stay away from LGBTQ2S+ events.
One week after his release, Reimer attended another Reading with Royalty event, this one at the Signal Hill Library.
He was charged with breaching his bail conditions. A decision on that charge is expected in court next week.

History of violence​

The pastor has a 12-year history of committing violent crimes in both Alberta and Manitoba, including convictions for animal abuse and aggravated assault.
In 2015, Reimer was convicted in Calgary of causing suffering to a dog. He was given 12 months probation as a sentence.
Before that, Reimer faced two jail sentences in Winnipeg.
In 2011, he was found guilty of assault causing bodily harm and handed an eight-month jail term plus 18 months probation.
Two years later, Reimer was convicted on two counts of aggravated assault and was sentenced to two years in jail.
A number of other charges in both Alberta and Manitoba have been stayed or withdrawn over the years, including theft, mischief, intimidation and at least two other assaults.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calg...torytime-protest-harassment-verdict-1.7301390

 

[Cloud_Strife]

Weird how this keeps happening

 

[PhroX]

Looks like at least part of the anglosphere has some decency:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c07ev1v7r4po

What is a woman? Australian court rules in landmark case​

A transgender woman from Australia has won a discrimination case against a women-only social media app, after she was denied access on the basis of being male.

The Federal Court found that although Roxanne Tickle had not been directly discriminated against, she was a victim of indirect discrimination - which refers to when a decision disadvantages a person with a particular attribute - and ordered the app to pay her A$10,000 ($6,700; £5,100) plus costs.
It’s a landmark ruling when it comes to gender identity, and at the very heart of the case was the ever more contentious question: what is a woman?
In 2021, Tickle downloaded “Giggle for Girls”, an app marketed as an online refuge where women could share their experiences in a safe space, and where men were not allowed.
In order to gain access, she had to upload a selfie to prove she was a woman, which was assessed by gender recognition software designed to screen out men.
However, seven months later - after successfully joining the platform - her membership was revoked.
As someone who identifies as a woman, Tickle claimed she was legally entitled to use services meant for women, and that she was discriminated against based on her gender identity.
She sued the social media platform, as well as its CEO Sall Grover, and sought damages amounting to A$200,000, claiming that “persistent misgendering” by Grover had prompted “constant anxiety and occasional suicidal thoughts”.

“Grover’s public statements about me and this case have been distressing, demoralising, embarrassing, draining and hurtful. This has led to individuals posting hateful comments towards me online and indirectly inciting others to do the same,” Tickle said in an affidavit.
Giggle’s legal team argued throughout the case that sex is a biological concept.
They freely concede that Tickle was discriminated against - but on the grounds of sex, rather than gender identity. Refusing to allow Tickle to use the app constituted lawful sex discrimination, they say. The app is designed to exclude men, and because its founder perceives Tickle to be male - she argues that denying her access to the app was lawful.

The women-only social media app markets itself as an online refuge for women
But Justice Robert Bromwich said in his decision on Friday that case law has consistently found sex is “changeable and not necessarily binary”, ultimately dismissing Giggle’s argument.
Tickle said the ruling "shows that all women are protected from discrimination" and that she hoped the case would be "healing for trans and gender diverse people".
“Unfortunately, we got the judgement we anticipated. The fight for women’s rights continues,” Grover wrote on X, responding to the decision.
Known as “Tickle vs Giggle”, the case is the first time alleged gender identity discrimination has been heard by the federal court in Australia.
It encapsulates how one of the most acrimonious ideological debates - trans inclusion versus sex-based rights - can play out in court.

Tickle was born male, but changed her gender and has been living as a woman since 2017.
When giving evidence to the court, she said: “Up until this instance, everybody has treated me as a woman.”
“I do from time to time get frowns and stares and questioning looks which is quite disconcerting…but they’ll let me go about my business.”
But Grover believes no human being has or can change sex - which is the pillar of gender-critical ideology.
When Tickle’s lawyer Georgina Costello KC cross examined Grover, she said:
“Even where a person who was assigned male at birth transitions to a woman by having surgery, hormones, gets rid of facial hair, undergoes facial reconstruction, grows their hair long, wears make up, wears female clothes, describes themselves as a woman, introduces themselves as a woman, uses female changing rooms, changes their birth certificate – you don’t accept that is a woman?”
“No”, Grover replied.
She also said she would refuse to address Tickle as “Ms,” and that “Tickle is a biological male.”

The app's founder Sall Grover (centre) created Giggle for Girls in 2020 after experiencing online abuse by men
Grover is a self-declared ‘TERF’ - an acronym that stands for “trans-exclusionary radical feminist.” TERFs’ views on gender identity are widely considered to be hostile to trans people.
“I’m being taken to federal court by a man who claims to be a woman because he wants to use a woman-only space I created,” she posted on X.
“There isn’t a woman in the world who’d have to take me to court to use this woman only space. It takes a man for this case to exist.”
She says she created her app “Giggle for Girls” in 2020 after receiving a lot of social media abuse by men while she worked in Hollywood as a screenwriter.
“I wanted to create a safe, women-only space in the palm of your hand,” she said.
“It is a legal fiction that Tickle is a woman. His birth certificate has been altered from male to female, but he is a biological man, and always will be.”
“We are taking a stand for the safety of all women’s only spaces, but also for basic reality and truth, which the law should reflect.”
Grover has previously said that she would appeal the court’s decision and will fight the case all the way to the High Court of Australia.

The outcome of this case could set a legal precedent for the resolution of conflicts between gender identity rights and sex-based rights in other countries.
Crucial to understanding this is the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). This is an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the UN - effectively an international bill of rights for women.
Giggle’s defence argued that Australia’s ratification of CEDAW obliges the State to protect women’s rights, including single-sex spaces.
So today’s ruling in favour of Tickle will be significant for all the 189 countries where CEDAW has been ratified - from Brazil to India to South Africa.
When it comes to interpreting international treaties, national courts often look at how other countries have done it.
Australia’s interpretation of the law in a case that got this level of media attention is likely to have global repercussions.
If over time a growing number of courts rule in favour of gender identity claims - it is more likely that other countries will follow suit.

 

[Cloud_Strife]

Jk rowling must be seething

 

[Arakhor]

In silence, one imagines, as she seems to have mysteriously gone quiet on Twitter all of a sudden.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Taliban bans the sound of women’s voices singing or reading in public​

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers are cracking down on the sound of women’s voices in public, under a strict new set of vice and virtue laws under the Islamist regime.

The laws were issued Wednesday after they were approved by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, a government spokesman said, and cover aspects of everyday life like public transportation, music, shaving and celebrations.



Among the new rules, Article 13 relates to women: It says it is mandatory for a woman to veil her body at all times in public and that a face covering is essential to avoid temptation and tempting others. Clothing should not be thin, tight or short.

Women are also obliged to cover themselves in front of non-Muslim males and females to avoid being corrupted. A woman’s voice is deemed intimate and so should not be heard singing, reciting, or reading aloud in public. It is forbidden for women to look at men they are not related to by blood or marriage and vice versa.

“Inshallah we assure you that this Islamic law will be of great help in the promotion of virtue and the elimination of vice,” said ministry spokesman Maulvi Abdul Ghafar Farooq on Thursday, of the new laws.

First formal declaration of vice and virtue laws
The 114-page, 35-article document seen by The Associated Press constitutes the first formal declaration of vice and virtue laws in Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in 2021, when it also set up a ministry for the “propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice.”

The laws will empower the ministry to be at the frontline of regulating personal conduct, administering punishments like warnings or arrest if enforcers allege that Afghans have broken the laws.




The laws ban the publication of images of living beings, threatening an already fragile Afghan media landscape; the playing of music; the transportation of solo female travelers; and the mixing of men and women who are not related to each other. The laws also oblige passengers and drivers to perform prayers at designated times.

According to the ministry website, the promotion of virtue includes prayer, aligning the character and behavior of Muslims with Islamic law, encouraging women to wear hijab, and inviting people to comply with the five pillars of Islam. It also says the elimination of vice involves prohibiting people from doing things forbidden by Islamic law.

Last month, a U.N. report said the ministry was contributing to a climate of fear and intimidation among Afghans through edicts and the methods used to enforce them.

It said the ministry’s role was expanding into other areas of public life, including media monitoring and eradicating drug addiction.

“Given the multiple issues outlined in the report, the position expressed by the de facto authorities that this oversight will be increasing and expanding gives cause for significant concern for all Afghans, especially women and girls,” said Fiona Frazer, the head of the human rights service at the U.N. mission in Afghanistan.

The Taliban rejected the U.N. report.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/22/middleeast/taliban-law-women-voices-intl-latam

 

[Lexicus]

In silence, one imagines, as she seems to have mysteriously gone quiet on Twitter all of a sudden.

Not anymore, alas, today she tweeted an article about how Imane Khelif isn't really a woman even if she wears makeup.

 

[Arakhor]

That seems like precisely the thing not to do when you're being sued for that exact thing...

 

[Yeekim]

That seems like precisely the thing not to do when you're being sued for that exact thing...

I guess one of the advantages of 1bn net worth is not having to care.

Although this is a weird fight to pick for sure.