DC - Unite Against the War on Women

By: Liberate Zealot


So I promised to live tweet the rally, and then lost my phone (yay ADD!) right before heading down.  However, I had a roommate to be my photographer and I'm doing a post on it now.

The Washington DC rally was in the same place the Feb. March for Choice was last year (Upper Senate Park)  which I went to last year.  This one was much better organized, they had more time, so the sound equipment was so much better (there was a stage and we could hear everything, even at the back of the crowd).  There was music and a wonderful variety of knowledgeable and skilled speakers who came from a variety of organizations and perspectives.  It really was, at the title of the rally said, about uniting against the War on Women. 


The speakers included Catholics, protestants, atheists,  college students, middle aged people, men, women, immigrants, people born in the US, white people, people of color, cis and trans women, and poor and middle class people.  They were all very talented and insightful, but I did have 3 or 4 favorites. 

  Mara Keisling is the founding executive director for the National Center for Transgender Equality. In her own words she's a white, over educated, middle class, middle aged, transgender women.  She spoke about trans people having politically controlled medical care, how that and trans people in general relate to and suffer from the War on Women.  She also spoke about intersectionality, and violence and hate. She specifically spoke about CeCe McDonald.  A young, poor, black trans women who is undergoing trial this week for murder charges related to her and her friends defense of them selves while being targets of what should be classified a hate crime. 

Callie Otto and Eric Orantes started and head the The Catholic University Students for Choice.  They discussed the differences between Catholics and Catholic institutions when it comes to abortion, contraceptives, and the separation of church and state.  They also spoke about their work to educate their peers about safer sex and to help them get access to contraceptives (condoms) while facing the risk of expulsion if they didn't successfully navigate following the letter of the law. 

Melody Hensley is with the Center for Inquiry an organization that works for a secular and scientific society.  She spoke about being a foster child, and poor, and a statistic.  She spoke about her own abortion at the age of 20.  She spoke about the importance of choice and trusting women.  How having an abortion when you're not ready or able to be pregnant or a parent is just as responsible as having a child when you are able and ready.  She spoke about the connection of reproductive rights and economics. And the law and politics being based on science, not religious dogma. 

Derrick Ashong is a naturalized citizen.  He spoke about growing up in West Africa and Arabia among Muslims (while not being one himself).  He spoke about how the US can be an example to other countries, and a source of hope among people who are striving for equality.  He also spoke about the importance on continued struggle and not resting on our laurels.  How rights must be fought to get, and how we must fight to keep them while also fighting for all our rights and real, true freedom and equality.





Now one of my favorite parts of any protest/rally/march is seeing all the signs...

Signing

Part Two of of collection of petitions to sign for equal rights around the world (with a focus on women's rights).

There's a petition Personhood for Women over at Change.org in response to all the bills to make personhood amendments or laws to fetus.   

"A person identifying as a woman and/or having a uterus shall retain all of the full, basic, and fundamental rights of a US citizen as promised by the Declaration of Independence—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Congress and the States shall make no law that infringes upon a person's life, including but not limited to access to life-saving or life-improving healthcare, and/or medicines and procedures deemed necessary or beneficial by a medical professional and/or by the person having the uterus, procurement of which shall not be denied in and of itself by the presence of a uterus. Congress and the States shall make no law that infringes upon a person's liberty, including but not limited to autonomy over hir own body and the ability to make decisions regarding hir own healthcare. Congress and the States shall make no law that interferes with a person's pursuit of happiness, including but not limited to access to a full spectrum of reproductive options, freedom from forcible reproduction, and the ability to make decisions regarding family planning and family resources."

Also at Change.org is a petition calling for the Mayor of Berlin to stop the court mandated institutionalization of an 11 year old transgirl.

The Youth Welfare Office of Berlin is putting an 11 year old transgendered girl into a father's care who is putting her into a mental institute simply because he believes transexuality is wrong. This young girl will be taught how her feelings are wrong,and pushed more into the denial that has claimed the lives of so many transgendered people, thanks to biased decisions by the Youth Welfare office this child's life could be irrevocably ruined. I am starting this petition to try and make it known that this is not okay, that this is a breach of some of the basic human rights of this child 

There's a lot of issues regarding child/slave labor and chocolate.  So in time for Easter is a petition calling on Lindt and Ferrero to join other chocolate companies that now (at least partially) support/provide ethical cocoa.

There's a petition to Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg calling for women to be invited to the currently all male board of directors.

CREDO has a petition calling for the US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) to do more to limit carbon pollution (the leading cause of climate change).

The EPA will now accept public comments on the rule -- and as it weighs the public's reaction, we need to show that we expect much, much more from EPA to regulate carbon pollution.
Tell the EPA: We need stronger rules to protect us from existing and future sources of carbon pollution.

The Right to Cultural Sexual Consideration

By: Liberate Zealot


Content Warning: discussions of transphobia, racism, ableism, fat hating, and rape culture

Recently the Candanian and US feminist blogosphere has been buzzing over a semiar/workshop put on by a PP and health services in Canada that focused on cultural acceptance of transwomen in the queer community, specifically about sex and desirability.  It made use of the phrase "cotton ceiling" and a feminist group in the US created a petition and leveled charges of predatory and "rapey" behavior. 

This lead to a discussion on the appropriateness of the phrase (by drawing comparisons to the glass ceiling) and the ideas behind the conference. If you're interested in the specifics of the relationship between the glass ceiling and the cotton ceiling read Ceiling Metaphors by Tobi, a queer transwoman.  


One thing that came up for debate was a persons right to have their sexual beingness recognized and respected at a cultural level.  People seemed to conflate this with them having a right to sex at the individual level, or else just didn't get why desexualization was problematic, or why freedom from cultural desexualization is a right.

And honestly, I'm somewhat worried about writing this.  A lot of this post and cultural desexualization has to do with race, or being trans, fat, or a person with differing abilities (societal disabilities) and is an aspect of racism, transphobia, fat phobia, and ableism.  And I'm white, cis, able bodied, and thin.  I'm also blond and rather "feminine" and desexualization is not something I experience.  However, I ended up being the champion for the right to cultural sexual consideration in the thread, and I want to spend some time going over it for future use and to further organize and process my own thoughts.  So here's the warning, as the result of my privilege I might get some of this wrong.  If so, I hope people will let me know.