Activism

What? Science? Who Needs Science?

On Monday, we wrote our analysis of the disastrous 5-4 Supreme Court decision in Burwell v Hobby Lobby, which gives greater religious freedom rights to closely held for-profit corporations and less religious freedom rights to natural persons (their words). We also urged you to express your dissent by signing on on to support Planned Parenthood in its defends health care access for women.

Flickr/creative commons

Flickr/creative commons

 

“The decision now says people have the right to ignore science; humans can ignore facts. Science can be contested, disproven, and proven, with experimentation, and the advancement of knowledge. But Hobby Lobby just got a religious exemption from the health care law and basically all science!” — Michelle Garcia at the Advocate 

Closely held for-profit corporations comprise 90% of American companies and millions of workers, and companies are now empowered to intervene in the health care access for women and the men that love them by denying coverage for commonly used, FDA-approved pregnancy prevention pills and devices, such as an IUD (intra-uterine device). We fully agree with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who wrote the dissenting opinion, warning that the Court is about to enter “a minefield.”

The New York Times previously tried to explain this, and VenusPlusX, Mother Jones, and others such as Garcia do very well in unpacking the bad science behind the decision. These 5 white men in the majority are uniformed and/or intentionally in denial by misunderstanding that the birth control methods they feel are so at odds with their religions interfere with embryo implantation when in fact they simply prevent fertilization.

These science-deniers and extreme-right wing nuts have driven down the Court’s favorability to 30%, and threaten the balance of government. Last month, VenusPlusX, discussed the impeachment of certain Supreme Court Justices, and this should add more fuel to the fire.

Garcia also makes another very good point of why this decision should worry every lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) person. Generations of LGBT activists have always understood that when it comes to progress, equality rights follow women’s rights. Legislation and lawsuits favoring LGBT people are based on this fact, and shows the two movements have be (and should be) inexorably linked for decades.

As a queer woman, it makes me want to shake every LGBT person who doesn’t see the broader implications of this. What if a company could tell employees that they won’t pay for insurance that covers HIV treatment or health care to transgender people because of owners’ “sincerely held religious beliefs”? Justice Samuel Alito, in writing the majority opinion, promised its scope was “very specific.” Still, some of us side with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and foresee a potential onslaught of legal challenges testing the limits.

When I unfurl my brow and relax to get a good night’s sleep I think about the upside of right-wing theocratic extremism — it brings out the voters. The more desperate the right-wing nuts are and the more sloppy they become help focus progressive action. In America, we can use the issues where Republicans fall short (women’s rights, immigration rights, LGBT rights, immigration rights, workers rights, and on and on) to vote them out in November, insuring a super-majority in the Senate will be available there to appoint new progressive Justices as maybe needed in the next few years; and, regaining the House to replace the do-nothing bunch there now.

291679976_f8e1803bf5_oIt’s the political season. Put your boots on the ground to stand up for those whose human rights are under attack. We have to get our own house in order before we can affect similar changes in trouble spots across the world. Two follows one, three follows two, and so on and so on so just take that first step towards change.

See A Manifesto for The New Age of Sexual Freedom to understand why VenusPlusX believes issues like these are of supreme importance.

 

The Sexual Freedom Project: Covert Inter-Communal Discrimination

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Why do you think discrimination remains so prevalent within our LGBTQ activist community?

Join The Sexual Freedom Project cast with your own video or essay (via columbia@venusplusx.org), and we will send you a free VenusPlusX t-shirt to thank you.

More videos here.

Video edited by Tiye Massey.

The Sexual Freedom Project: Activism Intersects With All Walks of Life

What motivates you to be an activist? Was there one radicalizing experience that made you get up and do something, or was it a gradual evolution?How does your activism interact or relate to other aspects of your life?

Join The Sexual Freedom Project cast with your own video or essay (via columbia@venusplusx.org), and we will send you a free VenusPlusX t-shirt to thank you.

More videos here.

Video edited by Tiye Massey.

The Sexual Freedom Project: For the Next Generation

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Has one of your family members or your thoughts of a future generation motivate your activism? Coming out as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender or Gender-queer is a political act in and of itself, but how does it help change other family members’ acceptance of LBGT community-at-large in a different light?

Leave a comment and let us know what you think, or make your own video or blog to share. We will send you a free VenusPlusX t-shirt or slap bracelet to thank you.

Video edited by Tiye Massey.

The Sexual Freedom Project: Invested in the Future

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Why is it important for teachers, mentors, and leaders to be advocates for their students?

Leave a comment and let us know what you think, or make your own video or blog to share. We will send you a free VenusPlusX t-shirt or slap bracelet to thank you.

Video edited by Tiye Massey.

The Sexual Freedom Project: Using Privilege to Help Others

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What is your privilege? Race, education, economic status? How have you used, or would like to use, your privilege, however small, to benefit others, to pave the way for those who need it.

Leave a comment and let us know what you think, or make your own video or blog to share. We will send you a free VenusPlusX t-shirt or slap bracelet to thank you.

Video edited by Tiye Massey.

The Sexual Freedom Project: Diverse Spiritual Traditions

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How is your sexual freedom and spirituality connected? or disconnected?

Leave a comment and let us know what you think, or make your own video or blog to share. We will send you a free VenusPlusX t-shirt or slap bracelet to thank you.

Video edited by Tiye Massey.

The Sexual Freedom Project: Dedicated to Education

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What are the best ways for us to get information about sexual freedom to our friends, fellow students, neighbors, and co-workers? Have you ever given a presentation, held a class, or even just started up a conversation with someone about sexuality and gender issues that are important to you? Do cultural taboos about discussing sexual topics hold you (or people you know) back to any extent, and if so, how can these inhibitions be overcome to carry on the important work of educating others?

Let us know what you think. Make a video, write a poem, song, or an essay — or even create an original work of art — and express your thoughts on these topics. If we feature your contribution on the site, we will send you a free VenusPlusX t-shirt to thank you.

The Sexual Freedom Project: The Future Depends On Us

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As 2011 draws to a close, it is a natural time to pause and reflect on the year that is ending, and look forward to the new year that is opening up before us. What sort of future do you envision, next year and beyond? Do you think things will get better in terms of our politics, our economy, our sexual freedoms? What do you want to change about the future? What role will the Occupy movement, taking place across the country, play in making a better future? How are you personally going about effecting the kinds of changes that you hope to see?

Let us know what you think. Make a video, write a poem, song, or an essay — or even create an original work of art — and express your thoughts on these topics. If we feature your contribution on the site, we will send you a free VenusPlusX t-shirt to thank you.


The Sexual Freedom Project: A Personal Journey

(También en Español)

Was your own coming out gradual? Or have you always known? Were you out to other people before you fully realized you were gay? Has coming out changed the direction of your life or not? Has coming out changed your sense of social justice or another aspect of your life.

Leave a comment and let us know what you think, or make your own video or blog to share. We will send you a free VenusPlusX t-shirt or slap bracelet to thank you.

Video edited by Tiye Massey.