Soon you won’t be able to justify killing a gay man in Nevada by saying he hit on you / LGBTQ Nation

From the article:

Nevada lawmakers have moved to ban so-called gay and trans panic defenses from being used to revictimize LGBTQ people who have been assaulted and/or murdered.

Senate Bill 97 prohibits use in a criminal case of certain defenses based on the sexual orientation or gender identity or expression of the victim.

The bill, introduced in January, passed the Nevada State Senate on the 16th on a vote of 19-2, with Republicans Ira Hansen and Pete Goicoechea voting against the bill.

A gay or trans panic defense is one in which the perpetrator of a crime states that they had a moment of impaired judgement after they faced an unwanted sexual advancement from someone of their same gender, or after discovering that someone they may have been sexually attracted to is transgender.

Source: Soon you won’t be able to justify killing a gay man in Nevada by saying he hit on you / LGBTQ Nation

This will be only the 4th state to ban this bullshit defense.

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Federal judge rebukes Trump & says he can’t institute the trans military ban after all / LGBTQ Nation

From the article:

A federal judge just rebuked the Trump administration for saying that it would implement its transgender military ban, arguing that one of the injunctions against the ban in still in place.

District court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who is hearing the Doe v. Trumpchallenge to the ban, issued a notice that her injunction, which prevents the military from implementing a ban on transgender servicemembers, is still in place.

Source: Federal judge rebukes Trump & says he can’t institute the trans military ban after all / LGBTQ Nation

Sort of nice news? I mean at least that protects our service members that happen to be trans for the moment.

Gun Control Legislation: House Passes Sweeping Bill : NPR

From the article:

The legislation mandates background checks be performed on all gun sales, including firearm purchases made privately. The Senate is unlikely to take it up.

Source: Gun Control Legislation: House Passes Sweeping Bill : NPR

Okay, don’t get your hopes up because the Senate will probably squash this, but this is good. This is a step in the right direction.

D.C. restaurant fined $7,000 after asking transgender woman for ID before letting her use bathroom – The Washington Post

From the article:

A D.C. restaurant will pay $7,000 as part of a settlement after an employee tried to stop a transgender woman from using a women’s restroom last summer, D.C.’s attorney general said this week.

Charlotte Clymer, a transgender woman and activist with the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates for LGBTQ equality, was asked to show identification June 22 when she tried to use a women’s restroom at Cuba Libre, a downtown Cuban restaurant and rum bar.

Clymer said the employee followed her into the restroom, then a manager also asked for identification when she emerged from the restroom. After a confrontation with the manager — at which point she pulled up the D.C. Human Rights Act on her phone — she said she was told to leave, and then called police.

Source: D.C. restaurant fined $7,000 after asking transgender woman for ID before letting her use bathroom – The Washington Post

I’m more used to seeing the story of a transgender person being ejected from a bathroom, so color me surprised that there were repercussions for following a woman into the bathroom and badgering her for ID.

I’m sorry it happened to Charlotte, but I’m glad she got justice.

Not In Our Name: A Statement on Trans Inclusion From Lesbian Editors and Publishers | Autostraddle

From the article:

Autostraddle is proud to add our name to the list of publishers who stand in solidarity with this statement on the importance of trans inclusion in our communities. We were invited to participate in this declaration by the editor and publisher of UK’s DIVA Magazine and I participated in consulting on the letter’s content.

As I recently discussed on twitter, Autostraddle isn’t perfect, but we have been and remain committed to trans inclusion, highlighting trans voices and listening to ways we can do better. (P.S. Please pitch us! We are especially interested in pitches from LBQ trans women, particularly trans women of color!) Trans women are women, and trans people have been at the forefront of so many LGBQ activist movements over the years. Advocating for rights, freedoms and representation for trans women does not take away from the work we are committed to for all lesbian, bisexual and queer women — many of whom are also trans.

Source: Not In Our Name: A Statement on Trans Inclusion From Lesbian Editors and Publishers | Autostraddle

This is a bit of nice Christmas news. A lot of the lesbian publications have come together to denounce the hatred of transgender people, and have taken a pledge to stand with their transgender sisters.

The list includes:

• DIVA
• Curve
• Autostraddle
• LOTL
• Tagg
• Lez Spread the Word

I might suggest if you are looking for Queer news with a lesbian focus, those publications are a good start.

Abortion Will Be Legal in Ireland Starting January 1

From the article:

Wait, what is this warm, nice feeling in my heart? Some good news? My friends, yes: Abortion will be free and legal in Ireland starting in the new year, once the president signs off on the new legislation. Earlier this month, both the lower and upper houses of the Irish legislature voted to pass the law allowing a person to seek an abortion into the 12th week of pregnancy. The referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment to Ireland’s constitution, which barred abortion, passed with sweeping support from progressive women and young people in May.

Member of Parliament Bríd Smith told Rewire.News that this is “one of those rare moments in life when you feel such joy, the sheer joy of beating back the Catholic Church’s agenda, really beating it back for once.”

Source: Abortion Will Be Legal in Ireland Starting January 1

Thought I’d share some good news for Christmas.

Democrats smash Watergate record for House popular vote in midterms

From the article:

While votes are still being tallied, Democratic House candidates currently hold an 8,805,130 vote lead over Republicans as of Monday morning. The Democrats’ national margin of victory in House contests smashes the previous midterms record of 8.7 million votes in 1974, won just months after President Richard Nixon resigned from office in disgrace amid the Watergate scandal.

Of the more than 111 million votes cast in House races nationwide, Democrats took 53.1 percent — retaking control of the House of Representatives by flipping nearly 40 seats — while Republicans received 45.2 percent of the vote.

Source: Democrats smash Watergate record for House popular vote in midterms

This has not gotten enough press. Over 50% of all votes were for Dem’s, our our viable party to stop the racism, sexism, and anti-LGBTQ shit. We flipped 40 seats.

I just wanted more focus on this. We did amazingly well in the midterm election. Keep it up.

Some small good

The Guardian authors Sam Levin, Mona Chalabi and Sabrina Siddiqui did a opinion piece as a rebuttal to the Guardians running a transphobic garbage opinion piece. This is an article written by the journalists themselves stating the previous piece was a dangerous and bigoted work to be published in the guardian.

From the article:

The editorial’s unsubstantiated argument only serves to dehumanize and stigmatize trans people. Numerous academic studies have confirmed that trans-inclusive policies do notendanger cis people. On the contrary, there is overwhelming evidence that trans people, particularly women of color, are victimized at disproportionately high rates and suffer abuse in places of public accommodations. Levels of HIV and depression are at crisis levels, all brought about through extreme prejudice and social and economic marginalization.

Trans people are also three times more likely to be sexually assaulted than cis people, which made it all the more troubling that the editorial pointed out that they can be excluded from rape support services in the UK. Like cis women, trans women are subject to gendered violence and misogyny.

 

 

Jason Van Dyke verdict: Chicago cop guilty of second-degree murder in shooting of Laquan McDonald today – live updates – CBS News

From the article:

Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder, 16 counts of aggravated battery — one count for each shot he fired at McDonald — and one count of official misconduct. Jurors had the option of convicting the officer of second-degree murder. He was found guilty of second-degree murder and all 16 counts of aggravated battery. He was found not guilty of official misconduct.

Source: Jason Van Dyke verdict: Chicago cop guilty of second-degree murder in shooting of Laquan McDonald today – live updates – CBS News

This is rather historic. A white cop is being held accountable for murdering a black kid. Van Dyke shot Laquan McDonald 16 times in the back.

This will not bring this child back to his parents, but at least they have justice for their son.

No sentencing yet, so we will see.

This whole “Believed my life was in danger” defense for cops is stupid. Seattle is making a changes to how these inquests are being made. They will focus on training they won’t be able to comment on the state of mind of the officer.

Once Its Greatest Foes, Doctors Are Embracing Single-Payer | Kaiser Health News

From the article:

When the American Medical Association — one of the nation’s most powerful health care groups — met in Chicago this June, its medical student caucus seized an opportunity for change.

Though they had tried for years to advance a resolution calling on the organization to drop its decades-long opposition to single-payer health care, this was the first time it got a full hearing. The debate grew heated — older physicians warned their pay would decrease, calling younger advocates naïve to single-payer’s consequences. But this time, by the meeting’s end, the AMA’s older members had agreed to at least study the possibility of changing its stance.

“We believe health care is a human right, maybe more so than past generations,” said Dr. Brad Zehr, a 29-year-old pathology resident at Ohio State University, who was part of the debate. “There’s a generational shift happening, where we see universal health care as a requirement.”

Source: Once Its Greatest Foes, Doctors Are Embracing Single-Payer | Kaiser Health News

This isn’t as surprising to me. Most of the doctors I knew fought with the insurance methods we had an awful lot. When I was a nurse, I’d keep diagnosis codes and what medications they would allow coverage for when I was an office nurse. The doc would prescribe a med, but if he didn’t know the exact diagnosis to use, the insurance company would not cover whatever he prescribed. The insurance companies say you are never EVER supposed to do this, yet I had a doctor that felt his patient needed the medication for a reasonable diagnosis, but the doc didn’t know what codes to put in. It was so frustrating.

I’ve met a lot of docs that feel single payer would be an improvement, because each insurance company is it’s own headache. It’s one of the reasons I quite nursing. I spent more time chasing insurance companies to figure out how to cover my patients, appealing, etc, that I just couldn’t take it anymore.

The old guard of physicians worked in an entirely different environment where they were all the owners of their own business. Now? Most doctors get out of school and work for a big insurance company, or already established practice where they are just employees.

It’s just not the same. It doesn’t matter to their pay if we go single payer, they are not the owners. In fact, going single payer would make their lives easier because they could get care for their patients, and spend less time fighting insurance companies.