How to Be an Ally to the LGBTQ Community and Stand Up for LGBTQ Rights

Amid a climate of anti-LGBTQ laws and backlash, it’s on all of us to stand up for the queer community during Pride and beyond.

Teen Vogue

Ten years of a crippled Voting Rights Act: how states make it harder to vote

Before 2013, this kind of monitoring by activists wasn’t necessary. Georgia was one of nine states required to get any proposed changes to its elections approved by the federal government because of its history of racism and voting discrimination. The pre-clearance process meant that any change in voting – no matter how small – would have to be approved by the justice department before it went into effect to ensure it didn’t hurt minority communities. The Department of Justice would call community groups to find out how proposed changes would impact them, Butler said. Things didn’t fly under the radar.

In 2013, the US supreme court gutted the pre-clearance requirement in a landmark case called Shelby county v Holder. In a 5-4 ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the Voting Rights Act’s formula used to determine which cities and states had to submit their election law changes was outdated and unnecessary. States like Georgia were now free to implement changes without federal government approval.

The Guardian

When wealthy adventurers take huge risks, who should foot the bill for rescue attempts?

“Five people have just lost their lives and to start talking about insurance, all the rescue efforts and the cost can seem pretty heartless — but the thing is, at the end of the day, there are costs,” said Arun Upneja, dean of Boston University’s School of Hospitality Administration and a researcher on tourism.

“There are many people who are going to say, ‘Why should the society spend money on the rescue effort if (these people) are wealthy enough to be able to … engage in these risky activities?’”

AP News

Kansas AG seeks to bar transgender people from updating birth certificates

The Kansas attorney general asked a federal judge on Friday to end a requirement that the state allow transgender people to update their birth certificates, following the passage of new legislation.

The Hill

Why We’ve Gotten ‘Custer’s Last Stand’ Wrong for Nearly 150 Years

This weekend marks the 147th anniversary of the Battle of Little Bighorn—also known as ‘Custer’s Last Stand’—a chapter in U.S. history that some historians are arguing needs a rewrite. The story American students are generally taught is that “in one of the most decisive battles in American history,” Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and more than 200 men from five companies of the Seventh infantry cavalry heroically died on June 25, 1876, in a sneak attack by Native Americans in what’s now Montana. It was part of the broader crackdown by the U.S. government on Native Americans, who were seen as threatening innocent white settlers.

Time

Federal court ruling in Louisiana puts protesters, activist groups at risk

An anonymous Louisiana police officer’s lawsuit against a prominent Black Lives Matter activist has been furthered after a federal appellate court last week upheld that if a person sustains injuries due to a demonstrator’s actions during a protest, the victim may sue the organizer of the protest for negligence.

The Grio

The Dignity Of Black Cemeteries: How Historic Burial Grounds Weathered Dehumanizing Effects Of Racism

Those first three letters – Mrs. – might be the most important on the headstone.

The courtesy titles Mr., Mrs. and Miss rarely appear on headstones; usually it is just the first and last name.

But here, they serve an important function, reminding viewers of how Black Americans came up with creative ways to retain their dignity and weather the dehumanizing effects of racism.

Newsone

‘Let the world know’: elderly survivors of the Tulsa race massacre push for justice

Viola Ford Fletcher and her family fled a murderous white mob 102 years ago – today she’s still demanding accountability

The Guardian

Ardis E. Parshall: Changing political loyalties isn’t easy but can be done — LDS history teaches us that

After splitting their allegiances between the Liberal Party and the People’s Party — early Utahns then had to pick to be Democrats or Republicans. And the church didn’t choose for them.

The Salt Lake Tribune

Fighting for trust: The painful journey of the Supreme Court after Dobbs

Threats abounded as the high court faced constant security challenges, a blistering leak investigation and wounding ethics scandals while struggling to find a new balance.

Politico

In post-Roe era, House Republicans begin quiet push for new restrictions on abortion access

When the Supreme Court issued its abortion ruling last June overturning Roe v. Wade, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said “our work is far from done.” He didn’t say what might come next.

A year later later, McCarthy is the speaker, Republicans are in the majority and the blanks are beginning to be filled in.

In a flurry of little-noticed legislative action, GOP lawmakers are pushing abortion policy changes, trying to build on the work of activists whose strategy successfully elevated their fight to the nation’s highest court.

AP News

Behind the Scenes of Justice Alito’s Unprecedented Wall Street Journal Pre-buttal

The Journal editorial page accused ProPublica of misleading readers in a story that hadn’t yet been published.

ProPublica

Truckers threaten Florida boycott over immigration law

Calls for suspension of deliveries to and from the state on July 1 spread on social media.

Tampa Bay Times

How the Dobbs decision stunted anti-abortion action in the House GOP

The Supreme Court case that eliminated the federal right to obtain an abortion was preceded by years of legislative attempts by congressional Republicans to chip away at those protections.

But a year after the high court handed down its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, there is little appetite among Republicans in the House — the only chamber where they control the majority — to take steps to restrict abortion at the national level.

The Hill

GOP-run states are eyeing abortion beyond their borders. Blue states are fighting back

As Democratic states pass ‘shield laws’ to protect patients and providers, could legal clashes between states be on the horizon?

The Guardian

The War on LGBTQ People Being Waged in Rural America

Pride should be about celebration and protest. For many this year, especially in rural America, it’s also about fear.

The Soapbox

Hillary And Chelsea Clinton Won’t Ignore The Threats Women In Politics Face

Former First Lady and Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is no stranger to criticism. Neither is her daughter Chelsea Clinton, who was only a freshman in college when her father’s sexual misconduct scandal shook the White House — and the nation. Now, they are speaking out against the violent threats, abuse, and unjust treatment women in politics face.

The List

‘A vital role:’ Donald Trump endorses the idea of national abortion restrictions

Before an adoring crowd of religious conservatives, Donald Trump marked the one-year anniversary of the end of Roe v. Wade by adopting new language and endorsing the idea of national abortion restrictions.

Trump, who has previously discussed abortion as more of a state issue, told the cheering members of the Faith and Freedom Coalition “I will fight for you like no president ever” on the abortion issue.

USA Today

Why the Supreme Court Really Killed Roe v. Wade

But we see something a bit different going on. To really understand why the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, we think it’s crucial to see Dobbs as the triumph of two social movements and the rising influence of a distinctive kind of judge.

First, there is the grassroots anti-abortion movement, which has long been in the trenches and seeks the elimination of elective abortions and recognition of fetal personhood. Second, there’s the elite legal conservative movement, which is motivated to restore what it describes as the original meaning of the U.S. Constitution. Since at least the 1980s, when conservative legal icon Robert Bork denounced Roe as an egregious example of judicial policymaking, these legal elites have also called for the undoing of abortion rights.

These two movements have occasionally clashed, but as we argue at greater length in a forthcoming law review article, Dobbs also shows what happens when they work together, and when their foot soldiers and close allies — including what we call “movement judges” — take actions that facilitate movement goals.

Politico

In the face of rising hate, let’s honor Harvey Milk’s legacy & proudly be ourselves

We must continue the struggle in his name to make the world a safer and more supportive environment for all its people.

LGBTQ Nation

Harris, Pence continue to differ one year after Dobbs

While Harris advocates for abortion access, Pence backs strict restrictions.

ABC News

Federal judge temporarily blocks Florida’s drag show ban for minors

The restaurant chain Hamburger Mary’s had sued the state, saying that the law put a chilling effect on free speech. On Friday, Judge Gregory Presnell temporarily sided with the restaurant chain, saying a drag show doesn’t constitute an obscene performance.

He also said current laws “provide [Hamburger Mary’s] with the necessary authority to protect children from any constitutionally unprotected obscene exhibitions or shows.”

UPI

Istanbul: LGBTQ community tries to hold Pride amid arrests

Dozens of people have been detained in Turkey’s largest city and police blocked the central Taksim square as the LGBTQ+ community attempted to hold a Pride parade.

Deutsche Welle

Germany passes law to attract skilled migrant workers amid fierce debate

While other countries are trying to restrict migration, the German parliament has passed a radical new law to attract migrant workers to Germany.

BBC

Pesticide Residue Complicates Restitution of Indigenous Masks

Let’s start with the good news: Germany recently returned a pair of masks to Colombia that had been in the collection of the Berlin Museum for a century. Thankfully, a growing number of museums are embracing restitution and repatriation for artifacts that may have been illicitly obtained. The fact that these two masks are being returned to the Indigenous Kogi people definitely qualifies as a good thing, from a moral and ethical perspective.

There’s a wrinkle to the process of returning the masks, however. As The Art Newspaperreports, the masks were treated with a pesticide in the 1940s and 1950s. And, as is often the case with pesticides, there are questions about whether the masks are safe for people to wear.

Inside Hook

China is looking all over the world for help building and flying its fighter jets

China has long had a reputation for copying technology. Now it has gone a step further by copying Western air combat tactics — or rather, paying Westerners to teach them those tactics.

Insider

Guatemala’s elections can’t undo years of government corruption

Anti-establishment candidates were barred from running in Sunday’s elections.

Vox

Guatemalans vote for new president after divisive campaigns

Voters are also choosing a vice president and 160 representatives in the Guatemalan Congress.

AlJazeera

Prigozhin and Putin: Dead Men Walking

In the duel between the Wagner Group’s Yevgeny Prigozhin and Russian President Vladimir Putin, both men lost their nerve.

The Intercept

Far-right parties make comeback in Greek election as conservatives sweep back to power

A little-known political party endorsed by a jailed former lawmaker won seats in Greece’s next parliament in an election Sunday, signaling a political comeback for the far right.

AP News

Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis wins repeat election in early results, securing clear parliamentary majority

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, leader of Greece’s center-right New Democracy party, has won a second four-year term as prime minister.

Mitsotakis is now set to return to the prime minister’s office in a stronger position with his party’s resounding victory in Sunday’s elections, which were dominated by financial stability and cost-of-living issues.

“We have high targets that will transform Greece,” a triumphant Mitsotakis said in his victory speech, promising that “major reforms” would soon be under way.

CNN

Belize declared free from malaria by health chiefs

The World Health Organization (WHO) has certified Belize as free of malaria.

BBC

Germany: Far-right AfD wins first governing post

The populist AfD party has won a district council election for the first time with Robert Sesselmann elected in Sonneberg. This was despite all other parties urging their supporters to vote for the other candidate.

Deutsche Welle

Russian agents’ threat to family made Prigozhin call off Moscow advance

Details offer clue as to why Wagner Group abandoned coup attempt that revealed ‘real cracks’ in Putin’s authority

The Telegraph

‘The People Are Silent’: The Main Reason the Wagner Mutiny Bodes Ill for Putin

Prigozhin crossed a line. But it was the reaction of ordinary Russians that should worry the Russian president the most.

Politico

‘It was an emotional day’: calm returns to Moscow after Wagner stand-down

Muscovites tell of shock and anxiety in city blindsided by Prigozhin’s short-lived revolt

The Guardian

Hoping for compensation after being evicted along former East German border in 1961

Compensation from the German government could be a step closer for some 12,000 people after they were forced to flee their homes in former East Germany in 1952 and 1961 by Communist authorities.

EuroNews

Taliban supreme leader: Steps toward ‘betterment of women’ taken in Afghanistan

The supreme leader of the Taliban, Hibatullah Akhundzada, said on Sunday that the government has taken “necessary steps” for “the betterment of women” in Afghanistan, as the United Nations sounds alarms about women’s rights in the country.

In a message ahead of the Eid al-Adha holiday, Akhundzada said women’s “Shariah rights have been protected” and that steps have been taken to protect them from forced marriages and other oppressions. 

“Necessary steps have been taken for the betterment of women as half of society in order to provide them with a comfortable and prosperous life according to the Islamic Shariah,” the message said.

“The status of women as a free and dignified human being has been restored and all institutions have been obliged to help women in securing marriage, inheritance and other rights.”

The Hill

Sudan war kills 12 more in Darfur fighting: doctor

Fighting on Sunday between rival Sudanese generals in Darfur killed at least a dozen civilians, said a doctor in the devastated region.

Al-Monitor

Why is Israel failing to stop Jewish attacks on Palestinians? – analysis

The IDF does not even want this mission and would rather the police deal with it; in the IDF’s first reaction to Huwara, it tried to divert blame to the police.

The Jerusalem Post

Nine dead, dozens injured after Russian warplanes attack near Syrian market

Nine people have been killed and dozens injured after Russian fighter jets bombed a city in Syria’s rebel-controlled northwestern Idlib province, according to the local White Helmets emergency response group.

A fruit and vegetable market was impacted in the Sunday attack on the city of Jisr al-Shughur. One eyewitness told CNN that the “missile had so much pressure and the sharpness hit the crowded market.”

CNN

Egypt and India eye ‘strategic partnership’ as Modi visits

India’s Narendra Modi praised his visit to Cairo as “historic” after he and Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sissi pledged to boost trade and diplomatic ties.

Deutsche Welle

Windrush: Hundreds with chronic and mental illness sent back to Caribbean

Formerly classified documents reveal at least 411 people were sent back between the 1950s and the early 1970s, under a scheme that was meant to be voluntary.

BBC