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Bill Removing Gender Identity Protections Gets Final Approval in Iowa Despite Protests
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: Time
Thousands of Trans Activists Storm Iowa Capitol as Lawmakers Vote to Derecognize Gender Identity. Iowa lawmakers became the first in the nation to approve legislation removing gender identity protections from the state’s civil rights code Thursday, despite massive protests by opponents who say it could expose transgender people to discrimination in numerous areas of life. The measure raced through the legislative process after first being introduced last week. The state Senate was first to approve the bill on Thursday, on party lines, followed by the House less than an hour later. Five House Republicans joined all Democrats in voting against it.

25 arrested in major crackdown of AI-generated child abuse images network
Topic: Porn, Prostitution, and Sexual Freedom
Source: Politico.EU
[Ed: if no people are harmed by the AI images, where is the crime?] Police in 20 countries have taken down a network that distributed images of child sexual abuse entirely generated by artificial intelligence. The operation – which spanned European countries including the United Kingdom as well as Canada, Australia, New Zealand – is "one of the first cases" involving AI-generated images of child sexual abuse material, Europe's law enforcement agency Europol, which supported the action, said in a press release. Danish authorities led an operation, which resulted in 25 arrests, 33 house searches and 173 devices being seized.

Iowa Governor Signs Law Ending Trans Protections
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: The Associated Press
Kim Reynolds defends 'common sense' move. Iowa became the first US state to remove gender identity protections from its civil rights code on Friday when Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law a bill that opponents say will expose transgender people and other Iowans to discrimination in all aspects of daily life, per the AP. The new law, which goes into effect July 1, follows several years of action from Reynolds and Iowa Republicans to restrict transgender students' use of such spaces as bathrooms and locker rooms, and their participation on sports teams, describing it as an effort to protect people assigned female at birth. Republicans say those policies cannot co-exist with a civil rights code that includes gender identity protections

Safety on Dating Apps
Topic: Porn, Prostitution, and Sexual Freedom
Source: The Guardian (UK)
It's 'Going to Get Worse' Critics say Match's platforms promise security for women, but that that's just 'safety theater'. Match Group has a problem: The parent of Match.com, Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid, and other dating apps has abusive users it's known about for years but has kept under wraps. That's per the Guardian, which centers on Stephen Matthews, a doctor serving a 158-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting women he met through Hinge and other apps. Some of the assaults took place after he'd already been reported to Match for other attacks—and his isn't the only case. Match has long vowed to clean up its act on the safety front, promising for years to release a transparency report that still hasn't emerged. That's led some to say that Match's efforts are little more than "safety theater," which the company is pushing back on. "We take every report of misconduct seriously, and vigilantly remove and block accounts that have violated our rules regarding this behavior," Match Group says in a statement.

AG Pam Bondi Warns 3 States Over Transgender Sports Rules
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: The Epoch Times
Trump and Maine Gov. Janet Mills have sparred over the law. The DOJ said Bondi sent letters to the officials of those three states and said that they may be out of compliance with an order signed by President Donald Trump earlier this month that makes it illegal for transgender individuals to compete in women’s and girls’ sports. “This Department of Justice will defend women and does not tolerate state officials who ignore federal law,” Bondi said in the statement. “We will leverage every legal option necessary to ensure state compliance with federal law and President Trump’s executive order protecting women’s sports.”

Gay Penguins Face Florida's Classroom Speech Regulations
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: Reason
The authors of a picture book about two male penguins raising a chick together argue excluding their book from school libraries violates their free speech rights. One Florida school district is facing a legal battle over its decision to ban a book about gay penguins. In 2022, the state passed the Parental Rights in Education Act, which banned classroom discussions on sexual orientation or gender identity "in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students." While the law initially applied only to kindergarten through third-grade classrooms, the Florida Board of Education later expanded the law to all grades.

Education Department to staffers: Quit by Monday and get $25K in cash
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: Politico
The offer comes before what will be “a very significant” reduction in force, Education Department officials write. The Education Department is offering a buyout of up to $25,000 to most of its employees, according to a department-wide email obtained by POLITICO. Employees have until Monday at 11:59 p.m. to make a decision, Jacqueline Clay, a chief human capital officer, wrote in an email sent on Friday afternoon.

SCOTUS in Rare Agreement on Discrimination Case
Topic: Gender Discrimination
Source: SCOTUSblog
Conservative and liberal justices poised to rule in favor of heterosexual Ohio woman. The Supreme Court appears poised to rule in favor of an Ohio woman's job discrimination lawsuit, a development expected to make it easier for white, heterosexual workers to bring similar cases, reports the Washington Post. One unusual thing here: Based on Wednesday's arguments, both conservative and liberal justices alike seemed set to rule in favor of Marlean Ames, reports SCOTUSblog. "We are in radical agreement," said Justice Neil Gorsuch at one point. All the justices seemed to agree that it's unfair to impose a higher burden of proof on employees in such cases because they belong to a majority.

Pentagon Will Track Down And Discharge Transgender Service Members
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: Zero Hedge
This kind of discharge will be difficult to swallow...[Ed: yes. Being trans shouldn't be a disqualifier in and of itself.] Pursuing President Trump's vision of a fighting force focused on readiness to wage war, the Pentagon is about to initiate a fast-paced program to ferret out transgender military members and discharge them from the military, according to a memorandum filed in federal court on Wednesday. “Service members who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria will be processed for separation from military service,” the memo says. The campaign will be carried out in two phases. First, the Pentagon will have 30 days to create a process for identifying and cataloguing every transgender service member. Discharges must commence within the next 30 days. Discharges will be "honorable" unless the individual's record makes a lesser classification appropriate.

State Department to Deny Visas for Transgender Athletes on the Basis of ‘Fraud’
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: The Guardian (UK)
The 24 February state department cable obtained by the Guardian instructs visa officers to apply Immigration and Nationality Act section 212(a)(6)(C)(i) – the “permanent fraud bar” – against trans applicants. Unlike regular visa denials, this section triggers lifetime exclusion from the United States with limited waiver possibilities. “In cases where applicants are suspected of misrepresenting their purpose of travel or sex, you should consider whether this misrepresentation is material such that it supports an ineligibility finding,” reads the directive from the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio.

Texas measles outbreak marks first fatality as more cases reported
Topic: Children and Family
Source: STAT News
An unvaccinated child has died in first U.S. measles death since 2015. A child in Texas has died from measles, officials said Wednesday, the first known death in the current large outbreak in West Texas and the first death from measles in the country since 2015. The individual, described as a school-aged child, was not vaccinated. The gender and previous health status of the child was not disclosed.

Maine Public Schools Are Collapsing As Children Of Illegal Migrants Pour In
Topic: Children and Family
Source: Zero Hedge
Over the past decade, the number of students with limited English proficiency has skyrocketed. Maine’s public schools are seeing their worst test scores in 30 years, with student performance in reading and math ranking among the lowest in the nation. According to the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics, only 33% of fourth graders are proficient in math, while just 26% meet reading standards. Older students fare even worse, with only 25% proficient in math and 26% in reading, placing Maine 38th nationwide. The decline comes as schools prioritize the children of illegal migrants, a group welcomed by the state’s politicians and employers, according to Brietbart.

Orbán’s government bans Budapest Pride in ‘public form’
Topic: Gay/Lesbian Issues
Source: Politico.EU
Hungary ‘should not tolerate Pride marching’ through Budapest’s city center, top minister says. Hungary’s government said Thursday that Budapest Pride, the LGBTQ+ parade, “will not take place in a public form” this year. The government’s announcement comes after days of speculation about what Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán meant when he said in a speech last weekend that he would advise the organizers of the LGBTQ+ march “not to bother preparing their march for this year” as “it would be a waste of time and money.” As to whether this meant a ban on the march, Gergely Gulyás, the minister in charge of Orbán’s office, announced Thursday that it meant a ban on holding the march in public.

Philly schools defy Trump's ban on men in women's sports
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: The Post Millennial
"The District will continue to align its practices to support its LGBTQ+ students in accordance with Board Policy 252 for transgender and gender non-conforming students." Philadelphia’s school district has stated that it will defy both President Donald Trump’s executive order barring biological males from competing against women as well as the commonwealth of Pennsylvania's athletics policy reflecting the executive order. In a statement to Fox News, the School District of Philadelphia said that it "strives to ensure safety, equity and justice for all students regardless of gender identity or gender expression so that they can imagine and realize any future they desire. The District will continue to align its practices to support its LGBTQ+ students in accordance with Board Policy 252 for transgender and gender non-conforming students."

It’s time for Europe to lead on abortion rights, say lawmakers, NGOs
Topic: Abortion
Source: Politico.EU
Pro-choice advocates want Europe to enshrine the right to abortion in the EU Charter and provide funding for women in need. Civic groups and policymakers are urging the European Union to safeguard sexual and reproductive rights in Europe amid abortion restrictions in the United States and the rise of far-right governments across the continent. Days after taking office on Jan. 20, U.S. President Donald Trump signed several executive orders reviving anti-abortion policies from his first term, including reinstating the "Mexico City Policy" — also known as the global gag rule — which blocks federal funding for NGOs that provide abortion services or campaign for its decriminalization. Washington also rejoined the Geneva Consensus Declaration, an international anti-abortion pact. Pro-choice groups fear these actions will hinder the work of NGOs offering sexual and reproductive health services worldwide — including in Europe — preventing people from accessing life-saving care.

Mississippi Judge Orders Newspaper to Remove Editorial Criticizing City Council
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: Jonathan Turley
There is a chilling case of censorship out of Clarksdale, Mississippi, where a court ordered a local newspaper to delete a publication that the city claimed was libelous. It is not clear that The Clarksdale Press Register editorial by publisher Floyd Ingram did constitute libel. Ultimately, the city backed down, but the actions of both the local officials and the court remain troubling. Ingram’s article, “Secrecy, Deception Erode Public Trust,” criticized the mayor and city council of Clarksdale for the lack of public notice before it passed a resolution to establish a 2 percent tax on retailers selling alcohol, tobacco, hemp, and marijuana. Ironically, Ingram supported the “sin tax” to support “public safety, crime prevention, and continuing economic growth in the city.” However, he objected that, before the government “sent [the] resolution to the Mississippi Legislature,” it “fail[ed] to go to the public with details about this idea.” He added, “Maybe [city commissioners] just want a few nights in Jackson to lobby for this idea—at public expense.”

America's TikTok Ban Is A Threat To Free Speech
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: Real Clear Politics
If TikTok was such a large threat to national security, then politicians should’ve suspended their accounts after the ban. TikTok’s servers went dark for 12 hours on Jan. 19, but thanks to an extension from President Donald Trump, TikTok is back on the app stores, and its clock hasn’t run out yet. The divestment, ban, and then subsequent extension have justifiably sparked criticism, especially among young people. And while half of Americans surveyed in March of 2023 supported a ban, now a majority of Americans disapprove. What accounts for such a swing in public opinion?

A history of “wokeness”
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: Vox
Before 2014, the call to “stay woke” was, for many people, unheard of. The idea behind it was common within Black communities at that point — the notion that staying “woke” and alert to the deceptions of other people was a basic survival tactic. But in 2014, following the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, “stay woke” suddenly became the cautionary watchword of Black Lives Matter activists on the streets, used in a chilling and specific context: keeping watch for police brutality and unjust police tactics. In the six years since Brown’s death, “woke” has evolved into a single-word summation of leftist political ideology, centered on social justice politics and critical race theory. This framing of “woke” is bipartisan: It’s used as a shorthand for political progressiveness by the left, and as a denigration of leftist culture by the right.

Woke Isn't Over Yet
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: Spiked Online
It will take far more than Trump’s flurry of executive orders to uproot identity politics. There’s no doubt the Democrats are in disarray. The New York Times says, ‘There is little consensus on how – or even whether – to prioritise the party’s traditional concerns like abortion rights, LGBTQ equality and climate change’. Of course, these are not exactly what most of us would call the Democratic Party’s ‘traditional’ programme. The Democratic Party does not understand why its conduct, core assumptions, complaints and reform plans have come to repel a majority of voters. Maybe it won’t ever. No marketing lipstick from the Democratic National Committee can fix this malady, as long as identity politics remains a holy grail for the party. And this is where things get trickier.