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Bi-Weekly Sexual Freedom Newsletter
Wednesday, December 21, 2022

 

Top Stories This Week

1. What’s happening at Woodhull;
2. First Amendment rights online;
3. The Respect for Marriage Act;
4. Flying abortion patients across state lines;
5. Conservatives controlling classrooms and libraries;
6. Georgia’s sex offender registry; and
7. Tess’ take on over-the-counter birth control.

 
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Sexual Freedom T-shirts! 

Want to wear your sexual freedom pride? Well, now you can! You can grab this groovy t-shirt from Bonfire and support our work at the same time! The proceeds from this sale will be donated to Woodhull and help us continue our fight to have sexual rights recognized as human rights. The shirts will only be available until 12/25/22 so don’t wait to order yours!

 

Our 2022 Impact Report is Live! 

This year Woodhull: 

  • Hosted our first in-person Sexual Freedom Summit since the COVID-19 pandemic started 
  • Brought over 600 people together to tell Congress “No” on the EARN IT Act with our petition 
  • Started a brand new program to train sex worker rights activists called Spokes Hub 
  • Signed on to over 25 different coalition letters on topics related to sexual freedom & human rights 
  • Highlighted the human rights violations posed by censorship during our Human Rights Commission 

Read about all of this and more in our Impact Report

 
 
 

(Electronic Frontier Foundation)

The Supreme Court Must Protect Internet Users’ Rights to Access Controversial Information Online (Electronic Frontier Foundation) 

Aaron Mackey urges us to protect First Amendment rights online: “In Twitter v. Taamneh, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that online services can be civilly liable under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) based on claims that the platform had generalized awareness that members of a terrorist organization used its service. [...] Although the legal issues in Taamneh primarily center on how federal courts should interpret the ATA’s language,the Ninth Circuit’s broad interpretation would have dangerous implications for the First Amendment rights of internet users and the platforms hosting their speech.”
Read more.

 

(Yana Paskova:Getty Images)

Why the Respect for Marriage Act doesn’t codify same-sex marriage rights (The 19th) 

Kate Sosin explains the Respect for Marriage Act: “The U.S. House approved legislation [December 8] to shore up marriage rights for LGBTQ+ couples. The Respect for Marriage Act has been hailed by lawmakers as a landmark law that will protect queer Americans for generations to come. [...] But the bill doesn’t codify the Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision that granted LGBTQ+ couples the right to marry. Instead, it forces states without marriage equality laws to recognize LGBTQ+ marriages from other states. It also declares all legal marriages in the United States must be recognized, even across state lines.” Read more.

 

(The Cut:Getty Images)

 

The Pilots Flying Abortion Patients Across State Lines: Elevated Access is circumventing restrictive legislation and all-out bans from high in the air. (The Cut) 

Kim Brooks writes about flying abortion patients across state lines: “Flying women by private plane to get them to abortion clinics may sound too far-fetched, too expensive, and too legally precarious, but that’s because you’re probably imagining the sort of private planes a Kardashian might fly around in and be tracked by regulators and celeb watchers. Or maybe you’re thinking of the small commercial puddle jumpers you get booked on for a very short connection. To get a sense of what Elevated Access is doing, think smaller — much smaller — and much further off the radar.” Read more.

 

(Envanto:Shutterstock:Austen Risolvato:Rewire News Group)

Christian Conservatives Want to Control Classrooms and Libraries (Rewire News Group) 

Lisa Needham writes about conservatives’ control of classrooms and libraries: “Curriculum attacks are rampant, and the people behind them aren’t hiding the ball. Their goal is no less than the erasure of the marginalized. For example, the Texas State Board of Education bowed to conservative pressure and won’t be updating its social studies curriculum standards until 2025—despite the fact they haven’t been updated in over a decade. Conservatives blocked the proposed standards because they had information about the history of the LGBTQ pride movement and discussed same-sex marriage.”
Read more.

 

(Milad Fakurian:Unsplash)

How Georgia’s Sex Offender Registry Traps People in Debt and Homelessness (The Appeal) 

Christina Lynch writes about Georgia’s sex offender registry: “In 2011, after six years of engaging in sex work to survive, I was arrested and charged with, at age 19, pimping, pandering, and exploiting a minor who was over 16 years old. In 2012, I was convicted and sentenced to 30 years, with 14 to be served in custody, and forced to register as a sex offender. [...] Sex offender registries are debt traps that cause mass homelessness and mass incarceration. After years estranged from society and divorced from a solid employment history, the cost of rebuilding a life from rubble and debris is exorbitant (housing, furniture, vehicle, insurance, food, clothing, medications and medical expenses, etc).” Read more.

 

(Photo by Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition)

 

Tess’ Take: Dear FDA… Approve Over-the-Counter Birth Control, Now (Woodhull’s Sex & Politics Blog) 

Tess Joseph shares her take on over-the-counter birth control: “OTC birth control would not resolve the devastating lack of reproductive justice across the United States, but it would certainly bring us closer to guaranteeing one of our fundamental human rights. Approving OTC birth control would be consistent with the demands of a nearly two-decade coalition-driven effort involving more than 100 reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations, research and advocacy groups, youth activists, health care providers, prominent medical and health professional associations, and regulatory experts. And it would most certainly be consistent with our demands at the Woodhull Freedom Foundation for sexual freedom to be promoted, celebrated, and accessible to all.”
Read more.

 
 

 Woodhull Freedom Foundation is the only national human rights organization working full time to protect the fundamental human right to sexual freedom. Our work includes fighting censorship, eliminating discrimination based on gender or sexual identity, or family form, and protecting the right to engage in consensual sexual activity and expression. We do this through advocacy, education, and coalition building.   

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