Pic of the day. (Via) A remarkable speech from 1970 on gay rights by Black Panthers co-founder Huey Newton. Starting tomorrow, Amplify Your Voice is hosting an  International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia Blogathon. Samhita at The American Prospect on marrying yourself . Kelley at the community blog talks about the abysmally antiquated and sexist selection of online games for [...]

An awesome and innovative campaign by Mama Hope to break stereotypes and get important work done in the process.

http://youtu.be/qSElmEmEjb4

Via Upworthy.

Last week, the House Judiciary Committee approved their version of the Violence Against Women Act, which compared to current Senate-approved provisions in the bill which would include protections for LGBTQ folks and immigrants, is just not a good look:

The House Judiciary Committee last week approved its version of the reauthorization bill, which not only omits improvements the [...]

In the closest the state has come to legalizing civil unions, a special session in Colorado’s legislature effectively killed a bill that would have granted the right to same-sex couples before it even reached the House floor :

A measure allowing same-sex civil unions that prompted Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper to call a special session after Republicans killed it last [...]

A Mama’s Day radio project will connect incarcerated mothers to their families and communities for Mother’s Day. Melinda Gates is launching a new initiative that will be investing billions into global contraception access.  Cornell West and others were convicted of disorderly conduct for protesting New York’s stop and frisk policy. Greece and France vote against austerity measures in their [...]

This is beyond heinous: 

A group of partiers on the roof of a Cornell frat house allegedly  taunted black students and threw objects  — including an empty Jack Daniels bottle — at them as they passed on the street. Beverly Fonkwo, a sophomore, says she and a friend were walking home when people began throwing things at them from [...]

It’s kind of laughable that as GOP denial continues with their whole “the ‘war on women’ is a myth” talking points on the airwaves and talk shows, GOP state legislation continues to dig themselves in a deeper and deeper hole with state legislation that completely screws Americans with uteri and their families. Here are a few tidbits of [...]

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RIP, MCA. New allegations have come out against Dominique Strauss-Kahn for allegedly gang-raping a Belgian sex worker. A GOP alternative to Obama’s health care bill touts putting states in power over health care decisions, but would force 17 states to discontinue programs that help low-income women pay for abortion. Shockingly, some Americans  still won’t vote for Obama  because he’s black. A [...]

Julia Bluhm is one bad-ass 8th grader. You may have heard about the petition the SPARKteam activist  recently started, calling on  Seventeen magazine — in the effort to include real girls in its pages — to feature just one photo-shopped spread per issue. After 30,000 signatures, Seventeen editor Ann Shoket invited Julia to meet on Wednesday — though not [...]

In case you missed it, Obama’s presidential campaign released a new website yesterday, The Life of Julia , that draws comparisons between what an American middle class woman’s life would look like under a Romney administration compared to Obama. While on it’s head, the idea of using one (white, cisgender) fictional character to represent the many differently [...]

Pic of the day. ( via) Brandy Martell, a 37-year old trans woman, was killed in Oakland on Sunday — and no one seems to be covering it. Bad news: Georgia’s governor has signed the “fetal pain” ban bill into law. The Obama campaign has released a pretty hardcore ad highlighting Romney’s horrible record on women. [...]

As always, Jay brings it home. http://youtu.be/hLEAwbef8-g Approx. transcript after the jump (thx Melissa!!) So one of the stories I’ve missed while I’ve been away is the Trayvon Martin case.  And of course I was watching the story very closely, talking about it on my radio show and in other places, taking part in the protests.  And [...]

As always, Jay brings it home. http://youtu.be/hLEAwbef8-g Approx. transcript after the jump (thx Melissa!!) So one of the stories I’ve missed while I’ve been away is the Trayvon Martin case.  And of course I was watching the story very closely, talking about it on my radio show and in other places, taking part in the protests.  And [...]

Feministing is honored to be a co-sponsor for Girls for Gender Equity’s 10 Year Anniversary Celebration  on June 14th when the grassroots, NYC-based organization will be honoring Anita Hill and recognizing the last decade of community work to improve the lives and leadership of girls and women of color. If you don’t know about GGE, you really, [...]

The blog is going on strike today for May Day, but we wanted to provide sources to follow for May Day events and ongoings: Mother Jones has an interactive map and live coverage of the latest developments throughout the day. Peter Rothberg at The Nation has a guide to May Day events in various cities across the [...]

Hip hop activist and DJ Kuttin Kandi (big ups to Queens) is featured in Colorlines with a really powerful interview on her battle with heart disease and the fatphobia that’s come along with it. Missourians are fighting against legislation that would essentially make it legal to bully against LGBT students in the state’s schools. Irin on the myth of [...]

The U.S. Senate just voted in favor of the measure reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act with a bipartisan vote of 68-31. Sen. Harry Reid has released a statement:

“More than a third of women in this country have been victims of violence, sexual assault or stalking by a partner. Today’s strong bipartisan vote will give law enforcement [...]

Yesterday, SB 1070 — the highly controversial Arizona law that would legalize racial profiling in the state – was challenged in the Supreme Court by the Obama administration. In the meantime, opponents and supporters mobilized outside to protest, and while supporters were outnumbered, they certainly made their stance clear: http://youtu.be/YZtSEHU5wBo Songs, chants and signs telling undocumented immigrants to “go [...]