Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden on Thursday emphasized his commitment to LGBTQ rights, including his support for the Equality Act, in a message to the Human Rights Campaign, the country’s largest LGBTQ rights group.
“The White House should never be a source of opposition or fear or oppression,” he added. “It should be a source of hope, of moral courage and of unification.”
"In addition to voting for women seeking positions of power, each of us can speak out, support organizations promoting women’s rights and power, and engage in peaceful protest movements. We can support mentoring and role modeling, and work to change messages in media. We can call out sexism and racism, and challenge insidious norms in our culture, workplaces, and households. This year is the 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment, a milestone we had hoped could be celebrated with events across America. Though the pandemic has rendered that nearly impossible, an equally fitting tribute is to commit ourselves to new platforms for action, in our own country and on the world stage. And someday soon, I hope we will elect a woman president of the United States."
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/10/hillary-clinton-womens-rights/615463/
Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women's Law Center, discusses Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and her role as a trailblazer for women generally but the architect of so many of our foundational rights.
https://www.npr.org/2020/09/19/914850035/ruth-bader-ginsbergs-legacy-as-women-s-rights-champion
Anita Hill and Joe Biden have a troubled history dating back nearly three decades: In 1991, Biden was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and oversaw the confirmation hearing of then-US Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. Hill was the star witness, testifying that Thomas sexually harassed her when they worked together at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
As the chairman, Biden has long defended himself against complaints that he didn't take Hill's allegations seriously enough, and that he didn't step in to intervene when the hearings devolved into a circus-like atmosphere in which Hill was humiliated. The panel of all-male senators grilled her on her accusations in painful detail, and they called into question her own personal character.
"Notwithstanding all of his limitations in the past, and the mistakes that he made in the past, notwithstanding those -- at this point, between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, I think Joe Biden is the person who should be elected in November," Hill told CNN's Gloria Borger. But it's not just because he's running against Donald Trump, she adds. "Its more about the survivors of gender violence. That's really what it's about."
Refusing to wear masks during this pandemic brings up all sorts of issues and prejudices with right-wing people.
A couple who were removed from a New York City ferry after refusing to wear masks ranted about Black Lives Matter, government control and what they described as discrimination against white people in America.
The woman involved in the incident claimed they wouldn't have been forced to wear a mask on the city ferry "if we were f**king Black."
https://www.newsweek.com/nyc-couple-removed-ferry-refusing-masks-say-they-were-targeted-being-white-1529966
"The U.S. government has never been a consistent promoter of human rights — other interests were often prioritized — but when it did act, it could be powerful. Yet U.S. influence on human rights has plummeted under President Donald Trump. If Joe Biden assumes the presidency, he will need to oversee a major transformation if he wants the U.S. government to be a credible human rights voice.
"It will not be enough simply to revert to the (often inadequate) policies of four years ago. The world has changed since then, with a pandemic, the further rise of China — which recently sanctioned me and 10 other U.S citizens for our rights work on Hong Kong — and growing global awareness of racism, inequality and other injustices that leave so many people behind. U.S. policy will need to adjust."
Such is the view of the Human Rights Watch, who continue in the article to evaluate Trump's role and what could happen if Biden is elected.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/06/us-should-shun-autocrats-re-embrace-human-rights
Scotland has now introduced the Hate Crime and Public Order bill to the Scottish Parliament in response to his recommendations.
The bill adds hate crime based on a person's age to the list of protected groups, with hatred based on someone's sex potentially to be added in the future.
It aims to simplify and clarify the law by bringing together the various existing hate crime laws into a single piece of legislation.
And it creates a new crime of "stirring up hatred" against the protected groups - which is defined as "behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, or communicating threatening or abusive material to another person".
Serious concerns have been raised about the potential impact on freedom of speech, with opponents arguing that the full implications of the proposed law have not been thought through.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-53580326
Mexico is experiencing actions to break down gender hierarchies.
In Mexico City, a feminist collective has taken over the headquarters of the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) making it a shelter for victims of gender-based violence.
On Thursday, The Ni Una Menos (Not One Woman Less) Collective seized the historic center offices of the CNDH, knocked down the building’s sign and replaced it with a banner that reads, “Ni Una Menos Mexico Shelter House.”
The collective’s members claim the CNDH has failed to defend women’s rights and provide adequate assistance to those in need.
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/feminists-take-over-human-rights-office/