Women's World Cup - Yes It is Just as Exciting as the Men's

If you don't know much about the Women's World Cup in Soccer, here is a place to find information. 

Women deserve the same money, publicity, media coverage as the men. In our hierarchy where men are considered more valuable than women, we have a long way to go to even scratch the surface at equality in athletic opportunity in the United States.

For women there is NOTHING that compares to the fan following, media coverage, facilities, money, training opportunities, fame, etc. than Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, National Basketball Association, National Football Association, etc. etc. etc.  Just because women have achieve a slight parity in their one national soccer team, parity doesn't occur in women's professional soccer in the United States by all the standards listed above. 

https://theathletic.com/4644056/2023/07/18/womens-world-cup-2023-united-states-team-guide/?source=fbpcadsbc&ad_id=23856784577070092&fbclid=IwAR0FIzJL1_p3jYmhvyEvlh_-VqTEi1IRDvXed05pvcw-DGaCcLH5cH6pcoc

University of Oregon Appears to Ignore Title IX

In Eugene, Oregon, opposition to Title IX is alive and well at the University of Oregon.

The women's varsity beach volleyball is being treated not any better than a club sport, despite empty promises from the huge $153 million budget athletic department with some of the best sports facilities in the country that things will change.  

The team practices and plays home games in a city park. The players, who do not receive athletic scholarships, have had to use a public restroom with no doors on the stalls. At times, they have driven hundreds of miles for games and stayed three or four to a room and had to share beds.

The beach volleyball team is one of 20 varsity sports at the University of Oregon. It is the only team that receives no athletic scholarship funding. No other public university team among the nation’s largest athletic conferences, the Power Five, spends zero on athletic scholarships. UO has persistently awarded more athletic scholarships to men over women beyond the threshold permitted by Title IX, public records show.

Interviews with more than a dozen former players and coaches and analysis of financial records detail how extreme an outlier Oregon’s beach volleyball program is compared to UO’s other teams, as well as its peers in the Pac-12 Conference.

https://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/2023/07/oregon-ducks-beach-volleyball-players-detail-disparate-treatment-that-experts-say-could-violate-title-ix.html

Homophobic Action at San Diego Library Met with Protest

Two homophobic San Diego residents cleared out the Pride month display at their library and said such materials shouldn’t be available to children, one of several recent clashes over L.G.B.T.Q. issues in California.

In response, Stacks of Amazon boxes containing new copies of the books the protesters checked out started to arrive at the library after The San Diego Union-Tribune reported the homophobic actions. Roughly 180 people, mostly San Diegans, gave more than $15,000 to the library system, which after a city match will provide over $30,000 toward more L.G.B.T.Q.-themed materials and programming, including an expansion of the system’s already popular drag queen story hours.

The Right Wing of this country will try to maintain and build any hierarchy they can. In this case, they have chosen sexual orientation. They will stop at nothing to make the sexual orientation they favor stay on top of our nation's hierarchies. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/22/us/pride-books-library-protest.html

Over One Million Tickets Already Sold for Women's FIFA World Cup

This year's Women's World Cup in soccer is on track to become the most attended women's standalone sporting event ever. To be held in Australia and New Zealand starting July 20, so far 1,032,884 tickets have been sold.

Australia's opening match against Ireland had to be moved to an 83.500 seat stadium because of ticket demand.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/football/top-stories/over-one-million-tickets-sold-for-womens-world-cup-fifa/articleshow/100867080.cms?from=mdr

Southern Baptist Church Believes Women Can't Teach Men or Become Pastors, Sexual Abuse Mishandled

Earlier this year, the Southern Baptist Convention expelled several congregations in which women serve as pastors. Now, the denomination has a strict rule - women cannot be senior or lead pastors. And that's because they believe that the Bible prohibits women from teaching men and having authority over them. And a few of the churches expelled do have senior pastors who are women, in violation of church rules.

A number of Southern Baptist congregations, in fact, employ women who perform all sorts of ministry, but they're not senior pastors. For instance, they could be the education pastor who oversees Sunday school - lots of women in that position. They may teach boys and girls and other women, but they may not teach men.

Last year the church's sexual abuse task force released a very strongly worded report that detailed how Southern Baptists had mishandled sex abuse claims and mistreated victims.

Southern Baptists are losing members. A recent study shows about half a million fewer members between 2021 and 2022, and it's lost 3 million members since the year 2006. It's still the largest Protestant denomination in the country, with just over 13 million people, but smaller than it used to be. The conservative beliefs and values of Southern Baptists still make up a huge part of the Republican political agenda.

https://www.ctpublic.org/2023-06-11/southern-baptist-leaders-will-decide-the-fate-of-congregations-with-women-pastors

Families are Moving Out of States with LGBTQ+ Discrimination Laws

Susan and her husband Brian, who asked that their last names not be used for safety reasons, decided the family needed to move out of Texas in light of the child abuse investigation threats. They say they weren’t sure how far the government would go to separate families like their own or affect Elsa’s access to care as she gets older.

When their daughter told them she did not want to leave Texas, and as long as they were together, they could handle anything, Susan told her: “I feel the same way. I think we could handle anything when we're together. But the reason that we have to go is that they could make it so we can't be together anymore.”

Debi Jackson has long been an advocate for her nonbinary child, testifying against anti-LGBTQ legislation in Missouri alongside them. “Because we don't know what's going to happen and because we don't trust them, it's time to go,” Jackson said. “I don't want my child to have to live through another one of the years of ‘what ifs.’”

https://abcnews.go.com/US/genocidal-transgender-people-begin-flee-states-anti-lgbtq/story?id=99909913

Kids and Adults Can Now Build Women's Soccer Games with Legos

As of June 6, Lego will be offering an international version of women's soccer. Featuring four star players, Megan Rapinoe (USA), Yuki Nagasoto (Japan), Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria), and Sam Kerr (Australia), the kit features half a soccer field with a goal and VAR station, stands with a scoreboard, a ceremonial stage and more.

This sports centered toy is marketed not just for females, but for all soccer enthusiasts. Just as the assumption has been made for years that men's sports will appeal to everyone, Lego has assumed the same for women's sports.

https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/icons-of-play-40634