Watching the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the Equality Act right now (through my fingers and while burning a 7 day candle or 5)
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Sen. Grassley previews Abigail Shrier's testimony for the minority (e.g., against the Equality Act), IDs her as "Yale-educated." Yeah, here's what her whole deal is:
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While they wind up Equality Act lead sponsor Sen. Merkley's webcam, here's my story on what to expect at today's hearings:
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"Fun" fact: Dems on the Senate Judiciary Committee may be voting for the Equality Act—against LGBTQ discrimination—but some of the senior ones (Blumenthal, Klobuchar) were SESTA/FOSTA's biggest proponents, increasing discrimination against sex workers (lots of whom are LGBTQ)
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Sen. Tammy Baldwin said "bisexual (rights)"
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(Somewhere along the way members of Congress started unpacking LGBTQ as "gay and trans")
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Lankford from Louisiana cites RFRA, which dovetails with his 90s-era claim that LGBTQ rights takes something away from... well, "others" (here is RFRA: congress.gov/bill/103rd-con)
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Hyde-Smith from Mississippi claims Equality Act would eliminate single-sex spaces for women (it would not) and then pitches herself as a product of women's rights successes, as first woman senator from her state
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Hyde-Smith also claims (not true) that girls' sports would be undermined by the Equality Act, and cites Doriane Coleman, one of the women on that "what to do with trans people in sports" working group with no trans people on it (about them here: newrepublic.com/article/161425)
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Her state, Mississippi, just banned trans girls and women from sports:
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The anti-trans sports bill in Congress Hyde-Smith just mentioned she supports was also a top priority for... QAnon CrossFit-er Marjorie Taylor Greene. CrossFit has ditched her: buzzfeednews.com/article/ryancb
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Blackburn sounds like she could be reading Feminist Current posts from 2014
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Republicans know they can't do old school homophobia, which is why they are marshaling anti-trans myths about predatory trans women. As ever, though, they are using children—girls specifically—as props.
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Testifying now: Rep. Marie Newman from Illinois, talking supportively about her trans daughter and how this legislation would protect her. (You may remember Newman from the bullying she faced from Marjorie Taylor Greene. Her response: nymag.com/intelligencer/)
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Rep. Newman to committee: I encourage you not to "weaponize religion" or "red herrings about sports"
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I salute you if you, too, after the witnesses were introduced, are now saying in your head, "Mmmm PFLAG I'm beginning to like the sound of that"
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All they have to go with now is just repeating
FEMALE
FEMALE
FEMALE
until we zone out
(I'm losing it)
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Sorry, I should have said, Oklahoma!
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Lankford from Louisiana cites RFRA, which dovetails with his 90s-era claim that LGBTQ rights takes something away from... well, "others" (here is RFRA: congress.gov/bill/103rd-con)
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Edith Guffey, member of the PFLAG board, mother of a gay and nonbinary child, links the ways religion was used to justify slavery to how it is being used today to justify anti-LGBTQ discrimination
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Abigail Shrier, who is straight, cis, and has absolutely no expertise on LGBTQ rights, is here to be a pleasant-looking mother and drop the words "sex offender" into the hearing and framing progressive groups as predators who are discounting the safety of women and girls
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Please spare us the alleged concern, Abby, for the safety of people in prisons who face systemic sexual assault when you want to use them as a prop for your bigotry
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Shrier drops RBG's name, I swear to god, as if she is on her side... when RBG was in the majority *affirming in Bostock* that anti-LGBTQ discrimination is sex discrimination
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Testifying now: a HS sophomore, Stella Keating, who is trans. She lives in WA, where she has protections from discrimination. But what about when she goes to college? "I could be denied medical care or be evicted for being transgender." She wants to be a civil rights attorney.
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Honestly hope Stella has all the support in the world right now. What she just did (given the reality of the TERF twitter troll to Tucker Carlson media ecosystem) is astoundingly brave and necessary.
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Assume Grassley out of his depth
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Grassley doing his best summary of Julie Bindel's oeuvre
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Shrier making her best pitch for a permanent gig commenting on women's issues for OANN
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Seriously, the degree to which TERF arguments floated by UK columnists like Bindel, Burchill, Ditum, and of course The Atlantic's own HELEN LEWIS are now free-flowing in a US Senate committee hearing...
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Sen. Graham keeping it honest and asks about how to better offer protections and resources for LGBTQ survivors in reauthorizing VAWA (given how much the anti-Equality Act people are going on about sexual violence, I am assuming, but also this is something he cares about)
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The truth is, lesbian, bisexual, queer, and trans women are more likely to be denied supportive DV/SA services than straight and cis women are to be somehow excluded due to their inclusion
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“Hi, I’m Stella, and I’m transgender. I’m here before you today representing the hundreds of thousands of kids just like me who are supported and loved by their family, friends and communities across the country.”
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