Tag Archives: activism

Radio Free Europe reports: Religious hard-liners in Moldova’s capital tried to crash a rally in support of the country’s LGBT community but were fended off by police who deployed tear gas. The Orthodox Christian protesters unsuccessfully attempted to break through a police line set up to guard dozens off demonstrators who marched through Chisinau in the May 19 rally against …

The Huffington Post reports: Gun control advocate David Hogg called on the press to stop using the name and image of the 17-year-old student who police say carried out the mass shooting at a Texas high school on Friday. Hogg’s call echoes that of Anderson Cooper, who said on his CNN show Friday night that he would not be naming …

From Facebook: Manhattan lawyer Aaron Schlossberg’s racist rant against Spanish-speaking workers was caught on video—reminding us that the bigots among us aren’t even hiding anymore. So a group of New Yorkers are getting together to counter his hate with a Latin fiesta in front of his UWS apartment building.

This week marks the fourteenth blogiversary of this here website thingy. Counting this one, we’re at 75,285 posts over 14 years, the last ten of which have been without a day off. Whether I am insanely committed or am insane and should be committed – that is your call. The actual launch date anniversary comes this weekend, but since more …

The Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reports: Parkland shooting survivors Cameron Kasky and David Hogg are reportedly going to prom together. On Monday, Kasky shared a Tweet of himself smiling and embracing Hogg with the caption “Prom 2018.” The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High students have been among the most visible survivors of the Feb. 14 mass school shooting. Hogg, a senior, and …

Entertainment Weekly reports: David Hogg and Lauren Hogg, students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and survivors of February’s deadly mass shooting in Parkland, Florida have signed a deal with Random House for a book to be published in June, EW has confirmed. The siblings have been leaders in the gun control movement that took shape among students, in the …

President Obama profiles Parkland students for TIME: Seared by memories of seeing their friends murdered at a place they believed to be safe, these young leaders don’t intimidate easily. They see the NRA and its allies—whether mealymouthed politicians or mendacious commentators peddling conspiracy theories—as mere shills for those who make money selling weapons of war to whoever can pay. They’re …

“Mike Pence has made a career out of attacking the rights and equal dignity of LGBTQ people, women and other marginalized communities. Now as vice president, he poses one of the greatest threats to equality in the history of our movement. With the world distracted by Donald Trump’s scandal-ridden White House, Mike Pence’s nefarious agenda has been allowed to fly …

Reuters reports: China’s Sina Weibo’s on Monday reversed a decision to remove gay content after outcry among gay Chinese who say the company had smeared homosexuality by lumping it with pornography as it tried to meet government censorship directives. China’s Twitter-equivalent Weibo said on Friday it would remove pornographic, violent or gay videos and cartoons in a three-month campaign, singling …

BBC Sports reports: Diver Tom Daley has called for more Commonwealth countries to decriminalise homosexuality. Daley won his fourth Commonwealth Games gold medal as he and Dan Goodfellow won the synchronised 10m platform on the Gold Coast in Australia, where same-sex marriage was made legal in December. Homosexuality remains illegal in 70% of the 53 Commonwealth countries. “Coming to the …

TMZ reports: David Hogg might soon be trading one sunshine state for another … because the Parkland leader’s been accepted to UC Irvine!!! The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School senior tells us he got an acceptance letter from the prestigious school last week … officially welcoming him to the Anteater family. The letter says, in part, “Students choose UCI to …

Since Trump’s election tens of millions of Americans have turned out in the streets in the largest protests seen in decades. Today the Washington Post breaks down the numbers: One in five Americans have protested in the streets or participated in political rallies since the beginning of 2016. Of those, 19 percent said they had never before joined a march …

This is fantastic: Striking Oklahoma teachers jangled their keys and chanted “Where’s my car?” at their governor after she compared their demands to a “teenager wanting a better car.” Public schools in Oklahoma are closed this week as teachers strike for better pay and resources. On Tuesday, Gov. Mary Fallin (R) said the teachers striking for improved pay and benefits …

The Tulsa World reports: Thousands of Oklahoma teachers are descending on the Oklahoma Capitol on Monday in the first day of what could be an extended teacher walkout. Early Monday afternoon, Tulsa Public Schools and Broken Arrow Public Schools were among those announcing they would shut down again Tuesday in support of the teacher walkout. By 9:15 a.m., a continuous …

Parkland activist David Hogg was interviewed this morning by CNN’s Alison Camerota. Via Mediaite: Camerota pointed out that Ingraham is a conservative talk show host, and isn’t objective, before noting that she apologized for her tweet poking fun at Hogg.  “Do you accept her apology?” “No,” Hogg said. “She’s only apologizing after a third of her advertisers pulled out. I …

The Hill reports: Parkland, Fla., high school shooting survivor David Hogg said Thursday that he will only accept an apology from Fox News host Laura Ingraham for mocking him over college rejections if she denounced her network’s coverage of the Parkland students pushing for gun control. Four companies — TripAdvisor, Wayfair, Expedia and pet food brand Nutrish — pulled their …

Newsweek reports: Gun control activist David Hogg, who survived the Florida school shooting last month, is calling for people to target Fox News host Laura Ingraham’s advertisers after she attacked him on social media over his college rejections. Ingraham shared a Daily Wire story on Wednesday, writing that Hogg had been rejected by four colleges he applied to “and whines …

The Indianapolis Star reports: The face painting, rainbow S’mores on a stick and drag performances planned for Columbus, Indiana’s first gay pride festival are for fun. But organizers hope the April 14 event also will send a message of inclusiveness from the hometown of Vice President Pence, who has a long record of being on the opposite side of issues …

NPR reports: Linda Brown, who as a schoolgirl was at the center of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that rejected racial segregation in American schools, died in Topeka, Kan., Sunday afternoon. She was 76. Her sister, Cheryl Brown Henderson, confirmed the death to The Topeka Capital-Journal. The 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education, involved several …

Kyle Mantyla reports at Right Wing Watch: In the wake of the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, last month, televangelist Pat Robertson voiced his support for a ban on assault weapons, saying that there is no reason why “the general population needs to have automatic weapons” and that a ban on them was “sensible.” Over the …