Top Stories This Week

• What’s happening at Woodhull;
• Disability justice and marriage equality;
• Abortion bans in GOP-led states;
• Challenging an anti-trans law;
• The future of the Kids Online Safety Act;
• Kink, disability, and queerness; and
• Woodhull’s take on the Kids Online Safety Act. 
  

School Yourself on Censorship’s Impact on Sex Ed this Month!

School is back in session, and guess what’s missing? Comprehensive sex education. As always, you can count on Woodhull to bring critical conversations to you! Join us for this month’s Censoring of Sexual Freedom virtual series on August 29th at 12 Noon EDT!

Join Mandy Salley as she talks with three passionate sex education advocates—Jaclyn Friedman of EducateUS, Alison Macklin of SIECUS, and Rosalie M. Wong of SWEEP NJ.

We’ll be talking about how United States sex education policies are wildly inconsistent depending on state law, and “12 states do not require sex education or HIV/STI instruction to be any of the following by law: age-appropriate, medically accurate, culturally responsive, or evidence-based/evidence-informed.” Sex educators have a hard time providing high-quality education to their students as it is, and censorship makes their jobs harder! 

SIECUS. (2024). SIECUS State Profiles. Retrieved August 6, 2024, from https://siecus.org/siecus-state-profiles/

Sexual Freedom Month is Coming!

YIPPEE! Next month is Sexual Freedom Month and you’re invited to celebrate with Woodhull! We’ve scheduled a whole month of inspiring programming, exciting contests, and even a birthday party on September 23rd - Victoria Woodhull’s birthday and Sexual Freedom Day.

Stay tuned to you inboxes and be sure to follow Woodhull on social media: @WoodhullFreedom
and use #sfmonth24 to join in on the fun!

(Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund)

‘We just want to be married’: Some disabled people can’t get married and keep needed benefits (Today) 

Disability justice and marriage equality are intertwined. Meghan Holohan writes: “Lori Long met her partner, Mark Contreras, when they were both in their 40s, and they soon knew they wanted to spend their lives together. As they planned their wedding, Long made a startling discovery. If she got married, she would lose the disability benefits she's had since she was a child. Long lives with ankylosing spondylitis, an autoimmune condition that can impair mobility. [...] Long is not alone. Many disabled people realize that if they marry, they will lose the benefits and insurance that allow them to live independently.” Read more.

(Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Abortion Bans in GOP-Led States ‘Violate Human Rights,’ Says Amnesty (Common Dreams) 

As Amnesty International recently reported, abortion bans “cause extensive harm” and “violate human rights.” Edward Carver writes: “The Amnesty report finds that the ‘devastating consequences’ of Dobbs—a landmark ruling brought down 6-3 by the court's right-wing majority—have disproportionately impacted BIPOC, immigrant, low-income, and transgender people. An unnamed Latina woman in Texas who was pregnant with twins learned at 12 weeks that one of them had a fatal condition in utero that could threaten the other’s health. She had to travel out of state just to do what was required to save the viable fetus.” Read more.

(Cage Rivera/Rewire News Group illustration)

Anti-Trans Attacks in Tennessee Are Nothing New. Colleges Need to Step Up for Their Students. (Rewire News Group) 

In United States v. Skrmetti, Samantha and Brian Williams and their 15-year-old trans daughter have brought a legal challenge to a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for trans minors. Induja Kumar writes: “As the conservative Supreme Court sets out to hear next term United States v. Skrmetti, which challenges Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors, it is clear that trans rights in the South are not only up for debate, but also under severe threat. Colleges and universities, alongside establishment politicians, are just some of the many institutions of power in the country that are unwilling to hear the demands of young trans people and medical professionals. But in Tennessee, anti-trans attacks on young people are nothing new.” Read more.

(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) 

The Kids Online Safety Act Is Dead For Now, But Advocates Warn It Will Return (Teen Vogue) 

Thankfully, the Kids Online Safety Act seems to be stopped in its tracks, for now. James Factora writes: “After being passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate on Tuesday, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is effectively dead after Republican House leadership indicated that they would not consider the bill as currently written. However, advocates warn that KOSA — which was extensively criticized by LGBTQ+ organizations and free speech advocacy groups, including the ACLU, for its potential to censor useful online information amid its targeting of legitimately harmful content — will likely return to Congress in another form.” Read more.

(Shaun Lucas)

How Queer, Disabled People Are Finding Pleasure and Community Through Kink (Them) 

Sexual freedom and liberation for queer, trans, and disabled folks are interconnected – including through kink. Sara Youngblood Gregory writes: “Kink, both as a practice and a community, can offer a space where queer and trans disabled people get to experience their own bodies on their own terms. From BDSM and beyond, kink can happen anywhere desire happens and be adapted across a full spectrum of bodies and abilities. It ranges from sensation play and bondage to power exchanges and roleplay. As Anna Randall, a clinical sexologist and executive director of The Alternative Sexualities Health Research Alliance (TASHRA) points out, research has even proven that kink can offer particular benefits for disabled folks. As both a practice and community, kink can encourage confidence, personal healing, body acceptance, community building, and in some cases, even pain or symptom management, Randall tells Them.” Read more.

(Photo by FlyD)

Woodhull’s Take: The Looming Danger of the Kids Online Safety Act (Woodhull’s Sex & Politics Blog) 

We at the Woodhull Freedom Foundation share our take on the Kids Online Safety Act: “But in a surprising (and relieving) turn of events, on August 1, D.C. insiders reported that the House would not take up KOSA. The risks posed by KOSA aren’t confined to the bill itself; it’s not the only bad internet bill out there. We know that we need to remain vigilant, but a moment of celebration is certainly deserved: pro-censorship laws like KOSA make children, teenagers, all of us, less safe. We welcome the news that the House won’t take up KOSA.” Read more.

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