Arguing the case against the term “revenge porn” | Project 2025, disability rights law, and abortion
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Bi-Weekly Sexual Freedom Newsletter Thursday, August 1, 2024
Top Stories This Week
What’s happening at Woodhull;
The Kids Online Safety Act poses grave danger to LGBTQIA+ youth;
An HIV criminalization law in Tennessee;
The new normal for abortion funds without Roe;
Arguing the case against the term “revenge porn”;
Project 2025 twists disability rights law to attack abortion; and
Woodhull’s take on free speech and sexual freedom.
BREAKING: Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) Passes the Senate!
In a 91 - 3 vote yesterday, the US Senate voted to pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). We are disappointed by the passage of KOSA in the Senate yesterday. Woodhull remains opposed to this bill. After years of shadowbanning, de-platforming, and online censorship experienced in the wake of the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA/SESTA), we know firsthand about the harm KOSA will have on marginalized communities, especially LGBTQ+ youth, if it becomes law. We urge our Representatives to stop this unconstitutional legislation!
Listen Now - Ricci Levy joins Adult Site Broker Talk Podcast!
Last week, Woodhull’s President & CEO, Ricci Levy, joined Bruce F., host of the Adult Site Broker podcast, to talk about Woodhull’s work, sexual freedom and how it relates to the work of the adult industry.
The podcast hosts the movers and shakers of the adult industry, from all aspects of the business. Thanks for having us!
Woodhull Checks the Facts!
This week, we’re busting the myth that banning p0rnography would stop the distribution of nonconsensual sexual images (NCII), otherwise known as “revenge porn.”
Does it? Hint: NO! ❌
Read more about sexual freedom myths in our latest Fact Checked By Woodhull. But don’t stop there! Share the truth on your social channels, because the more informed everyone is, the more difficult it is for the disinformation to spread.
Remember, the best way to defeat the #disinformation used to attack our fundamental human rights is with the truth!
This Bill Purports to Protect Kids from Big Tech. For LGBTQ+ Youth, It’s a Grave Danger (them.)
The Kids Online Safety Act purports to protect kids from big tech. But in reality, it poses grave danger to LGBTQ+ youth. Anna Bonesteel and Evan Greer write: “As a queer- and trans-led advocacy group focused on the ways technology impacts human rights, our organization, Fight for the Future, has seen bills like KOSA before: misguided internet bills that try to solve real problems, but ultimately throw marginalized people under the bus by expanding censorship and surveillance rather than addressing corporate abuses.” Read more.
(Michael Fleshman/Flickr)
The DOJ Blocked a Tennessee HIV Criminalization Law. State Lawmakers Keep Pushing Back. (The Appeal)
In May 2024, the federal government and Shelby County, Tennessee, reached a settlement to stop the enforcement of a law that discriminates against people living with HIV. Yet just two months later, lawmakers are already attacking the settlement.
Adam M. Rhodes writes: “In May, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reached a landmark deal with the prosecutor for Shelby County, Tennessee, which will stop that office from enforcing a law that the federal government says discriminates against people living with HIV. The county and DOJ agreed to resolve claims that the county violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by prosecuting the state’s ‘aggravated prostitution’ statute, which makes it a felony for people living with the virus to engage in sex work—while engaging in sex work without the virus is ordinarily a misdemeanor in the state. But, in response, state lawmakers are already attacking the deal and people living with the virus.” Read more.
(Shutterstock)
A New Normal for Abortion Funds Without ‘Roe’ (Rewire News Group)
Post-Roe, the landscape of abortion access – and the function of abortion funds – has changed significantly. Susan Buttenwieser writes: “In the two years since the Dobbs decision, Midwest Access Coalition has increased its practical support efforts, which includes not only providing financial assistance with all of these costs, but also logistical and emotional support. It also developed a software program to distribute cash directly to their clients while they are in an abortion clinic to cover any additional expenses outside the abortion procedure, such as food, pain medication, and child care. Major, sustained investment is necessary for abortion funds to be able to continue providing this vital role in the abortion access ecosystem.”Read more.
(Albany Times Union/Hearst Newspapers/Getty Images)
Revenge Porn Is an Outdated, Inaccurate Term, Advocates Say (Teen Vogue)
The language we use about abuse matters. Jasmine Mithani writes: “It’s hard to pin down where the term ‘revenge porn’ originated. Sharing intimate photographs without permission predates the internet, but technology has ramped up this behavior and worsened its consequences for victims. Popular websites popped up in the early 2000s encouraging men to share intimate photographs of their ex-girlfriends as ‘revenge’ for break ups. Today, many advocates have a simple tagline: It’s not revenge, and it’s not porn.” Read more.
(Gina M Randazzo/Zuma)
Project 2025 Is Twisting Disability Rights Law to Attack Abortion (Mother Jones)
In a truly twisted turn of events, conservatives are attempting to use disability rights law to attack abortion. Julia Métraux writes: “Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s guidebook for Republican control of the presidency and Congress, is, unsurprisingly, coming for abortion rights.
But in a new twist, they want to use a key disability rights law to do it. In Project 2025’s plan for the Department of Health and Human Services, Roger Severino, a former Trump administration HHS official, writes the following: ‘The undeniable reality of abortion is that it does not always result in a dead baby, and these born-alive babies are left to die. HHS should use EMTALA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which prohibits disability discrimination, to investigate instances of infants born alive and left untreated in covered hospitals.’” Read more.
Our 1st Amendment rights are central to accessing and exercising our right to sexual freedom. We at the Woodhull Freedom Foundation share our take on the interconnectedness between free speech and sexual freedom: “We know that coming together as a community – whether online or in-person, to celebrate or to advocate for change – is critical to the fight for sexual freedom. We also are well-aware to do so safely, taking precautions is often advised. We encourage everyone to educate themselves on ways to minimize their risk so they can continue to gather, express themselves, and take action.” Read more.
Woodhull Freedom Foundation is the only national human rights organization working full time to protect the fundamental human right to sexual freedom. Our work includes fighting censorship, eliminating discrimination based on gender or sexual identity, or family form, and protecting the right to engage in consensual sexual activity and expression. We do this through advocacy, education, and coalition building.
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