Top Stories This Week

• What’s happening at Woodhull;
• Anti-LGBTQ+ measures in must-pass funding bills;
• Trans existence behind bars;
• Controlling online speech;
• Sex work and cryptocurrency;
• Book bans in Iowa; and
• Woodhull’s take on clinic violence in the wake of Roe. 

Sexual Freedom Month is coming! 

Did you know that September 23rd is Sexual Freedom Day and Victoria Woodhull’s birthday? Our namesake would have turned 185 this year. She was way ahead of her time when she was alive, and she inspires our fight for sexual freedom to this day.

We will be honoring her memory and celebrating sexual freedom during the entire month of September! Be sure to stay tuned to your inbox and follow us on social media so you don’t miss out! 

September Censorship Series Program is Live!

Book bans have become commonplace in every state over the past two years. Bans on books with LGBTQ+ characters and storylines that tackle tough topics like sexual assault and racism, written by marginalized authors, are commonly selected for book bans. Even Shakespeare has been targeted by book banners in Florida!

Book bans have become frequent against the backdrop of abortion bans and anti-trans laws. In this discussion, experts engaged in fighting against book bans will explore what is driving book bans and their ties to hate Christian Nationalism and anti-democratic groups. Join us on September 28th for what is sure to be a thought-provoking discussion on censorship in America!

Woodhull is proud to be a member of the Braver Network! 

We are proud to be a member of the Braver Network, a new initiative launched by our friends at Braver Angels. Braver Network is a network of organizations across the political spectrum working together to bridge the partisan divide. Woodhull was featured in the brand new Braver Network newsletter alongside fellow member NumbersUSA last week.

Thank you for having us, Braver Network. We can’t wait to get to work! 

(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images)

House Republicans are adding dozens of anti-LGBTQ+ measures to must-pass bills (The 19th) 

Orion Rummler highlights anti-LGBTQ+ measures in must-pass funding bills: “House Republicans have embedded at least 45 anti-LGBTQ+ provisions into must-pass funding bills — many of which would weaken discrimination protections for same-sex couples or restrict gender-affirming care for adults and minors. The volume and severity of these provisions is an unprecedented attempt by federal lawmakers to restrict the rights of LGBTQ+ people, activists say.” Read more.

(Brad.K via Flickr)

As Anti-Trans Bills Target Prisoners, Some Warn of a ‘Canary in the Coal Mine’ (The Appeal) 

Adam M. Rhodes focuses on trans existence behind bars: “Lawmakers in a handful of states have begun taking aim at transgender people in prison with extreme measures that seek to infringe on the rights of an especially vulnerable segment of the population. Over the past two years, elected officials have proposed a variety of mechanisms designed to suppress transgender existence behind bars. The bills are part of a much broader wave of anti-LGBTQ state legislation, which has most notably included hotly contested efforts to block healthcare access for trans youth.” Read more.

(Electronic Frontier Foundation)

The U.S. Government Wants To Control Online Speech to “Protect Kids” (Electronic Frontier Foundation) 

Joe Mullin writes about controlling online speech: “The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a bill that allows for a wide range of government penalties for online speech, could soon be passed by Congress. If that happens, the access we have to information may be forever changed. KOSA will make state prosecutors and federal bureaucrats the final arbiters of online content moderation in the U.S. KOSA is fundamentally a censorship bill. Politicians are justifying it by harping on something we all know—that there’s content online that’s inappropriate for kids. But instead of letting tricky questions about what online content is appropriate at what age be decided by parents and families, politicians are stepping in to override us.” Read more.

(Dinachi/Getty Images)

Sex Workers Took Refuge in Crypto. Now It’s Failing Them (Source) 

Joel Khalili explains cryptocurrency and sex work: “Data published in May by the Free Speech Coalition (FSC), a US trade association for the adult industry, suggests two-thirds of sex workers have lost access to either a bank account or financial service, while 40 percent have had an account closed within the past year. Faced with this predicament, sex workers have gone in search of an alternative means of both storing wealth and accepting payment. In cryptocurrency, for a time, it appeared they had found one: Not only did crypto allow clients to pay discreetly, without supplying personal information, but it gave sex workers a way to bypass the banking system entirely, by taking payments directly to their crypto wallets. But as regulatory scrutiny of cryptocurrency ratchets up in response to the fallout of the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, sex workers are bumping up against its limitations.” Read more.

(Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)

Iowa School District Bans Books by Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood After AI Review for ‘Depictions of a Sex Act’ (Rolling Stone) 

Althea Legaspi breaks down Iowa’s book bans: “Books are being pulled from the library shelves of an Iowa school district following new legislation from Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, which purports to protect children from obscene material, The Gazette reports. The new legislation, Senate File 496, prohibits ‘instruction related to gender identity and sexual orientation in school districts, charter schools and innovation zone schools in kindergarten through grade six.’ It requires that every book available to students be ‘age appropriate’ and free of any ‘descriptions or visual depictions of a sex act.’ The district used Artificial Intelligence to make [its] determinations on what books to ban.” Read more.

(Gayatri Malhotra)

Woodhull’s Take: Hill v. Colorado and Future Erosion of Reproductive Freedom (Woodhull’s Sex & Politics Blog) 

We at the Woodhull Freedom Foundation share our take on clinic violence in the wake of Roe: “In Hill, the Court upheld a law that banned approaching another person within eight feet outside clinics ‘for the purpose of [...] engaging in oral protest, education, or counseling,’ unless that person consents. The law also prevents protesters from coming within 100 feet of the clinic’s entrance. Around 22 years after Hill, Westchester County in New York passed a similar law. The Becket Fund is challenging Westchester County’s law and the precedent – i.e., the Hill decision – that it relies on.” Read more.

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