Pleasure to see you, Meteor readers,

Wow, what a week—and it’s only Tuesday. Tucker Carlson, Don Lemon, and NBC Universal CEO Jeff Shell all got fired. Joe Biden announced he’s running again. All in the middle of Lesbian Awareness Week, too. Pick another week to dominate the headlines, dudes! This one belongs to Hayley Kiyoko and Kate McKinnon.

As I’m sure you know, the Supreme Court last week ruled to protect access to the abortion medication mifepristone. We spoke to Robin Marty, director of operations for the West Alabama Women’s Center, for perspective on what this looks like from the South.

But first, the news.

Saluting all lesbians,

Bailey Wayne Hundl

WHAT'S GOING ON

Good riddance: FOX News has officially fired Tucker Carlson, reportedly over accusations of sexual harassment from a former employee and possibly over his prolific use of the word “cunt.” And as fun as it is to cheer for his exile from cable news (very fun! I know ‘cause I did it all day!), it’s also worth remembering the many things he wasn’t fired for:

He defended Kim Jong-Un. He called wind power a scam. He claimed white supremacy was a hoax. He said Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) was a sign that we should fight against immigration. He warned his viewers that BLM protestors were coming to get them. He blamed “wokeness” for the spread of COVID-19 at the height of the pandemic. He spread lies about the 2020 election, leading to a $787.5 million settlement from FOX. And the list goes on; basically every horrible thing you’ve heard your racist great-uncle ranting about at Thanksgiving originated at Carlson’s desk. And the worst part of it all: People listened.

Let! Her! Speak!: Ever since Montana state. Rep. Zooey Zephyr told her Republican colleagues they had “blood on their hands” for attempting to ban gender-affirming care for trans youth, the House chair has blocked every request she’s made to speak on the floor. In protest, Zephyr’s constituents showed up to the House Monday and brought the session to a halt, calling for the chair to recognize her until they were escorted out. Police arrested seven protestors (who were released shortly after) for criminal trespass.

But Zephyr will not back down. In a rousing speech given to the press on Monday, she said, “When someone stands up and calls out their bills for the harm they cause, for the deaths they cause, they want silence. And we will not be complicit in our eradication.”

  AND:

• If you’ve been fortunate enough to avoid the Bud Light controversy, let me catch you up: The company sent one (only one!) customized can of beer to trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney. As a result, right-wingers lost their ever-loving shit. Sarah Huckabee Sanders made “Real Woman” koozies! Kid Rock shot up cases of beer! Alas, it looks like those extremists’ complaints were heard: Two marketing executives who oversaw the collaboration were reportedly put on involuntary leaves of absence.

• Harry Belafonte, the barrier-breaking singer, actor, and advocate for Black rights and Black culture, died Tuesday at 96 years old. An honorary advisor to the first Women’s March in 2017, he said at the time that “to be of mind and capacity to be able to still contribute to helping our country become a better place is a joyous task."

• And after “years of disappointment, ugly crying and carrying around a deep sense of shame” going through multiple rounds of IVF, NBC correspondent Yamiche Alcindor is pregnant! (You can read more about her journey with IVF here.)

THE VIEW FROM ALABAMA

"Your worst case scenario is something we would kill for"

Reproduction rights advocate Robin Marty on what's really happening in states with abortion bans

BY MEGAN CARPENTIER

PHOTO BY CHARITY RACHELLE

In the wake of Friday’s Supreme Court decision to block a Texas’ judge ruling that would have overturned the Food and Drug Administration’s 2000 approval of the abortion drug mifepristone, many reproductive justice activists rejoiced. But Robin Marty, the director of operations for the West Alabama Women's Center and the author of Handbook for a Post-Roe America, tells The Meteor, “I did not give a crap either way.”

That’s because where she lives, access to medical abortions is already illegal.

Marty spoke to The Meteor after the decision about what the case meant to patients in states like hers—and what we all can do to help.

Megan Carpentier: As someone working in reproductive healthcare in a state that recently made abortion illegal, why did you find the Friday’s decision anticlimactic?

Robin Marty: I did not give a crap either way because it feels like this entire lawsuit exists solely for two reasons: It exists so that the anti-abortion movement feels like they're doing something. They needed another fight to keep pressure on politicians, to keep activists engaged, and to keep raising money.

But it also exists because it could divide our movement. Until the point at which this decision happened, blue states were at least trying to provide some sort of assistance to states like mine. After the decision, they all got distracted and began thinking: How do we maintain our own status quo? and began spending all their money buying as much medicine as they can.

They are so busy trying to make sure that abortion remains exactly as it is in blue states, and the red states are left to flounder.

What do you think the end game is for anti-abortion activists?

We know that the goal is to end up with a complete federal abortion ban. They believe that, somehow, they are going to be able to create a Christian theocracy. I don't see how that's ever truly going to exist—but also, I did not imagine democracy falling apart as quickly as it has over the last four years. And, being in Alabama, I can see what it will look like if we end up in a place where we no longer have a functioning federal government that ties all these states together.

Honestly, Alabama opted out of the federal government years ago. They opted out of expanding Medicaid under Obamacare. They opted out of using federal COVID funding on actual healthcare; instead, they chose to build a prison for a billion dollars. And after abortion was made illegal and the federal government tried to say, “The veterans’ hospitals are federally-funded sites, so we can have this tiny little bit of abortion available there, for people who are on veterans insurance and either have had pregnancies as a result of sexual assault or are having health complications.” Our attorney general literally said, “No, you can't do that. If a doctor does that, I'm going to arrest him and throw him in jail for 99 years.”

And then the federal government just kind of said, "Oh, I guess you're right."

[Ed note: They did offer to defend healthcare workers who get arrested.]

Alabama is not playing by the rules of the rest of the country and what worries me is that Alabama is the bellwether of what red states are going to try and get away with.

What should women or organizations be doing to help in states like Alabama?

I would love to see something really big and bold. I would love to see people actually pressing back against these laws.

I have this fantasy and, in my fantasy, I contact 50 really well-known superstars—actors, musicians, etc.—and they all come down to Alabama with one pack of medication abortion. And patients come (because patients aren't supposed to be able to be arrested over this) and each one of these superstars—Gweneth Paltrow, everybody—says, "OK, here's your medication." They hand it out to the patients and they risk the 99 years in jail, because we can't do it. People like me, people like Dr. Leah Torres, we can't take that risk right now…but they can.

They have the resources, they have the endless amounts of money to spend on lawyers. Imagine if they just came down here and did that as an active act of defiance.

What is one thing blue state readers should take away?

There is a possibility that mifepristone could disappear but, if that does happen, it's not that big of a deal. The sky is not falling. There are other medications that can be used. Yeah, it's not as pleasant, but they will still have access to all misoprostol, to methotrexate, to all the other things that you can use. You'll be able to still get your procedural abortions. Your worst case scenario is something that we would kill to be able to have access to here.

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How’s it hanging, Meteor readers?

Weed like to wish a happy 4/20 to all who celebrate. As you may know, I live in Texas where weed is not legal, so I will not be participating. Hear that, local law enforcement? None for me, thanks. Never even touched the stuff.

Of course, as Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis points out, a true 4/20 celebration would be liberating the over 40,000 people currently imprisoned for marijuana possession, especially when Black people are 3.64 times more likely than white people to be arrested for it. (Meanwhile, 81% of cannabis business owners in states where it is legal are white.)

In today’s newsletter, we take a look at the passionate defense one state rep made for trans people—and the punishment she’s facing as a result.

Definitely not blazing it,

Bailey Wayne Hundl

WHAT'S GOING ON

“Blood on your hands”: In 2022, Montanans elected their first openly trans state representative, Zooey Zephyr. And on Tuesday, House Republicans called for her censure, the harshest form of punishment short of expulsion and a measure typically doled out after acts like tax fraud or making an animated video of yourself killing AOC and Joe Biden.

And what had Zephyr done to provoke this punishment? She passionately defended trans people.

It all went down Tuesday on the Montana House floor. During a debate over a proposed bill blocking gender-affirming care for trans youth, Zephyr told her Republican colleagues: “If you vote yes on this bill, I hope the next time you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands.”

The clip went viral, but what most viewers might not know is that Zephyr was speaking literally: Less than a month ago, she later shared, each member of the Montana legislature had received a letter from a local doctor whose partner was treating a suicidal trans teenager in the ER. The child had cited the current legislative session as their top stressor, telling doctors, “My state doesn’t want me.”

After Zephyr’s remarks, the Montana legislature’s Freedom Caucus called for her censure, linking her so-called “hateful rhetoric” with the Covenant Christian School shooting in Nashville (which conservatives have tried to paint as an act of “trans terrorism” despite the fact that investigators have been unable to find a motive). The caucus also deliberately misgendered her in its statement.

Before she was elected to office, Zephyr had spent years fighting for human rights legislation in her city of Missoula (notoriously one of the bluest areas of Montana). But in 2021, when she saw two anti-LGBTQ bills pass the state legislature by just one vote apiece (SB 215 and SB 280), she decided to run for office. She said in an interview during her campaign, “I know damn well that I could’ve changed their hearts if I had access to these people the way the legislators do.”

Even if Zephyr’s actions don’t end up changing the vote, her words have reached far outside the state capitol. Republicans described her language as “inappropriate and uncalled-for,” but to the millions of people who care about trans kids, nothing could be more called for in a moment like this.

  AND:

• Gameplay footage dropped Wednesday of “UNRECORD,” a disturbingly realistic shooter video game filmed from the perspective of a police bodycam. In an FAQ section titled “Pro-police or Anti-police?”, the game’s creators state they will “avoid any undesirable topics” such as racism or violence against women/minorities. But…how? Depicting photorealistic police violence through a bodycam is an inherently political choice.

• After George Floyd’s murder in 2020, many media companies made promises to hire racially diverse staff. And did it work? According to a major Digiday review of company reports…not really.

• Taraji P. Henson’s Black mental health organization will begin installing “wellness pods” on HBCU campuses across the country. The goal: to provide accessible mental health resources for young Black women.

• As if running a marathon wasn’t cool enough: This Odia woman finished hers while wearing a sari.

• Justice Clarence Thomas, you silly goose! You can’t report income on a company that’s been closed since 2006. But then again, you’ve never taken your financial disclosures seriously. Five words: Should have believed Anita Hill.

• • This week’s reminders that language matters: A “six-week abortion ban,” like Florida’s, should really just be called “an abortion ban,” explains Paula Avila Guillen. And “stand your ground” laws, a term that implies heroism and self-defense, would more accurately be labeled “Shoot First” laws, says Shannon Watts. (Self-defense laws already existed in all 50 states before Shoot First laws came around, but the new legislation has radically increased violence.) Correcting our vocabulary now.
  • Model and disability rights activist Aaron Rose Philip appeared on the cover of British Vogue and she looks STUN!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by British Vogue (@britishvogue)

• Finally: Imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been charged by Russia with espionage, made his first court appearance this week in an effort to obtain house arrest—but the judge denied his request. The U.S. ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracey, told reporters, “The charges against Evan are baseless and we call on the Russian Federation to immediately release him.” Gershkovich, whose Jewish parents fled the USSR before he was born, is the first American detained on espionage charges since the fall of the Soviet Union, and is reportedly spending his time in detention reading Russian literature (of which there is plenty about people unjustly detained).

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Hello, my lovely Meteor readers,

Have you done your taxes yet? No shame if you haven’t. Personally, I just finished mine last night…only to have it rejected. (Apparently, Form Blah-Blah needed a cross-reference to Form Such-and-Such or whatever.) I know I’m nowhere near the first or the last to say it, but why is this whole process so damn hard? Just tell me what I owe you and let me be!

We’ve got a jam-packed newsletter for you all today: a glass-half-empty mifepristone ruling; a multimillion-dollar debt-burning ceremony; Black Maternal Health week; and the hit TV show “A League of Their Own” is BACK! (Sort of.)

And don’t forget to vote for us in the 27th Annual People’s Voice Webby Awards. We’ve been nominated for News & Politics and Public Service & Activism in their social media category. Both of our entries are about abortion, and if you agree that telling these stories is crucial right now, we’d be grateful for your vote!

Double-checking my Form Such-and-Such,

Bailey Wayne Hundl

WHAT'S GOING ON

The fight for mifepristone continues: After Trump-appointed Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled late last Friday that the FDA should revoke its approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, despite over twenty years of its safe and effective use, the (also mostly Trump-appointed) 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decided late last night to partially overrule this decision. This ruling avoids the pill’s outright suspension for now; the three-judge panel determined that, since the FDA first approved mifepristone in the year 2000, too much time had passed for the approval to be revoked and that doing so would have “significant public consequences.”

But the ruling also comes with some heavy asterisks. The court upheld Kacsmaryk’s ruling that some of the FDA’s more recent changes to make the pill more accessible should be suspended, including:

• Using mifepristone for up to 10 weeks of pregnancy instead of seven

• Sending mifepristone by mail

• Reducing the number of required in-person visits from three to one

• Allowing certain healthcare providers (in addition to doctors) to prescribe mifepristone

• Using a generic version of mifepristone approved by the FDA in 2019

At times, the court’s 42-page decision even parrotted the anti-abortion rhetoric used in Kacsmaryk’s case, intentionally using the scary-but-bogus term “chemical abortion” and at one point referring to a fetus or embryo as “an unborn child.” The judges also claimed that “as a result of the FDA’s failure to regulate this potent drug,” the harm done by the pill is “sufficiently concrete.”

Sufficiently concrete? Not exactly! Thanks to a wonderful report from The Washington Post detailing all the science Kacsmaryk ignored (and all the flawed pseudoscience he relied on instead), we know that of the 5.6 million people who used mifepristone between the year 2000 and last June, only 28 mifepristone-related deaths were reported, making the drug safer than penicillin. And even in those 28 cases (some of which involved overdoses or pre-existing conditions), the evidence is too incomplete and inconclusive to demonstrate any cause of death to mifepristone.

The Justice Department announced Thursday that it would ask the Supreme Court to block the 5th Circuit’s ruling and protect access to mifepristone. Given SCOTUS’s current makeup, it’s hard to be optimistic. But some argue that the FDA could just refuse to comply, and we may find out soon how real that possibility is.

  AND:

• It is Black Maternal Health Week. According to the CDC, Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than their white counterparts. This disparity has only intensified in the post-Roe landscape—since “obstetricians and gynecologists are choosing not to work in red states, fearing the inability to provide needed care to their patients amidst an ever growing slate of anti-abortion restrictions,” Ms. reports. As a result, Black, poor, rural, and Indigenous women face “care deserts” which dismantle the maternal care these groups have access to. More on this gross inequity here.

• On Wednesday, NPR became the first major news organization to suspend all Twitter activity after the Elon Musk-owned platform added a label reading “US state-affiliated media” to the media company’s main account—the same label Twitter uses for propaganda outlets in countries like Russia or China. (The label was changed to “Government-funded Media” but was not removed.) In a statement yesterday, NPR said, “We are not putting our journalism on platforms that have demonstrated an interest in undermining our credibility and the public’s understanding of our editorial independence.” Shortly after, PBS followed suit.

• Academy Award-winning filmmaker and Meteor founding member Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy will be the first woman and the first person of color to direct a Star Wars movie. Only took ‘em 46 years, but what an excellent choice.

• In response to the so-called “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,” which seeks to make trans women competing in women’s sports teams a Title IX violation, 40 professional athletes—including reigning power couple Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe—signed an open letter to Congress calling eloquent bullshit on the bill’s claim of protecting women. As the letter points out, “Every single child should have access to the lifesaving power of sports.”

• I’m not crying, you’re crying: A North Carolina church purchased over $3 million of medical debt from its local community (for only $15,048!) and ceremoniously burned it all away.

• Juul Labs reached a $462 million settlement Wednesday after multiple lawsuits over the company’s aggressive marketing to young people. As New York attorney general Letitia James put it, “Juul’s lies led to a nationwide public health crisis and put addictive products in the hands of minors who thought they were doing something harmless.”

• While defending a bill blocking trans children from gender-affirming care, Missouri Sen. Mike Moon (the same guy who once beheaded a chicken on Facebook Live) was asked about his vote to keep the legal marrying age at 12 years old. His response? “Do you know how many kids have been married at age 12? I do. And guess what? They’re still married.” So umm…that’s called child marriage. There’s literally a global movement to stop it. Also: Why does he know so many child brides??? 😨

• Everyone’s favorite sapphic TV show, “A League of Their Own,” has officially been renewed…for four more episodes. That’s it? Somehow, this feels like a win for lesbians everywhere and a homophobic attack all at the same time.

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Dear Meteor readers,

As you’ve probably heard by now, a Texas judge ruled late on Friday that the FDA approval of the abortion pill mifepristone should be revoked, potentially threatening access everywhere to the medication (which has been used, safely, for 23 years).

As a born-and-raised Houstonian, I’m used to having to deal with Texas’ bullshit. But it’s absolutely devastating to see one extremist’s decision ripple nationwide.

In today’s newsletter, we parse the aftermath of Kacsmaryk’s unprecedented ruling. On the happy side, though: Hannah Gadsby’s got a new special on its way! Plus, female superheroes! (Can they go to Texas?)

Holding you all as tight as I can,

Bailey Wayne Hundl

WHAT'S GOING ON

THREE MIFEPRISTONE PILLS IN DECEMBER 2000, THE YEAR THE PILL WAS APPROVED SAFE FOR USE BY THE FDA (PHOTO BY BILL GRENBLATT/LIAISON VIA GETTY IMAGES)

What the abortion pill mess means: In a highly anticipated court case, Texas Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled Friday that the FDA should revoke their approval of mifepristone, a pill used in about half of all abortions nationwide. Despite being one of the safest and most studied medications available, Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee with long-held anti-abortion views and a penchant for dressing his toddler in anti-abortion baby duds, wrote in his 67-page opinion that the FDA had “acquiesced on its legitimate safety concerns” in the face of “significant political pressure” to “increased ‘access’ to chemical abortion.”

First off: “chemical abortion” is a label meant to portray these safe medications as unhealthy, which they aren’t.

Second: This is going to backfire on extremists, believes Cecile Richards, former CEO of Planned Parenthood. “Republican leadership is going to be absolutely on the defense now for the next 18 months,” she told The 19th News Friday; recent polls show widespread public support for legal abortion. Of the 38 current Republican senators who voted to confirm Kacsmaryk, only one, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, has publicly celebrated the decision.

Response to Kacsmaryk has been swift: In a separate ruling issued late Friday night, a Washington judge ordered the government to keep mifepristone available in 17 states and D.C., noting that the drug is safe and effective. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice asked the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday to block the Texas decision. And in a genius move, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy revealed Monday that she had already stockpiled almost two years’ worth of mifepristone in advance of Kacsmaryk’s decision. (Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s supply sits at around three years.)

Thankfully, mifepristone is not the only abortion pill available; the World Health Organization has approved of misoprostol-only abortions for years. However, taking misoprostol on its own leads to more side effects: cramps, nausea/vomiting, fevers, and even incomplete abortions—all side effects mifepristone helps alleviate. (It also takes longer to work, so patients traveling out of state to take them may have to be gone longer.) In other words: If this ruling holds, abortions will get even less safe than they were…all thanks to a court case ostensibly concerned with mifepristone’s safety.

As Amanda Marcotte wrote for Salon, this ruling “serves no other purpose but to punish patients who seek abortion by making the process more miserable than it needs to be.” The inhumanity isn’t a side effect; it’s the goal.

So what’s next? In all likelihood, this case will go to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and, if it’s upheld there, make its way to the Supreme Court. And in the meantime, organizers will keep doing what they’ve been doing all day every day for years, and especially since last June: They’ll help make abortion as accessible as possible. You can help by donating to abortion funds.

You can stay tuned, and stay angry.

FLOWERS LAID ON THE STEPS OF THE OLD NATIONAL BANK, WHERE A SHOOTING TOOK PLACE MONDAY (PHOTO BY MICHAEL SWENSEN/LIAISON VIA GETTY IMAGES)

  AND:

• A gunman in Louisville, Kentucky killed five people and injured eight more at an Old National Bank on Monday. The shooter’s weapon, an assault AR-style firearm, was purchased legally from a local dealership only a week before. As Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, said in response, “When we allow guns everywhere, for anyone with no questions asked, nowhere is safe.”

• North Carolina state Rep. Tricia Cotham, who was elected only five months ago running on a progressive platform, has formally switched to the Republican party, giving Republicans the numbers to override vetoes from the state’s Democratic governor. So what did NC Republicans do with this newfound power? Why, they immediately filed five new anti-trans bills, of course! #DemocracyAtWork

• Remember last week’s news of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ decades-long history of failing to disclose the lavish gifts he accepted from major Republican donor Harlan Crow? Well, the story got even better (by which we mean worse) last weekend: Turns out Harlan Crow collects Nazi memorabilia—including a copy of “Mein Führer” signed by Hitler himself. (But honestly, if you had to close your eyes and picture who Clarence Thomas hangs out with on the weekends...that kind of tracks.)

• Just one day after U.S. Army Sgt. Daniel Perry was convicted for his 2020 murder of a Black Lives Matter protester, Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott announced that he’s working “as swiftly as Texas law allows” to pardon him. I know I shouldn’t be shocked (see: raised in Texas). And after all, this is the same party that turned a murderer into a revered public speaker. But disdain for the value of human life is always shocking, and it should be.

• In brighter news: Brown University has named its Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice after its former president Ruth Simmons, the first Black president of an Ivy League school. If you don’t know this legend’s story (which includes commissioning a study of Brown’s relationship to slavery years before other universities followed suit), you can learn more here.

• Check out this deeply informative article in Women’s Health from “Black-ish” star Marsai Martin detailing the removal of her grapefruit-sized ovarian cyst, where she shares everything she wishes she had known ahead of time. She hopes by sharing her story, she can inspire other women “to talk about their pain, and to keep speaking out until they’re taken seriously.”

• A superhero film starring a trio of women is as exciting as it is overdue. So thanks, Marvel! Also, I’m just gonna say it: They need to make Captain Marvel gay. Come on, Marvel, it’s time!

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Guess what, Meteor readers?

I am absolutely THRILLED to announce that The Meteor has been nominated for a Webby! Our reporting on Amanda Zurawski, a Texas woman who went into sepsis after being denied an abortion for a life-threatening pregnancy, is up for the Public Service & Activism award in the Social Video category (alongside Barack Obama, no less).

Make sure you hop on over and give us (and our producing partners, Harness, O4RJ, and Firebrand) a vote!

Today’s newsletter has it all: unethical Supreme Court Justice behavior, progressive election wins, and Washington’s plan to stockpile mifepristone in case it becomes illegal.

And if you missed our talk with Dr. Jane Goodall at the Brooklyn Museum on Tuesday, don’t worry: We’ve got a recap full of murderous chimpanzees and fierce observations.

Crossing my fingers and thanking the Academy,

Bailey Wayne Hundl

WHAT'S GOING ON

High court, low standards: A new report from ProPublica has revealed that for decades, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has accepted (but failed to disclose) numerous gifts from a major Republican donor. The anti-abortion/anti-gay/anti-good judge has made it a habit of taking unreported luxurious vacations, private flights, yacht trips, stays at resorts, you name it—all financed by Harlan Crow, a man who has donated over $10 million to conservative political organizations.

Compared to other branches of government, Supreme Court justices have fewer restrictions on the sorts of gifts they have to disclose. (Members of Congress, for example, cannot accept anything valued over $50 without prior approval.) But they are required to disclose gifts over $415; to name one example, Thomas’ nine-day trek across Indonesia via private jet & yacht would have cost over $500k had he paid for it himself.

It’s hard to say any of this will matter in the long run; after all, this isn’t the first time that Thomas has ignored judicial ethical expectations and come out consequence-free. But the situation does highlight a need for more enforceable restrictions when it comes to Supreme Court justices’ behavior. As Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin told CNBC in response to ProPublica’s report, “The highest court in the land shouldn’t have the lowest ethical standards.”

  AND:

• Speaking of the Supreme Court: On Thursday, it refused to immediately reinstate West Virginia’s ban on trans women playing for female sports teams. (Unsurprisingly, Thomas approved of the ban’s reinstatement; surprisingly, Amy Coney Barrett did not.) It’s not a full win just yet; this wasn’t a ruling about the merits of the sports ban itself, but rather a decision to let it work its way through the judicial process. Still, though, this bodes well.

• Some wonderful news from Tuesday’s midterm elections: Wisconsin voters protected abortion rights (and so much more) with Janet Protaswiecz’s win. Plus, progressive upstart Brandon Johnson won the Chicago mayoral race after a grassroots organizing campaign backed by the Chicago Teachers Union. He won over Paul Vallas, a candidate backed by Chicago’s police union. (I guess those 800-1000 officers who threatened to retire if he won will have to start planning their goodbye parties.)

• Remember the ridiculous “abortion trafficking” bill in Idaho restricting out-of-state travel for minors seeking care? Well, it officially passed into law Wednesday—making Idaho the first state to criminalize abortion travel.  If you live in Idaho and you need help, you can find your local Abortion Access Fund here.

• Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has stocked a three-year supply of mifepristone to prepare for a decision in the Texas lawsuit which seeks to ban the abortion pill nationwide. If the lawsuit is successful, Washington state will still be able to distribute the pills through the Department of Corrections, which is authorized to act as a pharmacy, while other pharmacies wait for the ruling to be reversed.

• On Wednesday, Howard University named Our Holy Savior of Democracy Stacey Abrams as the school’s very first Chair for Race and Black Politics. What an honor—for both Abrams and Howard.

• If you’re in or around Bethesda, Maryland, check out Meteor collective member Mary Kathryn Nagle’s “On the Far End,” a one-woman play about a Muscogee leader tracing her family’s history through a country that has not been kind to them.

• In a heartbreaking move, Showtime has canceled the iconic satirical talk show “Ziwe.” Here’s hoping she continues putting white celebrities in the hotseat over Instagram Live.

CELEBRATING 89 YEARS

A Fireside Chat with Dr. Jane Goodall

She spoke with The Meteor about her early love of animals and how, despite the reality of climate change, she remains hopeful.

DR. JANE GOODALL WITH HER BELOVED STUFFED ANIMALS (PHOTO BY KOLIN MENDEZ PHOTOGRAPHY)

Tuesday night, we had the absolute pleasure of hosting a talk with renowned ethologist and activist Dr. Jane Goodall at the Brooklyn Museum to celebrate her 89th birthday. With a glass of whiskey in one hand and a retinue of stuffed animals on the table beside her, Dr. Goodall sat down with Meteor founding member, writer and illustrator Mona Chalabi to reflect on her life, her legacy, and her longing for a healthier planet.

The evening started with poetry from Jade Lozada, an address from Commons founder and CEO Sanchali Pal, and environmental activist Ayisha Siddiqa in conversation with The Meteor’s Treasure Brooks.

Here are some of our favorite stories from the night. Spoiler alert: Her favorite animal is apparently not a chimpanzee.

AYISHA SIDDIQA AND TREASURE BROOKS IN CONVERSATION OPENING THE EVENT (PHOTO BY KOLIN MENDEZ PHOTOGRAPHY)

“I popped out of my mother’s womb loving animals.”

When Dr. Goodall was only a year and a half old, her mother found her in bed with a handful of live earthworms. Most mothers, she recounted, would probably have told her, “Oh, throw those dirty things out.” Instead, her mother noticed how Jane was studying the worms, as if she were wondering how they moved around without legs. Gently, she told her daughter, “I think we’d better take them in the garden, because they might die in your bed.”

That (and a childhood crush on Tarzan) sparked her dream of going to Africa to study animals. “No thought of being a scientist—that wasn’t for women back then,” Goodall recalled. “And everybody laughed at me: ‘You’ll get to Africa, it’s far away, we don’t know much about it, it’s full of dangerous wild animals, and you’re just a girl.’”

Her mother encouraged her, though: “Jane, if you really want to do something like this, then you have to work really hard, take advantage of every opportunity. And if you don’t give up, hopefully you’ll find a way.” Which she did.

“At that time… [humans] were defined as ‘Man the Tool User.’”

Dr. Goodall’s first trip to study chimpanzees in Tanzania started quite rough. For the first few months, her main exposure to them was “seeing their backsides vanishing into the forest,” she says. . But finally, a chimp named David Greybeard let his guard down around her, leading to a revolutionary breakthrough: Humans were not the only animal who used tools.

She described watching David as he stripped a twig of its branches so that it would fit into termite holes, using it to fish them out for a quick snack. “At that time, science had decided that humans, and only humans, could make tools. We were defined as ‘Man the Tool User,’” Goodall said. “So I owe David a lot.”

“The professors were wrong.”

Dr. Goodall had headed to Tanzania with no college degree; she’d trained as a secretary. But after her discovery, her boss, Dr. Louis Leakey sent her directly to Cambridge. “He said there was no time for an undergraduate degree,” she recalled. While there, she was admonished by a professor for giving the chimpanzees names—and for talking about “their personality, their minds, or their emotions.” The conventional wisdom at the time, the professor reminded her, was that only humans had those.

But Goodall knew this wasn’t the case. The more she studied the chimpanzees, the more she observed their personalities at work: the relationships between mothers and their children; lifetime familial bonds; adoption; grief; war. She recalled how “the male will stand upright, have a furious scowl on his face and shake his fist, and it’s all about how. It reminds me so much of two male human politicians.”

(At this point, the Brooklyn Museum audience laughed, and Goodall coyly continued: “And I didn’t say a name, did I?”)

“When people ask me what my favorite animal is, they all think I’m going to say ‘chimpanzee.’ But it’s not true. They’re too like people.”

If humans aren’t the only animals with personalities, then it follows that humans aren’t the only animals who can be “bad.” Dr. Goodall told the story of a chimpanzee named Passion, who killed and ate several other mothers’ babies for no discernible reason. Not only that, but she treated her own children terribly, leading Goodall to conclude, “There’s nice chimpanzees and unpleasant ones—just like people.”

And that’s why her own favorite animal isn’t a chimp—but a dog.

“Every single day that you’re on the planet, you make an impact. And you can choose what sort of impact you make.”

Dr. Goodall explained that not only is animal farming environmentally destructive, but it’s a cruel thing to do when “every one of those animals [are] individuals. They can feel fear and pain, and they have personalities and characters—although they can’t express them.”

She talked about her organization Roots & Shoots, which has helped hundreds of thousands of young people across 68 countries develop personal projects that make a positive impact on the environment. Though the damage done to our planet can feel overwhelming at times, Goodall believes collaborative endeavors are the way forward. “If we put all these actions together, small actions can cumulatively move us towards a world that’s better.”

Or, if you’re a billionaire: “Write out a big check to the Jane Goodall Institute.”

MONA CHALABI TOASTS TO DR. GOODALL'S 89TH BIRTHDAY(PHOTO BY KOLIN MENDEZ PHOTOGRAPHY)

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Hello again, Meteor readers,

Happy Trump Arrest Day to all who celebrate! In case you hadn’t yet heard, the former Home Alone 2 actor surrendered to authorities today, facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Unfortunately, it’s unlikely we’ll ever have the sweet satisfaction of getting to see his mug shot—even if he does end up taking one. We’ll just have to satisfy ourselves with these AI-generated substitutions. (Look at him go!)

We’ve got a bit of a short one today because we’re in conversation with Dr. Jane Goodall tonight at the Brooklyn museum. If you can’t join us in person, you can still watch the livestream here.

Today’s newsletter still has it all, though: powerful trans allyship, racial double standards, and an announcement from the Vatican that came 500 years too late.

In celebration,

Bailey Wayne Hundl

WHAT'S GOING ON

“For the girls that look like me”: On Sunday, college basketball star Angel Reese was named Most Outstanding Player of 2023 after leading the LSU Tigers to victory in the NCAA Women’s Championship. She also set the measure for most double-doubles in a single season with a total of 34. But all anyone can seem to talk about is…the fact that she did some light trash-talking?

After her win, Reese did the “John Cena,” waving her hand in front of her face at rival player Caitlin Clark. Pundits derided the move as “classless”—despite the fact that Clark herself did the same move earlier in the tournament. In the post-game press conference, Reese responded to the double standards: “I don't fit in a box that y'all want me to be in. I'm too hood. I'm too ghetto. But when other people do it, y'all say nothing. So this was for the girls that look like me, that's going to speak up on what they believe in. It's unapologetically you."

As our own Mik said on Instagram yesterday, “When do we see this debutante-level decorum ever expected from male players?” A word of advice: Maybe if you are going to call a Black woman “classless,” make sure you’re holding everyone else to the same standard.

  AND:

• Nebraska state Senators Machaela Cavanaugh and Megan Hunt, known for their tireless fight against their state’s anti-trans bills, joined state Senator John Fredrickson to launch the Don’t Legislate Hate PAC on Monday. The PAC seeks to fight back against more than 400 anti-LGBTQ+ bills across the country; you can help them in their cause here.

• A man in Iran had the audacity to throw a tub of yogurt on two women in a store who were not wearing hijabs. Following the incident, authorities arrested the man for the attack—as well as the two women for not covering their hair.

• Last week, Tennessee state Rep. Gloria Johnson (D) exercised her right to peacefully protest for gun reform following the shooting in Nashville—and was swiftly punished for it. The Republican leadership of the House retaliated by stripping Johnson of all her committee assignments on Monday. On that same night, Florida state Sen. Lauren Book and Nikki Fried, chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party, were arrested in Tallahassee for protesting for abortion access. Not a great day for the First Amendment, apparently.

• After over 500 years of being used to justify violent colonization (including good ole’ Christopher Columbus), the Vatican formally repudiated the 1493 “Doctrine of Discovery” on Thursday in response to decades of Indigenous demands to do so. A bit slow on the draw on the Vatican’s part, but still! Love to see activism actually work.

• Check out this touchingly personal piece from Anna Holmes in The New Yorker about her complicated feelings surrounding her upcoming hysterectomy.

• “RuPaul’s Drag Race” two-time winner (and recent Broadway star) Jinkx Monsoon has scored a major role in the upcoming season of BBC’s hit show “Doctor Who.” Not sure who this is a bigger win for: non-binary people or drag queens. But as both, I am ECSTATIC.

• Wisconsin readers, we hope you voted today! Just as a reminder, today’s election could possibly have been the most important election of the year. (And here’s why.)

• And everyone wish the spirit of Maya Angelou a happy 95th birthday today!

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Greetings and salutations, Meteor readers,

We’re reaching the end of Women’s History Month, which means today’s issue contains our last slice of history.

But don’t worry, it’s a good one: This newsletter’s beloved Shannon Melero has briefly poked her head out from maternity leave to tell us a fascinating story about freedom fighter Lolita Lebrón.

We also take a look at the frightening new anti-abortion bill creeping its way toward the Idaho Senate. (What the hell does “abortion trafficking” even mean??)

But first: the news.

Getting ready for April,

Bailey Wayne Hundl

WHAT'S GOING ON

Under His Eye-daho: The latest horrifying twist in the attack on abortion patients: Idaho, which has already completely banned abortions with very narrow exceptions, is set to pass a bill effectively prohibiting minors from traveling literally anywhere to get one. House Bill 242, which passed in the House and will likely pass quickly in Idaho’s Republican-led Senate, seeks to establish the new, so-called crime of “abortion trafficking.” Under this bill, any adult who helps any minor receive an abortion without a parent’s permission—whether in or out-of-state—could be charged with a felony punishable by two to five years in prison. (That includes grandparents, aunts, friends, or abortion-fund volunteers.)

But there’s more: H.B. 242 also forbids adults from helping minors obtain “an abortion-inducing drug”—such as mifepristone, which is already under attack. In other words, under this bill, any adult who even drives a teenager to a store or the Post Office to pick up the mifepristone they ordered could be charged with (say it with me) “abortion trafficking.”

The bill also includes a civil clause allowing any family member of someone who obtained an abortion—or the person who impregnated them—to sue any medical professional involved up to four years later. The only exception made is if the pregnancy was the result of rape of incest.

So to recap: If you’re a minor and you get pregnant in Idaho after this bill passes, you can’t get an abortion. You can’t get help to travel to another state for an abortion. You can’t get a ride to Mail Boxes Etc. if you order an abortion pill in the mail. Basically, no trusted adult can help you get the care you need without risking their freedom.

If you’re in Idaho and you need assistance with an abortion, you can find your local Abortion Access Fund here. And if you don’t live in Idaho, please consider donating.

  AND:

• Nebraska is fighting hard to protect trans youth: Following state Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh’s three-week filibuster protesting a ban on gender-affirming healthcare for minors, her colleague Sen. Megan Hunt revealed to the legislature that her son is trans and this bill “would violate my rights to parent my child.” But that’s not all! She’s now calling out specific senators to get the last vote needed to squash this bill, including “one of the Rs who privately confessed that they hate this bill + don’t support it.” Go off, bi queen.

STATE SEN. MEGAN HUNT POSING WITH PROTESTORS (PHOTO BY MEGAN HUNT)

• And speaking of trans allyship: Longtime LGBTQ+ ally Daniel Radcliffe hosted a roundtable discussion with six trans and nonbinary youth for The Trevor Project, saying, “If you’re going to talk about trans kids, it might be useful to actually listen to trans kids.” It drops tomorrow for Trans Day of Visibility, and you’ll be able to watch it here.

• We have a new sports icon on the rise: 21-year-old Caitlin Clark became the first basketball player ever in the history of NCAA tournaments to score a 40-point triple double on Sunday. People are so excited to watch her play that the women’s Final Four (which she’ll be playing in tomorrow) costs more to attend this year than the men’s. As this Washington Post profile on her says, “If you’re watching the men’s Final Four this weekend, you’re watching the wrong tournament.”

• Common Sense Media released a new study today on adolescent girls’ experiences with social media, showing that a high percentage of them (58% for Instagram, 57% for Snapchat) have been approached by a stranger online in a way that’s made them uncomfortable.

• With only five words in an Essence interview, Erykah Badu perfectly nailed the intentionally nebulous way conservatives weaponize the word “woke”: “I think they mean Black.”

A 🍕 OF HISTORY

"My Life I Give for the Freedom of My Country"

It's Women's History Month. And every week, a Meteor collective member recounts a piece of women's history that resonates with them. Today, Shannon Melero unpacks the controversial legacy of freedom fighter Lolita Lebrón.

LOLITA LEBRÓN AND TWO OTHER PUERTO RICAN NATIONALISTS AFTER HAVING BEEN ARRESTED BY CAPITOL POLICE ON MARCH 1, 1954. (PHOTO BY LIBRARY OF CONGRESS/CORBIS/VCG VIA GETTY IMAGES)

The story of Lolita Lebrón was first described to me as a cautionary tale of a woman who inexplicably chose to become a terrorist. But as NPR’s Michelle Norris said about Lebrón in 2010, “One person’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter.”

Lebrón was born in Lares, Puerto Rico—a place infamous because of an 1868 uprising against Spanish colonizers known as El Grito de Lares (“the scream of Lares”). The Spaniards violently quashed the uprising in a day and Lares is now considered the birthplace of Puerto Rican nationalism; this is the soil from which Lolita Lebrón sprung.

Her teen years were also shaped by the Ponce massacre of 1937. By that time, Puerto Rico was no longer a Spanish colony but an American one, and peaceful demonstrators gathered that March 21—Palm Sunday—to protest the occupation. The U.S.-appointed governor of Puerto Rico, Blanton Winship, ordered local police to open fire on the group. They murdered 22 unarmed protestors and wounded more than 100 others.

Like thousands of other islanders, Lebrón moved to the mainland in 1941, enticed by the promise of a better life. At the time, the U.S was looking to solve post-WWII labor shortages by importing cheap labor from a territory, while the Puerto Rican government acquiesced hoping that a population shift would alleviate the island’s crippling poverty.

Several years after arriving in New York, she joined and then quickly rose in the ranks of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party (no easy task for a woman  at the time). At the same time, back at home, the United States was eliminating many of the islanders’ constitutional rights, including their ability to display the Puerto Rican flag, and Puerto Rico was officially declared a commonwealth of the U.S.

It was because of this trampling of Puerto Rican sovereignty that wrongly imprisoned Nationalist Party leader Pedro Albizu Campos sent Lebrón a letter ordering an action against the U.S. government in Washington D.C. with the goal of drawing attention to the plight of Puerto Ricans. And she rose to the challenge.

On March 1, 1954, Lebrón led three party members from New York City in an attack on the U.S. House of Representatives. The group entered the House armed, unfurled the Puerto Rican flag, and, as Lebrón shouted, “Viva Puerto Rico libre!”, fired into the chamber. Their stated goal, however, was not to commit murder—which is why Lebrón shot her first round into the ceiling.

Five members of Congress were injured while trying to escape and Lebrón and her comrades were arrested, tried, and convicted. She was sentenced to 56 years in prison and served 25 before being pardoned by President Jimmy Carter in 1979. She stayed active in the fight for independence even after her release, and was arrested again at the age of 81 while protesting the American Navy’s presence in Vieques. Lebrón died in August 2010, an icon to millions. She never renounced her actions at the Capitol.

To this day there are still debates about whether Lebrón was a lowlife criminal or a revolutionary pushed into action by the very real, very violent oppression that shaped her everyday life. Her legacy isn’t something that can be boiled down to the binary of “good woman” or “bad woman.”

My hope is that when people think about this complex woman and her contributions to history they keep in mind the note she carried with her to the Capitol, where she believed she would be killed: “My life I give for the freedom of my country.”

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Happy Weed Appreciation Day, Meteor readers. (No, not that kind of weed—that’s another month away.)

It’s not a light one today, as we mourn the loss of six more lives to the epidemic of gun violence—this time, in Nashville. But there are still good things in the world; for instance, our Women’s History spotlight celebrates Nicole Aunapu Mann, the first Native American woman to make it to space.

But first: the news.

Taking a moment of silence,

Bailey Wayne Hundl

WHAT'S GOING ON

ITEMS LEFT IN REMEMBRANCE AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE COVENANT SCHOOL, WHERE THE SHOOTING TOOK PLACE (PHOTO BY SETH HERALD/GETTY IMAGES)

Tragedy in Nashville: Three children and three adults were killed in a shooting at a Nashville private school on Monday. The students killed were all nine years old; the adult victims included a custodian, a substitute teacher, and the school’s principal. The shooter, who has been identified as a former student of the school, was killed on the scene while firing on police. This marks the deadliest school shooting in America since the Uvalde attacks last May.

Ashbey Beasley, a mother who survived the Highland Park shooting last summer, was visiting her sister in Nashville at the time of the shooting. She crashed a live Fox News broadcast Monday and emphasized the need for comprehensive gun reform, asking, “Aren’t you guys tired of covering this?” (If you haven’t watched, do.) And she’s right; after all, the shooter legally purchased a total of seven firearms, three of which were used during the shooting—meaning that the real subject to cover is our nation’s devastatingly lax gun laws. Unfortunately, all Gov. Bill Lee (who strongly opposes gun control) has to offer the victims is the usual: thoughts and prayers. And the congressman who represents the district where the shooting took place had his whole family pose with assault rifles for last year’s Christmas card.

Typically when covering a shooting, it’s best not to give the shooter attention or glory. But a right-wing narrative has emerged that deserves addressing around the fact that the shooter may have identified as trans. A police spokesperson told the Washington Post that the killer was “a biological woman who, on a social media profile, used male pronouns.” Police said the shooter left a “manifesto” but have not given any indication whether it referenced their gender identity; that hasn’t stopped people from speculating. And it hasn’t stopped transphobes from spreading bullshit about how “the modern trans movement is radicalizing activists into terrorists.”

There just isn’t enough information available at this time to know whether or not the shooter was trans, much less to justify a headline like “Transgender Killer Targets Christian School.” (We don’t label the usual killers as cis men, even though they almost always are.) What we do know is we’ve had over 100 mass shootings in America this year—and we’re not even a fourth of the way through. Let’s not let the pro-gun folks use “trans panic” to keep our attention off where it belongs: the reforms that will save lives now.

If you or someone you know has been impacted by gun violence and you’re looking for help, you can start here.

  AND:

• Jonathan Majors was arraigned Sunday on charges of sexual assault and harassment. According to police sources, the actor first called 911 to report concern for his girlfriend. But when authorities arrived, the woman told police Majors had attacked her and they arrested him after noticing marks on her. Majors’ attorneys have claimed the woman has recanted her allegations, but remember: Victims of domestic violence often recant for a variety of reasons.

• On Monday, Madonna added a Nashville stop to her Celebration Tour—which features Bob the Drag Queen as an opener—in response to the infamous Tennessee drag ban. As Madonna stated, “Anyone with half a brain knows not to fuck with a drag queen.” (True.)

• When a first-grade teacher in Waukesha, Wisconsin chose the song “Rainbowland” by Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton for the first-grade concert, the school’s administration rejected it, saying it could be “perceived as controversial” with no further reasoning given. The teacher replaced the song with “Rainbow Connection” from “The Muppets Movie”—which was (temporarily) rejected as well. (By the way, neither song contains any reference to the LGBTQ+ community, so…is it literally just any reference to rainbows that’s now off limits? Who’s gonna tell Dorothy?)

• In a new study examining global attitudes towards gender equality from market research firm Ipsos, almost half of those interviewed believe that “we have gone so far in promoting women’s equality that we are discriminating against men.” And wouldn’t you know it: 55% of men agreed, but only 41% of women. Wonder why that is…

• Check out this story in Nature about feminist badass Nancy Hopkins, who, back in the 90s, literally measured her colleagues’ labs by hand to prove MIT was providing less lab space to the women of its faculty (it was). The tape measure she used now sits in the MIT museum—and her findings still prove relevant in academia today.

A 🍕 OF HISTORY

Reach for the Stars

It's Women's History Month. And every week, a Meteor collective member recounts a piece of women's history that resonates with them. Today, Arvina Martin, executive director of Emerge Wisconsin, tells the story of Nicole Aunapu Mann, the first Native American woman in space.

PHOTO BY NICOLE MANN HERSELF

It can seem strange to think that there are still so many “firsts” left out there, but Nicole Aunapu Mann, a former Marine test pilot, achieved a pretty big one at the end of 2022. With a trip to space which lasted 157 days and included two spacewalks—she became the First Native American woman astronaut.

Mann is an enrolled member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, which is one federally recognized tribe with a reservation in Mendocino county, in northern California. The community is actually a confederation of six small tribes which were forced by settlers to live together in the mid-18th century, despite being distinctly different communities who spoke different languages. Mann is of the Wailaki people, one of the six, and grew up in nearby Sonoma County

She told NPR last year that she hoped to inspire other young people like her: “These young women, maybe Natives, maybe people from different backgrounds, [may] realize that they have these opportunities and potentially these barriers that used to be there are starting to be broken down,” she said.

Educated at the U.S. Naval Academy and Stanford, she pursued aviation, and was twice deployed aboard the USS Enterprise in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. By the time she was selected as an astronaut candidate in 2013—part of NASA’s 21st astronaut class—she had completed more than 2,500 flight hours in 25 types of aircraft; it took her two years to complete her training and another seven to be assigned to a space mission.

When the SpaceX Dragon Crew launched on Oct. 5, 2022, Mann was at the helm as commander. In doing so,, she made history twice: Hers was the first SpaceX mission with a female commander as well as the first spaceflight with an Indigenous woman. She spent 157 days in space before returning to Earth on March 11.

As both a woman and a Native American, she came home with so many firsts under her belt.  But as a member of the Artemis team, she may still have another first coming: She may later become the first woman to walk on the moon.

Arvina Martin is the Executive Director of Emerge Wisconsin. A member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, and Stockbridge-Munsee, she lives with her daughter and mother in Madison, Wisconsin, where she was the first Native American person ever elected to that city’s Common Council.

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Ramadan Mubarak, Meteor readers,

I hope everyone observing is able to find reflection, community, and anything else you seek. I’ve been re-reading these pieces on Ramadan from The Meteor’s Shannon Melero and Ayesha Johnson. If you missed them the first time, I highly recommend them now.

In today’s newsletter, we look at Uganda’s latest draconian law criminalizing LGBTQ+ identity itself and how these cruel measures got their start. (Spoiler alert: It’s colonialism. It’s always colonialism.)

Oh, and French scientists have announced that a small, vicious being indigenous to Corsica— you know, like Napoleon—is actually a unique (and adorable) species of cat-fox. Nous jurons allégeance!

But first: the news.

Booking a flight to Corsica,

Bailey Wayne Hundl

WHAT'S GOING ON

No, really, do NOT say "gay": On Tuesday, with an overwhelming 387-2 majority, the Ugandan parliament passed a law making it illegal to identify as LGBTQ+. Uganda has a long history of oppressive measures like this; same-sex intercourse has been illegal since British colonial rule. But this new legislation bans anyone from even identifying as LGBTQ+ publicly, charging that claiming the identity is “promoting” it. The law also authorizes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” a broad term covering many offenses—including having sex while HIV-positive.

Speaker Anita Among congratulated the chamber, saying, “Whatever we are doing, we are doing it for the people of Uganda.” David Bahati, another lawmaker, claimed during debate, “Our creator God is happy [about] what is happening.” But according to Ugandan LGBTQ+ advocate Frank Mugisha, “The last time [anti-gay] legislation was around, there were cases of suicide…[and] this law is worse than the one that was here before.”

This is the first law to explicitly ban identifying as LGBTQ+, but over 30 African countries have banned same-sex relations. Interestingly, though, if you go back a few centuries, many African countries (including Uganda) had a long history of embracing queerness—before British colonizers criminalized it and snuffed it out.

And now, journalists point out, right-wing American groups have been picking up where the British left off. The Alliance Defending Freedom (which is also behind the lawsuit seeking to ban the abortion pill in the States…and those disingenuous “progressive Jesus” Super Bowl ads) has funneled over $100k into sponsoring anti-gay laws internationally; Focus on the Family has contributed over a million.

So if anyone tries to paint the genocide of queer people as something happening “over there,” just remember: It starts here. You can support queer Ugandans trying to live their lives by donating here.

  AND:

• The hashtag #BAFTASoWhite is drawing attention to the fact that none of this year’s Leading Actress nominations for the British Television Awards are women of color. When asked to comment, BAFTA CEO Jane Millichip claimed the nominations were nonetheless “a really impressive result” due to the representation of women over 40. This comes only a month after the organization’s Film Awards, where 47 of the 49 winners were white.

• Prematurely canceled NBC show “Smash” may finally get the Broadway musical it deserves, which means I might be able to die a happy they/them.

• Florida Governor/former torturer at Guantanamo Bay Ron DeSantis plans to expand the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, forbidding any discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity for all grade levels.

• In related news: The American Library Association released a study Wednesday showing that there were 1,269 attempts to ban or restrict library materials in 2022—nearly doubling the amount from 2021. And as we’ve discussed here before, the vast majority of these efforts seek to suppress marginalized voices.

• An “American Idol” contestant called Katy Perry out for a joke she made during her audition criticizing the contestant’s decision to be a mother of three at 25. When the contestant said, “If Katy lays on the table, I think I’m going to pass out,” Perry responded, “Honey, you’ve been laying on the table too much.” How ‘bout we support women unconditionally, Katy?

• Turns out the mythological “Ghjattu Volpe” (which, translated literally, means “cat-fox”) of Corsica is real! Last Thursday, the French Office for Biodiversity announced the discovery of a new species with the face of a cat but the size, teeth, and tail of a fox. I don’t care how deadly or dangerous it may be; it’s so cute, I want five.

COME ON, LOOK AT THAT FACE! (PHOTO BY MARTIN BOONE)

A 🍕 OF HISTORY

Can We Pass the Equal Rights Amendment Already?

It's Women's History Month. And every week, a Meteor collective member recounts a piece of women's history that resonates with them. Today, we remember the (still yet-to-be-passed) Equal Rights Amendment.

(PHOTO BY ANN E. ZELLE/GETTY IMAGES)

Yesterday marked the 51st anniversary of Congress passing the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which stated—concisely and, to our ear, perfectly—that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the Unites States or by any state on account of sex.” But after that remarkable vote, conservative activists rallied against the amendment and it failed to be ratified by a supermajority of the states in time for a Congressionally-imposed deadline of 1982. (The revocation of that deadline, which would allow for its ratification, is still pending in Congress.)

Here, a young girl attends the 1978 ERA March in Washington, D.C., wearing white to honor the suffragettes who marched in the same city for the same cause 65 years earlier. Her sign—“not when I’m old”—probably sounded like a joke at the time, but she must be in her late 50s now. Let’s honor her wishes soon.

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