Girls v. Boys: Will the Boy Scouts ever be as awesome as the Girl Scouts?

Last year, I wrote about how much I loved being a Girl Scout (you can read about that here). It was such an awesome experience and now that I’m an adult, I love being able to look at the organization and support it’s message still. Empowering girls, teaching tolerance, and delicious cookies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After I wrote the article, I had a couple friends who were Boy Scouts saying the same things about their scouting days. For many of them, scouting was about empowering boys, teaching independence, and building friendships.

In fact, similar to my Girl Scout experience, sexuality was never discussed and exclusion was never an option. But for my Boy Scout friends, they can’t look at the organization as adults and be proud because the organization continues to support a shitty policy.

You see, in 2000, the Supreme Court upheld the Boy Scouts right to exclude members on the basis of sexual orientation in its Boy Scouts of America v. Dale decision . The court held that this right was found in the First Amendment, in the ability citizens have to engage in those rights that are protected under the First Amendment, like the right to associate

This freedom of expressive association also includes a freedom not to associate, as outlined in the Jaycees case in 1984. In the Jaycee’s case, the court outlines a whole bunch of requirements for protecting a group’s freedom to include/exclude persons but the main crux is that the group needs to engage in expressive association – basically, the group needs to have actual values that they’re furthering and control their membership based on those values.

In the Boy Scouts case, the court reaffirms this and lets the Boy Scouts choose to limit their membership to those who are furthering Boy Scout values. The Boy Scouts contended that, as a group, their official position was against homosexuality and that the purpose of the Boy Scouts was to “instill values in young people.” These values included the position against homosexuality. Accordingly, the court allowed the Boy Scouts to prohibit those who could not/would not further that position.

Recently, the Boy Scouts have come under fire for continuing to uphold this position. There have been multiple legal decisions furthering the rights of homosexuals, the mainstream media has embraced homosexuality as a sexuality and not as an aberration, and it seems like the Boy Scouts might soon be following suit.

On Monday, Deron Smith, a spokesperson for the Boy Scouts announced that after a two year investigation, the ban may be lifted noting that “[the decision] is a result of a longstanding dialogue within the scouting family. Last year, scouting realized the policy caused some volunteers and chartered organizations which oversee and deliver the program to act in conflict with their missions, principles, or ­religious beliefs.”

Sounds like progress to me.

What do you guys think of the Supreme Court’s decision to allow the Boy Scouts to discriminate? What do you think of the Boy Scout’s hopefully progressive decision?

Wonky Wanking: Sperm Donors and Child Support in a DOMA State

Maybe one of my favorite things is when someone says “that sounds like a Liz case!” (or article, or poem, or whatever) because it’s really nice when someone thinks of me and also because they are usually awesome cases.

Actual Liz cases

Last week, two of the attorneys in my office joyously presented me with the following Liz case: 

At the beginning of January, the Department of Children and Families in Kansas sought child support payments from William Marotta for the three year old child he fathered through sperm donation. Through a private agreement with Angela Bauer and Jennifer Schreiner, a committed but unmarried couple, Marotta donated his sperm on three separate occasions. On the third attempt, Jennifer became pregnant and Jennifer and Angela raised their daughter as a couple without any involvement from Marotta.

In fact, before donating his sperm to Bauer and Schreiner, Marotta signed a Sperm Donor Contract relinquishing his parental rights to any child conceived through his donation. Though the contract purports to sever Marotta’s rights, it is unsigned by Jennifer, the biological mother, and is neither notarized nor witnessed. Based on these two facts alone, the contract is suspicious, but ultimately served its purpose for three years until the Kansas court stepped in.

You see, in 2010 Bauer and Schreiner separated, but maintained joint parental responsibilities for their child. When Bauer lost her job and was unable to provide health insurance coverage for the child, Schreiner sought health insurance through Medicaid. But before the Kansas Department of Children and Families would approve the application, they requested information about the father of the child and slapped Marotta with a lawsuit for child support payments. Bauer, the non-biological parent of Schreiner’s child attempted to step in and explain that she was the other parent, not Marotta, but the Department of Children and Families and the Kansas court wouldn’t listen.

In fact, the Kansas court is allowing the DCF’s petition for child support payments from Marotta, totaling over $6,000, to go forward.  Seems a little wonky, right?

It is. And there’s an explanation for this mess, but it’s a pretty crappy one. Here’s the deal: Kansas expressly prohibits same-sex marriage in its Constitution, so Bauer and Schreiner couldn’t get married. This means that any child born to the couple would not be presumed to be a child of both parties of the couple. (In most states, a child born to a married couple is presumed to be the child of both parties and parental rights are established through this presumption.)

In addition, Kansas has no existing legal avenues for second-parent adoption. Second-parent adoption is a fairly common process allowed in 23 states, whereby the second parent of the child would formally adopt the child with the consent of (or at the same time as) the custodial parent.

So, even though Bauer wanted to provide for and continue to parent the child born to Schreiner, she is kind of unable to under Kansas law. And even though she’s trying to tell the court she’s the other parent… it doesn’t matter, the DCF looks to Marotta for support.

Any state Department of Children and Families, not just Kansas, is going to exhaust all legal possibilities for providing support for a child before issuing any aid. And since Marotta is the biological father of the child and there’s a ton of legal precedent that says you can’t just contract away your parental responsibilities (off the top of my head, see In the Matter of Baby M but there is a plethora of case law to that effect in every state) his Sperm Donor Contract doesn’t work.

Bottom line? Kansas wants to ignore same-sex families and deny them a whole bunch of rights, so the court is unlikely to extend parental rights to a same-sex partner. This means that Marotta will probably be on the hook for child support even though he was never a parent to the child.

Nonsense.

What are your thoughts? Should the sperm donor be on the hook for child support payments? Should the Kansas court deem Bauer the second parent? Does this make you think twice about donating sperm or eggs?

Related articles

• State trying to make sperm donor pay child support (kansascity.com)

Transgender Day of Remembrance

On November 28, 1998, Rita Hester was murdered.

She was stabbed over 20 times in the chest in her own apartment.

Her murder remains unsolved.

—

Today marks the 13th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, sparked by outrage over Rita’s murder and a desire to bring attention to the violence faced by members of the trans community, previously overlooked by the media and law enforcement officials.

Sadly, Rita’s murder is one of hundreds of crimes of violence against transgender people that occur each year – one of many murders of trans folk that remain unsolved, one of many cases not charged as a hate crimes, and one of many stories cut short.

Last November, An Act Relative to Gender Identity passed in the House and Senate in Massachusetts – extending civil rights and hate crimes protections to the state’s transgender residents in areas of employment, housing, credit/lending, and public education and updating Massachusetts’s hate crimes laws to include gender identity.

The passing of comprehensive hate crime legislation is a step in the right direction – but it’s just a step. So this November, we remember those we have lost to senseless violence in the past year during the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Events begin tonight, November 15, 2012 and extend through the week. For Massachusetts event info, please visit MassTPC’s website.

Related articles

• GLAAD & MTPC Release New Vids in “I AM: Trans People Speak” Series (lezgetreal.com)

Domestic Violence and LGBT Survivors

Today, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) issued a finding that a gay male domestic violence survivor has probable cause in his discrimination case against The R.O.S.E. Fund in connection with the Fund’s failure to provide access to free facial reconstructive surgery.

The Fund routinely provides free access to facial reconstructive surgery for female victims of domestic violence and denied the complainant access on the basis that “including men in its programs would detract from its purpose, and discourage volunteer and financial supporters”. The Fund also argued that female victims of domestic violence suffer unique self-esteem issues that male victims do not.

In ruling that probable cause exists, MCAD is sending a message the domestic violence affects everyone and that our resources need to be allocated accordingly. This is a pretty big deal, since straight and same-sex domestic violence share a lot of the same characteristics.

• One out of four to one out of three same-sex relationships have experienced domestic violence – one in four women in heterosexual relationships have experienced domestic violence.
• The patterns of abuse are similar, often including a cycle of physical, emotional, and psychological mistreatment, leaving the victim with feelings of isolation, fear and guilt.
• No race, ethnicity, or socio-economic status is exempt.

This decision will help foster inclusion of LGBT persons in traditionally heterosexual domestic violence programs and will help combat many of the impediments same-sex couples face when seeking to address their domestic violence issues.

• Like authorities who are not trained to handle same-sex domestic violence cases – often officers fail to report instances of domestic violence because they mistake the parties as roommates rather than a couple
• And domestic violence shelters that only admit women, shutting down the needs of gay male victims
• And the tricky language of many state domestic violence laws that don’t cover LGBT victims.

Since October is Domestic Violence Awareness month, MCAD’s decision couldn’t be more pertinent. Domestic violence cuts across all boundaries – it’s time for our resources to reflect that.

Think Purple – October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month

I’m sure you’ve heard that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and are in the midst of purchasing every pink product put out by the gazillions of companies hoping to reap the benefits of increased sales based on the teensy share of their profits that will go towards cancer research, but did you know that October is also LGBT History Month?

And National CyberSecurity Awareness Month? And Filipino American History Month? And National Bullying Prevention Month? And National Arts and Humanities Month? And National Down Syndrome Awareness Month? And National Healthy Lung Month?

Oh and also National Domestic Violence Awareness Month?

No? I know it’s hard to keep track of all the things we’re supposed to be aware of in any given month – I mean, I am barely aware of my own surroundings. (Seriously, I have had a poster hanging in my office advertising a luncheon with a prominent feminist academic since 2008 and only last week did I notice that this prominent academic also happens to be a friend’s sister.) But I will be the first to point out that it’s pretty shitty that all these other things get brushed under the rug by the power of pink.

Especially when some of these things are already regularly brushed under the rug. Like domestic violence.

See the thing is that we live in a culture where sex and violence have become horrifyingly and inextricably linked. I’m not talking about fuzzy handcuffs and 50 Shades fantasies; I’m talking women being equated to prey and this system of beliefs that exist that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. The message that’s being blasted that violence is seen as sexy and sexuality is seen as violent.

Think I’m being an alarmist? Did you see the most recent cover of French Vogue?

Sure, for some this harkens thoughts of Christian Grey and consensual kink, but the image by itself is irresponsible at best and downright dangerous at its worst. In an open letter to Conde Naste, anti-domestic violence groups write “This truly disturbing image of a woman being choked sends a dangerous message to anyone who sees this magazine – that choking is a sign of passion rather than violence.”

And images like this one, together with the constant connection between sex and violence, are doing a bang-up job of desensitizing society.

Take Mandy Stadtmiller ’s recent conversation with Naomi Wolf for xoJane about Wolf’s new book, Vagina. Wolf talks about how desensitized people have become to violence: “So, with rape jokes, if you’re in an environment where your vagina is being demeaned, humiliated, targeted, or at Yale, where the boys were chanting, “No means yes, and yes means anal,” or with comedians. These are strategic; they may not be conscious, but they’re strategic. Because it’s stressing out your autonomic nervous system all day long, in such a way that, over time, it dials down your well-being sexually, and it dials down your well-being in other ways; because if you want to target a woman’s brain, you target the vagina.”

Or the most recent “rape joke” fiasco, the flyer posted in a men’s dorm room bathroom at Miami University offering pointers on the “Top Ten Ways to Get Away with Rape” including roofies and breaking and entering.

So maybe it shouldn’t be shocking to me that we’ve all become so desensitized that we’re ok with linking violence to sex or that we continue to live in a culture where we perpetually blame the victim. Just last week, I was going over a case that established that consent can be withdrawn during sex and students hemmed and hawed over this finding. Did she really say no? Maybe she was just feeling guilty because he wasn’t her boyfriend?

Wait.

No. I don’t want to live in a world like this and neither should you. Because lurking behind rape culture, hiding in the victim blaming, and masquerading as something that doesn’t happen to normal people exists domestic violence.

Because every 9 seconds in the US, a woman is assaulted or beaten. Around the world, at least one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Because every day in the US, more than 3 women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends. Because on average, 24 people PER MINUTE are victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Let’s stop ignoring the problem.

For resources, please visit the following safe-spaces:

If you need immediate assistance, dial 911.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or http://www.thehotline.org/

Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network: 1-800-656-HOPE or http://www.rainn.org/

Today in History…

One year ago today, the repeal of Don’t As, Don’t Tell was enacted. In his remarks on September 20, 2011, President Obama fiercly took down the discriminatory law preventing homosexuals from openly serving in the US military, stating “As of today, patriotic Americans in uniform will no longer have to lie about who they are in order to serve the country they love. As of today, our armed forces will no longer lose the extraordinary skills and combat experience of so many gay and lesbian service members. And today, I want those who were discharged under this law to know that your country deeply values your service.”

For many, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was a discriminatory policy that existed in the background of military service. Gay and lesbian servicemembers quietly served their country fearing exposure and discharge. But for law buffs, DADT’s brief and complicated history highlights many of the civil rights violations facing members of the LGBT community.

You see, in 1950 President Truman signed the Uniform Code of Military Justice which established discharge rules for openly homosexual service members. Under these rules, service members who were openly homosexual could be discharged under Section VIII of the Code which provided discharge for “ineptness or undesirable habits or traits of character.” Up until 1973, homosexuality was considered a psychiatric disorder by the American Psychological Assoication, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Public Health Administration. Accordingly, discharging a service member for homosexuality was akin to discharging a service member for bipolar disorder.

In 1973, the APA formally removed homosexuality from its list of psychiatric disorders; however, the military continued to discharge service members for standard unfitness and unsuitability reasons. There were exceptions to this rule, like retention, so higher ups had discretion to keep openly homosexual service members in their ranks.

During this same time, service members began challenging the constitutionality of the military regulations. The cases were heard at the appellate court level and in some cases, the court held that the government did a pretty shitty job of proving that gay and lesbian service members and civil servants weren’t good employees and therefore shouldn’t have been discharged or fired. In other cases, the court noted that the military could discharge gays and lesbians, but that individual service men and women had a right to be judged on their individual merits, not just blanketly fired for being gay.

Despite the challenges, these rules remained on the books until 1982 when President Reagan set out a defense directive that stated that homosexuality is incompatible with military service and established that persons who engaged in homosexual acts or even stated that they were homosexual or bisexual would be discharged. Reagan’s directive sent the message that even identifying as homosexual would be grounds for discharge. (Which is… RIDICULOUS.)

Then in 1992, presidential hopeful Bill Clinton promises to lift the ban on gays and lesbians serving in the military. And despite my deep, abiding love for Bill, he is a master at wordplay and only kinda sorta lifted the ban. In 1993, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is introduced as a compromise – lifting the ban on service while silencing those who serve. Congress attempts to get the military to continue to abide by Reagan’s defense directive and Clinton issues a defense directive that military applicants can not be asked about their sexual orientation. And this give us DADT.

Maybe Clinton’s solution was better than the blanket discharge for even identity politics directed by Reagan, but DADT was a craptastic rule. More than 14,000 service members were fired under DADT from 1993 to 2011. In fact, in 2003, the military discharged more than 750 mission-critical service members and more than 320 with skills in important langauges like Arabic, Korean, and Farsi as a result of Reagan’s directive and DADT.

On top of how shitty the regulation was, it was also super inconsistent. On the civilian side of the CIA, FBI, State Department, and the Department of Defense there are no regulations banning homosexuals from employment and there are laws preventing discrimination.

Partly because of glaring inconsistencies, partly because of basic civil rights, and partly because multiple courts challenged the validity of DADT and Reagan’s directive, President Obama repealed DADT on July 22, 2011 with the formal end date of September 20, 2011.

And the world didn’t end. And the military didn’t falter.

And this awesomeness happened.

Related articles

• The Anniversary of the End of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ (towleroad.com)

I am Woman, Hear Me Roar.

I just can’t.

I have spent the last week+ staring, mouth agape at the internets, news outlets, and twitter trying to formulate a coherent response to the absolutely horrifying comments made by Todd Akin, Paul Ryan, Steve King and a whole bunch of other people on both party lines. And I just can’t.

But, Erin Gloria Ryan over at Jezebel has done a pretty phenomenal job putting my thoughts into words (I am sort of concerned she has burrowed into my brain), so instead of continuing to try to respond, I will quote her:

“What needs to happen before spouting ignorant, anti-woman crap in public is uniformly met with the same sort of derision we now reserve for politicians who appeal to ethnic stereotypes during drunken tirades? How much longer are we all going to have to stay angry, after our mothers spent their lives angry? And is it even working?

Eventually a person gets to the point where they can longer withstand the constant blitzkrieg of bullshit. So, Steve King, Todd Akin, and shouty Twitter conservatives: you win. Rape outrage limit reached. I have given this all of my fucks, and the fucks I have given are still not enough fucks. So many more fucks need to be given, and I have exhausted my fuck supply. The fucks are on backorder. Employees are working overtime to restock my fucks, but in the meantime, please accept this 10% off coupon while we wait for the fucks to arrive via FedEx. I’ll be over here, drinking wine from a Pac Man mug and watching cartoons.”

Just replace “Pac Man mug” with “Bob Marley mug” and “watching cartoons” with “watching That 70′s Show” and her response is exactly what I have been thinking.

While Erin and I spend some time refueling our fuck supply, I thought you should know that there are lots of really really really awesome people out there with unlimited awesomeness that they continue to share with society in spite of the glut of women-hating politicians and pundits running around spewing hate.

So if you need to take a break from being angry/sad/horrified, check out just a few of my favorite (feminist) organizations – these people inspire me to keep on keepin’ on, so I’m sure they’ll help combat your war on women fatigue:

Hollaback! (Wooo woo!)

“Hollaback is a movement to end street harassment powered by a network of local activists around the world.  We work together to better understand street harassment, to ignite public conversations, and to develop innovative strategies to ensure equal access to public spaces. By collecting women and LGBTQ folks’ stories and pictures in a safe and share-able way with our very own mobile phone applications, Hollaback! is creating a crowd-sourced initiative to end street harassment. Hollaback! breaks the silence that has perpetuated sexual violence internationally, asserts that any and all gender-based violence is unacceptable, and creates a world where we have an option—and, more importantly—a response.”

Girls, Inc.

Girls Inc. inspires all girls to be strong, smart, and boldSM through life-changing programs and experiences that help girls navigate gender, economic, and social barriers. Research-based curricula, delivered by trained, mentoring professionals in a positive all-girl environment equip girls to achieve academically; lead healthy and physically active lives; manage money; navigate media messages; and discover an interest in science, technology, engineering, and math. The network of local Girls Inc. nonprofit organizations serves 125,000 girls ages 6 – 18 annually across the United States and Canada.

RH Reality Check

RH Reality Check is an online community and publication serving individuals and organizations committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights. Protection is our watchword—we are contributing to the global effort to empower people with the information, services and leadership they need to safeguard their sexual and reproductive health and rights and to guard against false attacks and misinformation.

RH Reality Check exists as a resource for evidence-based information, provocative commentary, and interactive dialogue. We enjoyed the support of the UN Foundation and the editorial independence entrusted to us for six years, from 2006-2012. In January 2012 we branched off officially as our own independent 501 c3 (non-profit) organization, and that’s what we are today.

The Crunk Feminist Collective

The Crunk Feminist Collective (CFC) will create a space of support and camaraderie for hip hop generation feminists of color, queer and straight, in the academy and without, by building a rhetorical community, in which we can discuss our ideas, express our crunk feminist selves,  fellowship with one another, debate and challenge one another, and support each other, as we struggle together to articulate our feminist goals, ideas, visions, and dreams in ways that are both personally and professionally beneficial.

The FBomb

The FBomb.org is a blog/community created by and for teenage girls who care about their rights as women and want to be heard. The main purpose of the fbomb is to create a community and dialogue amongst teenage girls, and therefore any and all submissions are accepted on an ongoing basis. There is no limit for the number of submissions per person and multiple submissions and submissions sent over time are encouraged.

There are so many super rad organizations out there supporting girls and women so it was kinda hard to just pick a few of my favorites, but I think you get the point.

Yes, there is a war on women, but look at our army. We rock.

What are some of your favorite organizations, blogs, collectives by and for women? I’m always on the lookout – please share!

And ok… I do have one thing to say about the whole media mess:

Kramer v. Kramer meets Goodfellas and a family is torn apart

I’ve been teaching law for nearly five years now  and during that time I’ve introduced the Miller v. Jenkins debacle to countless students. And prior to teaching, while I was a student myself, we talked about the Miller v. Jenkins case in class. So you can see that this has been going on for a very long time, judging by the depth of the wrinkle in my forehead.

Exhibit A: Wrinkle from years of disbelief re: Miller v. Jenkins

If you’re not familiar with the Miller v. Jenkins case, I’ll bring you up to speed. Janet Jenkins and Lisa Miller were once a happy couple. The pair met in Virginia in 1997 and were united in civil union in Vermont in 2000. In 2002, Lisa and Janet decided to have a child and Lisa was impregnated through in vitro fertilization after both Janet and Lisa chose a donor. When Lisa gave birth later that year in Virginia, Janet was in the room.

The new family then moved to Fair Haven, VT so they could raise their family in a state that sanctioned their civil union. In 2003, Lisa attempted to get pregnant again, but suffered a miscarriage. In September of 2003, Janet and Lisa separated with Janet signing a promise to pay child support and an agreement that she would stay in her daughter’s life. In 2004, a Vermont court formally dissolved Janet and Lisa’s civil union and granted custody to Lisa with visitation rights to Janet.

This all seems pretty standard, right? Even if we look at it through a lens of heteronormativity – pair are married, have a kid, get divorced, custody to utero-mom with visitation to “dad”.

But things got ridiculous. Lisa moved to Virginia, a state that does not recognize civil unions or same-sex marriage. Even so, Janet would drive from Vermont to Virginia to visit her daughter, often making the ten-hour trip only to discover that Lisa had “disappeared” with their daughter before Janet got there. Lisa continued to block Janet’s visits until she teamed up with lawyers from Liberty Law School, Reverend Jerry Falwell‘s law school in Virginia, and filed suit in Virginia court seeking to determine that Janet is not a parent and is therefore not entitled to visitation or any parental rights.

Because of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which allows individual states to define marriage as between a man and a woman, Virginia was free to say no to same-sex marriage. And because of the DOMA, Virginia could also refuse to recognize a same-sex marriage valid in another state. As a result, Lisa, her attorneys, and Reverend Falwell could all argue that Janet should not be considered a parent to Isabella because Isabella was the biological daughter of Lisa and not Janet. In addition, Lisa’s legal team could argue that Janet should have no rights to Isabella because there was no valid union between Lisa and Janet.

Initially, the Virginia court sided with Lisa and said that Janet was not a parent to Isabella. So Janet didn’t see her daughter for 2 years.

Now, everyone knows that family law issues are messy, but they are especially messy for same-sex couples because a lot of our legal assumptions in custody and parenting issue are based on heterosexual relationships. For example, if a man and a woman are legally married and the woman has a child, it is legally presumed that the husband is the father. Presumptions like that don’t necessarily exist for same-sex couples.

Not only that, but with custody and divorce disputes there are all of these rules that lay out where you can bring your case. And if you bring your case in the wrong state, that court can’t make a decision… even if that court is Virginia and wants to make a point to preserve heterosexual marriage.

And that’s what happened here. The Virginia Supreme Court ruled that Vermont still had jurisdiction over the custody dispute, regardless of DOMA and Virginia’s stance on same-sex unions. So the case goes back to the Vermont court and they set up a new schedule of visitation for Janet and Isabella.

But Janet never got to see her daughter. Lisa began blocking visits. And once the Vermont court threatened to transfer custody to Janet because of Lisa’s failure to follow court orders, Lisa and Isabella disappeared. With the help of Kenneth Miller, a Mennonite minister from Virginia, Lisa and her daughter fled to Nicaragua .

And Janet hasn’t seen her daughter since.

On Tuesday, Kenneth Miller was convicted of orchestrating Lisa and Isabella’s disappearance and faces up to 3 years in prison. That same day, Janet’s attorney’s filed suit against Lisa Miller, Reverend Falwell, Liberty University School of Law, Falwell’s related ministries, and several individuals who helped Lisa and Isabella escape. The lawsuit alleges violations of RICO, the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, by the defendants through conspiring to and carrying out kidnapping, money laundering, and mail fraud.

Lisa and Isabella are thought to be somewhere in Nicaragua, but their exact whereabouts are unknown. Interpol and the FBI have gotten involved and there are a whole bunch of lawyers on either side fighting back and forth. But at the end of the day this whole mess has just one result.

Janet Jenkins is unable to see her daughter.

 

Related articles

• Va. pastor guilty in same-sex union custody case (news.yahoo.com)

NFL: 1, Congress: 0

Pre-season football has started again and here in New England, we are ALL ABOUT IT. I won’t pretend to know anything about football, but growing up in Boston means that the Patriots are a constant background buzzing, even if you aren’t a die-hard fan.

You know what I mean – you can identify Belichick’s gruff mumble “well, uh, we did our best but we’ve got some things to work on and we’ll continue to address that” faster than the opening beats of Call Me Maybe, you have a grubby old logo Patriot’s hoodie in your dresser just waiting for cold fall games, and you can still remember where you were the night Adam Vinatieri kicked the field goal in the snow bowl.

And it is with that constant buzz of Patriots that we carry on with our daily lives, any Patriots-related news item peaking our interest. Which is why the news of Chad “OchoCinco” Johnson’s arrest for assaulting his wife and his subsequent drop from the Dolphin’s roster is even on my radar.

I won’t pretend to know why he legally changed his name to Ochocinco, although I have a vague idea that it has something to do with his number on whatever team he played well for before coming to the Patriots. I won’t pretend that I know his statistics while he played for the Pats (or if I did, what they mean), but I do know that when I did see him play, no one seemed to be impressed. And I won’t pretend to have known that he ended up being picked up by the Dolphins.

But I do know this: he was arrested for head-butting his wife on Saturday during an argument. And then, the Dolphins cut him from the roster. It’s a swift message from the Dolphins that Johnson isn’t worth the baggage he comes with, but it can also be viewed as a message that domestic violence will not be tolerated by the organization.

If only Congress could act as quickly as the Dolphins to send the same message. In April of this year, I blogged about the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. To date, Congress has still not signed the VAWA into law. In fact, unless something changes, it seems unlikely that the VAWA will be signed anytime soon. You see, members of Congress are currently home with their families, possibly until after Labor Day… and then Congress will be in session for just a few weeks in September, heading home until after the elections.

The Violence Against Women Act was first passed in 1994. Since its passage, programs at the state and national level have dramatically improved the national response to domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. Reporting of domestic violence has increased as much as 51%, all 50 states have passed laws making stalking a crime and strengthened rape laws, and intimate partner homicide has decreased by 34% for women and 57% for men.

But VAWA needs to be reauthorized in order to continue to build progress towards ending domestic violence. With the reauthorization, funds will be available to meet the unmet needs of domestic violence victims, including the 25% of victims who remain on wait lists for crisis center services. Not only that, but the reuthorization of VAWA will include protections and services for LGBTQ victims who are dramatically underserved and often discriminated against when seeking services.

It’s time for Congress to send the same message that the Dolphins have – domestic violence will not be tolerated.

So talk to your Congress persons and put pressure on them to pass a comprehensive Reauthorization of VAWA. For information on the current status of the reauthorization, a helpful tool kit for talking to your Congress person, personal stories, and statistical information, check out the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women’s 4VAWA website: http://4vawa.org/

Related articles

• Dolphins’ Johnson arrested on domestic violence charge (sportsillustrated.cnn.com)
• Chad Johnson Arrested For Domestic Violence Against Evelyn Lozada: REPORT (huffingtonpost.com)

My middle name is Xcellent.

Hooray! Obama paid for my birth control yesterday!

Ok. I know he didn’t really. But I also know that the birth control mandate isn’t an attack on America, like “December 7th, that’s Pearl Harbor Day. [or] September 11th, the day the terrorists attacked” like Representative Mike Kelly, a republican from PA seems to think.

While Representative Kelly’s remarks have drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle, the birth control mandate and the Affordable Care Act remain contentious and hotly debated.

But no matter where you stand, the ACA pushes for equality. In fact, the ACA and the birth control mandate take giant leaps to stop having a case of vagina from being a pre-existing condition. Under the health care law, discrimination against women is illegal in the insurance market. Insurers can’t charge women more than men just because they’re women.

Not only that but a whole bunch of services that are essential in helping women to stay healthy are now being covered without co-pays.  This is in addition to other important services for both men AND women that are being covered without copays, like cholesterol screenings and flu shots.

And that’s still a reason for celebration.

Related articles

• Republican Congressman Compares Expanded Birth Control Access To September 11th, Pearl Harbor (thinkprogress.org)