MetaFilter posts tagged with rights

Now you gonna be Gandalf the Red!

shakespeherian — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:57:00 -0800

'This is not a joke, this is not a scam, this is not available on TV. I will write a check TODAY for $10,000, and viola! Terminator off your hands.'

With the rights to the Terminator franchise up for sale, Joss Whedon makes a bid.

US Military Cuts And A Step Towards Equality

zarq — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:00:55 -0800

Yesterday, US President Obama signed a $680bn military policy bill, which cuts military spending, including $2bn in funding for new F-22 fighter jets. However, the bill also contained the first major piece of federal gay rights legislation, and fulfilled an Obama campaign promise: acts of violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people have now been added to the list of federal hate crimes.

Sandra Burt gets some Satisfaction.

flapjax at midnite — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:19:17 -0800

"It's ridiculous. What's the world coming to when Big Brother wants to charge you for singing a wee tune?", Sandra Burt said. So, Big Brother thought about it a bit, and decided, well, maybe she's right.

There are known unknowns

Blazecock Pileon — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 07:50:48 -0800

"My answer is, I don't know. I don't know." US District Court Judge Vaughn Walker asked Prop 8 supporters to define the nature and extent of damage done by same-sex couples to the institution of marriage, and being unable to get any definitive answer, denied the request from supporters of Prop 8 to throw out Perry v. Schwarzenegger and ordered the case to trial in January 2010.

With Glowing Hearts

futureproof — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:42:32 -0800

The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association has filed suit against the City of Vancouver over a recently enacted 2010 Olympic bylaw which the BCCLA claims limits free speech and is in violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Recently, a college student was approached at school by plainclothes police officers who wished to discuss her friendship with a high-profile Olympics opponent, "Five Ring Circus" author Chris Shaw. In July the city of Vancouver passed a new bylaw which temporarily amended 10 existing bylaws, repealed 3 existing Olympic bylaws and wrapped it all up into the new "2010 Winter Games By-law[pdf], to create one consolidated enactment which deals with all aspects of the Games." At the time even some in the mainstream media noticed that the bylaw could potentially be used to infringe individuals rights. This morning the BCCLA filed suit[pdf] against the City on behalf of Chris Shaw and Alissa Westergard-Thorpe of the The Olympic Resistance Network.

Separate and Expensive

Blazecock Pileon — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:21:07 -0800

Being a same-sex, taxpaying couple is more expensive, overall, than being a straight, taxpaying couple, for the same services and benefits, when available.

Prop 8 : CA :: Ref 71 : WA

hippybear — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:35:57 -0800

On May 18, 2009, the Governor of Washington state signed into law SB 5688, granting near-equal legal standing to state registered domestic partners, meaning mainly (but not exclusively) same-sex couples. This new law, nicknamed the "everything but marriage" law was to go into effect at the end of July. Due to efforts made by some conservative groups, the measure will now be up for a public vote on the November 3, 2009 ballot in the form of Referendum 71. Meanwhile, a coalition of groups has formed to ensure the law remains standing, while others seek to make the names of the petition signers public. The legal battles over the signatures have already begun. Previously.

maine ways

lalex — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:20:24 -0800

Maine Ways (SLYT)

"Natural communities and ecosystems possess inalienable and fundamental rights to exist, flourish and naturally evolve..."

homunculus — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:10:18 -0800

Sued by the forest: Should nature be able to take you to court?

Indian High Court Says Ban on Gay Sex Unconstitutional

Azaadistani — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:40:10 -0800

New Delhi legalizes homosexuality. In a landmark ruling, the Delhi High Court has for the first time in India declared the British-era law against homosexual sex unconstitutional. Is this India's Stonewall?

Spare Change

gerryblog — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:08:27 -0800

Tomorrow, Obama will extend federal employee benefits to same-sex partners. But is it too little, too late to mend the growing rift between Obama and gay rights advocates, especially after last week's controversial DOMA brief (discussed previously)?

Dear Mr. President

Joe Beese — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:48:46 -0800

Dear Mr. President: ... I realized that although I and other LGBT leaders have introduced ourselves to you as policy makers, we clearly have not been heard, and seen, as what we also are: human beings whose lives, loves, and families are equal to yours. I know this because this brief would not have seen the light of day if someone in your administration who truly recognized our humanity and equality had weighed in with you. John Aravois comments: ... more important than its content is its existence. In politics, sending a letter chastising a friend is a far more significant act than what the letter actually says. It's just not done unless something very big and very bad happens. Usually things happen quietly, behind closed doors (especially with friends). When they go public like this, it means serious trouble is brewing.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Blazecock Pileon — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:04:50 -0800

A Gay Soldier's Husband — In the backdrop of the conservative activist Supreme Court's recent decision against hearing a challenge to the US military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, one gay American relates the difficulties he faces having a partner on active duty in Iraq. In Iraq itself, death squads continue to murder gay and lesbian Iraqis, while American occupying forces look the other way.

In Washington State, echoes of Proposition 8

0xFCAF — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:24:24 -0800

In September of 2004, a Superior Court in Washington state ruled the state's 1998 "Defense of Marriage" act unconstitutional, a ruling which would have allowed the state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. In 2006, the state Supreme Court issued in an opinion in Andersen v. King County overturning the lower court's ruling, noting "that our decision [pdf] is not based on an independent determination of what we believe the law should be." The legislature, in response, created the state-registered domestic partnership in 2007, expanding many (but not all) marriage-related rights to same-sex couples. Last month, a new law expanded the partnership to cover the remaining rights, creating an "all-but-marriage" partnership.

This year, the Washington Values Alliance has filed Referendum 71, which would put this expansion to a ballot vote. The referendum will need 120,000 signatures to make it to the ballot. WhoSigned.org intends to make these signatures searchable. Predictably, this is creating some controversy. In the meantime, Referendum 71 doesn't seem to be finding much support from likely allies. If it does make it to the ballot, voters hoping to maintain rights for same-sex couples should vote yes to uphold the law as signed. Confused? The Secretary of State's office understands.
Bonus Washington state ballot item: Initiative 957 (which never made it to the ballot) would have required couples to procreate within three years of marriage or face annulment.

Beneath the burqa

tavegyl — Thu, 14 May 2009 08:36:43 -0800

Shuttlecock burqas to fetish wear. Some snapshots of Pakistan's struggles with its sexual identities. Sex, love, dating and marriage* in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. In Peshawar, a vibrant porn scene coexists with conservative Islam and tribal traditions. Writers talk about being gay in Pakistan. In Lahore, where the Mela Chiraghan festival celebrates a Muslim sufi poet's love for a Hindu man, openly gay women have just launched Chay, the country's first magazine dealing with sexuality. Begum Nawazish Ali, a bisexual transvestite TV host, uses her transgressive persona to throw politicians off balance on air (previously). Meanwhile, there is a long history of hijras belonging to the third gender in Pakistan and neighbouring countries (photographs) (previously). This is also the country where Mukhtaran Mai was gang raped to punish her brother for a sexual transgression, the historical sex trade is no longer a respectable occupation, the Taliban flog a teenaged girl on film (warning: graphic), bans a Bollywood movie for "propogating homosexuality" and women are still killed for honour and subject to acid attacks. * Alys Faiz, the foreign wife of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, one of the greatest poets in the Urdu language, on marrying a Pakistani, just before the Partition

Disability and Employment in Argentina

aniola — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 20:25:49 -0800

Disability and Employment in Argentina: The Right to Be Exploited?

Apologies from a racist

Addlepated — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 15:25:50 -0800

Elwin Wilson burned crosses. He threw jack handles at kids. He hung black dolls in nooses. He threw eggs at men. He beat people up at bus stations - people who would one day become United States Congressmen. He lay in wait for the Freedom Riders in Rock Hill, SC ( more Freedom Rides video 1, 2). And now Elwin Wilson is apologizing for what he did.

“…If you stand up straight, people can’t ride your back. And that’s what we did. We stood up straight.”

univac — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 00:00:30 -0800

When Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated April 4, 1968, he was helping sanitation workers in Memphis form a union. In 1967, SCLC initiated the Poor People's Campaign to unify the African-American civil rights movement with working people's movements more generally. In MLK's words, "It must not be just black people, it must be all poor people. We must include American Indians, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, and even poor whites." The campaign brought him to Memphis in 1968 to rally with striking sanitation workers. A movement of clergy & community activists had grown in support of the strikers after two workers died on the job. After King's death, the workers won recognition of their union, AFSCME Local 1733, as well as a collective bargaining agreement containing wage increases, a grievance procedure, and improvements to outdated & dangerous equipment. In 1968, union membership in the United States was at 29.4 % of the workforce. Since then, the country's election of a black president has prompted suggestions that King's dream has been fulfilled, while union membership has decreased to under 13%.

China criticizes US on human rights

shetterly — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 11:31:22 -0800

China hits back at US criticism on human rights After the US needles China with human rights criticism, China responds with Human Rights Record of United States in 2008. From its preface: "As in previous years, the [United States'] reports are full of accusations of the human rights situation in more than 190 countries and regions, including China, but mention nothing of the widespread human rights abuses on its own territory."

This week's cover of The Nation features Obama with more than 60 civil rights icons.

harperpitt — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 12:49:52 -0800

When Obama takes the oath of office, he won't be standing alone. This week's cover of The Nation features a portrait of an Obama inauguration presided over by Thurgood Marshall and attended by more than 60 civil rights icons. Some of the faces are familiar. Some we may not know as well. And far too many of them were taken too soon.

IMPASSE

pwedza — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 01:46:50 -0800

Bram Schouw's short IMPASSE A human rights story produced by Art for the World for the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with the support of the European Union and other donors. In images. ..and posted a day late : )

Universal Declaration of Human Rights 60th Anniversary

Fiasco da Gama — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:44:32 -0800

Sixty years ago on December 10, fifty eight nations created the UN Declaration of Human Rights. There are extensive commentaries, and critical alternatives. Most of all there are predecessors. Do you know your rights? Previously, previously.

The Right to Sleep

dinsdale — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 17:02:11 -0800

Crimes of Necessity On Oct. 14 2008 the B.C. Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision declaring that, due to the lack of adequate homeless shelters, it was unconstitutional for the City of Victoria to prevent homeless individuals from erecting temporary structures for protection from the elements. The ruling culminates a multi-year campaign by David Arthur Johnston to establish the "right to sleep". As the decision is based on an interpretation of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the ruling applies to every municipality in Canada. In the wake of the decision, Victoria City Council passed a resolution which stipulates that such shelters must be removed by 7:00 each morning. David Arthur Johnston's Journal of the Occupation of St. Ann’s Academy (January 2004 to October 2008, chronological with the newest updates at the bottom.) Hope in a Homeless World (Monday Magazine) Park camps a useful push for real change (Victoria Times-Colonist) Tent City judgment is a revolution (The Republic of East Vancouver) Love and Fearlessness (full 90 minute documentary covering events leading up to the ruling.)

James Powderly's story of his Beijing detention

kliuless — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 07:11:13 -0800

An American in Beijing's Detention Facilities (via kottke)

After hours without sleep and threats against their lives and the lives of their loved ones, Powderly and the other Americans began to crack. “That’s when I started to realize that I’m really good at being a douche-baggy art star, but I’m really bad at this secret agent business,” he said.

which can be compared/contrasted with recent police action in st. paul (and of course guantanamo), but also the larger image and reality in china.

Who owns your ink?

iamkimiam — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:26:03 -0800

Can you copyright a tattoo? Yes, you can. But there's more to it. The idea raises a lot of questions and concerns—for the artists, the inked-skin owners, and certain parties seeking to represent or showcase the work. Shortly after Marisa Kakoulas wrote The Tattoo Copyright Controversy guest article, featured at BMEZINE.com, she encountered a small legal battle of her own. She wrote about it here, and sums up with, "But his story is a good example of how the modified community can fight back against those that violate our rights. I can almost guarantee he won’t mess with us again." Christopher A. Harkins also weighs in, with his paper, "Tattoos and Copyright Infringement: Celebrities, Marketers, and Businesses Beware of the Ink" (PDF). In it, he describes how Matthew Reed (tattoo artist) sued Rasheed Wallace (of the Detroit Pistons), Nike, and Weiden & Kennedy (Nike's ad agency), for violating copyright law, when Rasheed's tattooed arm was repeatedly highlighted in a Nike campaign. "The Reed case—and its nascent theory of a tattoo artist asserting copyrights in tattoos—has a potentially far-reaching impact on any would-be celebrity with a reasonable expectation of fame and on any present-day athlete, actor or actress, as well as advertising agencies and product purveyors and service providers. But the Reed case may also cause alarm for other media industries such as magazines, newspapers, Internet websites, motion pictures, television broadcasting, and the entertainment industry."