Malala Visits Pakistan
Malala Yousafzai has returned to Pakistan for the first time since 2012, when she was shot in the head while campaigning for girls’ education. Details of the trip are being kept secret for obvious reasons, so it is unclear whether she’ll be able to visit her family’s home region of Swat on the four-day trip. Read more on BBC.
Washington Governor Bans Conversion Therapy
The Seattle Times reports that Washington governor Jay Inslee has signed into law a bill that bans therapists from using sexual orientation conversion therapy on minors. Chad Griffin, the president of Human Rights Campaign and the sponsor of the bill, has called conversion therapy “debunked science that can cause long-lasting physical and mental harm to youth.” Washington is the 11th state (plus the District of Columbia) to ban conversion therapy. Please note that it is 2018 and conversion therapy is still legal in 39 other states.
Police Officers Who Murdered Stephon Clark Muted Their Body Cams
CNN reports that the police officers who fatally shot Stephon Clark, an unarmed 22-year-old black man, muted their body cams after the shooting. Footage released by the Sacramento Police Department on Wednesday shows one of the officers saying “Hey, mute” about seven minutes after Clark was shot, and then the footage goes silent as the officers talk amongst themselves.
Jacob Tobia Asks If Gay Hollywood Has Room For Queer Kids
LGBTQ writer and activist Jacob Tobia published an op-ed in the New York Times about the Love, Simon and the lack of inclusivity of feminine or gender-nonconforming gay men in Hollywood. With regards to the article, Tobia wrote on their Instagram: “Hollywood needs to know that they can’t treat us like this anymore. @lovesimonmovie we deserve to be celebrated too.”
Murdered Holocaust Survivor Honored In Paris
The New York Times reports that thousands of people gathered in Paris yesterday to honor the life of Mireille Knoll, a Holocaust survivor who was murdered in her apartment last week in an anti-Semitic hate crime. Various French government officials showed up, including Marine Le Pen, the head of the far-right National Front. She was booed.
Was Deadpool Cancelled Because Of Racism?
Donald Glover posted a spoof Deadpool script on Twitter, in which Deadpool asks the viewer whether racism played a part in the show’s recent cancellation. Glover had been working with FX to turn Marvel’s beloved character Deadpool into an animated series until Saturday, when it was announced the project was cancelled. Read more at the New York Times.
Indian Brothel Owners Given Life Sentence
Reuters reports that two owners of a brothel in India have been given a life sentence for the trafficking, rape and sexual abuse of children. Four of the nine girls who were rescued from the brothel in 2015 gave testimonies before court. This is a landmark case for India, where less than two in five trafficking cases end with a conviction.
Michigan State Paid $500,000 To Surveil Nassar’s Victims
NPR reports that Michigan State University paid a PR firm over $500,000 to track the online activity of Larry Nassar’s victims and certain journalists involved with the case during the month of January. Kim Dixon, head of the PR firm’s global corporate communications, says the firm was hired to “provide communications support.”
Parkland Shooting Survivor Responds To #WalkUpNotOut Proponents
Isabelle Robinson, a survivor of the Parkland shooting, published an impassioned op-ed in the New York Times in response to #WalkUpNotOut, shutting down the sentiment common among right-wing internet trolls that simply befriending the disturbed young man at school will prevent him from murdering your classmates. She writes, “No amount of kindness or compassion alone would have changed the person that Nikolas Cruz is and was, or the horrendous actions he perpetrated. That is a weak excuse for the failures of our school system, our government and our gun laws.”
top photo via Malala Fund
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