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#gender

125 posts96 participants13 posts today
Public
CBC Manitoba

Praise, criticism aimed at Manitoba plan to add gender expression to human rights code
Dozens of people lined up Thursday night to air opposition to and support for Manitoba's plan to add gender expression to the human rights code — a move that would include protections for people to be called by their preferred pronouns.
#humanrights #gender #politics #law #Manitoba #News
cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/ma

Public
David Scott Moyer

Getting better at using "y'all" instead of "you guys". It still feels awkward, maybe a bit cultural appropriation-y. With a couple, I can say "you two" or "the two of you". I suppose any group could be done with the appropriate number. Ugh. I'm 67. "you guys" has been part of my lexicon since Kennedy was president. Apologies if I slip occasionally.

#patriarchy#language#semantics
Public
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist

#PennedPossibilities 653 — MC POV: Your best friend comes over at 3 am to go on an adventure. Where are you (both) going?

If Thorn Rose comes over at 3 a.m., the adventure is going to be in my bedroom.

To study. Definitely to study.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#mystery #thriller #romance #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory

Public *
DoomsdaysCW

#Resist! Judge halts enforcement of Trump administration’s anti-DEI orders in education

The ruling bars the administration from proceeding with its plans for a so-called “End DEI” portal and a certification requirement. It applies to any entity with ties to the plaintiff organizations.

By Steven Porter Globe Staff,Updated April 24, 2025, 1:03 p.m.

CONCORD, N.H. — "A federal judge in New Hampshire issued a preliminary injunction on Thursday blocking the Trump administration from following through on threats to #defund #schools that defy its directives on #diversity, #equity, and #inclusion.

"In an 82-page order, Chief Judge Landya B. McCafferty said the administration’s #AntiDEI interpretation of federal law, as expressed in a letter the US Department of Education distributed in February, fails to give teachers clarity about what exactly the government requires of them.

" 'When a law fails to provide ‘minimal guidelines’ governing its enforcement, it may sweep in so much conduct that enforcement decisions become based on the ‘personal predilections’ of the person or entity bringing the enforcement action,' she wrote, ruling that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed in proving the directives are unconstitutionally vague.

"McCafferty wrote that the February letter, in combination with the #EducationDepartment’s public statements about it and the launch of an '#EndDEI' portal, 'raise the specter of a public ‘witch hunt’ that will sow fear and doubt among #teachers lest they be publicly branded as peddlers of ‘divisive ideologies’ based on the Department’s — or even private parties’ — subjective assessments.'

"What’s more, teachers would face the risk of professional consequences whether they comply with the federal government’s anti-DEI directives or not, she added. The certification requirements for English teachers in New Hampshire, for example, require educators to consider #literature 'through various #CriticalLenses,' such as #gender, #ethnicity, #religion, or #SocioEconomic conditions, she noted.

"This lawsuit was first filed by attorneys with the National Education Association [#NEA] and the American Civil Liberties Union [#ACLU], who allege the administration is violating the #DueProcess and #FreeSpeech rights of teachers.

"Sarah Hinger, deputy director of the ACLU’s racial justice program, hailed Thursday’s ruling as a win for academic freedom.

" 'Every student deserves an education that reflects the full diversity of our society, free from political interference,' Hinger said in a statement. 'The federal government has no authority to dictate what schools can and cannot teach to serve its own agenda, and this ruling is an important step in reaffirming that.'

"The Center for Black Educator Development and six public school districts in #NewHampshire and #Vermont have since agreed to sign on as plaintiffs as well.

"State education commissioners were given until Thursday to submit certifications that their schools are complying with the federal government’s interpretation of the law, but McCafferty’s ruling bars the administration from proceeding with that certification requirement. It also bars the government from using its 'End DEI' portal as planned.

"The New Hampshire Department of Education required school districts and public charter schools to submit their certifications by last week, and most have done so, according to a list published on the state’s website.

"Rather than issue a nationwide injunction, McCafferty said the protections in her order apply to the plaintiffs in this case, their members, and 'any entity that employs, contracts with, or works with' at least one member of the plaintiff organizations.

"The NEA alone reports having 3 million members employed in a wide variety of educational settings, so McCafferty’s order could apply to a broad swath of entities.

"A federal judge in Maryland presiding over a similar lawsuit from another major labor union, the American Federation of Teachers, issued a similar order on Thursday.

"Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher wrote that she takes no position on whether the disputed policies are 'prudent or foolish,' but she must scrutinize the way the policies were made and has concluded the government didn’t follow the law.

"McCafferty was appointed by former president Barack Obama. [Gallagher?] was appointed by Trump.

"The government is expected to pursue an appeal."

bostonglobe.com/2025/04/24/met

Archived version:
archive.ph/l9iEl

The Boston Globe · Judge halts Trump administration’s anti-DEI orders for educationBy Steven Porter
#NewHampshireResists#VermontResists#TrumpIsABully
Public
AskPippa🇨🇦

"Early in development when we are still in the womb, very little about us is “determined.” Indeed, the structures that become our reproductive system start out as multi-potential, capable of taking on many possible forms. A neutral structure called the germinal ridge, for example, can develop into ovaries or testes—the structures that produce reproductive cells and sex hormones—or sometimes into something in between, depending on the molecular signals it receives.

Our #genes influence this process, of course. But so do interactions among cells, molecules in our body, including hormones, and influences from the outside world."

#gender #sex #biology #fetus

thetransmitter.org/sex/what-bi

Photograph of a cardinal with male-typical red feathers on one side and more drab, female-typical feathers on the other.
The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives · What birds can teach us about the ‘biological truth’ of sexBy Nicole M. Baran
Public
Prism & Pen

They talk about safety, truth, authenticity. About legally defining who can be considered a woman. About deciding who has the right to enter a bathroom, a shelter, a changing room.
But — funny thing — no one is debating who can enter as a man.
medium.com/prismnpen/controlli

Prism & Pen · Controlling women: the tradition that never dies - Prism & Pen - MediumBy Júlia Rosell Saldaña
#LGBTQ#Gender#Women
Public *
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist

#PennedPossibilities 652 — Do you ever use cliffhangers at narrative breaks and / or chapter endings?

Most of my chapters end with a cliffhanger or mystery of varying intensity. When I write something that feels like either, it's the truest indicator that the chapter is complete, and it's time to start another. However, I recognize the need for a cooldown period every so often, and throw in a slice-of-life chapter—the calm before the storm—or a handkerchief wringer where I calmly milk the emotional angst the narrative has built up.

A.K.A. and D.B.A. a "page turner."

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion

Public *
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist

#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2504.22 — Earth Day! Who’s your most traveled character? Your least traveled?

The main Reluctance Series antagonist has probably been everywhere in the world and been most every profession, with mother having been her most repeated job. Immortality and always being 24 has its up and down sides.

Wintereyes has traveled all over the Fell Forest with the wolf pack that adopted her, but it's still a just a forest despite the size of the territory. Her parents' farm is just outside its border. Now that she's earned magical fame for befriending a wyvern (and arbitrating a dispute between a farmer, a sneezy so-called red dragon, and an exploded grain silo that had undergone undiscovered fermentation), she now attends a university in a Township—but she's two shy to explore the place because, well, all the people.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#mystery #thriller #romance #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSInklingsStory #RSReluctanceStory

Public *
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist

#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2504.23 — World Book Day! Share a prompt or the first few lines of a story you wish you could read.

I hate that I can't write this steampunk story of redemption and betrayal myself. It requires expertise in how the military works, and the navy specifically. Have at it. I'd consider a collaboration.

She's horribly scarred and people can't bear to look at her, but she was the 1st in her class at the academy. A midshipman now an ensign is passed over for further promotions is given notice of discharge after her putting in her four years, despite serving as the crown's chief siege strategist. She's been called inhuman within earshot often enough that she doesn't believe she deserves recognition or friends, let alone the love she's read men in her position could find as misunderstood or looking piratical. She's planned to roam the world as an ascetic, planing sieges of cities she'll visit for the fun of it. As a final insult, she's given a last minute first command that delays the start of her new life, given a museum piece airship frigate—with a motley crew of screwups and green cadets along with a drunkard former top gun XO—that would fail to fight any engagement, given a mission that requires only the presence of a warship in the sky and zero prowess. All fine and good until the capital city she's "guarding" really does come under attack and hers is the only ship available.

[Please give acknowledgment if you write this.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#mystery #thriller #romance #military
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion

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