Issue Highlights
Uganda passes a law making it a crime to identify as LGBTQ | Reuters
handing authorities broad powers to target gay Ugandans who already face legal discrimination and mob violence
Michigan expands Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to protect LGBTQ+ community
prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender or identity or expression in employment, public accommodations and public services, educational facilities, housing and real estate.
MacKenzie Scott sets new 'open call' to donate $250 million | AP News
Through her organization Yield Giving, Scott plans to make unrestricted $1 million donations to 250 nonprofits selected in the process, which she calls a “new pathway to support for organizations making positive change in their communities.” To apply, the nonprofits must have annual operating budgets larger than $1 million, but less than $5 million for at least two of the past five years.
LGBTQ Social Justice
LGBTQ+ Kenyans and Ugandans hide from wave of homophobic abuse | OPENLY
A landmark court ruling for LGBTQ+ rights triggered a backlash in Kenya, while in Uganda a draft anti-gay law is sparking abuse
US evangelicals helped 'radicalize' anti-LGBTQ hate in Uganda ｜ Raw Story
"In 2020, London-based OpenDemocracy found that more than 20 American religious organizations advocating against LGBTQ rights, safe abortion, access to contraceptives and comprehensive sex education had spent at least $54 million furthering their agendas in Africa since 2007," wrote foreign affairs columnist Ishaan Tharoor. "Close to half that figure was spent in conservative, predominantly Christian Uganda alone
Ugandan journalist vows court challenge of anti-gay bill
Andrew Mwenda is not a stranger to the issue at hand, having been one of the Ugandans who successfully petitioned against a similar bill nearly 10 years ago.
He has said his biggest concern is that, if enacted, the law would alienate Uganda from the Western world, something that is likely to affect the economy of the country as tourists and investors would shun Uganda in favour of other countries.
U.S. ambassador to Kenya: Every country must make 'own decisions' about LGBTQ rights
A State Department spokesperson on Monday in a statement to the Washington Blade said “our position on the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons is clear. Human rights are universal.”
“A person’s ability to exercise their rights should never be limited based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics,” said the spokesperson. “Governments should protect and promote respect for human rights for each and every human being, without discrimination, and they should abide by their human rights obligations and commitments.”
Most trans adults say transitioning made them more satisfied, Washington Post-KFF poll says - The Washington Post
The Washington Post and KFF surveyed one of the largest randomized samples of U.S. transgender adults to date about their childhoods, feelings and lives
Georgia bans most transgender care for kids under 18 | PBS NewsHour
The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia said it would “use every legal means at our disposal” to stop the law from taking effect, shortly after Kemp signed it. Judges have — at least temporarily — blocked laws limiting gender-affirming treatment of transgender youth in Arkansas and Alabama.
This Georgia County Spent $1 Million to Avoid Paying for One Employee’s Gender-Affirming Care | Them
So she turned to the legal system. She worked with a team of attorneys handling a similar case — a lawsuit brought by a transgender employee against Georgia’s university system. In September of 2019, the university system agreed to a settlement that awarded the plaintiff $100,000 and provided all of its employees access to gender-affirming care.
GA State Rep. Park Cannon shows 'black market drugs' proving dangers of banning gender-affirming care ｜ AlterNet
Rep. Park Cannon (D-GA) is committed to helping her colleagues understand the dangers of banning gender-affirming care in Georgia.
Judge tosses suit from 36 North Carolina congregations looking to leave Methodist church ｜ The Charlotte Observer
Superior Court Judge Richard Doughton of Iredell County tossed the complaint filed by 36 congregations after agreeing with a motion by the Western N.C. Conference of the United Methodist Church that the lawsuit violated the separation of church and state.
Arizona Schools Chief Launches Anti-Teacher Snitch Line - Joe.My.God.
Arizona schools chief Tom Horne has launched the Department of Education “Empower Hotline” so that Arizonans can report inappropriate public school lessons that detract from teaching academic standards.
These include those that focus on race or ethnicity, rather than individuals and merit, promoting gender ideology, social emotional learning, or inappropriate sexual content.
Teachers rally against complaint hotline, call for its end • Arizona Mirror
“Superintendent Horne is bringing politics into schools, ignoring educators’ due process rights and disrupting the relationship between parents and educators,” she said in an emailed statement.
The group delivered a letter to Horne requesting that he pull down the hotline and inviting him to visit a classroom to observe the work teachers do. Presented along with it was a children’s book about diverse people and the value in learning about others titled “Just Ask!”
Lujan Grisham signs bills expanding Human Rights Act, revising process for name changes in New Mexico - Albuquerque Journal
Marshall Martinez, executive director of Equality New Mexico, an advocacy group, said the legislation comes as the transgender community is targeted by hundreds of bills in other states.
Florida Parents Announce Lawsuit Challenging State Ban on Essential Medical Care for Transgender Children — Southern Legal Counsel
The parent plaintiffs and their children are represented by Southern Legal Counsel, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and the Human Rights Campaign. They are preparing to file a lawsuit challenging the ban in federal court.
One Year After “Don’t Say Gay,” Florida Parents Say They’re Enraged and Afraid | Them
Gov. DeSantis’ anti-LGBTQ+ crusade has left parents of queer and trans kids devastated. Many say they’re ready to move, yet many more say they’ll stay and fight back.
LGBTQ+ Voices Fight Florida’s Oppression of Trans Youth
“The state’s in my home, in my bedroom. You're obsessing over my kid’s genitalia. You're picking on my kid’s teachers. You're intimidating media specialists. You're creeping into colleges. You're threatening the livelihoods of doctors.”
A rainbow shield
Founded in March 2019 by Pasha Ripley and Eli Bazan in Denver, Parasol Patrol now has grown to 14 official chapters, including in the D.C. area, Idaho, Illinois, and Rhode Island. The goal of the nonprofit is to protect children and young people from protesters at LGBTQ and BIPOC-centered events.
This star-studded telethon is set to kick anti-drag laws back to the dark ages where they belong - Queerty
“Drag Isn’t Dangerous” aims to combat harmful rhetoric against drag and trans performers, especially in areas where they’re most vulnerable, by raising awareness and funds for LGBTQ+ causes and organizations.
The highlight of the campaign is a star-studded, one-night-only telethon on May 7th at 4pm PT/ 7pm ET at www.moment.co/dangerous.
Great Apes & Gibbons
Chimpanzees beat humans in these cognitive tests - Big Think
particularly those that measure basic strategizing and working memory
Netflix's Chimp Empire Chronicles the Largest Group of Chimpanzees Ever Discovered
Narrated by Mahershala Ali, the docuseries Chimp Empire goes deep into the Ngogo jungle to chronicle the lives of the largest known group of chimps.
Genetics track mining’s threat to endangered chimps - Futurity
the data allow predictions to be made as to how road building and extraction activities might affect chimpanzee movement between the different communities or reduce access to food and nesting sites.
Bonobos’ tolerant, peaceful group relationships paved way for human peacemaking – Harvard Gazette
Research looks at social structures, behaviors of bonobos compared to more hostile, territorial chimpanzees
Why gorillas' viruses are of interest to human scientists - The Washington Post
the One Health Institute of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. “If we can collect information about viruses that infect gorillas, we can learn about similar viruses that infect humans.”
Fears for orangutans, dolphins as Indonesia presses on with new capital | Reuters
environmentalists are wary that construction in an area spanning nearly 260,000 hectares (642,474 acres) - almost four times the size of Singapore - would disturb some of Borneo's endemic fauna, including endangered long-nosed monkeys, Irrawaddy dolphins and orangutans.
Record high deforestation hits Sumatra’s ‘orangutan capital’ as palm oil industry expands | News | Eco-Business | Asia Pacific
Deforestation associated with oil palm cultivation has declined in recent years in Indonesia, but in a biodiversity haven at the northern tip of Sumatra, the forest is being cleared at record pace, a report shows.
Philanthropy
MacKenzie Scott's Open Call Is Live. Here's What You Need to Know | Inside Philanthropy
Yield Giving is working with Lever for Change to administer the evaluation process, which the big-donor grant competition hub and MacArthur Foundation affiliate lays out in detail. The plan is to wrap up the entire process a year from now in March 2024, when the 250 awardees will be announced. That’ll follow a multistep review process in which fellow applicants and a panel of experts, along with Scott and her team, will pore over applications and narrow down the pool.
New Study Underscores Longstanding, Persistent Biases in Green Grantmaking | Inside Philanthropy
“Examining Disparities in Environmental Grantmaking: Where the Money Goes” examines trends in the environmental movement that its lead author, pioneering environmental justice researcher Dr. Dorceta Taylor, and others have observed for decades.
The Collective Future Fund Is Expanding Its Long-Term Funding to End Gender-Based Violence | Inside Philanthropy
The pooled fund is one of the few existing funds focused on ending gender-based violence in the United States. It prioritizes work led by Black, Indigenous, and women of color, as well as queer, trans and gender nonconforming people of color, immigrants, and disabled people of color.
Shifting Power at the Intersection of Listening and Participation - The Center for Effective Philanthropy
our thinking about what constitutes high-quality listening and feedback, for example, has expanded to include a range of participatory practices. And our experience running a participatory grantmaking initiative has led us to recognize the complexity and nuance of power dynamics that warrant examination and shifting.
The Ethics and Opportunities of Artificial Intelligence in the Nonprofit Sector – Nonprofit AF
Overall, AI is here, it is not going to go away, it will probably change the way we work, often for the better, occasionally for the worse, and there are all sorts of ethical and equity issues to consider, and we all need to pay attention.
After 40 Years, the North Star Fund Remains Highly Influential. Here's Why | Inside Philanthropy
in a philanthrosphere that’s struggling to keep up with the demands of next-gen donors, North Star’s example may just be a valuable piece of the puzzle