Free Republic

BOSTON (AP) — When Ash Lazarus Orr went to renew his passport in early January, the transgender organizer figured it would be relatively routine. But more than two months on, Orr is waiting to get a new passport with a name change and a sex designation reflecting who he is. The delay has prevented him from traveling overseas to receive gender-affirming care this month in Ireland since he refuses to get a passport that lists an “inaccurate sex designation.” Orr blames the delay on President Donald Trump, who on the day he took office issued an executive order banning the...

William Shakespeare's birthplace will be de-colonised over fears that portraying his success as the 'greatest' playwright 'benefits the ideology of white European supremacy'. Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust owns buildings in the playwright's hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon. It wants to 'create a more inclusive museum experience' and announced it will move away from Western perspectives after concerns were raised that Shakespeare's ideas were used to advance 'white supremacy' ideas. The trust also said that some of its items could contain language or depictions that are racist, sexist, or homophobic. It comes amid an ongoing backlash against the writer. Some productions of his works...

A San Francisco bathhouse’s policy to restrict access to transgender individuals on select nights is now under investigation by the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. Russian-style spa Archimedes Banya announced earlier this month that its designated women’s only night would now be limited to those who were assigned the sex at birth, with the spa’s operators claiming the change was intended to create a “phallus-free environment” for patrons from religious and cultural backgrounds to ensure their comfort. The policy, first posted to the bathhouse’s website, sparked immediate backlash. Customers and members of the Bay Area’s transgender and intersex communities criticized...

The Sixth Circuit heard a challenge Thursday by former Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis, who argued that two men should not have been awarded damages after she refused to issue them a marriage license. Davis asked a three-judge panel to overturn the $50,000 jury award to each plaintiff. The total of $100,000 in damages for emotional distress came after a federal judge found Davis liable in 2022 for denying a marriage license to plaintiffs David Ermold and David Moore.

Pursuant to its authority under 5 U.S.C. § 1103(a)(1) and (a)(5), the U.S. Office of Personnel Management ("OPM) is providing the following initial guidance to agencies regarding the President's executive orders titled Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing and Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions, which repeals Executive Order 14035, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce. Steps to Close Agency DEIA Offices: In light of the above Executive Orders, each should take prompt actions regarding the offices and agency sub-units focusing exclusively on DEIA initiatives and programs (the "DEIA offices"). Specifically, agency...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A racist term for a Native American woman will be removed from nearly three dozen geographic features and place names on California lands, the state Natural Resources Agency announced Friday. California Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2022 signed a bill into law that bans use of the word “squaw” in future place names and ordered the agency rename all places that used the slur, including on streets, bridges, public buildings and cemeteries, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. New names have been selected in consultation with California’s Native American tribes for over 30 locations in 15 counties.

Transgender youth in the United States have been flooding crisis hotlines since the election of Donald Trump, who made anti-transgender themes central to his campaign. Many teens worry about how their lives could change once he takes office. During his presidential bid, Trump pledged to impose wide-ranging restrictions and roll back civil rights protections for transgender students. And his administration can swiftly start work on one major change: It can exclude transgender students from Title IX protections, which affect school policies on students’ use of pronouns, bathrooms and locker rooms. One ad that aired over 15,000 times crystallized Trump’s stance...

Paris police said Sunday that 4,000 officers and 1,600 stadium staff will be deployed for a France-Israel football match to ensure security in and around the stadium and on public transportation a week after violence against Israeli fans in Amsterdam. France and Israel are playing in a UEFA Nations League match on Thursday. “There’s a context, tensions that make that match a high-risk event for us,” Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez said on French news broadcaster BFM TV, adding authorities “won’t tolerate” any violence. Nuñez said that 2,500 police officers would be deployed around the Stade de France stadium, north...

Retailers are facing a tough equation as they head into the all-important holiday shopping season — this time over DEI initiatives. Companies are bracing for blowback related to policies around diversity, equity and inclusion and are hoping to avoid alienating customers who may deem the brands too woke – or not woke enough. Some are tapping outside advisors for advice on how to avoid criticism, while others are opting out of public events on the topic as backlash against equity and inclusion programs grows in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election. CNBC spoke with a number of retail industry...

The bitter nationwide debate over transgender rights is playing out on a very personal level in a federal court lawsuit filed in Virginia by a former Liberty University employee. She was fired by the evangelical Christian school after disclosing her identity as a transgender woman. The lawsuit on behalf of Ellenor Zinski was filed in July by the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia. It alleges that she was fired last year from her job on Liberty’s Information Technology help desk solely because of her gender identify, in violation of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964. Earlier this month,...

European leaders will discuss new approaches to migration when they meet later this week, including the controversial prospect of setting up hubs outside the EU to process asylum claims. The idea has been talked about in a growing number of European nations as a solution to the complex question of immigration. It would involve establishing bases in so-called third countries to house people who are trying to claim asylum in Europe until their applications have been decided. Italy is presently funding the building of this sort of centre in Albania to process some of the migrants trying to get into...

Individuals who posted 'From the River to the Sea' on social media will be denied German citizenship, according to stipulations in the new citizenship law, as cited by German channel NDR (North German Radio and Television) and the Federal Interior Ministry this week. People who are employed in Germany can work to obtain citizenship after five years, compared to the eight years previously required in the law. While the law came to pass on June 27 of this year, the requirements have been tightened, especially regarding "Racism, antisemitism or any other form of misanthropy rule out naturalization," according to the...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Typically, a student who finishes zero schoolwork should expect zero for a grade. But that is not the case anymore in Kansas City Public Schools. For the 2023-24 school year, the school district district launched a new grading system, the “no zero policy.” Essentially, the minimum grade on any given assignment is 40%, even if the student didn’t do the assignment. The policy is designed to help struggling students catch up. KCPS declined an interview but shared a video announcement from chief academic officer Dr. Latanya Franklin sent to parents. She explained discussions and work...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump on Saturday again decried two gold medalist Olympic athletes, falsely labeling the female boxers as men. Trump made the comments while speaking at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania and pledging to “keep men out of women’s sports,” turned his attention to the recently concluded Olympic Games and the case of two athletes who became the subject of international scrutiny regarding misconceptions about their gender. Trump has long criticized transgender people as part of his rallies and focused specifically on transgender athletes, using language about gender identity that LGBTQ+ advocates say is wrong and...

Qionglin New Village sits deep in the Himalayas, just three miles from a region where a heavy military buildup and confrontations between Chinese and Indian troops have brought fears of a border war. The land was once an empty valley, more than 10,000 feet above the sea, traversed only by local hunters. Then Chinese officials built Qionglin, a village of cookie-cutter homes and finely paved roads, and paid people to move there from other settlements. China’s leader, Xi Jinping, calls such people “border guardians.” Qionglin’s villagers are essentially sentries on the front line of China’s claim to Arunachal Pradesh, India’s...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - The Kansas City Chiefs and kicker Harrison Butker have agreed on a contract extension that makes the three-time Super Bowl champion the highest-paid kicker in the NFL. Butker, 29, announced on social media Monday that he’d agreed to a four-year deal. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the deal keeps Butker in Kansas City through the 2028 season. The Georgia Tech product has been a part of all three Super Bowl-winning Chiefs teams in the past five seasons. In Super Bowl LVIII, Butker made the longest field goal in Super Bowl history. This off-season, Butker made headlines...

PARIS (AP) — Overcome with emotion, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif left the ring in tears after a resounding victory this weekend. Khelif has faced days of hateful comments and false accusations about her gender following her first fight against an Italian opponent who quit seconds into their bout. “It’s because she’s African, because she’s Algerian,” 38-year-old Algerian fan Adel Mohammed said Saturday, when Khelif clinched an Olympic medal. “These comments are coming from white people … it’s a kind of racism.” Female athletes of color have historically faced disproportionate scrutiny and discrimination when it comes to sex testing and false...

Sprinter Rhasidat Adeleke will represent Ireland at the Paris Olympics in the 400m athletics events from August 5. The national athletics record holder has suffered a torrent of racial abuse online. But this has not discouraged her from aiming to become the first Irish woman athlete to secure a gold medal in athletics.

ISIL is obliterating the Middle East's cultural landmarks. But should we arm ourselves in order to save threatened sites, asks Dan Cruickshank. ‘When Egypt comes under the auspices of the Khalifa [Caliphate], there will be no more Pyramids, no more Sphinx, no more idolatry.” This, I was told by British Muslim political activist Anjem Choudary, “will be just”. This chilling recent interview with Choudary in east London was part of a journey that started in early 2002. I went to Afghanistan in March of that year, just after the fall of the Taliban, to report for a television programme on...

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has ordered the Department of Defense to review the Medal of Honor awarded to 20 soldiers for their actions in the Wounded Knee Massacre that took place in 1890.Austin wrote in a memo, “The [special review panel] may consider the context of the overall engagement as appropriate, including as necessary to understand each [Wounded Knee Creek Medal of Honor] recipient’s individual actions.”In a separate statement, a senior defense official shared, “It’s never too late to do what’s right.”The official added, “And that’s what is intended by the review that the secretary directed, which is...