Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Danielle Oster (she/her)

Kevin Collins @kwcollins.bsky.social · 1h

"One party only needs 44% of the national popular vote to maintain control over the legislature" sure is a statement about the state of American democracy

Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · 7h

If Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act falls, Democrats might need to win the national popular vote by 5 to 6 points to take control of the House, via Nate Cohn
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/u...

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Reposted by Danielle Oster (she/her)

Lori Dorfman @loridorfman.bsky.social · 2h

News coverage of the attacks on trans rights are excluding trans voices. @media-studies.bsky.social and @transjournalists.org found that 70% of articles about trans people did not quote any trans people, and just 6% quoted trans youth. Journalists can do better. Full report here: bit.ly/TJA_visible

How journalists covered the attack on trans rights in Trump's first 100 days

Trans perspectives were rarely present in articles about the consequences federal actions would have on their lives, according to an analysis conducted by Berkeley Media Studies Group in partnership w...

bit.ly

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Jess O'Thomson @jessothomson.co.uk · 5h

"The EHRC’s exclusionary interim guidance has had a devastating impact on trans people’s lives"

“Now the guidance has been withdrawn, so should the exclusionary policies that organisations rashly implemented in its aftermath. If not, they could find themselves in hot water.”

EHRC withdraws interim guidance encouraging trans exclusion

After six months of confusion and delay, the EHRC has taken down interim guidance rushed out in April. But the damage has already been done.

goodlawproject.org

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gamera obscura @ohrobin.bsky.social · 1d

Happy Anita Bryant Humiliation Day

A four-panel image of Anita Bryant being pied in her sanctimonious face by gay rights activist Thom Higgins, 1977.

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Reposted by Danielle Oster (she/her)

Imara Jones @imarajones.bsky.social · 1d

Today my team and I at @translash.org launched Season 4 of our investigative series #AntiTransHateMachine. For over a year looked at how Christian Nationalist and authoritarian forces are working together to destroy public education from the inside out using anti-trans hate.

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TransLash Media @translash.org · 1d

We honor the legacy of Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a fierce protector of our collective freedom. Our hearts are with her loved ones and all who carry her vision forward.

"We will honor Miss Major forever." - @imarajones.bsky.social

An illustration of Miss Major surrounded by candles with blue background and a famous quote of hers written in gold. The quote reads“I don’t need their permission to exist; I exist in spite of them. I want you to train and teach and love on and create families within my community and gender non-conforming people, so that we can understand that we have a culture, we have a history, we have a reason to be here. We have a purpose. We’re entitled to be loved, and seek happiness, and share that with the people that we care about.” -Miss Major Griffin-Gracy

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Senthorun S. Raj @senthorun.bsky.social · 1d

“She affirmed that our lives hold meaning and that we stand on the shoulders of giants like her, whose courageous love and relentless fight assured our right to live with dignity.”

RIP, Miss Major.

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, activist since Stonewall, has died

The LGBTQ+ community — and particularly the transgender community — has lost an iconic activist.

www.advocate.com

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Danielle Oster (she/her) @danielleoster86.bsky.social · 2d

“What you’re really trying here looks like cancel culture and activism,” says man who has devoted his entire fucking life to “anti-DEI” cancel culture activism.

BronSays @bronsays.bsky.social · 3d

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

"A prominent anti-DEI campaigner appointed by Meta in August as an adviser on AI bias has spent the weeks since his appointment spreading disinformation about shootings, transgender people, vaccines, crime, and protests."

Meta AI adviser spreads disinformation about shootings, vaccines and trans people

Critics condemn Robby Starbuck, appointed in lawsuit settlement, for ‘peddling lies and pushing extremism’

www.theguardian.com

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Danielle Oster (she/her) @danielleoster86.bsky.social · 3d

“Cut Your Hair” and “Gold Soundz”

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Danielle Oster (she/her) @danielleoster86.bsky.social · 3d

“Nightswimming” and “Man on the Moon”

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unraveled @unraveledpress.com · 3d

Troopers just violently attacked protesters, tackled several, several arrests, shoving activists and press with batons.

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Reposted by Danielle Oster (she/her)

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 4d

UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera

In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.

As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.

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Jack Mirkinson @jackmirkinson.bsky.social · 5d

This extraordinary piece from Gaza by Ali Skaik about the ceasefire made me cry. It contains so much—joy, grief, determination, love, sorrow, hope. Very proud to run it in @thenation.com today. Please read it. www.thenation.com/article/worl...

Then my sister Huda, 21, was awakened by a phone call. Her friend told her the ceasefire would begin at 12 PM. "A ceasefire! A ceasefire!" she shouted, her voice shaking with disbelief. The whole house erupted— some of us laughed, some of us cried, and all of us dared to hope, if only for a moment. My 10-year-old brother Abedrahim jumped from his mattress and danced around the room shouting, "The genocide is over! We'll finally eat chicken!"

I walked through the ruins of Al-Rimal to find a cafe with internet so I could submit my exam. The streets were unrecognizable. Shops were flattened. Homes were piles of ash and steel.

I ran into my friend Khaled Al-Saqqa, 27, the sole survivor of his entire family. When I told him about the ceasefire, his eyes filled with tears. “Why was I left to suffer alone?!” he asked. I had no answer. I simply hugged him and whispered, “God gives you strength.”

We’ll welcome back loved ones who fled to the south—but not all will return. The IOF killed many who sought safety in so-called “safe zones.” Among them was the family of my father’s cousin Yusuf. A midnight strike on September 28, 2025, hit the apartment next to theirs as they prepared to pitch a tent. His wife Nidaa, daughter Ruaa, 18, and son Hamoud, 11, with curly yellow hair, were killed. Yusuf survived, along with his daughter Aya, 21, who suffered a broken leg and pelvis, and Aboud, 17, who remembers hearing his mother’s last breath.

We will remember the martyrs—those who died teaching, reporting, healing, mothering, surviving. We will carry their memory like fire in our hearts. And we will begin again.

The real war is now. The war of healing. Of remembering. Of refusing to forget. Of restarting. Of chasing our dreams.

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Reposted by Danielle Oster (she/her)

Heather Cox Richardson (TDPR) @hcrichardson.bsky.social · 6d

20 paragraphs down in the NBC News story that broke the information that the administration is considering invoking the Insurrection Act is the report that Stephen Miller is driving the issue.

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Danielle Oster (she/her) @danielleoster86.bsky.social · 7d

They don’t seem to give the math here on how they arrive at the EV estimate, but I assume they’re going with general miles/kwh averages. But if you drive with an eye toward efficiency, you can do significantly better than the standard 3.5-4.2 or so, especially if you’re not driving on the highway.

Danielle Oster (she/her) @danielleoster86.bsky.social · 7d

💯And the idea that minors are “voluntarily” signing up for such treatment is ridiculous…particularly coming from the same people trying to argue that 17-year-old trans kids (and sometimes even 18 or 19) can’t consent to HRT they’ve waited years for.

Kelly Barnhill @kellybarnhill.bsky.social · 8d

Conversion therapy for minors is child abuse. It robs them of the two things they need most: a secure attachment with their parents rooted in acceptance, care and unconditional love; and a secure attachment to their own precious, authentic selves.

Danielle Oster (she/her) @danielleoster86.bsky.social · 8d

So frustrating to hear long-debunked bullshit about how with most kids with gender dysphoria it “resolves naturally” and know that the majority of the Supreme Court is either gullible enough to believe it or invested in pretending they do.

Danielle Oster (she/her) @danielleoster86.bsky.social · 8d

Salazar on plaintiffs’ complete lack of evidence supporting any benefit to conversion therapy: “…not a single study, not a single expert willing to endorse conversion therapy.”

Danielle Oster (she/her) @danielleoster86.bsky.social · 8d

The idea that minors are “voluntarily“ opting-in to conversion therapy is just obviously absurd.

Danielle Oster (she/her) @danielleoster86.bsky.social · 8d

“The state tells dieticians not to provide advice that encourages anorexic behavior … there are studies that do show [conversion therapy] harms people emotionally and physically.” -Justice Sotomayor #ChilesV.Salazar #SupremeCourt

Danielle Oster (she/her) @danielleoster86.bsky.social · 8d

It’s really fucking disturbing and egregious that the court even agreed to hear a “pre-enforcement challenge” arguing that the 1st amendment protects a bigot’s right to engage in verbal and psychological child abuse as part of her work as a licensed counselor. WTF www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Christian group ‘deceived’ supreme court about LGBTQ+ research, cited scholars say

Exclusive: Experts say Alliance Defending Freedom, arguing to revive conversion therapy, ‘profoundly misrepresented’ their work in case threatening trans and queer youth

www.theguardian.com

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Sam Levin @samtlevin.bsky.social · 9d

NEW: Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom "deceived" the Supreme Court + "profoundly misrepresented" LGBTQ+ research, according to scholars cited by ADF.

Quoted experts speak out about ADF's "distortions" + "false evidence" in major case, on deck tomorrow, to revive "conversion therapy"

Christian group ‘deceived’ supreme court about LGBTQ+ research, cited scholars say

Exclusive: Experts say Alliance Defending Freedom, arguing to revive conversion therapy, ‘profoundly misrepresented’ their work in case threatening trans and queer youth

www.theguardian.com

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Danielle Oster (she/her) @danielleoster86.bsky.social · 8d

‘Lawyers owe a duty of candor to the court…’ [said University of Utah professor of constitutional law and civil rights Clifford Rosky.] They claim our work supports conversion therapy when our work clearly and specifically condemns conversion therapy on the same page they’re citing.’”

Sam Levin @samtlevin.bsky.social · 9d

NEW: Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom "deceived" the Supreme Court + "profoundly misrepresented" LGBTQ+ research, according to scholars cited by ADF.

Quoted experts speak out about ADF's "distortions" + "false evidence" in major case, on deck tomorrow, to revive "conversion therapy"

Christian group ‘deceived’ supreme court about LGBTQ+ research, cited scholars say

Exclusive: Experts say Alliance Defending Freedom, arguing to revive conversion therapy, ‘profoundly misrepresented’ their work in case threatening trans and queer youth

www.theguardian.com

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Danielle Oster (she/her) @danielleoster86.bsky.social · 9d

Fucking horrific.

“Parente said Martinez has ‘seven holes’ in her from the shooting and that agents were in such a hurry to take her into custody at the hospital that they had to return later when Martinez began bleeding from her wounds.”

Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 9d

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government’s claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed.
trib.al/9Sxu9IN

Attorney for woman shot by Border Patrol claims officer said 'Do something b-----' before shooting

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government's claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed. A judge ordered Martinez and a co-defendant released pending trial.

trib.al

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Eric Allix Rogers @ericallixrogers.com · 13d

I've shared multiple articles about the ICE raid at 75th & South Shore Drive because no one of them captures everything important:
-simmering tensions over Venezuelan migrants into a Black neighborhood that is the eviction capital of Chicago
-prior deplorable conditions & lack of maintenance

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