Politics + Activism

Haymarket Pole Collective Is Organizing For Sex Workers’ Labor Rights

Cat Hollis founded Haymarket Pole Collective to create a place for Black sex workers to feel safe and to organize and advocate for their rights. “We’re oppressed as groups, not as individuals…The truth is that you might lift yourself up to a level with more agency, but that doesn’t remove your marginalization. And it doesn’t necessarily make it easier for people who come after you.”

Politics + Activism

Extra! Extra!: What Would Happen If We Did Lose Roe v. Wade? Let’s Talk About It

This week’s Extra! Extra! turns to other areas of the news. Not because RBG’s death and the verdict on Breonna Taylor’s murder aren’t important. But because sometimes things are so strongly felt, no words could possibly capture their lasting consequence. We turn instead to several trans rights issues, reproductive rights, some disturbing trends on the far right and an update on how COVID-19 is upending this country. To close out, a few stories of small wins; a little bit of hope.

Politics + Activism

Extra! Extra!: In Search of an Order of Magnitude to Even Measure Trump’s Unforgivable Immigration Legacy

This week’s Extra! Extra! turns to some devastating immigration news and a look at women’s rights more broadly. This week also brought, perhaps unsurprising, news that the fossil fuel industry knew half a century ago the devastation they would wreak on the planet and did nothing. We also take a look at the state of police brutality globally before turning to a few updates on the upcoming US election.

Politics + Activism

A Candid Conversation About Queers in the Labor Movement with Longtime Union Activists Miriam Frank and Desma Holcomb

In 1990, Miriam Frank and Desma Holcomb released Pride At Work, a booklet on organizing for gay and lesbian rights in the workplace. They spoke with Autostraddle about their lives, this “naughty little pamphlet,” and the future of queer labor organizing. Plus, for the first time ever, the full 100-page pamphlet is being released online – right in this post!

Politics + Activism

Extra! Extra!: Making Sense of a Summer Shaped by Violence

The state-sanctioned violence continues, people protest peacefully and are attacked and even killed by law enforcement and vigilantes (who are also, more or less, supported by law enforcement). We also bring a brief update on the state of the US election after both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions wrapped up, an update on some of the situations we’ve been following in Lebanon and Russia and, finally, on the COVID-19 pandemic.