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Voter Suppression             The Electoral College 

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Voter Suppression             The Electoral College 

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Personal Freedoms, CDC Guidelines, Vaccine Distribution                              

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Personal Freedoms, CDC Guidelines, Vaccine Distribution                              

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Police Brutality, Racial Equity in America, Xenophobia

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Police Brutality, Racial Equity in America, Xenophobia

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Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Alternate Food Sources, Energy Sources, etc.

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Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Alternate Food Sources, Energy Sources, etc.

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The Mexico and United States Border        Citizenship    

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The Mexico and United States Border        Citizenship    

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Women's Rights         LGBTQ+ Rights      

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Women's Rights         LGBTQ+ Rights      

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Exploring the Sustainable Development Goals

By Allison Kooser

Originally published in 2017. Updated in 2021.

The question is: why? | The Need is Great | The Impact is Significant | The Ripple Effect Changes the World | Opportunity's Response | Empowered Women: The Secret Weapon

For those of us working in and supporting international development initiatives, we know that investing in and empowering women and girls is popular and ubiquitous. It is no surprise to us that the Sustainable Development Goals include not only gender-specific actions and statistics, but also an entire goal dedicated to gender parity.

The fifth Sustainable Development Goal is bold, broad and important. It challenges the world to: "Achieve Gender Equality and Empower All Women and Girls." ¹

It's a goal that I, as a woman, believe in wholeheartedly. And it's one that seems to be particularly relevant as women and men are rallying for more equal rights, from wage disparities to family leave policies.

It's a goal that motivates Opportunity International's work as well- we are proud that 9 out of 10 clients are women, and with our tools and training, they are working their way out of poverty.

It seems that the development world generally agrees: it's a good idea to invest in and empower women and girls. Opportunity International agrees, and I agree personally, too.

The question is: why?

Clearly, there are the immediate issues of parity, equal treatment and human rights. These go without saying and surely provide enough justification for women-centric programming in and of themselves.

We fight for goals like this if for no other reason than it's the right thing to do. Women deserve fundamental human rights, and the Sustainable Development Goals highlight this human responsibility to treat one another with respect and honor."

These are the factors that shape Sustainable Development Targets such as, "Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation." We fight for goals like this if for no other reason than it's the right thing to do. Women deserve fundamental human rights, and the Sustainable Development Goals highlight this human responsibility to treat one another with respect and honor.

But beyond simple human decency, there are other factors at play that make gender equality such a significant priority for those working in development around the world.

As it turns out, women are one of the most powerful investments we can make in building a better future.

The Need is Great

From childhood, you will face hurdles that will hinder your education, development and advancement. Because your family has limited resources, when it's time for you to start school, your parents decide to educate your brothers instead of you..."

Between the initiation and completion of the original Millennium Development Goals from 2000 to 2015, the world made significant progress toward gender equality. But despite ongoing initiatives designed to target major issues like education inequality, access to health care, job creation and equal pay, women continued to face notable (and measurable) disadvantages. Then, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic made these inequalities even more severe. Women account for 70 percent of health and social workers, women bore additional household burdens during the pandemic, and lockdowns increased violence against women and girls-in some countries domestic violence increased by 30 percent. ³

These sobering statistics provide the impetus for change. They illustrate the needs that continue to present themselves, and the challenges that remain despite improvements over the past three decades.

Imagine you are a girl born in the developing world.

From childhood, you will face hurdles that will hinder your education, development and advancement. Because your family has limited resources, when it's time for you to start school, your parents decide to educate your brothers instead of you-a reality in the 30% of countries still fighting for gender parity in primary school. Because you don't go to school, you don't learn to read and write, making you one of the 496 million illiterate women around the world. ⁴

As you grow, because you are home more often than your brothers, you are given a disproportionate share of the household chores and responsibilities-tasks like walking miles for water and caring for younger siblings. When a man approaches your family requesting marriage your parents oblige, and you are now one of the 41,000 girls under age 18 to get married that day. There will be 41,000 more the next day, and the day after that. ⁵

Without access to adequate family planning, contraception or health care, you get pregnant early. Because only half of pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa have access to prenatal care, you face an unmonitored pregnancy, made more complicated by trauma or mutilation you may have suffered earlier in life. ⁶ Thankfully, you give birth to a healthy baby despite limited medical care, but now you need to support not only yourself, but this new life as well.

If you are lucky, you might find a job that empowers you to support your family. But even then, you are at a disadvantage compared to your male counterparts. Women in sub-Saharan Africa, earn some 34 percent less than men for equal work ⁷. Women are also much less likely (26% less) to be employed than men, and for those who do find work, 70% of it is in the informal economy, leaving women unprotected in cases of theft, sexual harassment and discrimination. ⁸

More likely, you will remain at home, responsible for a majority of household tasks and unpaid work such as childcare. Women in the developing world spend three times longer on household responsibilities than men, amounting to $10 trillion worth of unpaid labor. ⁹

Yet despite your prominent role in the home, you may not have any control over household spending. About one third of married women in the developing world have no control over major household purchases, making them passive observers of their own wellbeing. And chances are high that you not only lack autonomy within your home, but you are also entirely excluded from the formal financial sector. Women living on less than $2 per day are 28 percent less likely to have a formal bank account than men living in extreme poverty ¹⁰.

Because you are living in poverty in the developing world, you are probably living in a rural region where you are dependent upon agriculture to survive. Already removed from the formal economy and financial sector, you also don't have your own cell phone-the device that connects you to the broader economy and world. Women are 14 percent less likely than men to own a mobile phone (200M fewer women than men), which is particularly problematic for rural workers who rely upon these devices for banking and other mobile services. ¹¹

Meanwhile, you are disadvantaged on the farm itself. Despite making up 60% or more of the agricultural labor force in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa ¹², women like you don't actually own the land on which they work. In sub-Saharan Africa, they only control 13% of agricultural land holdings. ¹³

Because you are a woman, you face systemic, cultural and legal issues, and as a result are more likely to lack access to essential agriculture value chain services, including connections to suppliers of quality inputs, like seed and fertilizer, extension service providers, and off-takers who purchase crops at fair market value. Due to these constraints, you, and women smallholder farmers like you, produce about 20% less than your male counterparts. ¹⁴

You return home after a long day on the farm to a house full of children-children who will face the same struggles you faced today, and the same struggles your mother faced years ago. How do I feed my family? How do I educate my kids? How do I choose who goes to school and who doesn't?

And the cycle starts all over again.

This is how women remain excluded-from education, from the formal economy, from banking, from equal rights. Despite working tirelessly, women face hurdle after hurdle, amplified by their geography and generational norms.

Without opportunities to break free from this cycle, women are trapped in a life that they may not have ever chosen-a life that disadvantages not only themselves, but their families and their communities, too.

The Impact is Significant

When girls stay in school, they live longer, healthier lives, marry later, have fewer children, and drastically increase their future incomes. If all girls had a secondary school education, there would be two-thirds fewer teenage pregnancies, and women would have fewer children overall."

In light of the litany of challenges women continue to face around the world, it's no surprise that so many organizations and policies have attempted to address the needs of women and girls. What is perhaps more surprising is the larger-scale impact that these initiatives have.

Programs addressing women's education and economic empowerment are not only beneficial from a human rights perspective, but they are transformative economically as well. Statistically, as of 2011, every additional year of primary school boosted girls' future wages by 10-20 percent, and each extra year of secondary school increased earning by 15-25 percent. ¹⁵

When girls stay in school, they live longer, healthier lives, marry later, have fewer children, and drastically increase their future incomes. If all girls had a secondary school education, there would be two-thirds fewer teenage pregnancies, and women would have fewer children overall. ¹⁶ The frequency of child deaths would decrease by nearly 50 percent ¹⁷. If a girl in the developing world gets seven or more years of education, she marries four years later and has 2.2 fewer children than her uneducated sisters. ¹⁸

Girls' education also plays a role in curtailing other public health crises. Between 800 and 1,500 women die each day from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, including bleeding, infections, hypertensive disorders, and obstructed labor-preventative problems that make up about 75 percent of maternal deaths worldwide. ¹⁹ Educated women are far more likely to seek skilled birth attendants and prenatal care, reducing maternal and infant mortality. According to a 2013 study, if all women completed their primary education, maternal mortality would fall 66%-from 210 to 71 deaths per 100,000 births. ²⁰ Educated mothers are more prepared to prevent common causes of death for children under 5, including pneumonia and malaria, which would save an estimated three million lives. ²¹

Beyond saving lives and increasing personal earning potential, investing in education and economic empowerment for women can benefit entire economies. Statistically, "Investing in programs improving income-generating activities for women can return $7 for every dollar spent." ²² In a 2013 study in Ghana, the gender wage gap shrunk from 57% for women with no education to 16% for women with a secondary school education. ²³ And globally, women own 40% of the world's informal small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and 33% of formal SMEs-70% of which are largely underserved in terms of access to credit. The estimated credit gap amounts to $285 billion-if closed, the per-capita GDP in developing countries could increase by 12% by 2030. ²⁴

And this significant impact is not limited to the developing world. "It is estimated that if women's paid employment rates were increased to the same level as men's, the U.S. GDP would be 9 percent higher; the euro area's would be 13 percent higher, and Japan's would be 16 percent higher." ²⁵

The Ripple Effect Changes the World

Earlier this year, Bill and Melinda Gates wrote a letter to Warren Buffett highlighting some of the major insights they have discovered over their years investing in the developing world and building the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In it, they wrote, "All lives have equal value is not just a principle; it's a strategy. You can create all kinds of new tools, but if you're not moving toward equality, you're not really changing the world. You're just rearranging it. When women have the same opportunities as men, families and societies thrive. Obviously, gender equity unleashes women's potential, but it also unleashes men's potential." ²⁶

And this is the true secret of investing in women.

Every investment that empowers a woman sparks a ripple effect that influences not only her life, but the lives of her family and community, too.

As Sheryl WuDunn writes in Half the Sky, "When you educate a girl, there is a ripple effect that goes beyond what you would get from a normal investment...When you educate a girl, you educate a village." ²⁷

Statistically, women reinvest much more of their incomes into their families to directly benefit their children. ²⁸ Because they more commonly hold roles within the household, women are often responsible for funding their children's educations, preparing healthy food, and accessing medical care for their kids. Women are driving and equipping the next generation-the generation that might break free from extreme poverty.

Through my own work with Opportunity International, I have had the honor of interviewing hundreds of women in various corners of the world -from villages in Latin America to slums in Asia to rural communities in Africa. And without fail, every woman, regardless of geography or circumstance, will answer one question the same way.

When I ask what their dream for their future is, every woman will say: "I want my kids to go to school."

Universally, family is the top priority-and women are working to ensure their families' futures.

This intrinsic-and measured-drive to pay it forward is the hidden value of investing in women. It's why organizations get so excited about policies and initiatives targeting women. Because they know that when you empower a woman, you empower a family. You unlock a wave of potential that will have a multiplying, generational legacy.

Opportunity's Response

This understanding of the value of investing in women and girls has shaped Opportunity's own strategies, tools and programs. Because we know that empowered women are key to ending extreme poverty, Opportunity is focused on providing tools and training that equip and empower women to thrive.

We make it possible for more girls to go to-and stay in-school through our Education Finance initiatives.

We provide equal access to farming inputs and agricultural tools through our Agriculture Finance program.

We connect women who have been excluded from the formal economy to savings accounts and small loans through Trust Groups, which provide them with a network of support to earn a stable income and improve their livelihoods.

We leverage and increase access to technology so that even the most rural women can be a part of the global economy

We promote women's health through education and partnerships with community health organizations, helping women and their babies live healthy, fulfilling lives.

Ultimately, we include women whose lives have been defined by exclusion. We provide access to the formal economy, to much needed tools and training and to financial services and education. And in so doing, we connect women to the world around them, giving them opportunities that were previously unimaginable. Because we know that women, when empowered, will change the world.

Empowered Women: The Secret Weapon

Promoting gender equality is not only women's responsibility - it's the responsibility of all of us."Former UN Secretary Kofi Annan

And so it appears that the Sustainable Development Goals are onto something. Not only because women are people and deserve equal rights for that simple fact alone, but also because investing in and empowering women unlocks a flood of potential for the whole world. Women are a secret weapon in the fight against global poverty. They are an often-untapped resource that has the potential to improve livelihoods, economic outputs, productivity, and human life itself.

As former UN Secretary Kofi Annan famously said, "Promoting gender equality is not only women's responsibility - it's the responsibility of all of us. ²⁹

No wonder we are all so excited about empowering women: they are one of the most powerful tools we have.
Allison is a professional storyteller, freelance writer, and avid traveler. She spent the last year backpacking around the world meeting and interviewing incredible people with remarkable stories, eating amazing food, and climbing very scary mountains. Now, she lives in Chicago where she runs a small business helping nonprofit organizations identify, create, and share their stories, equipping them to better do the work they were born to do. When she's not working, you can usually find her reading a book, planning her next trip, or baking the best cookies on the planet.
Keep Reading our Sustainable Development Goal Series
Feeding the Future: Ending Global Hunger
The majority of those struggling with hunger live in rural regions where they depend upon agriculture to survive. Because of the critical role hunger and nutrition play in both the lives and livelihoods of those living in poverty, it is no surprise that Sustainable Development Goal 2 addresses this critical topic: "End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture."

1. http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/5_Why-it-Matters_GenderEquality_2p.pdf

2. http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/5_Why-it-Matters_GenderEquality_2p.pdf

3. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/E_Infographic_05.pdf

4. https://unstats.un.org/unsd/gender/downloads/worldswomen2015_report.pdf

5. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/girlseducation

6. https://unstats.un.org/unsd/gender/downloads/worldswomen2015_report.pdf

7. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2019/10/17/figures-of-the-week-gender-gaps-in-sub-saharan-africa/

8. United Nations, 2016.

9. United Nations, 2016.

10. United Nations, 2016.

11. United Nations, 2016.

12. www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_457317.pdf

13. FAO, 2011. "Women in Agriculture: Closing the Gender Gap for Development"

14. https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/library/publications/2019/un-women-policy-brief-11-the-gender-gap-in-agricultural-productivity-in-sub-saharan-africa-en.pdf

15. Half the Sky Fast Facts, http://www.halftheskymovement.org/page/-/fastfacts.pdf

16. UNESCO, 2013. "Education Transforms Lives"

17. https://downloads.ctfassets.net/xnpfvoz3thme/1ww0CpNJ12WSWseoy4ggeM/60b2eb69c95fd986ec1c423fbe730366/G20_paper_Malala_Fund_FINAL.pdf

18. ONE, 2016. https://www.one.org/us/2015/02/26/why-women-and-girls-are-the-secret-weapon-in-ending-poverty/

19. Half the Sky Fast Facts

20. UNESCO, 2013

21. UNESCO, 2013

22. Gender Equality, Why it Matters, 2016.

23. UNESCO, 2013.

24. Women's World Banking, 2015. "Women's Financial Inclusion: A Driver for Global Growth." http://www.womensworldbanking.org/publications/womens-financial-inclusion-driver-global-growth/

25. https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2019/03/closing-the-gender-gap-dabla.htm

26. Gates Annual Letter, 2017. https://www.gatesnotes.com/2017-Annual-Letter

27. Half the Sky Fast Facts

28. Clinton Global Initiative.

29. Commission on the Status of Women, 2005. http://www.un.org/press/en/2005/sgsm9738.doc.htm

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Empowered Women Make a Difference and Change the World

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Beyond simple human decency, there are other factors at play that make gender equality such a significant priority for those working in development around the world.

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Wanda Sykes Takes Us Through the History of LGBTQ+ — Now You Know

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Ask young children what they want to be when they grow up and the chances are that scientific jobs such as astronaut and doctor will appear high on the list. But ask them to draw a scientist and they are more than twice as likely to draw a man than a woman. Children can form these kinds of biases from many sources. But perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised to see such an absence of women scientists in children's drawings when the illustrations we show them are often just as bad.

Our study of imagery in children's science books reveals that women are significantly underrepresented. In the physical sciences in particular, the pictures frequently fail to communicate women's technical skills or knowledge. The imagery in these books gives the impression that science is a subject for men, and that careers in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) are unrewarding for women.

Developmental theories explain that children learn gender expectations to help them to respond appropriately within their social environment. This influences their understanding of who they are and encourages them to behave in a way that is conventional for their gender.

Pictures of men and women in children's science books contribute to these expectations by teaching them "rules" about the occupations suited to each gender. This encourages them to conform to prevailing gender career stereotypes. To counter this, female role models need to be visible in books to help develop girls' interest in science as they get older, and overcome negative perceptions of female scientists

Where are all the women?

Our research analysed the children's science picture books in two public libraries in England. First we counted the frequency of images of men, women, boys and girls within the 160 available books. Then we did a detailed visual analysis of two scientific professions: astronauts and doctors. In this subset of 26 books, we examined what the male and female astronauts and doctors were doing, wearing and holding in the pictures.

We found that, overall, children's science books pictured males three times more often than females, reinforcing the stereotype that science is a man's pursuit. The under-representation of females only worsened as the target age of the book increased. The women were generally depicted as passive, lower status and unskilled - or their presence was not acknowledged at all.

For example, one children's book about space exploration shows what's involved in a spacewalk. Along with pictures of astronauts in their white padded spacesuits, we are told: "Without a spacesuit an astronaut's blood would boil and his body would blow apart." The use of male pronouns suggests the person inside the spacesuits is male.

There is no mention of the 11 courageous women who have performed spacewalks, including astronaut Sunita Williams whose image is used in the montage. As Williams's face is covered by her helmet and the text only mentions men, it would be easy for children to think that women don't do spacewalks.

On the pages of another book, we do see a female astronaut, pictured floating inside a space station and smiling at the camera. The qualifications and experience required to get astronauts to this point are extensive. Places on NASA's Astronaut training programme are highly competitive with thousands of applications each year. But in the book, the woman's training, expertise and knowledge are not mentioned.

Instead, the picture caption reads: "In zero G, every day is a bad hair day." Comments like this that focus on women's looks fail to take their contributions seriously. What's more, research shows that emphasising appearance in science role models can reduce school girls' self-rated ability or make scientific jobs seem unobtainable to them.

Our study also found important differences between subject disciplines. In physics books, 87% of images were of men or boys, and in the few pictures where female astronauts were pictured, they were never shown driving shuttles, doing experiments or spacewalking. Books about biology, in contrast, did have an even balance of images of men and women - and female doctors are shown carrying out the same activities and having the same status as male doctors.

Why this matters

You might think that imagery isn't important, that the messages in pictures or illustrations are trivial. A multi-billion pound advertising industry disagrees with you. Advertising rarely provides detailed arguments for products or services but this doesn't make its messages less powerful. Instead, adverts rely on persuasion through peripheral cues, such as by exemplifying appealing lifestyles and using imagery depicting the rewards of status or respect.

In the same way, children's books advertise career choices, and their imagery communicates what it means for men and women to be associated with these occupations. Women need to be present in children's science books to demonstrate that all science subjects are fulfilling for girls.

Research shows that, even before children go to school, they have the idea that men are better at male-dominated professions. Given that girls as young as eight are often put off maths and science by teachers and parents, it is perhaps no surprise that only 20% of A-level students taking physics are female. Interviews with successful female scientists have shown that girls do seek out role models in science, but are often unable to find them.

As such, it's vital that imagery in children's books is given greater consideration. Book editors and illustrators need to make significant efforts to represent women as qualified, skillful and technically able. They need to be pictured actively engaging in scientific activities and using appropriate tools or equipment, not merely present as assistants or observers. Women also need to be represented in greater numbers so that girls can see female role models in STEM professions and see these careers as potentially rewarding.

Parents, teachers and librarians - along with authors, illustrators and publishers - should review their books for gendered messages. Question what the images are teaching children and ask what career aspirations the books might be igniting or quashing.

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Children's books are adding to science's gender problem

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New research shows children's images of scientists are all too often male.

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Newsela | PRO/CON: Should Selective Service registration include women?

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A voice for and a voice against women added to Selective Service.

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Newsela | First COVID-19 vaccine approved in the U.S. What does this mean for you?

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In this op-ed, Melina Fike, a leader of Berkeley, California's Vote 16 Campaign and junior at Berkeley High School explains that the momentum of the #NeverAgain movement could spark engagement for young activist to lower the voting age in their states.
During the media surge after the Parkland school shooting, various adults in my life felt the need to express to me their amazement about the young activists in Florida. The concept that a group of high school students could be so motivated and effective was clearly something they had never seen before. While I share in the celebration of these students' strength in response to this tragedy, I am not shocked by their eloquence.

As a 16-year-old who has witnessed the informed perspectives of my peers in Berkeley, California, I am more than aware of the raw power that comes from the ideas of students. The discussions that youth are having, both locally and nationally, are difficult to view if you're standing on the other side of this daunting gap between two generations.

Some of the adults in our lives who make decisions concerning school safety are the same ones who are shocked by the outspoken Parkland victims, who are now activists at the center of a national debate. These adults are the same people who make decisions on how to educate students on safety, whether it's about practicing safe sex, healing after a hate crime, or responding to someone bringing an assault weapon on your school's campus.

So why, to these adults, does the aftermath of this school shooting feel different? It's because the narratives of the Parkland victims are demanding attention, and this is something our country is not used to.

In Takoma Park, Hyattsville, Greenbelt, and Berkeley, four cities with liberal reputations and progressive voting right stances, teenagers are being listened to, perhaps more often than in other parts of the country. These cities let 16 and 17 year olds vote in local elections. In 2016, I joined a small group of politically frustrated high school students that decided to organize for a lower school board voting age in Berkeley. After seeing the high level of engagement so many youth in our city already had, we knew it was unacceptable for us not to have democratic influence on the decisions that affect not only the ways our public schools are run, but how we are kept safe at school.

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The Voting Age Could Be Lowered in Response to #NeverAgain

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16-year-olds can already vote in four cities. and young activists are trying to lower the voting age nationwide in response to #NeverAgain.

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Newsela | Racism declared public health issue in 145 cities and counties across 27 states

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The American Public Health Association, which tracks declarations of racism as a public health issue, counts 145 across 27 states - up from seven in 2019.

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Global Fund for Women's approach focuses on winning rights for women, girls, and all historically marginalized people. Women's human rights are essential to achieving gender justice globally. Learn more about gender justice here.
What are women's human rights?

Women's rights are the fundamental human rights that were enshrined by the United Nations for every human being on the planet nearly 70 years ago. These rights include the right to live free from violence, slavery, and discrimination; to be educated; to own property; to vote; and to earn a fair and equal wage.

As the now-famous saying goes, "women's rights are human rights." That is to say, women are entitled to all of these rights. Yet almost everywhere around the world, women and girls are still denied them, often simply because of their gender.

Winning rights for women is about more than giving opportunities to any individual woman or girl; it is also about changing how countries and communities work. It involves changing laws and policies, winning hearts and minds, and investing in strong women's organizations and movements.

Global Fund for Women exists to support the tireless and courageous efforts of women's groups who work every day to win rights for women and girls. These groups are working to ensure women can own property, vote, run for office, get paid fair wages, and live free from violence - including domestic violence, sexual assault, and harmful practices such as female genital mutilation.

What rights do we stand for?

We want every woman and girl to realize the rights that are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We also stand for other rights that are vital for women's equality. We stand for a woman's right to decide if and when she has children, and to have high-quality health care that means she won't die in pregnancy or during childbirth. We know female genital mutilation is a violation of girls' rights, and must be eliminated. And we stand for the right of every woman to live equally and free from discrimination, no matter her sexuality or identity.

We support two critical documents for women's rights that have followed the UN declaration. The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), an international bill of rights for women, requires governments to end gender discrimination and affirms women's rights to health services, including family planning. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted in 1995 at the UN's Fourth World Conference in Beijing, was a rallying cry to embed gender equality and women's rights in every facet of life.

Women's rights and the Global Goals

The UN Millennium Development Goals set specific targets to reduce poverty, including targets for increased gender equality in education, work, and representation. UN Women found that progress was uneven. Globally, more women are now in school and work. Yet girls are still more likely than boys to be out of school (particularly at the secondary level). And although the number of women in elected office has risen, they are still only 21.8 percent of parliamentarians. What's more, women's rights remain at risk in many areas not addressed in the millennium goals - from violence against women to sexual and reproductive rights. And women who are already marginalized because of their race, caste, sexuality, income, or location see the fewest gains of all.

The new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) hold real promise to embed advances in women's rights, and include a specific goal (Goal 5) for gender equality. Goal 5 is more broad-based than the last gender goal and includes targets on ending gender-based violence, eliminating child marriage and female genital mutilation, and ensuring access to sexual and reproductive health. It also includes equal access to education, expanding women's economic opportunities, and reducing the burdens of unpaid care work on women and girls. Now it is up to all of us to hold governments accountable for their commitments and make sure the goals are met. Involving women - and funding the solutions of grass-roots women's groups - will be critical to success.

What does the future of women's rights look like?

The future of global women's rights is at stake. The U.S. administration's proposed cuts to foreign aid and stringent policies-from abortion and refugee resettlement to climate change- pose a direct threat to the health, dignity, and well-being of women and girls everywhere. We must reflect: Will women globally lose hard-won rights, or will the backlash instead catalyze new wins?

This moment calls for energizing new efforts and focus on strengthening women's movements to help lead the charge for social change on the most pressing issues of our time. Global Fund for Women is committed to turning these challenges into opportunities for women to assert their leadership, action, and voice. By 2020, Global Fund for Women will ensure that movements for women's rights are powerful, influential, and achieving lasting gains. Now is the time to stand with the global women's movement.

Global Fund for Women is working for a world where every woman and girl can realize and enjoy her human rights.

Only when women and girls have full access to their rights - from equal pay and land ownership rights to sexual rights, freedom from violence, access to education, and maternal health rights - will true equality exist. Only when women have taken leadership and peacemaking roles and have an equal political voice will economies and countries be transformed. And only then will all women and girls have the self-determination they are entitled to.

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Information about Women's Human Rights - Global Fund for Women

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Global Fund for Women focuses on winning rights for women, girls, and marginalized people. Learn more about what women's human rights are and more, today.

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When the coronavirus flared in China this week, the country canceled flights, suspended reopenings and described the situation as "extremely grave." With cases still rising in some U.S. states, local officials have balked at requiring people to wear masks.

PHOENIX - When the coronavirus flared in China this week, the country canceled flights, suspended reopenings and described the situation as "extremely grave." With cases still rising in some U.S. states, local officials have balked at requiring people to wear masks.

In the United States, which has more reported cases and deaths than anywhere else, local authorities are wrestling with balancing demands for constitutional rights and personal freedom with warnings from health officials that being lax will have deadly consequences.

China responded Wednesday to a new outbreak in Beijing by scrapping more than 60% of its flights to the capital, canceling classes and strengthening requirements for social distancing. It was a sharp retreat for the nation that only in March had declared victory over COVID-19.

"This has truly rung an alarm bell for us," Party Secretary Cai Qi told a meeting of Beijing's Communist Party Standing Committee.

In other countries where infections have flared, governments responded by again tightening restrictions.

But as U.S. states decide how and when to reopen parts of the economy amid surges in cases in places like Arizona and Florida, requiring even the use of masks has become a political and cultural debate, with some local officials defying pleas from doctors.

"Wearing masks decreases the shed of this virus," said Dr. Bill Saliski, a lung specialst at Jackson Hospital in Montgomery, Alabama. "If this continues the way we're going, we're going to be overrun."

Montgomery County has added more than 700 coronavirus cases in the past week, more than any other county in Alabama, with a total of 2,922 infections.

Saliski appealed to the Montgomery City Council on Tuesday night to mandate face coverings at public gatherings of 25 or more, but the measure failed, with members concerned about trampling on individuals' rights.

"I think to make somebody do something or require somebody to wear something is an overreach," said council member Brantley Lyons.

Council member Audrey Graham upbraided members for what she said was a failure to act.

"I think we fail to realize how serious this really is," Graham said. "We are not taking a stand. We're doing nothing. Nothing here."

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has expressed concerns about mandating masks as infringing on civil liberties, stressing that people must take responsibility for their actions.

"There are some limits to what we can do and what we can enforce," he said, adding: "At this point, the answer is individual responsibility. It's not mandates by the government."

The state has added 595 new virus cases, bringing the total to nearly 20,000 since the outbreak began. In all, 607 people have died from the virus in South Carolina.

A heated debate about masks has erupted in Arizona, where cases have been growing daily. Hundreds of medical professionals signed a letter urging Gov. Doug Ducey to require them, and the state's largest newspaper, the Arizona Republic, on Wednesday said he should take action.

Ducey has encouraged people to use masks but, like President Donald Trump, has not worn one himself during any of his news conferences and has rebuffed calls to issue an order requiring them. He has also resisted imposing new restrictions on businesses, attributing Arizona's surge in cases to increased testing.

Arizona has been doing more tests, which can yield more cases, but health experts say a better way to see if more people getting sick is to look at the percentage of positive tests. When that percentage rises, it means the outbreak is worsening -- not just that more people are getting tested.

Arizona currently leads the nation with the highest seven-day average positive test rate: 17.7%, or about double the national average and well above the 10% threshold that health officials find worrisome. It also has the most new cases per capita in the nation in the past 14 days. The state's leading hospital system says it is almost running out of beds, and more than 1,100 people visited emergency rooms Tuesday with positive or suspected cases.

Several restaurants and other businesses also have had to close because staff tested positive in the last week, including one sports bar chain in a hard-hit Phoenix neighborhood where staff was not required to wear masks.

In parts of Florida, people under 35 are testing positive at a higher rate since the pandemic began, contributing to a surge in cases, officials said Wednesday.

In St. Petersburg, three popular bars closed after employees tested positive.

"This is happening statewide. Ideally, we would have leadership from the top and this would be a statewide decision," St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman said, adding that Gov. Ron DeSantis has encouraged people to use masks but not mandated them.

Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch said the county's cases initially were in assisted living residences and nursing homes but now have shifted to younger people. He said 25% of the cases are in the African-American community.

Welch and Kriseman, both Democrats, blamed Republicans DeSantis and Trump.

DeSantis said he has no intention of closing Florida's economy again despite the new cases, saying many of those getting sick are young and thus unlikely to suffer serious illness or death.

DeSantis said much of the two-week spike in confirmed infections that pushed the daily total past 2,700 on Tuesday can be traced to farm workers or businesses where a few positive cases led to widespread testing that uncovered high percentages of asymptomatic or barely symptomatic cases.

Since the virus emerged in China late last year and spread worldwide, there have been more than 8.1 million confirmed cases and at least 443,000 deaths, according Johns Hopkins University. Experts say the true toll is much higher. The U.S. has the most infections and deaths in the world, with a toll that neared 117,000 on Wednesday.

European nations, which embarked on a wide-scale reopening this week, watched with trepidation as the Americas struggled with the pandemic and new outbreaks were reported in Asia.

After lockdown restrictions were relaxed in Iran, Health Minister Saeed Namaki said he realized the extent of the challenge when he took a domestic flight.

"Many people have become careless, frustrated with wearing masks," he said. "They did not observe (social) distancing in the flight's seating and the airliner's ventilation system was not working."

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US coronavirus outbreaks spur debate over personal freedoms

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When the coronavirus flared in China this week, the country canceled flights, suspended reopenings and described the situation as "extremely grave." With cases still rising in some U.S. states, local officials have balked at requiring people to wear masks.

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Climate change describes a change in the average conditions in a region over a long period of time.

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The U.S.-Mexico migrant crisis: What is really happening at the border?

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The fight for the right to vote in the United States - Nicki Beaman Griffin

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The Newbery Medal winning poet delivers a new piece for The Undefeated

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Like what the “greenhouse effect” actually is.

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This week, millions of students and teachers are taking part in Read Across America, a national literacy program celebrated annually around the birthday of Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. For over 20 years, teachers and students have donned costumes - often the Cat in the Hat's iconic red and white striped hat - and devoured books like Green Eggs and Ham.

But some of Seuss' classics have been criticized for the way they portray people of color. In And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, for example, a character described as Chinese has two lines for eyes, carries chopsticks and a bowl of rice, and wears traditional Japanese-style shoes. In If I Ran the Zoo, two men said to be from Africa are shown shirtless, shoeless and wearing grass skirts as they carry an exotic animal. Outside of his books, the author's personal legacy has come into question, too - Seuss wrote an entire minstrel show in high school and performed as the main character in full blackface.

In light of this, the National Education Association rebranded Read Across America in 2017, backing away from Seuss' books and Seuss-themed activities. It introduced a new theme of "celebrating a nation of diverse readers." Its website now highlights works by and about people of color.

But in many schools and libraries, the week is still synonymous with all things Seuss. Classrooms are decorated in colorful red and blue fish and children dress up as their favorite iconic characters, like Thing 1 and Thing 2, dreaming of the places they'll go.

That tension between Seuss and Seuss-free classrooms is emblematic of a bigger debate playing out across the country - should we continue to teach classic books that may be problematic, or eschew them in favor of works that more positively represent people of color?

Part of the reason this debate is so complicated is the staying power of classic books. Think back to the works lining your school bookshelves.In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the N-word appears more than 200 times. But for generations, people have argued that the book is vital to understanding race relations in America in the late 1800s. And the trope of Jews as greedy and money-hungry is pretty clear in The Merchant of Venice. Yet Shakespeare is hailed for his keen understanding of human nature that continues to be relevant today.

Jaya Saxena, a writer whose work examines inclusivity in young adult literature, is in favor of revamping the canon. But she understands why teachers might continue to teach it. She says when she was in high school, her teachers used the classics to teach literary devices and styles of writing, not necessarily to prioritize certain narratives or worldviews. The Merchant of Venice, for example, is a prime example of allegory.

"The point was, here's what this book does well," Saxena says. "Maybe they weren't everybody's favorite books, but they were good examples of ... the craft of writing."

And when planning lessons from year to year, it's easier for teachers to prioritize books they're already familiar with. But when these books include offensive stereotypes, teachers have to decide whether to continue teaching them and how.

"Not engaging [with problematic texts] at all runs too great a risk of not learning or understanding where the problems lie," says Larissa Pahomov, who teaches English at a high school in Philadelphia. "I believe there is a way to look at material that is stereotypical [and] racist and identify it for what it is, and then hopefully, in doing so, neutralize its effect."

When Pahomov read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest with her seniors last fall, she was careful to teach students how to read the work through a critical lens that took the author's background into account. In class discussions, she made sure to emphasize that context to her students as they examined the work.

"What resources did he draw from to write this book, and this character? What has been the Native American reaction to this book specifically? What was the reaction of the psychiatric treatment community? How do we look at it now? What's the treatment of women? There were so many angles to discussing it," she says.

Pahomov notes that because her students are teenagers, having these conversations is possible. But books geared toward younger kids? Those discussions can get a lot more complicated.

Which brings us back to Dr. Seuss.

In a study published earlier this month in Research on Diversity in Youth Literature, researchers Katie Ishizuka and Ramon Stephens found that only 2 percent of the human characters in Seuss' books were people of color. And all of those characters, they say, were "depicted through racist caricatures."

Those caricatures have a potent effect, even at an early age. Research shows that even at the age of 3, children begin to form racial biases, and by the age of 7, those biases become fixed.

"One of the reasons for that is the images and experiences that they're exposed to regarding marginalized groups and people of color," Stephens says. "And so [Seuss' books] being mainstream, and being spread out all over the world, has large implications."

If kids open books and "the images they see [of themselves] are distorted, negative [or] laughable, they learn a powerful lesson about how they are devalued in the society in which they are a part," Rudine Sims Bishop, a scholar of children's literature, wrote in a 1990 article.

But when they see themselves represented in a positive way, it can have a similarly powerful effect.

That's one of the reasons first-grade teacher Emily Petersen says she won't be reading Dr. Seuss with her students this week, or ever.

"If I'm looking at a 6-year-old and choosing what story [I'm] going to teach them how to read through, I'm definitely going to choose the one that affirms and celebrates identities in a new way," she says.

For other teachers who want to help students affirm their identities, the NEA is offering grants and resources to help schools highlight literary works by and about people of color.

But the forces that have kept Dr. Seuss on the bookshelf for decades are strong. Often, schools plan their Read Across America events months in advance. Costumes, books and activities from previous years are ready to go. It can be difficult for teachers to deviate from these plans, especially when they have celebrated in the same way year after year after year. And with over 650 million of his books in circulation worldwide, just like his infamous cat, it looks like Dr. Seuss will keep coming back.

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Dr. Seuss Books Can Be Racist, But Students Keep Reading Them

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A recent study found that Dr. Seuss books can be pretty racist. It's highlighted a growing debate: Should schools teach classic books that may be problematic or trade them for socially conscious ones?

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Mail-in voting ahead of the 2020 election has been expanded to ensure fair access for all during the COVID-19 pandemic. This could lead to problems, causing people to not trust the election results.

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Thousands of children are fleeing danger in Central American countries and seeking safety in the U.S. by crossing the border illegally. Two writers give their opinions on how to solve this crisis.

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Becoming a U.S. Citizen: What You Need to Know

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Jazz Jennings is your average teenage girl, except she happened to be born in a boy's body.

The transgender teen - who was diagnosed with gender dysphoria at age 3 and appeared on at age 6 - has since raised the visibility of trans youth through her TLC docu-series, (Wednesday, 10 p.m. ET) and her work as a youth ambassador for the Human Rights Campaign. But her new memoir, Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen (Crown), sees the 15-year-old getting more personal than ever. We spoke with Jazz about the book, which hits shelves Tuesday.
Q: You co-wrote a children's book, I Am Jazz, in September 2014. What made you want to do a memoir next?
A: I Am Jazz was more for children to understand what it means to be transgender, but with Being Jazz, I wanted to get the universal message across that we are all just people and we have to live our lives authentically.
Q: What are the biggest misconceptions about the trans community that you were looking to debunk?
A: One of the biggest is that people think it's a choice, but it's not. It's the way we were born.

Another misconception is that it's all about what's between your legs rather than what's between your ears. Being transgender isn't a medical transition. It's a process of learning to love yourself for who you are. And the last is this: A lot of people think I was too young to transition. I was 2 years old when I first started expressing myself but from the start, I knew I was a girl. And I think most children out there just know - whether they gravitate toward Barbies rather than trucks - they know.
Q: In an ideal world, how would we handle gender?
A: I wish everything was gender neutral. I wish we weren't separated by boundaries like pink and blue and little things like that. I wish we could choose how we express ourselves without hate.
Q: How does it feel to see public figures addressing discrimination and standing in solidarity against laws like House Bill 2?
A: The hate is real, and it's not just people hiding behind their computers. Now, it's politicians. But the fact that so many people are rallying in support of the transgender community means so much. Look at the Obama administration - they've put out a directive (on the use of bathrooms by transgender students), telling states they can't discriminate against kids on the basis of gender identity. So many people are finally understanding that this is not OK.
Q: You've been called brave for speaking on trans issues but in your book, you admit that you were privileged to have the resources and support that you had. What would be your advice to trans kids who don't have that?
A: Those are the people with true courage. I'd tell them to stay strong and keep moving forward... and know that one day things will get better. And I'd also tell them to try to find one peer, one adult, one person in your community that you can be yourself around.

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Jazz Jennings talks 'Life as a (Transgender) Teen'

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The 15-year-old's book hits shelves Tuesday, one day before her show's Season 2 premiere.

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It's LGBTQ Pride Month - a time to celebrate love, but also to champion equality and LGBTQ rights.

Throughout June, cities around the world have been hosting marches in honor of LGBTQ pride. In many countries today, people are free to join these marches, marry whomever they choose, and openly show their love. But that's still not the case for LGBTQ communities in every country, and even in countries where it is safe to march, there is still a long way to go before true equality is achieved.

Without these incredible activists, the LGBTQ rights movement would not be where it is today.

In honor of Pride Month, Global Citizen is celebrating the brave activists fighting for LGBTQ rights in places where it can be dangerous to do so, and the inspiring champions for change, without whom there might never have been a Pride Month.

While certainly not an exhaustive list by any means, these are 15 LGBTQ activists you should know.

1. Marsha P. Johnson

Marsha P. Johnson is sometimes referred to as the "Rosa Parks of the LGBT movement," but Johnson is a celebrated icon in her own right. Johnson was an activist, drag performer, sex worker, and model for Andy Warhol. She was black, queer, and trans - and fearlessly advocated for her rights and the rights of the LGBTQ community at a time when doing so put her safety in jeopardy.

"As long as gay people don't have their rights all across America, there's no reason for celebration," she once said.

Johnson was a key figure of the 1960s gay rights movement in the US and, as legend has it, threw the brick that ignited the infamous Stonewall riots, which were the catalyst for the movement and have inspired many Pride marches ever since.

In 1992, Johnson's body was found in the Hudson River. Her death was ruled a suicide, but those who knew her disagreed. A recent Netflix documentary, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, celebrates Johnson's life and investigates the mysterious circumstances of her death.

2. Sylvia Rivera

Sylvia Rivera was a Latina trans activist, who, together with Marsha P. Johnson, co-founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), an organization that provided housing and other services to homeless LGBTQ youth in New York City.

Born in New York City, Sylvia turned to sex work after her mother died by suicide when Rivera was just 10 years old. Rivera lived a turbulent life, struggling with drug addiction and homelessness, but Rivera was always a vocal and, at times, forceful advocate for change. She was once arrested for attempting to climb through a window (in a dress and heels) into a room where the New York City Council was debating a gay rights bill, NBC reported.

"Sylvia's role in gay history was that she was one of the first people to highlight that our movement needed to be more inclusive of people who did not fit in the mainstream," Carrie Davis, Chief Programs and Policy Officer at New York City's LGBT Community Center, told NBC News.

3. Harvey Milk

Harvey Milk, the subject of the Oscar-winning film Milk, was the first openly gay politician to be elected in California. Milk was assassinated in 1978, but during his short tenure in office he pushed legislation to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, and public accommodations.

The bill passed with just one dissenting vote by Dan White, the city supervisor who would go on to shoot and kill Milk. In 2009, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger designated May 22, Milk's birthday, as a day of recognition for the late politician and activist.

4. Edith Windsor

In 2015, the US Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right - a landmark decision that would not have been possible without Edith Windsor.

After a 40-year engagement, Windsor married Thea Spyer in Canada in 2007. Spyer passed away just two years later, leaving everything to her wife. Because the US did not recognize their same-sex marriage, Windsor was asked to pay taxes on Spyer's estate far beyond what a heterosexual spouse would be required to pay on the estate of their deceased spouse.

Windsor took her case to court and in 2013, the Supreme Court ruled in her favor. Two years later, the court expanded on that ruling in another case that led to federal recognition of same-sex marriages.

5. Alice Nkom

Alice Nkom is a human rights lawyer and LGBTQ activist from Cameroon, where homosexuality is still criminalized. In a country where police officer entrap members of the LGBTQ community through text messages and beat those they perceive to be gay, Nkom bravely fights for rights on behalf of the LGBTQ community.

Though Nkom identifies as heterosexual, she has dedicated her work to fighting for Cameroon's LGBTQ community and founded the Association for the Defence of Homosexuality in 2003. Though she and her colleagues are sometimes in danger because of the work they do, Nkom remains undeterred.

"These threats are in fact proof that our fight must continue," Nkom told Amnesty International.

6. Laverne Cox

Laverne Cox, best known for playing Sophia Burset on Netflix's Orange Is the New Black, is a black, trans woman, the first trans person to be nominated for an Emmy, and a proud advocate for LGBTQ rights. Cox has been outspoken about access to health care for LGBTQ communities and has particularly championed the rights of trans people and people of color.

"We must lift up the stories of those most at risk, statistically trans people of color who are poor and working class," Cox wrote in a Tumblr post in 2015. "I have hoped over the past few years that the incredible love I have received from the public can translate to the lives of all trans folks."
Read more: 33 Quotes That Show Laverne Cox Just Gets It
7. Alexya Salvador

Alexya Salvador is a trailblazer. She is a trans woman in Brazil, where violence against LGBTQ people has reached an all-time high. More than 380 LGBTQ-identifying people were murdered in Brazil in 2017 and 58 died by suicide, the Guardian reported.

And she's a pastor. Salvador calls herself the " first transgender shepherd of Latin America," and, with other trans pastors from around the world, held a groundbreaking LGBTQ-friendly mass in Cuba last year.

Salvador is a mother of two, including a trans daughter, and is the first trans person to adopt a child in Brazil, according Al Día.

8. Lena Waithe

Actress, writer, and producer Lena Waithe made history in 2017 as the first black woman to win an Emmy for comedy writing. But rather than reveling in her historic win, Waithe, who identifies as queer, used her acceptance speech to deliver an inspiring message to her "LGBTQIA family."
Read more: Lena Waithe Made a Bold Statement at the Met Gala and the Internet Is Here for It
"The things that make us different, those are our superpowers," she said. Waithe often uses her spotlight moments to advocate for the LGBTQ community. Earlier this year, she wore a rainbow cape to the Met Gala, a bold statement in the face of the event's religious theme.

9. Arsham Parsi

Arsham Parsi is a gay man who first began secretly working to support members of the LGBTQ community in his native Iran. But in 2005, the queer activist was forced to flee his country, where homosexual activity remains illegal.

Today, Parsi lives in exile in Canada, where he has founded the Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees, which supports and provides guidance to LGBTQ asylum seekers from the Middle East.

10. Michael Sam

Michael Sam became the first openly gay football player to be drafted by an NFL team in 2014. While his draft was a historic first, Sam's time in the NFL was discouraging. He was passed from team to team, and eventually found himself without a team. About a year after he was first drafted, Sam retired from the NFL citing mental health reasons.

His struggle highlighted the discrimination and homophobia still rampant in the sports world, but Sam has gone on to share his story and continues to champion change.

11-15. 'Queer Eye's' Fab Five

The all-star cast of Netflix's new Queer Eye series - a reboot of Bravo's early 2000s series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy - may be all fun when it comes to makeovers, but they're serious about making a difference in the world.
People globally face many intersecting forms of discrimination and marginalization every day, for many different reasons. Unjust social, political, and economic systems perpetuate this discrimination and keep people trapped in poverty. This June, take our Equity Month Hero Challenge to learn how we can all be champions for equity and justice every day, and earn your Equity Month Hero badge to wear proudly on your Global Citizen profile. Take the Challenge now.
The "Fab Five" - Tan France, Jonathan Van Ness, Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, and Antoni Porowski - speak openly on Queer Eye about their personal struggles and experiences with homophobia and discrimination. And the stars hope to use their newfound fame to empower LGBTQ communities.

"Just the idea that my being who I am [on Queer Eye] has made people, both younger than me and older than me, feel more comfortable about the space that they take up ... that is something I never saw coming," Van Ness told Refinery29 in an interview. "But also, when people are so effusive about how my role in Queer Eye makes them feel, it really opened my eyes to the amount of repression we still have."

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15 LGBTQ Activists of the Past and Present You Should Know

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15 brave activists inspiring champions for change and fighting for LGBTQ rights in places where it can be dangerous to do so.

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The Early Gay Rights Movement

In 1924, Henry Gerber, a German immigrant, founded in Chicago the Society for Human Rights, the first documented gay rights organization in the United States. During his U.S. Army service in World War I, Gerber was inspired to create his organization by the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, a "homosexual emancipation" group in Germany.

Gerber's small group published a few issues of its newsletter "Friendship and Freedom," the country's first gay-interest newsletter. Police raids caused the group to disband in 1925-but 90 years later, the U.S. government designated Gerber's Chicago house a National Historic Landmark.

The Pink Triangle

The gay rights movement stagnated for the next few decades, though LGBT individuals around the world did come into the spotlight a few times.

For example, English poet and author Radclyffe Hall stirred up controversy in 1928 when she published her lesbian-themed novel, The Well of Loneliness. And during World War II, the Nazis held homosexual men in concentration camps, branding them with the infamous pink triangle badge, which was also given to sexual predators.

Additionally, in 1948, in his book Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, Alfred Kinsey proposed that male sexual orientation lies on a continuum between exclusively homosexual to exclusively heterosexual.

The Homophile Years

In 1950, Harry Hay founded the Mattachine Foundation, one of the nation's first gay rights group. The Los Angeles organization coined the term "homophile," which was considered less clinical and focused on sexual activity than "homosexual."

Though it started off small, the foundation, which sought to improve the lives of gay men through discussion groups and related activities, expanded after founding member Dale Jennings was arrested in 1952 for solicitation and then later set free due to a deadlocked jury.

At the end of the year, Jennings formed another organization called One, Inc., which welcomed women and published ONE, the country's first pro-gay magazine. Jennings was ousted from One, Inc. in 1953 in part for being a communist-he and Harry Hay were also kicked out of the Mattachine Foundation for their communism-but the magazine continued.

In 1958, One, Inc. won a lawsuit against the U.S. Post Office, which in 1954 declared the magazine "obscene" and refused to deliver it.

The Mattachine Society

Mattachine Foundation members restructured the organization to form the Mattachine Society, which had local chapters in other parts of the country and in 1955 began publishing the country's second gay publication, The Mattachine Review. That same year, four lesbian couples in San Francisco founded an organization called the Daughters of Bilitis, which soon began publishing a newsletter called The Ladder, the first lesbian publication of any kind.

These early years of the movement also faced some notable setbacks: the American Psychiatric Association listed homosexuality as a form of mental disorder in 1952.

The following year, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an executive order that banned gay people-or, more specifically, people guilty of "sexual perversion"-from federal jobs. This ban would remain in effect for some 20 years.

Gay Rights in the 1960s

The gay rights movement saw some early progress In the 1960s. In 1961, Illinois became the first state to do away with its anti-sodomy laws, effectively decriminalizing homosexuality, and a local TV station in California aired the first documentary about homosexuality, called The Rejected.

In 1965, Dr. John Oliven, in his book Sexual Hygiene and Pathology, coined the term "transgender" to describe someone who was born in the body of the incorrect sex.

But more than 10 years earlier, transgender individuals entered the American consciousness when Christine Jorgensen came out as a trans woman, following gender confirmation surgery.

Despite this progress, LGBTQ individuals lived in a kind of urban subculture and were routinely subjected to harassment and persecution, such as in bars and restaurants. In fact, gay men and women in New York City could not be served alcohol in public due to liquor laws that considered the gathering of homosexuals to be "disorderly."

In fear of being shut down by authorities, bartenders would deny drinks to patrons suspected of being gay or kick them out altogether; others would serve them drinks but force them to sit facing away from other customers to prevent them from socializing.

In 1966, members of the Mattachine Society in New York City staged a " sip-in "-a twist on the "sit-in" protests of the 1960s-in which they visited taverns, declared themselves gay, and waited to be turned away so they could sue. They were denied service at the Greenwich Village tavern Julius, resulting in much publicity and the quick reversal of the anti-gay liquor laws.

The Stonewall Inn

A few years later, in 1969, a now-famous event catalyzed the gay rights movement: The Stonewall Riots.

The clandestine gay club Stonewall Inn was an institution in Greenwich Village because it was large, cheap, allowed dancing and welcomed drag queens and homeless youths.

But in the early hours of June 28, 1969, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn. Fed up with years of police harassment, patrons and neighborhood residents began throwing objects at police as they loaded the arrested into police vans. The scene eventually exploded into a full-blown riot, with subsequent protests that lasted for five more days.

Christopher Street Liberation Day

Shortly after the Stonewall uprising, members of the Mattachine Society split off to form the Gay Liberation Front, a radical group that launched public demonstrations, protests and confrontations with political officials.

Similar groups followed, including the Gay Activists Alliance, Radicalesbians, and Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries (STAR).

In 1970, at the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, New York City community members marched through local streets in commemoration of the event. Named the Christopher Street Liberation Day, the march is now considered the country's first gay pride parade. Activists also turned the once-disreputable Pink Triangle into a symbol of gay pride.

LGBTQ Political Victories

The increased visibility and activism of LGBTQ individuals in the 1970s helped the movement make progress on multiple fronts. In 1977, for instance, the New York Supreme Court ruled that transgender woman Renée Richards could play at the United States Open tennis tournament as a woman.

Additionally, several openly LGBTQ individuals secured public office positions: Kathy Kozachenko won a seat to the Ann Harbor, Michigan, City Council in 1974, becoming the first out American to be elected to public office.

Harvey Milk, who campaigned on a pro-gay rights platform, became the San Francisco city supervisor in 1978, becoming the first openly gay man elected to a political office in California.

Milk asked Gilbert Baker, an artist and gay rights activist, to create an emblem that represents the movement and would be seen as a symbol of pride. Baker designed and stitched together the first rainbow flag, which he unveiled at a pride parade in 1978.

The following year, in 1979, more than 100,000 people took part in the first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.

Outbreak of AIDS

The outbreak of AIDS in the United States dominated the struggle for gay rights in the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report about five previously healthy homosexual men becoming infected with a rare type of pneumonia.

By 1984, researchers had identified the cause of AIDS-the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV-and the Food and Drug Administration licensed the first commercial blood test for HIV in 1985. Two years later, the first antiretroviral medication for HIV, azidothymidine (AZT), became available.

Gay rights proponents held the second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1987. The occasion marked the first national coverage of ACT UP (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power), an advocacy group seeking to improve the lives of AIDS victims.

The World Health Organization in 1988 declared December 1 to be World AIDS Day. By the end of the decade, there were at least 100,000 reported cases of AIDS in the United States.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

In 1992, Bill Clinton, during his campaign to become president, promised he would lift the ban against gays in the military. But after failing to garner enough support for such an open policy, President Clinton in 1993 passed the " Don't Ask, Don't Tell " (DADT) policy, which allowed gay men and women to serve in the military as long as they kept their sexuality a secret.

Gay rights advocates decried the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, as it did little to stop people from being discharged on the grounds of their sexuality.

In 2011, President Obama fulfilled a campaign promise to repeal DADT; by that time, more than 12,000 officers had been discharged from the military under DADT for refusing to hide their sexuality. Don't Ask, Don't Tell was officially repealed on September 20, 2011.

Gay Marriage and Beyond

In 1992, the District of Columbia passed a law that allowed gay and lesbian couples to register as domestic partners, granting them some of the rights of marriage (the city of San Francisco passed a similar ordinance three years prior and California would later extend those rights to the entire state in 1999).

In 1993, the highest court in Hawaii ruled that a ban on gay marriage may go against the state's constitution. State voters disagreed, however, and in 1998 passed a law banning same-sex marriage.

Federal lawmakers also disagreed, and Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which Clinton signed into law in 1996. The law prevented the government from granting federal marriage benefits to same-sex couples and allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriage certificates from other states.

Though marriage rights backtracked, gay rights advocates scored other victories. In 1994, a new anti-hate-crime law allowed judges to impose harsher sentences if a crime was motivated by a victim's sexual orientation.

The Matthew Shepard Act

In 2003, gay rights proponents had another bit of happy news: the U.S. Supreme Court, in Lawrence v. Texas, struck down the state's anti-sodomy law. The landmark ruling effectively decriminalized homosexual relations nationwide.

And in 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law a new hate crime act. Commonly known as the Matthew Shepard Act, the new law extended the reach of the 1994 hate crime law.

The act was a response to the 1998 murder of 21-year-old Matthew Shepard, who was pistol-whipped, tortured, tied to a fence, and left to die. The murder was thought to be driven by Shepard's perceived homosexuality.

In 2011, President Obama fulfilled a campaign promise to repeal DADT; by that time, more than 12,000 officers had been discharged from the military under DADT for refusing to hide their sexuality.

A couple of years later, the Supreme Court ruled against Section 3 of DOMA, which allowed the government to deny federal benefits to married same-sex couples. DOMA soon become powerless, when in 2015 the Supreme Court ruled that states cannot ban same-sex marriage, making gay marriage legal throughout the country.

Transgender Rights

One day after that landmark 2015 ruling, the Boy Scouts of America lifted its ban against openly gay leaders and employees. And in 2017, it reversed a century-old ban against transgender boys, finally catching up with the Girl Scouts of the USA, which had long been inclusive of LGBTQ leaders and children (the organization had accepted its first transgender Girl Scout in 2011).

In 2016, the U.S. military lifted its ban on transgender people serving openly, a month after Eric Fanning became secretary of the Army and the first openly gay secretary of a U.S. military branch. In March 2018, President Donald Trump announced a new transgender policy for the military that again banned most transgender people from military service. On January 25, 2021-his sixth day in office-President Biden signed an executive order overturning this ban.

Though LGBTQ Americans now have same-sex marriage rights and numerous other rights that seemed farfetched 100 years ago, the work of advocates is far from over.

Universal workplace anti-discrimination laws for LGBTQ Americans is still lacking. Gay rights proponents must also content with an increasing number of "religious liberty" state laws, which allow business to deny service to LGBTQ individuals due to religious beliefs, as well as "bathroom laws" that prevent transgender individuals from using public bathrooms that don't correspond to their sex at birth. Additionally, several states have passed legislation targeting transgender youth (and, in Texas, their parents), preventing them from competing in school-sponsored athletics that correspond with their gender identity and accessing gender-affirming medical care.

Gay Marriage Legalized

Massachusetts was the first state to legalize gay marriage, and the first legal same-sex marriage was performed on May 17, 2004-a day when seventy-seven other couples across the state also tied the knot.

Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer wed in Ontario, Canada in 2007. The State of New York recognized the residents' marriage, but the federal government did not. When Spyer died in 2009, she left her estate to Windsor; since the couple's marriage was not federally recognized, Windsor didn't quality for tax exemption as a surviving spouse. Windsor sued the government in late 2010 in United States v. Windsor. Months later, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Barack Obama administration would no longer defend DOMA.

In 2012, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that DOMA violates the Constitution's equal protection clause, and the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments for the case. The court ruled in favor of Windsor.

Gay marriage was finally ruled legal by the Supreme Court in June 2015. In Obergefell v. Hodges, the plaintiffs-led by Jim Obergefell, who sued because he was unable to put his name on his late husband's death certificate-argued that the laws violated the Equal Protection Clause and Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy sided with Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan in favor of same-sex marriage rights, ultimately making gay marriage legal across the nation on June 2015. The ruling read, in part:

"No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization's oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right."

On December 13, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law. The law requires that individual states recognize same-sex and interracial marriages that were lawfully performed in other states.

Sources

How WWI Sparked the Gay Rights Movement: Smithsonian.

First gay rights group in the US (1924): Chicago Tribune.

Chicago's Henry Gerber House Designated a National Historic Landmark: U.S. Department of the Interior.

Harry Hay, Early Proponent of Gay Rights, Dies at 90: The New York Times.

Transgender: Transgender Studies Quarterly.

American Psychological Association.

LGBT Rights Milestones Fast Facts: CNN.

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The gay rights movement in the United States began in the 1920s and saw huge progress in the 2000s, with laws prohibiting homosexual activity struck down and a Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.

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You may know what race you are, but how would you prove it if someone disagreed with you? The fact is, race is a social and political construct that has evolved in fascinating and often confusing ways over the centuries.

Race is a social construct

With the 1776 edition of his book, On the Natural Variety of Mankind, German scientist Johan Friedrich Blumenbach is credited with creating one of the first race-based classifications. He decided on five categories: "Caucasian, the white race; Mongolian, the yellow race; Malayan, the brown race, Ethiopian, the black race, and American, the red race." Each race was ranked, and he put "Caucasian" at the top. This seemingly arbitrary ranking was the impetus for centuries of discrimination and inequality.

The US Census proves race is subjective

The evolution of race in the US Census illustrates just how hard it is to categorize people in a way that is inclusive and accurate. For example, in 1929, people who were of Mexican birth or ancestry in the United States were considered white. In 1930, they were considered non-white. In 1942, they were switched back to white. These dates are interesting because they align directly with the shifting political and economic agendas of the time.

Racial categories are not backed by science

Dorothy Roberts, the author of Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-first Century explains that when the medical community links race to health outcomes, it's really just using race as a proxy for other factors such as where your ancestors came from, access to healthcare, and socioeconomic status. Sickle-cell anemia is a prime example of this. Commonly linked to race, this adaption is actually a product of environments where Malaria is prevalent, including some parts of Europe and Asia, in addition to Africa.

Although race isn't real, racism certainly is

The racial categories to which we're assigned, based on how we look to others or how we identify ourselves, can determine real-life experiences, inspire hate, drive political outcomes, and make the difference between life and death. But these important consequences are a result of a relatively new idea that was based on shaky reasoning and shady motivations.
Will you support Vox's explanatory journalism?
Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we're trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we're not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world - not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that's an important part of building a more equal society. And we can't do that if we have a paywall.

So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)

If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.

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You may know what race you are, but how would you prove it if somebody disagreed with you? Jenée Desmond Harris explains.

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Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi

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Teixeira says one distinction between an immigrant and a migrant can be seen in these visas, specifically in that immigrant visas are "related to lawful permanent-resident status."

Another distinction between the terms "migrant" and "immigrant" could be between the "outward-bound vs. inward-bound" viewpoint of the specific terms, he says. "The term 'migrant' focuses on the act of leaving one's country. The term 'immigrant' focuses on the act of settling in the receiving country," Teixeira says.
Can they be used interchangeably?
Conversationally and in the news, many people use the terms interchangeably. But can they be used interchangeably and mean the same thing?

While Teixeira says the terms can be used interchangeably casually, he says that "notable anti-immigration publications, especially in Europe, focus on using the term 'migrant' in a way that furthers their anti-immigrant viewpoint."

Using "migrant" in this way has led to the term carrying a "sinister, despective connotation," Teixeira says. "The term seems to be used, in such contexts, to undermine the permanence of the individual's life in the receiving country, and to play down any claim of, for instance, asylum, as there is increasingly an implication that 'migrants' tend to be economic migrants - and therefore only moving for work opportunities."

Teixeira tells Teen Vogue that this tactic is used to advance the idea that a migrant is a "temporary outsider" who is in the "receiving country to take and take without giving back." This rhetoric provides a way for people within a receiving country to "exclude noncitizens from being accepted as part of their local community."

For these reasons, Teixeira says he typically avoids using the term "migrant." He also notes that immigration law typically considers those people who are not on permanent-resident visas immigrants, even if they are here for seasonal work and plan on returning to their home country after they complete the seasonal work.

Teixeira says immigration lawyers in the U.S. typically focus on whether a person has "lawful permanent-resident status" as opposed to asking if they are an immigrant. He also states that immigration lawyers in the U.S. normally don't use the term "migrant" in an effort to avoid the "negative tone the term 'migrant' now carries."
Can a migrant be an immigrant?

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This is our daily update of breaking COVID-19 news for Monday, January 4th, 2021. Previous daily updates can be found here, and up-to-date statistics are here.

New York City is in Phase 4 of reopening now, which includes zoos, botanical gardens, museums, and gyms. Citing rising hospitalization rates, Governor Andrew Cuomo suspended indoor dining in NYC starting Monday, December 14th. After being shut down for several weeks, NYC public schools partially reopened on December 7th for 3K-5th grade students, with students with special needs returning on December 10th. Certain parts of Staten Island remain under a zoned shutdown.

Get answers to questions you may have with our "Ask An Epidemiologist" series, or learn more about NYC COVID-19 testing options with our explainer. Here are some local and state hotlines for more information: NYC: 311; NY State Hotline: 888-364-3065; NJ State Hotline: 800-222-1222.

Here's the latest:

1:59 p.m. Governor Andrew Cuomo blamed the delays on vaccine distribution across New York on the hospitals who are tasked with giving it to front-line healthcare workers, and threatened to seize their vaccine supplies if they aren't used up within the next week.

At a press conference on Monday, the governor said that just 46% of all the vaccines allocated to hospitals across the state have been used in the three weeks since they began receiving them. Around 300,000 New Yorkers have received the first dose of the vaccine so far, including hospital workers, nursing home residents, and nursing home staff.

"This is a management issue of the hospitals," Cuomo said. "They have to move the vaccine and they have to move the vaccine faster."

Cuomo and state Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker specifically called out New York City's public Health & Hospitals system, which Zucker said received 38,000 doses, but has so far only distributed 31% of them.

"The hospitals are sitting at 99% [distribution]-so those at the top end, obviously there's a sense of urgency," Zucker said. "On the other end of the spectrum, for example in the H&H system, the mayor runs the H&H system, they have 23,000 eligible employees, 12,000 have been vaccinated...Those other 11,000 employees need to be vaccinated."

Zucker and the governor did not specifically say what was impeding vaccine distribution at these hospitals, and made general references to "bureaucracy" and "urgency." Nor did they reference the sizes of the individual hospitals. A representative from the state Department of Health has not yet responded to our query.

Cuomo said he was taking a "use it or lose it" approach with hospitals, with up to $100,000 in fines and the revocation of their vaccines if hospitals do not use their current doses within 7 days, and going forward, use any doses they receive within 7 days.

One reporter wondered if some hospitals weren't being squeezed into inaction by state regulation: the hospitals also face steep state penalties if they improperly distribute the vaccine.

Cuomo sidestepped the question.

"The hospitals have been given the vaccines for expeditious administration. If you have been given an allocation and you've only used one-third of the allocation, then you shouldn't have the allocation," Cuomo said, framing his position as "constructive impatience."

"I want to get needles in the arms and I want to get that done as quickly as possible...If you can't do that within 7 days then just raise your hand, and say, 'I can't do this.' Fine, we'll go to a different hospital."

A spokesperson for the Mayor's Office, Avery Cohen, criticized the governor's announcement.

"The Mayor has been clear that our public hospitals must show aggressive, forward momentum and get as many vaccines in arms as possible," Cohen wrote in an email. "We've put a plan in place to help H+H go faster as we wait for the State to allow more people to be vaccinated. But threatening to 'revoke' the 'privilege' of vaccination from the City's public hospital system is punitive and unnecessary."

Dr. Zucker could not say specifically how many New Yorkers eligible to receive the vaccine have declined to take it, but noted that 10% of nursing home residents, and 15% of nursing home staff have declined it.

The governor pledged that 85% of nursing home residents in the state would receive the vaccine by week's end.

Only 1% Of NYC Residents Have Been Vaccinated So Far

10:33 a.m. Nearly 105,000 New York City residents have received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine as of Sunday, representing a little over 1% of the city's total population.

The number of shots distributed to date is a little over a quarter of the amount of total vaccines that the city has already received.

The numbers reflect widespread struggles across the country in doling out the vaccine quickly and efficiently. Nationally, only 4 million of the 14 million doses that have been delivered to states have gotten in the arms of Americans, according to federal data. Long lines for vaccines have been spotted in some parts of Florida and Tennessee. In Fort Meyers, Florida, some seniors camped out overnight in hopes of receiving their shots under a first come-first serve policy.

Noting that the number of vaccinations in New York City has dropped on weekends, Manhattan City Council member Mark Levine called on the city to administer doses round the clock.

"We are in a war-like situation," he tweeted on Sunday. "We need to be vaccinating TWENTY FOUR-SEVEN. We are losing precious time."

Levine, who chairs the health committee, has said he will introduce City Council legislation designed to speed up immunizations.

Vaccination in New York City is basically only occurring during regular business hours. Very little on weekends. Almost none on holidays.

We are in a war-like situation. We need to be vaccinating TWENTY FOUR-SEVEN. We are losing precious time. pic.twitter.com/BpOpCRHVby
- Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) January 3, 2021

At a press conference on Monday morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio said he too wanted vaccines to be administered 24/7. The Mayor said the first weeks of vaccine administration had been slow and methodical, "because our health care professionals were dealing with something they had never dealt with before and they had to get it right. That's all behind us now, and it's time to sprint."

City officials have argued that the pace of vaccination will increase once the pool of those eligible to receive the shots expands. Under New York state's prioritization plan, front line health care workers, including hospital staff, as well as nursing home residents and employees, have been included in the first phase of immunization.

Last Thursday, de Blasio pledged to administer 1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in New York City by the end of January.

The mayor said he would designate 250 community clinics, pop-up sites, schools across the five boroughs as vaccine hubs by the end of the month. As of this week, the city is operating 150 vaccination sites.

On Sunday, Moncef Slaoui, the head of the federal vaccine program, Operation Warp Speed, acknowledged the need to improve the vaccination rollout. In an interview on CBS's "Face The Nation," he said that officials were considering giving two half-volume doses of the Moderna vaccine to some individuals. Health officials in the United Kingdom, who are increasingly worried about a fast-spreading coronavirus variant, have already decided to shift their strategy by maximizing the number of people receiving the first dose and possibly delaying the second dose.

Both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccine require the second dose to be administered three or four weeks after the first in order to achieve maximum immunity. On Monday, the UK began rolling out a third vaccine, one by the company AstraZeneca.

The ultimate decision rests with the Food and Drug Administration.

However, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease specialist, warned against veering from the approved dosing schedule.

"We know what the science tells us," Fauci said on NBC's Meet the Press. "So my feeling ... is let's do it the way the clinical trials have instructed us to do it. But let's get more efficient into getting it into people's arms."

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Coronavirus Updates: Cuomo Tells Hospitals With Vaccine To "Use It Or Lose It"

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This is our daily update of breaking COVID-19 news for Monday, January 4th, 2021. Previous daily updates can be found here , and up-to-date statistics are here . New York City is in Phase 4 of reopening now , which includes zoos, botanical gardens , museums , and gyms .

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