Spare Change News

Category: Gender and Sexuality

  • Trump’s Record on LGBT Rights: Abhorrent, Unprecedented

    After his first year in office, President Donald Trump’s record on LGBT rights and protections fairs far worse than his predecessors, a new report finds. The report from The Fenway Institute, an education, research, training and policy center in Boston focused on access to health for traditionally underserved communities, states that the Trump administration “has…

  • Critics Call HHS Proposal “License to Discriminate”

    LGBT Americans face a patchwork of civil rights protections from state-to-state, and their advocates say a potential new government office could increase discrimination. On Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services released details of a proposed rule for a new division in its Office of Civil Rights for the purpose of protecting religious freedom,…

  • Inclusivity and Immediacy: The 2018 Cambridge-Boston Women’s March

    Inclusivity and Immediacy: The 2018 Cambridge-Boston Women’s March

      Lorraine Doyle has protested for women’s rights in Cambridge for 56 years. “For me, protesting is a lifelong event,” Doyle said. “It is every chance to go further with my cause. Women first, men second. They don’t like it, they can step aside. It’s time. That’s really how I feel. I am an arch-feminist…

  • Reductions in Prison Population Lag for Women

    Prison populations are dropping in most states, but a new study finds that the number of incarcerated women is not falling as fast as it is for men. Nationally, the total prison population peaked around 2009. The study, compiled by the Prison Policy Initiative, shows that most states have made progress in reducing their overall…

  • LGBTQ Asylum Seekers Face Higher Hurdles Despite Widespread Oppression

    Cambridge’s LGBTQ+ Commission and the Commission on Immigrant Rights and Citizenship co-hosted an event on Thursday, November 9, to highlight the struggles faced by those seeking refuge from queerphobia and the oppression it breeds. The event, titled Challenges, Experiences, Freedom: LGBTQ+ Immigrants and Asylum Seekers, featured speakers who have faced this grueling asylum process, and…

  • Flogging Molly’s David King is One of the Lucky Ones – and He Knows It

    Flogging Molly’s David King is One of the Lucky Ones – and He Knows It

    David King has always known he was lucky, and it has fueled him throughout Flogging Molly’s 20-year career, a span of time in which they’ve continued their success as one of the most well-respected names in rock and roll. The Irish punk septet is now celebrating with the release of its sixth studio album, “Life…

  • OUT ON HER OWN: A Story of LGBTQ Youth Homelessness

    OUT ON HER OWN: A Story of LGBTQ Youth Homelessness

    Photo by Mike DeSocio. Author’s Note: The central character in this story, Liniște, asked that she be referred to by a pseudonym for safety reasons. I met Liniște in September and spent five months following her throughout various parts of her life, closely observing her experiences with homelessness and sexuality. This approach seemed most appropriate…

  • Boston Shows Up For Equality

    Boston Shows Up For Equality

    On January 21, 2017, women across the world made history. Over 125,000 Bostonians and New Englanders gathered in the Boston Common to march in solidarity with communities affected most by intolerance, hate and injustice. Symbolically, the event took place the day after Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States. “United…

  • Special Report: Attacks on LGBT people rarely prosecuted as hate crimes

    Special Report: Attacks on LGBT people rarely prosecuted as hate crimes

    Photo: Ludovic Bertron By Ned Parker and Mimi Dwyer Courtesy of INSP.ngo / Reuters Dionte Greene, a 22-year-old black gay male, was looking for a hook-up. He reached out to an 18-year-old stranger on Facebook. “I’m not interested in smoking weed with you, Travone,” Greene wrote to the teenager, Travone Shaw, in their first exchange.…

  • Transgender Rights in Schools: Obama Administration Releases Guidance for Proper Action

    Transgender Rights in Schools: Obama Administration Releases Guidance for Proper Action

    Last week, the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education unveiled “significant guidance” for public schools to follow in order to protect the civil rights of transgender students. This guidance initiative utilizes the past reforms of Title IX—an amendment which bars discrimination in all federally funded schools—to defend transgender liberties and justify any precautions that should…