This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareIn a massive show of force, federal law enforcement officers fired rubber bullets and chemical gas at peaceful protesters outside the White House on Monday evening as appeared in the Rose Garden to threaten the mobilization of “thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers” to quell “lawlessness” across the country.Hundreds of protesters were pushed away from Lafayette Square, where they were protesting the police killing of George Floyd, by the National Guard, U.S. Park Police and Secret Service. The ambush began...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareIn a massive show of force, federal law enforcement officers fired rubber bullets and chemical gas at peaceful protesters outside the White House on Monday evening as appeared in the Rose Garden to threaten the mobilization of “thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers” to quell “lawlessness” across the country.Hundreds of protesters were pushed away from Lafayette Square, where they were protesting the police killing of George Floyd, by the National Guard, U.S. Park Police and Secret Service. The ambush began...WW…

Local As the country moves to reopen, Americans weigh necessity, fear and longing By The Georgetown professor was groggy, still tucked under her comforter when her research began. Robin Dillon-Merrill reached for her phone at 7 a.m., thumbed the screen and refreshed the death toll once again. She checked the Monday morning news, where government officials were debating and protesters were demanding the “reopening” of the country. Her job is to study the choices people make during times of uncertainty, and here was another week in the most uncertain time of all, when everyone, every day, is...…Local As the country moves to reopen, Americans weigh necessity, fear and longing By The Georgetown professor was groggy, still tucked under her comforter when her research began. Robin Dillon-Merrill reached for her phone at 7 a.m., thumbed the screen and refreshed the death toll once again. She checked the Monday morning news, where government officials were debating and protesters were demanding the “reopening” of the country. Her job is to study the choices people make during times of uncertainty, and here was another week in the most uncertain time of all, when everyone, every day, is...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareA conservative replacement on the Supreme Court for late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Friday, could provide a major boost to religious rights while threatening years of advancements for the LGBTQ community, legal experts and activists say.In cases spanning same-sex marriage rights to workplace protections, the Supreme Court has in recent years delivered landmark victories to gay and transgender Americans. But these watershed rulings have also left unresolved the polarizing conflict between those who want to...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareA conservative replacement on the Supreme Court for late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Friday, could provide a major boost to religious rights while threatening years of advancements for the LGBTQ community, legal experts and activists say.In cases spanning same-sex marriage rights to workplace protections, the Supreme Court has in recent years delivered landmark victories to gay and transgender Americans. But these watershed rulings have also left unresolved the polarizing conflict between those who want to...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift Share, attacking police vehicles and confronting officers outside a district station for a second night Wednesday as they sought information about the death of Karon Hylton. Tensions grew along with the size of the protest, and police used pepper spray and flashbang devices to push demonstrators away from the station.By about 9:30 p.m., police had established a perimeter about a block from the Fourth District station after a coordinated push to clear the area near the station, and many of the protesters appeared to...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift Share, attacking police vehicles and confronting officers outside a district station for a second night Wednesday as they sought information about the death of Karon Hylton. Tensions grew along with the size of the protest, and police used pepper spray and flashbang devices to push demonstrators away from the station.By about 9:30 p.m., police had established a perimeter about a block from the Fourth District station after a coordinated push to clear the area near the station, and many of the protesters appeared to...WW…

CHESAPEAKE, Va. — The last time Brittni DuPuy-German saw her trusted gynecologist, she once again explained that the stabbing, mystery pain in her abdomen had not gone away.It first appeared two years earlier, after she said her doctor, Javaid Perwaiz, surgically tied her tubes. To fix it, he had proposed more surgery — three additional procedures in nine months that she said included a hysterectomy when she was 29. But the pain persisted.So on Nov. 8, 2019, at his private-practice office, Perwaiz and DuPuy-German discussed the possibility of yet another surgery, she said. He scheduled an...…CHESAPEAKE, Va. — The last time Brittni DuPuy-German saw her trusted gynecologist, she once again explained that the stabbing, mystery pain in her abdomen had not gone away.It first appeared two years earlier, after she said her doctor, Javaid Perwaiz, surgically tied her tubes. To fix it, he had proposed more surgery — three additional procedures in nine months that she said included a hysterectomy when she was 29. But the pain persisted.So on Nov. 8, 2019, at his private-practice office, Perwaiz and DuPuy-German discussed the possibility of yet another surgery, she said. He scheduled an...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareA federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from removing nondiscrimination protections for transgender people in health care, issuing a temporary setback to a major policy priority for social conservatives.The new rules, which were set to take effect on Tuesday, would have reversed Obama-era Affordable Care Act regulations that said discrimination protections “on the basis of sex” should apply to transgender people. Civil rights advocates had decried the new interpretation, saying it could be used to deny...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareA federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from removing nondiscrimination protections for transgender people in health care, issuing a temporary setback to a major policy priority for social conservatives.The new rules, which were set to take effect on Tuesday, would have reversed Obama-era Affordable Care Act regulations that said discrimination protections “on the basis of sex” should apply to transgender people. Civil rights advocates had decried the new interpretation, saying it could be used to deny...WW…

Listen5 minCommentGift ShareColombia’s most-wanted drug lord, Dairo Antonio Úsuga, widely known by his alias, Otoniel, has been captured by armed forces in his jungle hideout and faces extradition to the United States.Úsuga, 50, a former left-wing guerrilla and later a paramilitary fighter, is the alleged leader of the notorious drug-trafficking group Clan del Golfo, or Gulf Clan, which dominates major cocaine-smuggling routes through thick jungles in the country’s restive north.Colombian President Iván Duque likened Úsuga’s arrest Saturday to the capture of Pablo Escobar three decades ago....…Listen5 minCommentGift ShareColombia’s most-wanted drug lord, Dairo Antonio Úsuga, widely known by his alias, Otoniel, has been captured by armed forces in his jungle hideout and faces extradition to the United States.Úsuga, 50, a former left-wing guerrilla and later a paramilitary fighter, is the alleged leader of the notorious drug-trafficking group Clan del Golfo, or Gulf Clan, which dominates major cocaine-smuggling routes through thick jungles in the country’s restive north.Colombian President Iván Duque likened Úsuga’s arrest Saturday to the capture of Pablo Escobar three decades ago....WW…

This article was published more than 1 year agoCommentGift ShareArkansas became the first state on Monday to pass a bill prohibiting doctors from providing gender-affirming medical care to transgender children, treatments that major describe as essential to the mental health of an already vulnerable community of young people.Lawmakers voted 28 to 7 in favor of the bill, which would ban doctors from providing transgender minors with gender-affirming treatments such as puberty blockers, hormone therapies and transition-related surgeries, or referring them for such treatments.The...…This article was published more than 1 year agoCommentGift ShareArkansas became the first state on Monday to pass a bill prohibiting doctors from providing gender-affirming medical care to transgender children, treatments that major describe as essential to the mental health of an already vulnerable community of young people.Lawmakers voted 28 to 7 in favor of the bill, which would ban doctors from providing transgender minors with gender-affirming treatments such as puberty blockers, hormone therapies and transition-related surgeries, or referring them for such treatments.The...WW…

This article was published more than 1 year agoCommentGift ShareThe Senate on Wednesday voted 52 to 48 to confirm Rachel Levine as the nation’s assistant secretary for health, making her the highest-ranking openly transgender official in U.S. history.All Democrats and independents voted to support Levine, with Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) crossing the aisle to support her, prompting cheers from advocates who called the vote a breakthrough.“I firmly believe that turning points, such as today’s Senate confirmation vote for Dr. Levine’s appointment, are...…This article was published more than 1 year agoCommentGift ShareThe Senate on Wednesday voted 52 to 48 to confirm Rachel Levine as the nation’s assistant secretary for health, making her the highest-ranking openly transgender official in U.S. history.All Democrats and independents voted to support Levine, with Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) crossing the aisle to support her, prompting cheers from advocates who called the vote a breakthrough.“I firmly believe that turning points, such as today’s Senate confirmation vote for Dr. Levine’s appointment, are...WW…

This article was published more than 1 year agoGift ShareAs Stella Keating prepared to speak during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, U.S. senators had just spent more than an hour debating whether transgender girls such as her should be protected by federal law.Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) had described transgender girls in high school athletics as “biological men,” and writer Abigail Shrier, a witness in the hearing, had depicted transgender girls as threats to the safety of other girls and women.But as Keating, a 16-year-old girl from Washington state, appeared on the...…This article was published more than 1 year agoGift ShareAs Stella Keating prepared to speak during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, U.S. senators had just spent more than an hour debating whether transgender girls such as her should be protected by federal law.Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) had described transgender girls in high school athletics as “biological men,” and writer Abigail Shrier, a witness in the hearing, had depicted transgender girls as threats to the safety of other girls and women.But as Keating, a 16-year-old girl from Washington state, appeared on the...WW…