In the last couple of weeks, students on college campuses across the country have spoken up in protest about their schools’ relationships with Chick-Fil-A, the fast-food chain known to contribute to anti-gay organizations. One such school is NYU, where students launched a campaign to remove a Chick-Fil-A restaurant from campus, but to no avail.
At NYU recently, two men dressed as Chick-Fil-A employees handed out fake flyers advertising job openings at the campus restaurant. In case you can’t read the teeny picture, the fine print at the bottom says:
“Please be prepared to discuss your religion, family history, personal relationships etc upon interviewing,” the convincing flyer states. “Chick-Fil-A reserves the right to question, in detail, your sexual relationship history. The Bible and Chick-Fil-A define a traditional relationship as consisting of a man and a woman. Anyone living in sin need not apply.”
In response, Chick-Fil-A released a statement on their Facebook page saying that they did not produce these flyers and that they treat all employees with respect. Not gonna lie, I find this kind of hilarious. What do you think? Smart way to get back at Chick-Fil-A or not?
| — | Georg Cantor (via philphys) |
Representative Justin Amash (R-Mich.) has joined a multi-website protest of SOPA and PIPA, two anti-piracy bills, by changing his Facebook profile photo and posting a status update protesting the bills.
On Wednesday, January 18, I will join others across the Internet in a 24-hour “blackout” to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the U.S. Senate. These bills give the federal government unprecedented power to censor Internet content and will stifle the free flow of information and ideas. In protest, I have changed my profile picture and will temporarily disable your ability to post independent content on my Wall (although you still may comment under this post). Demand that Congress and the President keep the Internet open and free…
Also, Politico is reporting that, Rep. Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Lee Terry (R-NB), two co-sponsors of SOPA, will pull their names from the bill. Quayle did so on Tuesday and, Politico reports, Terry will follow suit today.
(h/t Tech Crunch)
The state of Indiana has just introduced a license plate supporting an LGBT-friendly cause, the first plate of its kind in the country.
As shown above, the license plate displays the logo of the Indiana Youth Group, an organization that provides LGBT training for schools. The Youth Group has been working to get the plate approved since 2010, and the Indiana ACLU even sued the state’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles after the plate was denied twice.
The plates will be available in February and cost $40, with $25 directly benefiting the Youth Group. If you live and drive in Indiana, you should totally get one of these. I know I would.
Elmhurst College recently made news for being the first college in the country to ask students their sexual orientation on its application, in order to determine who could qualify for scholarships. The first round of applicants seem to be taking it well, openly listing their orientations without any sign of cheating in order to become scholarship-eligible.
About 5 percent of applicants have identified as LGBT and the school has seen a slight increase in applications this year, though there’s no way to know if that’s because of this LGBT-friendly move.
Few applicants have skipped the optional question asking whether they identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, Rold said, and it doesn’t appear straight students are cheating the system to receive the diversity “enrichment scholarship” that’s worth one-third of Elmhurst’s $29,994 tuition. When Elmhurst announced its policy, skeptics predicted many students would be uncomfortable, or that straight applicants would declare themselves gay to get the scholarship money.
The Inside Higher Ed article linked above has tons more detail. This is interesting stuff that will probably soon work its way into many more colleges and universities - check it out.
Wooo!!!
…legal scholar Michelle Alexander writes that many of the gains of the civil rights movement have been undermined by the mass incarceration of black Americans in the war on drugs. She says that although Jim Crow laws are now off the books, millions of blacks arrested for minor crimes remain marginalized and disfranchised, trapped by a criminal justice system that has forever branded them as felons and denied them basic rights and opportunities that would allow them to become productive, law-abiding citizens…
more.
SMH
