Dear friends,
Every so often, Congress reminds us of its importance. Congress is poised to finally pass imperfect-AND-still-very-important climate legislation before going on recess.
The upcoming midterms and the dangerous direction of the Supreme Court has increased the urgency of legislative action to secure civil rights.
Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin is working hard to secure GOP support in the Senate for the Respect for Marriage Act. The law would formally repeal the Clinton-era Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which narrowly defined marriage as between spouses of ‘the opposite sex’. The 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges seemed to nullify DOMA, but the overturning of Roe v. Wade has changed the landscape.
Schumer has promised to bring the Respect for Marriage Act to a vote in September.
Marriage rights are entangled with other rights.
The Parkers recently adopted Zoey, who is Jennie’s niece, after her father died in a workplace accident in September 2020.
“She lost her father, she lost her mother and now she’s losing her school which she loves very much,” said Jennie.
The Parkers have received offers from other Christian schools, inviting Zoey to attend kindergarten. Nonetheless, that Zoey could be ejected from a school for this reason is appalling.
There are efforts to pass a Transgender Bill of Rights. These two bills are connected, of course. Nonbinary trans people could reasonably be understood to be the opposite of binary (male or female) folks, but DOMA
The Human Rights Campaign has just published a report called Digital Hate: Social Media’s Role in Amplifying Dangerous Lies About LGBTQ+ People, which details
a growing wave of violence, hate and demonization targeting LGBTQ+ people in the United States and around the world.
In this climate, we need a law that would
amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, including gender identity and sex characteristics in public accommodations and federally funded programs and activities.
I don’t think it would protect small children from discrimination by private religious schools, but it would certainly be a start.
Call on Congress to pass a Transgender Bill of Rights. Personalize this ready-made action from Courage California.
Children require special protection. Vaccination rates — for measles and polio — continue to decrease.
Today, health authorities in NYC announced that polio has been found in the city’s wastewater. This is particularly alarming because in some parts of the city
fewer than two-thirds of children [age 5 and under] have received a full [polio] regimen, a figure that worries health officials.
Polio vaccinations are given as a course of three or four shots, and the pandemic disrupted a lot of primary health care. Currently, the citywide polio vaccination rate for young children is 86 percent.
We have enough problems without revisiting early 20th century diseases that are entirely avoidable.
If you or your child are not vaccinated yet, talk to a health care provider. If you do not have a provider, call 311 or 844-NYC-4NYC (844-692-4692) for help finding one.
There has not been significant demand for pediatric COVID vaccines.
A Long Island pediatrician noted that
‘Most people just don't understand that in the last wave, [children under five] were the ones that were hospitalized more than any other pediatric age group. Most people just really think that COVID doesn't affect young children and that couldn't be farther from the truth.’”
The timing of this decision doesn’t make sense; COVID vaccines for children 5 and under became available on June 22 of this year and school starts in just a month.
The city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene confirmed the closures, but did not specify the date the sites will close. As of Thursday, online appointments for children younger than 5 at the city-run sites were not available after August 14th on the health department’s vaccine finder website.
The bold above is mine. You may need to adjust weekend plans if you want to get a small child vaccinated for COVID.
Access information and the NYC scheduling portal for pediatric COVID vaccinations.
According to the city Department of Health, part of the reason for the closures is to enable the city to meet the demand for monkeypox vaccine. Obviously, the city must be able to manage multiple public health needs.
Call on the mayor to ensure that the city can maintain capacity for vaccinating children against COVID and polio.
Before I begin the weekend, I want to thank those of you who commented on yesterday’s post. I always love to hear from you.
A reader reminded me to look at the StreetsPAC endorsements for NYS Senate Primaries. Their list included Andrew Gounardes, whom I endorsed for the 26th.
StreetsPAC supports candidates who are
committed to improving the safety, mobility and livability of one of New York City’s greatest assets: our streets. Our sidewalks, roads and plazas account for the majority of all public space in New York City, and are a precious resource to be used and enjoyed by all.
Gounardes got the nod because of his leadership to expand New York City's speed-camera program. He also authored a bill that passed in June (how did I miss this?!)
requiring that the written portion of New York State's drivers' test include instruction in pedestrian and bicycle safety.
Gounardes is great on the full array of transit and accessibility issues.
Check out the StreetsPAC endorsements for other state senate races!
If you missed it, yesterday’s post was mainly about the District 10 race for Congress.
Two readers told me they prefer Carlina Rivera. Some of the reasons were transit related: Rivera played an important role in making the 14th Street busway happen and she was behind the initiative to requires temporary bike lanes when there is construction blocking existing bike lanes.
Another reader wrote:
[T]he Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation condemned [Rivera] in their last newsletter because of her support of the tech hub being built on Broadway, the rezoning of Soho, and the destruction of the East River Park. Having learned these facts about her, she wouldn’t be my choice.
As I wrote yesterday, Mondaire Jones is my pick for Congress in District 10. It’s important to coalesce around a progressive candidate because this is an August primary and Dan Goldman has deep pockets.
Early voting begins tomorrow!
Check early voting hours and locations here.
with love,
L