Tag Archives: police misconduct

Meet Our Candidates: Marcus Ferrell for State Representative, LD 24

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The time to fight back — and fight forward — for reproductive justice is fast approaching. The stakes are high in this year’s state election, with candidates for governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and other races on the ballot. The Arizona primary election will be held August 28, 2018, and early voting began on August 2. Voters need to have been registered by July 30 to cast their ballots. Reproductive health has been under attack, both nationally and statewide, but Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona has endorsed candidates who put our health and our rights first. Get to know them now in our series of “Meet Our Candidates” interviews, and make your voice heard in 2018!

[M]arcus Ferrell is a pragmatic yet fearless House of Representatives candidate from Legislative District 24, which encompasses the core of Central Phoenix. The majority of the district is located between 7th Avenue and 7th Street, with additional pockets of voters outside of the historic districts.

LD 24 is home to tremendous diversity, which generally produces many candidates. This cycle is no different, with seven candidates running for two seats. Although these candidates are impressive, and the district would benefit from any of them, one hopeful stood out from the pack: Marcus Ferrell.

“We must stand up to anyone who wants to roll back a woman’s right to choose.”

Marcus Ferrell is a driven candidate with an exciting campaign. Mr. Ferrell, a political strategist by trade, has taken ideas that have been successful for his winning clients and is applying them to his own campaign. It was while working on the Stacey Abrams campaign for governor of Georgia that he felt compelled to run for his home district here in Arizona.

Pushing a progressive and intersectional agenda, he’s long been an advocate for women. As one of the few candidates to have worked at an abortion clinic in his early days, Mr. Ferrell has first-hand knowledge of what our health care staff goes through every day. He has witnessed the harassment our patients face just getting to the door of our health centers, whether from protesters with bullhorns or politicians enacting burdensome laws.

With the primary on the horizon — and with early voting already underway — Mr. Ferrell was kind enough to offer his vision for Arizona to us on July 30, 2018. Continue reading →

2014: A Rundown Retrospective

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2014 was a pretty not-so-stellar year in reproductive rights, if we’re being honest.

But hold your chin up. All did not suck!

While we’re never sure what new, exciting, or horrible fates await us at the dawn of a new year, rest assured that we’ll be here covering the news that matters most with regard to reproductive and sexual health, politics, gender issues, and reproductive justice well into 2015 and beyond.

The 45th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots: Still Here, Still Queer, Still Not Used to It

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The Gay Liberation Front, pictured here in 1969, formed in response to the Stonewall Riots. Image: PBS

The Gay Liberation Front formed in 1969 in response to the Stonewall Riots.

In 1969, homosexuality was illegal in 49 states. It was classified as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association, and it was not unheard of for those who identified as homosexual or transgender to undergo extreme treatments such as lobotomies or castration in an attempt to “cure” their conditions. If it was discovered that you were gay, you were blacklisted. Doctors and lawyers lost their licenses. Your home address was published in major newspapers. You were dishonorably discharged from military service. Non-gender-conforming people were refused service in public establishments, found it difficult to receive health care, and were routinely arrested for indecent behavior — behavior that was often simply being transgender. Society expected that you assimilate with heteronormative ideals by presenting as the gender you were born with, marrying the opposite sex, and having children.

Saturday will be the 45th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. We have come a long way since then, but still have more work to do.

In the late 1960s, Greenwich Village was a progressive neighborhood in New York City that also served as a respite for the LGBTQ community of the time, including the poorest and most disenfranchised. The Village was also home to numerous establishments frequented by LGBTQ patrons in a time when they could not publicly acknowledge their sexual orientation or identity, lest they be arrested. These establishments — which included the Stonewall Inn (a mafia-run bar) — were often the subject of police raids.

In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn was raided by the New York City Police Department, just as it had been many times before. This time, Stonewall patrons did not allow themselves to be shoved into the backs of police cars. Forty-five years later, details of the riot remain conflicting and vague, but what is agreed upon is that Stormé DeLarverie — also known as King Stormé, a drag king in the drag group Jewel Box Revue — is credited with throwing the first punch in reaction to being shoved by police. With this punch, the Stonewall crowd exploded into a full-blown violent demonstration. Participants saw the violence of which they were so often the recipients suddenly being turned back on their oppressors. Continue reading →