Monthly Archives: February 2014

Facebook offers users more online gender identities

Posted: February 14, 2014 at 12:42 pm

Originally published February 13, 2014 at 7:27 PM | Page modified February 14, 2014 at 6:32 AM

MENLO PARK, Calif. You dont have to be just male or female on Facebook anymore. The social-media company has added a customizable option with about 50 different terms people can use to identify their gender and three preferred pronoun choices: he/him, she/her or a neutral they/them.

Facebook said the changes initially will cover the companys 159 million monthly users in the United States and are aimed at giving people more choices in how they describe themselves, such as androgynous, bi-gender, intersex, gender fluid or transsexual.

Theres going to be a lot of people for whom this is going to mean nothing, but for the few it does impact, it means the world, said Facebook software engineer Brielle Harrison, who worked on the project and is undergoing gender transformation, from male to female. On Thursday, while watchdogging the software for problems, she said she was also changing her Facebook identity from female to transwoman.

Facebook, which has 1.23billion active monthly users worldwide, also allows them to keep their gender identity private and will continue to do so.

The Williams Institute, a think tank based at UCLA, estimates there are at least 700,000 individuals in the United States who identify as transgender, an umbrella term that includes people who live as a gender different from the one assigned to them at birth.

The move by Facebook represents a basic form of recognition of the nations growing transgender-rights movement, which has been spurred by veteran activists and young people who identify as transgender at younger ages. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) last year found that 10 percent of the 10,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender youths it surveyed used other or wrote in their own gender terms.

Over the past few years, a persons Facebook profile truly has become their online identity, and now Facebook has taken a milestone step to allow countless people to more honestly and accurately represent themselves, HRC President Chad Griffin said.

The change to the gender-selection option is seen as a major step toward acceptance for people who dont self-identify as male or female, but the high-profile development seemed senseless to those who believe in two genders, no more.

Of course Facebook is entitled to manage its wildly popular site as it sees fit, but here is the bottom line: Its impossible to deny the biological reality that humanity is divided into two halves: male and female, said Jeff Johnston, an issues analyst for Focus on the Family, a national religious organization based in Colorado Springs, Colo. Those petitioning for the change insist that there are an infinite number of genders, but just saying it doesnt make it so.

Visit link:
Facebook offers users more online gender identities

Posted in Transhuman | Comments Off on Facebook offers users more online gender identities

Republican Senators Introduce Bill to Halt Proposed IRS Free Speech Restrictions – Video

Posted: at 12:40 pm


Republican Senators Introduce Bill to Halt Proposed IRS Free Speech Restrictions
U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding Republican legislation that would prevent the Obama Ad...

By: RepublicanLeader

Read the original here:
Republican Senators Introduce Bill to Halt Proposed IRS Free Speech Restrictions - Video

Posted in Free Speech | Comments Off on Republican Senators Introduce Bill to Halt Proposed IRS Free Speech Restrictions – Video

cain velasquez 25 – America free speech and Biafra (stop filtering out the political opposition) – Video

Posted: at 12:40 pm


cain velasquez 25 - America free speech and Biafra (stop filtering out the political opposition)
Truth.

By: mec loc

See the article here:
cain velasquez 25 - America free speech and Biafra (stop filtering out the political opposition) - Video

Posted in Free Speech | Comments Off on cain velasquez 25 – America free speech and Biafra (stop filtering out the political opposition) – Video

The First Amendment Does Not Protect Against the Consequences of Your Speech – Video

Posted: at 12:40 pm


The First Amendment Does Not Protect Against the Consequences of Your Speech
Arizona internet attorney Ruth Carter discusses the First Amendment. It protects your right to free speech; however, it does not shield you from all the cons...

By: Carter Law Firm

Go here to read the rest:
The First Amendment Does Not Protect Against the Consequences of Your Speech - Video

Posted in Free Speech | Comments Off on The First Amendment Does Not Protect Against the Consequences of Your Speech – Video

Free Speech Solidarity – Video

Posted: at 12:40 pm


Free Speech Solidarity
Dear Listeners of Harmonized News and Seekers of Truth from Heart : Listen ! Be my Valentine ! I LOVE CAN tell my heart honestly to you my beloved, because...

By: MyTBWe2B

More here:
Free Speech Solidarity - Video

Posted in Free Speech | Comments Off on Free Speech Solidarity – Video

Segment from Free Speech TV: The War on Whistleblowers – Video

Posted: at 12:40 pm


Segment from Free Speech TV: The War on Whistleblowers
In this segment on Free Speech TV #39;s "Ring of Fire" program, Howard L. Nations, a nationally renowned trial lawyer, discusses the Obama administration #39;s war o...

By: HowardNations

View original post here:
Segment from Free Speech TV: The War on Whistleblowers - Video

Posted in Free Speech | Comments Off on Segment from Free Speech TV: The War on Whistleblowers – Video

No free speech in India? – Video

Posted: at 12:40 pm


No free speech in India?
Left, Right Centre: The debate over free speech is back to haunt us, as Penguin India agrees to withdraw a controversial book on Hinduism and even destroy ...

By: NDTV

See more here:
No free speech in India? - Video

Posted in Free Speech | Comments Off on No free speech in India? – Video

Darwin Week 2014: Activism Day – Afternoon Talks – Video

Posted: at 12:40 pm


Darwin Week 2014: Activism Day - Afternoon Talks
Faculty at the University of Northern Iowa will present on subjects related to activism: feminism and the women #39;s suffrage movement, free speech and the Tink...

By: UNIFreethought

Originally posted here:
Darwin Week 2014: Activism Day - Afternoon Talks - Video

Posted in Free Speech | Comments Off on Darwin Week 2014: Activism Day – Afternoon Talks – Video

Free speech group honors Darien mother with citizenship award

Posted: at 12:40 pm

Robert Bertsche, executive committee member of the New England First Amendment Coalition, presenting Darien mother Kit Savage with the Antonia Orfield Citizenship Award for her efforts to help children with disabilities.

Kit Savage was one of the first parents to recognize problems in Dariens special education program. And now, her efforts to improve transparency and access to education have been recognized, as the New England First Amendment Coalition recently honored her with the inaugural Antonia Orfield Citizenship Award.

I am the parent of two children with disabilities, Savage told a room full of hundreds of journalists, lawyers and free speech advocates in Boston on Friday, Feb. 7. I am honored to sit with the close family and friends of Dr. Orfield and hear how she helped children overcome their vision issues to learn to read.

The award is named after Dr. Antonia Orfield, a mother and optometrist who worked to improve the schools in Chicago. Orfield used non-surgical vision therapy methods to help children with vision-related learning disabilities. She published her findings in her 2007 book, Eyes for Learning.

Presenting the award to Savage was Robert Bertsche, a First Amendment lawyer and member of the coalitions executive committee.

It is very fitting that Kit Savage receives this award in the first year since it has been renamed in memory of the late Dr. Antonia Orfield, Bertsche said. Like Kit Savage, her advocacy had a tie to children and learning differences.

Rosanna Cavanagh, executive director of the first amendment coalition, said her group recognizes that citizens play a crucial role in guaranteeing government accountability.

Savage was one of the original 25 parents to sign the complaint with the state Department of Education, alleging systemic violations to federal special education law. Those allegations were confirmed in a two-part state investigation, and further detailed in an independent probe.

In the early years, most of us are jumping hurdle after hurdle to identify and treat whatever challenges we can that are impacting our child, Savage said. Generally speaking we take on this all-consuming job quietly and in the privacy of our homes.

Top 10 of 2013: No. 1 Special education

View post:
Free speech group honors Darien mother with citizenship award

Posted in Free Speech | Comments Off on Free speech group honors Darien mother with citizenship award

Freedom For Five – Video

Posted: February 12, 2014 at 11:44 pm


Freedom For Five
Join us in the fight against modern day slavery and human trafficking! Our goal is to raise enough money to help free 5 people who are currently being held i...

By: Daniel Martin

See the rest here:
Freedom For Five - Video

Posted in Freedom | Comments Off on Freedom For Five – Video