#Kentucky governor's race | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

batboyblog · 1 year

Text

There's No Such Thing as an Off-Year: You Better Vote 2023.

It feels like every day you read about a horrible new law being passed by a Republican State government, or a Republican governor saying something horrible usually about trans children or drag queens. It can feel like there's nothing you can do, its an off year for elections so you just have to sit and wait and hope they don't get to pass too much terrible shit before Election Day 2024. Well you're wrong! there are elections in 2023! and big ones! There are 3 Governor's races and 4 state legislature races this year!

Before we go any farther I need EVERYONE (who is an American, sorry non-Americans I know we're annoying) to PLEASE check if you're registered to vote, Republican elections officials love to purge voters from the rolls. If you're under 18 but will be 18 by the next election many states allow you to pre-register and you should:

VOTE

Also if you don't live in a state listed below, you should check to see if you're city/town council, county commission, or local school board are holding election this year, Check!

Governors:

Kentucky:

If you're not from Kentucky you might not know that the home of Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul has a Democratic Governor, but it does, Andy Beshear. Governor Beshear from his time as Attorney General (2016-2019) through his first term as Governor has been a support of trans rights in Kentucky. Beshaer vetoed a sweeping anti-trans bill last month, sadly the Republican super majority overrode his vetoed. However Beshear and his veto powers is the one thing standing in the way of Kentucky becoming like its neighbor to the south Tennessee which is leading the nation is extreme anti-LGBT laws and general undemocratic behavior. On his second day in office Governor Beshear restored the voting rights to nearly 200,000 former (nonviolent) felons, disproportionately African-Americans. During the Covid pandemic Governor Beshear became a national leader in fighting Covid disinformation and enforcing recommended public health rules while Republican governors in the states around him denied science and let people die by fighting mask mandates and shut downs. Governor Beshear is also strongly pro-choice, he's endorsed by Planned Parenthood and NARAL, he helped expand access by allowing a second clinic to provide abortions in the state, and has vetoed efforts to restrict abortion in the state. Having a Democratic Governor is so important to mitigating the harm of the Republican legislature and improving the lives of people in Kentucky. So if you live in Kentucky of course vote, but also if you live in or near Kentucky please please think about volunteering just a little of your time to talk to voters and explain why this is important and if you don't live near Kentucky you can donate even a dollar helps or buy a hat or bag to help

VOTE VOLUNTEER SHOP DONATE

Mississippi:

It's pretty rare Democrats get a shot at the governorship in a state like Mississippi but 2023 might really be that chance. If you look at health, education, child hunger, unemployment, and life expectancy Mississippi regularly ranks near or sometimes at the bottom of states. When you understand just under 40% of the state (38%) is Black and Republicans have dominated politics for a generation those numbers start to make painful sense, it's intentional. However! we face a rare moment where Democrats might take the governor's mansion in Jackson. The last election in 2019 was unusually close (52-47) and since then Republican Governor Tate Reeves has been mired in a welfare scam scandal (involving Brett Favre of all people) and a failure to deal with a water crisis in Jackson the state's capital and largest city that left 150,000 people without clean water. Reeves is today the least popular Republican Governor in the nation. The Democratic candidate is Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley (yes he is related to Elvis Presley, yes really). Presley was elected his hometown's mayor at the age of 23, the youngest mayor in the history of the state. In 2007 he was elected to Mississippi's powerful Public Service Commission representing the northern 3rd of the state, he's won re-election in 2011, 2015 and 2019. The Public Service Commission regulates electricity, railroads, and internet service in the state of Mississippi. As a commissioner Presley repeatedly blocked efforts for "clean" coal in the state and managed to push through the largest solar power protect east of the Rocky Mountains. He's also made bring high speed Internet to rural communities in the state a main part of his mission on the commission. Presley wants to expand Medicaid (remember worst health outcomes in America?) Mississippi is one of just 10 states that still hasn't expanded it under Obamacare. He also wants to do away with the grocery tax and fully fund education. Reaves is against the first two and has mocked and blocked efforts to fund education. Mississippi for the first time in a long time has a chance of electing a governor who cares and will fight to improve people's lives. If you live in Mississippi of course vote, but also volunteer, if you live near Mississippi take a weekend to travel to the state and volunteer, if you don't live near Mississippi please give what you can donate or shop

VOTE VOLUNTEER SHOP DONATE

Louisiana:

Not gonna lie Louisiana will be the hardest lift this year. For the last 8 years the state has had a Democratic Governor, John Bel Edwards first elected in 2015 and now term-limited so he can't run again. While being thought of as a conservative Democrat (it is Louisiana after all) Edwards as done a lot of good, he expanded medicare in the state and cut the number of uninsured people in half in his first year in office. One of his first acts was to sign an executive order protecting LGBT people from job discrimination and repealed a Republican executive order protecting companies from discriminating against same sex couples. Republicans are desperate to retake this Deep South Governorship. The Republicans have endorsed the state's Attorney General, Jeff Landry. Landry sued Governor Edwards in 2016 to block his LGBT protections, even though Landry's brother is openly gay and spoke against the suit. Landry joined election denying law suits trying to overturn the 2020 election. He sued the federal government over Covid vaccine mandates for health care workers. Landry has lobbied with other Republican AGs to stop Title IX from being used to cover protect trans students. On the Democratic side Democrats have rallied behind Shawn Wilson who served as Governor Edwards' Secretary of transportation for the last 8 years. Wilson would be the first black governor in the history of Louisiana a state that is just over 30% African American, and the first black governor from the Deep South. Wilson favors raising Louisiana's minimum wage, stuck at the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. He's for investing in costal communities facing the effects of climate change. Wilson also represents a major shift in Louisiana politics, he's pro-choice while Governor Edwards is anti-abortion. This represents a big move, when Edwards was first elected just under 60% of voters in the state say they wanted Abortion to be illegal, in 2022 that had shrunk down to just under 50%. Louisiana has a choice between becoming a radically anti-LGBT state run by an election denier, or protecting progress made and electing a pro-choice black Democrat. If you live in Louisiana make sure you're registered to vote, and everyone you know knows to vote. If you're in Louisiana or close to it volunteer just for a weekend. If you don't live close donate or buy something.

VOTE VOLUNTEER SHOP DONATE

Other Statewide Offices:

This year in Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi there are also statewide elections for the important and powerful but often over looked jobs of Attorney General, Secretary of State, Treasurer, and Agriculture Commissioner. Sadly each of these posts in the 3 states is currently held by a Republican. These jobs, particularly Attorney General the chief law enforcement office in the state and Secretary of State that over sees elections are very important. Traditionally because they're more overlooked Democrats in Red states manage to pick them up. If you live in Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi please do your research, remember to vote all the way down the ticket and get involved, these jobs often times don't get coverage but they are important. I'd like to briefly highlight just one race. In Kentucky the Republican Attorney General (who tried to use Covid to ban abortion, and then sued against masks) is running to unseat Governor Beshear. Democratic State Rep Pamela Stevenson is running to fill the seat. I could say a lot of things but just watch this fire breathing speech by Representative Stevenson in support of trans rights

Stevenson would also be the first black woman elected to statewide office in Kentucky, so check her website give her a dollar, volunteer if you're in Kentucky

State Legislative elections

Four states, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia are having elections for their state House and Senates. If you've been frustrated, horrified, and/or scared by the flood of anti-trans, anti-abortion and anti-LGBT more generally bills that seem to be coming out of state legislatures every single day this year, well here's your chance to really effect that.

Virginia

In 2021 Republican Glenn Youngkin narrowly won Virginia's governorship. While some in the media tried to paint Youngkin as "moderate" his governorship so far as been consumed with a war on diversity, trying to ban "CRT" and setting up a hotline to report "divisive practices" in schools. He also attacked trans students by trying to overturn the progress made under the last Democratic Governor and changing school policies to enact a bathroom ban, a pronoun/name change ban and out students to parents. After a mass walk out by students in the state Youngkin was forced to put those policies on hold. In the same election Youngkin won in 2021 Republicans narrowly, 52 to 48, took control of the Virginia House of Delegates. Thankfully Democrats retained control of the State Senate, 22-18, which has served as a block on Youngkin, stopping him from appointing a former Trump official and coal lobbyist to head the states environmental protection. It's very important to protect the Senate majority and retake the House to block the worst of Youngkin, protect Virginia's students, and set the state up to take back the governorship. One special shout out, the first openly trans person to be elected to state government, Danica Roem, was elected to the Virginia House in 2017. After being re-elected twice, Roem is running for the State Senate. If she wins it'll be the first time a trans person has been elected to both houses of a state legislature, and the first time a trans politician has "moved up" an important step to maybe one day a Congresswoman Roem. Check her website to see how you can help make a little trans history. Make sure to VOTE, VOLUNTEER, and DONATE

Louisiana and Mississippi

both Louisiana and Mississippi have Republican majorities in their state House and Senate and pretty big majorities. But thats not a reason to give up hope. One of the big problems we see across the country is Republican super majorities or veto proof majorities were there's no break on the most extreme instincts of the Republicans. Republicans have a super majority in all four chambers of these state legislatures. However flipping just a few seats will drastically reduce the power of out of control Republicans. Particularly if either state manages to elect a Democratic governor. A Democratic governor facing a veto proof Republican state legislature is greatly reduced in what they can do to block the worst. Democratic governors in Kentucky and Kansas both vetoed hateful anti-trans laws only to be overridden by Republican supermajorities. However again only flipping just 3 seats in the Louisiana House (for example) will strip Republicans of their super majority and force Republicans to have to talk to the Democratic minority on issues rather than steamrolling over them. If you're in Louisiana or Mississippi you should have already checked if you're registered to vote, but check the Louisiana and Mississippi Democratic Parties for ways to help.

New Jersey

New Jersey is a blue state with a Democratic governor and Democrats control both houses of the state legislature. But thats no reason to get complacent! Democrats don't have a super majority in either house of New Jersey's legislature, a more deeply blue state government can push forward strong bills. Governor Phil Murphy has been an aggressively progressive guy which is a big contrast to former governor Trump ally Chris Christie. In the 2018 US House election Democrats won all but one of New Jersey's Congressional seats, by 2022 there were 3 Republicans representing New Jersey in Congress, the road to winning back the US House runs through flipping New Jersey's Republican seats and that starts by building a strong ground game and an engaged voter base in these elections right here. Don't take it for granted, don't sit it out. If you're in New Jersey VOTE, VOLUNTEER and DONATE

Special elections

If you don't live in Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, or Virginia like I said at the top there are LOTS of elections to city/town council, county government, judgeships, local DAs, and school boards all the time. So far in 2023 there have been 14 states that have had a special election to fill a vacancy in their state legislature so pay attention there may be an important election coming your way. And finally before I got I have to highlight two special elections everyone in America needs to be paying attention to

Tennessee

In the aftermath of the Covenant School shooting three Democratic members of the Tennessee House joined protesters calling for action on gun control. Rather than take action on gun control the Republican super majority in the State House filed to expel the three from office. In the final vote the two black Representatives, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson were expelled from office while their white colleague, Gloria Johnson, who did the same thing, was not expelled by the Republicans. This is a naked assault on democracy, with the Republican majority declaring they get to decide who their opposition is, and that they get to override the will of the voters whenever a black member of the House hurts their feelings. And expelling the black members and not the one white member for the same behavior is nakedly racist. There's lots more shitty details that I can't get into but if you're in Tennessee make sure you're registered to VOTE because the assault on your rights is fully under way. Both Jones and Pearson have made it clear they plan to run for re-election in the special elections set off by their expulsion. So if you live in Nashville (Jones' district) or Memphis (Pearson's district) you better show up, vote, tell everyone to vote, if you live anywhere in Tennessee please check their webpages (Justin Jones, Justin Pearson) for ways to volunteer and get out the vote. Where ever you live you can DONATE that link gives to them both jointly. Also check out the Tennessee Democrats because you better not let this moment pass, you need to gear up to fight for next year.

Please Remember to VOTE, but also volunteer, and engage, there are big elections happening all the time, and next year will be even bigger.

#vote #voting #politics #tennessee #Virginia #louisiana #mississippi #Kentucky #New Jersey #election #elections #election 2023 #tennessee 3 #trans rights #abortion

75 notes · View notes

factcheckdotorg · 8 months

Text

#kygov #andy beshear #kentucky #2023 elections #fact check

16 notes · View notes

rickmaynard · 9 months

Text

5-12-23 Georgetown News-Graphic editorial cartoon.

#cartoon #editorial cartoon #political cartoon #kentucky governor race #kelly craft #woke #governor #kentucky politics

0 notes

dreaminginthedeepsouth · 6 months

Text

Christopher Weyant, The Boston Globe

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

November 7, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

NOV 8, 2023

Today was Election Day across the country. In a number of key state elections, voters rejected the extremism of MAGA Republicans and backed Democrats and Democratic policies.

Four of the most closely watched races were in Ohio, Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.

In Ohio, voters enshrined the right of individuals to make their own healthcare decisions, including the right to abortion, into the state constitution. Opponents of abortion rights have worked hard since the summer to stop the measure from passing, trying first to make it more difficult to amend the constitution—voters overwhelmingly rejected that measure in an August special election—then by blanketing the state with disinformation about the measure, including through official state websites and with ads by former Fox News Channel personality Tucker Carlson, and finally by dropping 26,000 voters from the rolls.

None of it worked. Voters protected the right to abortion. Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision recognizing the constitutional right to abortion in June 2022, voters in all seven state elections where the issue was on the ballot have fought back to protect abortion rights.

Today’s vote in Ohio, where the end of Roe v. Wade resurrected an extreme antiabortion bill, makes it eight.

Abortion was also on the ballot In Virginia, where the entire state legislature was up for grabs today. Republican governor Glenn Youngkin made it clear he wanted control of the legislature in order to push through a measure banning abortion after 15 weeks. This ploy was one Republicans were using to seem to soften their antiabortion stance, which has proven terribly unpopular. Youngkin was taking the idea out for a spin to see how it might play in a presidential election, perhaps with a hope of entering the Republican race for the presidential nomination as someone who could claim to have turned a blue state red.

It didn’t work. Voters recognized that it was disingenuous to call a 15-week limit a compromise on the abortion issue, since most serious birth defects are not detected until 20 weeks into a pregnancy.

Going into the election, Democrats held the state senate. But rather than giving Youngkin control over both houses of the state legislature, voters left Democrats in charge of the Senate and flipped the House of Delegates over to the Democrats. The Democrats are expected to elevate House minority leader Don Scott of Portsmouth to the speakership, making him the first Black House speaker in Virginia history.

Virginia voters also elevated Delegate Danica Roem, the first known transgender delegate, to the state senate. At the same time, voters in Loudoun County, which had become a hot spot in the culture wars with attacks on LGBTQ+ individuals and with activists insisting the schools must not teach critical race theory, rejected that extremism and turned control of the school board over to those who championed diversity and equity.

In Kentucky, voters reelected Democratic governor Andy Beshear, who was running against Republican state attorney general Daniel Cameron. A defender of Kentucky’s abortion ban, Cameron was also the attorney general who declined to bring charges against the law enforcement officers who killed Breonna Taylor in her bed in 2020 after breaking into her apartment in a mistaken search for drugs.

In Pennsylvania, Democrat Daniel McCaffery won a supreme court seat, enabling the Democrats to increase their majority there. McCaffery positioned himself as a defender of abortion rights.

There will be more news about election results and what they tell us in the coming days. Tonight, though, political analyst Tom Bonier wrote: “My biggest takeaway from tonight: in '22 abortion rights had the biggest impact where it was literally on the ballot, less so when trying to draw the connection in candidate races. That has changed. Voters clearly made the connection that voting for GOP candidates=abortion bans.”

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#midterms #election day #abortion #reproductive freedom #a woman's right to choose #human rights #women's rights #civil rights #education #election #red states blue states #Letters From An American #Heather Cox Richardson

11 notes · View notes

mariacallous · 5 months

Text

This was a big week in American politics. It began with a devastating poll showing that Donald Trump was beating Joe Biden in a presidential match up in five out of six swing states. Then, on Tuesday, the voters spoke for the last time until the Iowa caucuses happen in mid-January and delivered the Democrats a very good night in multiple states that underscored the continuing power of the abortion issue. And on November 8, the five remaining challengers to former President Donald Trump met in their final debate of the year, an event that revealed the continuing struggle of Republicans opposed to renominating Trump to coalesce around an alternative to him.

What have we learned from these events?

1. Biden’s unpopularity does not mean that voters won’t vote for Democrats.

Our political system is obsessively focused on the President of the United States — his prospects, preferences, personnel, and health. During election years, there is considerable attention to his poll numbers and overall political standing. But as the special elections in 2021, the midterm elections in 2022, and now the off-year elections of 2023 have shown, President Biden’s unpopularity has failed to have the devastating effects on Democratic candidates that were widely predicted by pundits. For example, in September, analysts at FiveThirtyEight looked at 30 special elections that took place before the 2023 November elections, mostly state legislative seats. They calculated the seat’s base partisanship — their historical tendency towards one party or another — and then looked at the vote margin for Democrats running in those seats. On average, Democratic candidates in these races did about 11 points better than their historical average.

On election night 2023, Democrats won control of the Virginia legislature following a campaign in which the incumbent Governor Glenn Youngkin spent a lot of money and pulled out all the stops in an attempt to get a legislature which could help him enact a conservative agenda and catapult him into the presidential race. Instead, the opposite happened, and Democrats retained control of the Senate and gained control of the House of Delegates. We looked at the most competitive races (according to ABC News) in the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates to see what kind of a swing there was.

Because of redistricting, we can’t compare the 2023 vote precisely to the 2019 vote. But thanks to the Virginia Public Access project, we can compare how Senate and House candidates performed against the vote in their district for governor in 2021. In these 13 close Senate and House districts, the Republican Governor Youngkin won all but one in 2021, but in 2023, Republicans won seven (one remains too close to call), and Democrats won five. Democrats managed to flip a few seats — enough to retain control of the Senate and take control of the House of Delegates.

In the seven districts where Republicans won, their margin shrank compared to Youngkin’s vote in 2021. For instance, in Senate District 27, Republican Tara Durant performed 6.31 percentage points worse than Youngkin did in 2021, winning by only 2.19% of the vote compared to Youngkin’s margin of 8.5%.

A presidential star may have dimmed in Virginia, but one was born in Kentucky, where Democratic Governor Andy Beshear won re-election in a very Republican state, increasing his share of the vote from 49.2% in 2019 to 52.5% and winning several counties that had voted for Donald Trump in 2020. But Beshear will remain a lonely man. Every other statewide race in Kentucky went to Republicans. The votes for Attorney General and Agriculture Commissioner were virtually unchanged from four years before. The Republican Secretary of State saw a substantial increase in his vote but the Republican candidate for state treasurer saw a small decrease in his vote. In Mississippi, the statewide races from governor on down saw Republicans winning by almost the exact margins they won in 2019. So don’t put either state in the Democratic column for 2024.

So, why the big difference between polls showing Biden in trouble and elections where Democrats do well? The easiest answer is that there is, perhaps, no relationship between the two; down-ballot Democrats might continue to do well in off-year and midterm elections, and Biden could lose nevertheless. A second possibility is that the polls are just wrong on a systematic basis due to single-digit response rates and their difficulty in measuring voter turnout. A third possibility is that the cost of living is a very powerful motivator and that voters blame the president but not other office holders for this problem. A fourth possibility is that voters just don’t like Biden because of personal characteristics such as his age and the perception that he is not a strong leader.

One thing is clear: The Biden campaign would be ill-advised to over-interpret the significance of these recent Democratic victories for the president’s prospects in 2024.

2. Where the right to choose is in question, the abortion issue is very powerful and helps the Democrats.

In those places where Democrats did well, the explanation was pretty simple: As in previous elections, if voters perceive that a woman’s right to abortion is on the ballot in some fashion, pro-choice candidates do well. In Kentucky, where a six-week ban on abortion and a trigger law was upheld by the State’s Supreme Court, access to abortion is difficult, despite the defeat of a constitutional amendment denying any protections for abortion by a large margin in November 2022.

The abortion issue remains top of mind in Kentucky, and Beshear’s campaign for governor focused heavily on it, hammering his Republican opponent for his opposition to exceptions to an outright ban on the procedure.

In Virginia, abortion is currently legal up until the end of the second trimester. But Gov. Youngkin pushed for an abortion ban after 15 weeks that included exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. Democrats ran on this issue in almost all the competitive districts, and voters apparently rejected Youngkin’s proposal, which he termed a sensible compromise around which Republicans and the country could coalesce.

Those who persist in believing that the abortion issue doesn’t have continuing strength should look at another, even more powerful lesson from Tuesday night. The abortion referendum on the Ohio ballot, amending the state’s constitution to establish a right to “carry out one’s own reproductive decisions… including on abortion,” would preserve the right to abortion up to 23 weeks. The Ohio referendum won with 56.6% of the vote, garnering support from one in five Republicans and carrying 18 counties that Trump had won in 2020.

The Ohio referendum was the latest victory of the pro-choice movement in solidly conservative states. In Kansas, the pro-choice referendum garnered 59% of the vote; in Montana and Kentucky, 53%. In Michigan, a swing state, the pro-choice position got 56% of the vote, and in the liberal states of Vermont and California, it got 73% and 68% of the vote.

3. The Republican debate revealed both Republican divisions on abortion and the impact of President Biden’s weak standing in national polls on the Republican race.

Chris Christie argued that abortion should be left to the states while Tim Scott advocated a national ban on the procedure after 15 weeks, a stance that is likely to be more popular in the Republican primary contests than in the general election. Nikki Haley argued that such a ban has no chance of gaining enough support in the Senate and renewed her plea for a consensus-based approach to the issue, a stance that would play better in the general election than among socially conservative Iowa Republicans. For his part, Ron DeSantis ducked, contenting himself with criticizing the weakness of Republican efforts in state referendum contests.

Meanwhile, the man who wasn’t on the stage — former president Trump — has made it clear that he regards abortion as a political loser for Republicans and will do his best to deemphasize it as a national issue in 2024. If he is the Republican nominee, Democrats are unlikely to let him off the hook and will remind voters of his central role in selecting three Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade.

No matter whom the Republicans select as their standard-bearer, the issue will remain important in the national debate, although probably not as central as it has been in the states since the Court ended the Roe era. The presidency is a distinctive office whose occupants are held responsible for the economy and national security, not just their stance on social issues. Reflecting this reality, the moderators of the debate led with the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, waiting to raise abortion until close to the end of the event. No doubt President Biden’s campaign will try to capitalize on the pro-Democratic tilt of this issue, but he will be judged by his performance in other areas as well. Abortion will be helpful to him in 2024, but it is not the silver bullet that will help him defeat his Republican opponent.

As the debate moderators indicated with their opening question, there is a central question that each of the candidates on stage needed to answer: Why would I be a better nominee than the man who isn’t here tonight? President Biden’s current weak standing in the polls is limiting their responses. Back in the spring, they hoped to be able to argue that while Donald Trump was a fine president, he was likely to lose to Biden in 2024 as he did in 2020. But now, with recent polls indicating that Trump leads Biden nationally and in key swing states, his Republican challengers are forced to offer more substantive answers that risk antagonizing Trump’s supporters.

Nikki Haley went the farthest down this road, criticizing him for allowing the national debt to rise by $8 billion during his presidency and for being “weak in the knees” on Ukraine and other foreign policy issues. Ron DeSantis said that Trump is “a lot different guy than he was in 2016” and held him responsible for a string of Republican losses since then. Chris Christie focused on Trump’s legal difficulties, arguing that “anybody who’s going to be spending the next year and a half of their life focusing on keeping themselves out of jail . . . cannot lead this party or this country.” It remains to be seen whether any of these arguments will gain traction with a Republican electorate that seems inclined to give Trump a pass on all of them.

Indeed, the big winner of last night’s debate may well have been the man who boycotted it. DeSantis performed better than he had in the two previous debates, and Haley — though strong — was less dominant. If DeSantis’s improved showing slows her effort to emerge in Iowa as the principal alternative to Trump, she may not gain the momentum she would need to defeat Trump in New Hampshire, an outcome that would destroy his aura of invincibility and transform the contest for the Republican presidential nomination. The political landscape has been frozen in time for some months now, with an incumbent president and a former president at the top and everyone else vying for attention.

As international events unfold, the question is: Will anyone or anything change this equation, or will we be looking at the widely anticipated rematch?

8 notes · View notes

coochiequeens · 6 months

Text

Yes sports always carry the risk of injury but a woman simply has a greater risk of injury up against a man. If you can stomach it watch the video at the end. You can hear the screams of the injured player.

Social media users were outraged on Friday after claims that a male athlete on a girls' high school field hockey team injured an opposing player in Massachusetts

During a game between Swampscott and Dighton-Rehoboth high schools on Thursday, a player lifted the ball into the air while taking a shot on goal. The ball hit a player on the opposing team in the face, prompting the girl to scream out. A video of the injury circulated online, fueling arguments about transgender athletes competing in girls' sports.

Riley Gaines, former swimmer for the University of Kentucky, shared the video online, and Charlie Kirk, founder of TPUSA, expressed sympathy with the injured player. Kirk also claimed that the player is a male but "identifies as a female." Amy E. Sousa, who advocates against transgender people using women's bathrooms and playing on girls' sports teams, called policies that allow transgender athletes to play on girls' teams "abusive."

"These abusive policies must be stopped. Stop making a mockery of our foremothers' work to instill Title IX protections for women and girls on the basis of SEX," Sousa said.

Other social media users said they wouldn't allow their children to play on teams with males and criticized the school for purportedly allowing the player to join the team.

"In our [Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA)] Tournament field hockey game Thursday, a player on the visiting team suffered an unfortunate injury on a legal play after being struck by a shot that deflected off her teammate's stick. We are sorry to see any player get hurt and wish the Dighton-Rehoboth player a speedy recovery," Swampscott High School Athletic Director Kelly Wolff told Newsweek. "The Swampscott player who took the shot is a 4-year varsity player and co-captain who, per MIAA rules, has the exact same right to participate as any player on any team."

Newsweek could not verify that the athlete is a male who identifies as a female.

The claims and criticism on social media come amid ongoing arguments over the inclusion of transgender women into female sports categories across the nation. In August, the International Powerlifting Federation announced a change to its gender policy requiring transgender athletes to declare they are transgender before a competition or face disqualification.

In July, Monuments of Cycling, which runs the Belgian Waffle Ride race, announced a change to its gender classification policy after a transgender cyclist won a race.

Gaines has also argued against allowing transgender women into female sports after she competed against Lia Thomas, who in 2022 became the first transgender athlete to win a national championship.

In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis previously signed legislation prohibiting transgender women from competing in female sports categories.

However, the MIAA states that "Massachusetts schools must also comply with the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which is part of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights and Constitution. The ERA states that 'equality under the law shall not be abridged because of sex, race, color, creed or national origin.'"

According to the MIAA handbook, in 1979, the organization was required to change its rules to state "A girl may play on a boys' team if that sport is not offered in the school for the girl, and a boy may play on a girls' team if that sport is not offered in the school for the boy."

In a statement to Newsweek, a spokesperson for the MIAA further cited the organization's handbook for rules allowing the specific student to compete on a girl's team and said, "Massachusetts General Law was originally enacted to protect students from discrimination based on sex, and later expanded to protect students based on gender identification."

"We respect and understand the complexity and concerns that exist regarding student safety. However, student safety has not been a successful defense to excluding students of one gender from participating on teams of the opposite gender. The arguments generally fail due to the lack of correlation between injuries and mixed-gender teams," the spokesperson told Newsweek.

Despite criticism from some, other social media users reacted differently, such as @KirstiMiller30, who said on X, formerly Twitter: "My arm was broken in 3 places in my first year of playing women's soccer. My cisgender wife had her four front teeth knocked out during a game of Australian rules football. Trans women as a population have lower bone miner density than cisgender women even pre HRT."

So far this is the only video on YouTube discussing this

youtube

#usa #Swampscott #massachusetts #Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA)#Women’s sports are for women #Excluding men from women's sports is about safety #Protecting women isn't hateful #He knocked her teeth out #Youtube

11 notes · View notes