Hamilton Accused of Discrimination for Open Casting Call Seeking 'Non-White' Actors
In a most unusual role reversal, Hamilton could be in trouble over a casting call that seeks “non-white” actors and appears to violate human rights law.
Iranian Newscaster for State TV Flees Country After Disclosing Years of Sexual Harassment at Work
A newscaster for PressTV, Iran’s state-run, English-language TV station, has fled the country after revealing she was sexually harassed at work for years. Two of Sheena Shirani’s supervisors have been suspended after she shared an audio recording and dozens of messages on Facebook from one of them demanding sex from…
Human Rights Activists Ask Nicki Minaj to Cancel Her Concert in Angola
The Human Rights Foundation has asked Nicki Minaj to cancel a performance scheduled for Saturday in Luanda, the capital of Angola. The Southern African country has been ruled by José Eduardo dos Santos since 1979. It has a long history of human rights violations and dos Santos’ government is considered one of the most…
Wife of Saudi Blogger Sentenced to 1,000 Lashes Comes to the U.S. to Fight for His Release
Ensaf Haidar hasn’t seen her husband since 2012, but “the nightmare” as she calls it, began eight years ago, when her husband Raif Baidawi was first summoned by Saudi Arabian authorities for questioning about his blog. Badawi has since been sentenced to 10 years in prison for the crime of blogging, as well as 1,000…
Ghanaian Woman Denied Asylum In Israel Because She 'Chose to be a Lesbian'
A woman applying for asylum in Israel, who says she was persecuted in her home country of Ghana for being a lesbian, has had her application denied. A refugee committee concluded that Mavis Amponsah previously had a relationship with a man and subsequently “chose the lesbian lifestyle,” making her asylum request…
NYC Will Eliminate Bail for People Accused of Nonviolent Crimes
On Wednesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration released an $18 million plan that will, starting next year, allow NYC judges to keep nonviolent suspects out of Rikers by replacing bail with “supervision options including daily check-ins, text-message reminders and required drug or behavioral therapy.”
Here's the Shocking Human Rights Cost of a Manicure in New York City
The New York Times has spent the better part of a year conducting a fairly groundbreaking investigation of labor conditions for nail salon workers, and the first installment in their “Unvarnished” series is clear, chilling, and heartbreaking to the last word. Reporter Sarah Maslin Nir starts with a scene of young…
Report Confirms Worst Fears About Boko Haram's Treatment of Stolen Girls
A new report from Amnesty International says that terrorist group Boko Haram is committing war crimes in northeast Nigeria, killing at least 2,000 people in the first half of 2014 alone and kidnapping thousands more. Through eyewitness testimony, they’ve learned that the women and girls abducted by the group are…
Pam and PETA in Love With Joe Arpaio, Arizona's Anti-Immigrant Sheriff
PETA is excited to announce that Joe Arpaio, the notoriously racist Arizona sheriff who fancies himself “the world’s toughest,” is now on their preferred list after he switched the jail’s food over to a vegetarian menu. Even Pam Anderson’s on board! But has everyone forgotten that Joe Arpaio is anti-immigrant and has…
Finally, Men Will Be Able to Regrow Foreskin Like a Lizard With a Tail
Dicks: they're just like salamanders. Am I right, dicks? Nah, I'm wrong, as usual. Though scientific progress in the contemporary world is such that 100 heroes are currently making plans to voyage to Mars for the purpose of dying, the human penis cannot just willy-nilly regenerate its majestic sheath—as of yet.
Michelle Obama's Bare Hair in Saudi Arabia Isn't a Real Controversy
President Obama and the First Lady visited Saudi Arabia this week to pay their respects after the death of King Abdullah. Predictably, that ignited controversy: Abdullah presided over some tentative human rights reforms, but Saudia Arabia also has a brutal history of executing homosexuals, abusing migrant workers,…
El Salvadoran Woman Denied Pardon in 30-Year Sentence for Miscarriage
An El Salvadoran woman known as "Guadalupe" currently serving a 30-year sentence for a 2007 miscarriage has been denied a pardon. Guadalupe—who was convicted of murdering her unborn baby—was expected to be cleared on Friday by the El Salvadoran Congress. But after a nail biting 43-42 vote, her release was denied.
Woman Who Maintained Innocence Publicly Beheaded in Mecca
"I did not kill. I did not kill," were the last words uttered by Laila Bint Abdul Muttalib Basim, who was beheaded Monday in Saudi Arabia after being dragged through the streets by four police officers.
Sudan Refuses to Let UN Investigate Reports of Mass Rape By Military
The United Nations has been trying for weeks to investigate reports that Sudanese soldiers raped over 200 women and girls in late October in the village of Tabit, North Darfur. A leaked internal UN report says the Sudanese military is deliberately making it hard for its peacekeepers to investigate the claims,…
Pussy Riot Sue Russian Government in European Human Rights Court
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Masha Alyokhina are suing the Russian government over their 2012 imprisonment.
Countries Where Homosexuality Is Illegal Sure Watch a Lot of Gay Porn
As Uganda battles to pass the anti-gay bill which would jail offenders for life (and has already overseen dozens of arrests), it seems that they have a huge force to contend with: the voice/search results of the people. Scott Bixby at the Daily Beast reports that of the top countries who search for gay porn, nearly…
Hate Group Bullies School Board Into Rescinding Basic Rights for Transgender Students
Here's some shitty news. Four days after unanimously approving policy allowing a few very basic rights to transgender students, the East Aurora School District 131 in Illinois has revoked it, claiming that they didn't allow time for input from state officials. We all know this is a bunch of bullshit because the…
Muppets and Homophobes Locked in Fierce Battle Over Chick-fil-A
Last week, Chick-fil-A's CEO confirmed what liberal fun-ruiners already knew — the restaurant not only serves up delicious waffle fries, but also some good old fashioned from-scratch bigoted homophobia. Like Mom used to make! The CEO's admission further ignited the already red and itchy culture wars that divide the…
Malawi’s President Joyce Banda Boldly Stands Up for Gay Rights
Joyce Banda, who was recently sworn in as Malawi's first-ever female president, has said that she plans to repeal her country's laws against homosexuality in her first state of the union address, a bold move, notes the Atlantic Wire's Connor Simpson, since homosexuality has been criminalized in 37 African countries…
Let's Not Fight for Equal Table-Dancing Rights
Twenty-one year old college student Jordan Ramos enjoys the same ill-advised things that her fellow University of Iowa students enjoy — going to bars in downtown Iowa City, drinking a little bit, climbing up onto things, and dancing on them while other people go "WOOO!" So when bouncers at a local establishment barred…
