Overcoming the filibuster: Senator Tammy Baldwin pushes for support of LGBT marriage protection
U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin is making a push for the Republican support needed to pass her bill that would codify same-sex marriage before the midterms. But she will do so without Wisconsin’s senior senator, Republican Ron Johnson. In an op-ed published in the...
Rejecting rights and freedoms: Ron Johnson declares opposition to Federal same-sex marriage legislation
Republican Senator Ron Johnson, facing a tough reelection contest in November, said during a recent meeting with constituents that he opposes a bill to codify same-sex marriage rights into federal law as the Senate Democratic leadership plans to hold a vote in the...
A political tool: Why the backlash to transgender rights has a long and hostility history
By Jay Prosser, Reader in Humanities, University of Leeds In recent decades, trans people have achieved limited rights. At the same time, anti-trans views and political backlashes have become more visible and effective in contesting those rights. For example, since...
Beyond the Binary: College students are using new pronouns to identify gender other than “she” and “he”
By Genny Beemyn, Director, Stonewall Center, UMass Amherst When students today fill out their college applications, they are not just identifying as “she” or “he.” More than 3% of incoming college students use a different set of pronouns. That’s according to my...
The fantasy of the straight cowboy: How gay rodeos upend presumptions about life in rural America
By Rebecca Scofield, Associate Professor of History; Chair of the Department of History, University of Idaho; and Elyssa Ford, Associate Professor of History, Northwest Missouri State University The misguided assumption that rural America is hopelessly backward and...
Queen Elizabeth II: The “new Elizabethan age” ends with death of longest-serving monarch
By Laura Clancy, Lecturer in Media, Lancaster University When Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne in 1952, Britain was just seven years out of the second world war. Rebuilding work was still ongoing, and rationing key products such as sugar, eggs, cheese and meat...
Queen Elizabeth II: A modernizing force who guided a fading British empire into the 21st century
By Sean Lang, Senior Lecturer in History, Anglia Ruskin University When the late historian Sir Ben Pimlott embarked on his 1996 biography, his colleagues expressed surprise that he should consider Queen Elizabeth II worthy of serious study at all. Yet Pimlott’s...
Princess Diana: Why conspiracy theories still surround her death after 25 years
By Sarah Bennett, PhD candidate, School of English, University of Nottingham Diana, Princess of Wales, died 25 years ago after a car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris. Her death led to a global outpouring of grief and media attention. Much of the...
Governor Evers plans to invest millions to improve access to clean drinking water across the state
Governor Tony Evers, together with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), announced a new $10 million grant program on August 17 to support the replacement, reconstruction, treatment, or abandonment of contaminated private wells. The program, based on...
A rise in temperatures: Experts say energy grids across Wisconsin are not prepared for coming heat waves
In the coming decades, the climate in the U.S. will heat up to potentially disastrous levels. While Wisconsin’s long winters will turn milder, summer temperatures will hit record highs. That assessment is according to a new study from the nonprofit research group...
Scarce air conditioning: Milwaukee’s most at risk residents endure a lack of cooling assistance
Wisconsin’s primary energy aid program focuses mostly on winter heating, leaving few summer cooling options. A neighborhood community group is stepping up. It was only 10 a.m. and already above 80 degrees as Freda Wright slowly walked down a residential block of...
Bill Sell: Former civil rights activist and community advocate remembered for his love of Bay View
William H. “Bill” Sell, 83, a prominent lifelong activist for Civil Rights, peace, and progressive environmental and transportation policies, died peacefully on September 1 in his Bay View home. He had been under the care of his son, David Sartori, and home hospice....
