(7 comments) SHARE        Wednesday, May 6, 2015
We're citizens, not subjects. We have the right to criticize government without fear In a truly modern democratic republic, the suppression of the press and sources by criminal prosecutions cannot be tolerated. Then the US could no longer be used as an excuse by repressive governments around the world to say: "Well, they do it in America, too."

(16 comments) SHARE        Monday, June 13, 2016
We must not let Orlando nightclub terror further strangle our civil liberties Those who wish to continue campaigns of fear are prepared to cast an entire religion as hateful with no reflection on their own complicity in the many forms of violence the queer community encounters in the United States. We should not let their agendas guide our reaction to this senseless massacre.

(2 comments) SHARE        Saturday, September 16, 2017
Chelsea Manning: The Dystopia We Signed Up For The world has become like an eerily banal dystopian novel. Things look the same on the surface, but they are not. With no apparent boundaries on how algorithms can use and abuse the data that's being collected about us, the potential for it to control our lives is ever-growing.

(2 comments) SHARE        Sunday, June 15, 2014
The U.S. Military's Campaign Against Media Freedom As Iraq erupts in civil war and America again contemplates intervention, that unfinished business should give new urgency to the question of how the United States military controlled the media coverage of its long involvement there and in Afghanistan. I believe that the current limits on press freedom and excessive govt secrecy make it impossible for Americans to grasp fully what is happening in the wars we finance. NYTimes

(5 comments) SHARE        Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Yes, I'll get gender surgery. But I may still be punished for my suicide attempt I saw a photograph of myself shortly after my suicide attempt. Seeing this photograph has haunted me for the past week. It has disturbed me. It sends a chill down my spine. This hurt me more than any physical injury or hardship I have lived through. This process has forced me to relive one of the worst moments of my entire life.

(4 comments) SHARE        Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Solitary confinement is "no touch" torture, and it must be abolished The evidence is overwhelming that it should be deemed as cruel and unusual under the US constitution: solitary confinement in the US is arbitrary, abused and unnecessary in many situations. It is cruel, degrading and inhumane, and is effectively a "no touch" torture. We should end the practice quickly and completely.

(13 comments) SHARE        Monday, May 16, 2016
Why I Keep Fighting I keep fighting to let people know that they too can create change. By staying informed and educated, anyone can make a difference. You have the ability to fight for a better world for everyone -- even for the most desperate, those at the bottom of the social ladder, refugees from conflict, queer and trans individuals, prisoners, and those born into poverty.

(11 comments) SHARE        Wednesday, November 25, 2015
We must not let Isis's crimes dictate how we address the refugee crisis -- or privacy Federal lawmakers and dozens of state governors have called for the US to stem the flow of those seeking asylum from Syria, culminating in the quick passage of legislation in the US House making the approval of Syrian refugees into the US administratively difficult, if not impossible -- even though approvals of such refugees numbered less than 1,700 in 2014.

(4 comments) SHARE        Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Compromise doesn't work with our political opponents. When will we learn? For eight years, it did not matter how balanced President Obama was. It did not matter how educated he was, or how intelligent he was. Nothing was ever good enough for his opponents. It was clear that he could not win. It was clear that, no matter what he did, in their eyes, he could not win.

(4 comments) SHARE        Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Bradley Manning's Post Sentence Statement: 'Sometimes You Have to Pay a Heavy Price to Live in a Free Society' 'Sometimes You Have to Pay a Heavy Price to Live in a Free Society' | Common Dreams

(3 comments) SHARE        Saturday, August 20, 2016
Facing my fear: being in public as a woman for the very first time Being myself for a whole day taught me a few lessons: trying to meet the expectations that I believed were placed on me by society was unsustainable. I was miscast in the play of life, and it was urgent that I admit that, sooner rather than later. Joy, confidence and security can't begin until we are able to just be ourselves.

SHARE        Saturday, July 2, 2016
It's right to end the ban on trans people in the military -- but wrong to set conditions Gender presentation should reflect the person that you are. When you lose control of your gender presentation you lose an important aspect of your identity and existence. By setting so many caveats, time lines, standards, and training, the military is making this far, far, more complicated and bureaucratic than it needs to be. The simple reality is that we are who we say we are.

(3 comments) SHARE        Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Chelsea Manning: to those who kept me alive all these years, thank you Chelsea Mannings message to her fellow prisoners...When the prison tried to break one of us, we all stood up. We looked out for each other. When they tried to divide us, and systematically discriminated against us, we embraced our diversity and pushed back. But, I also learned from all of you when to pick my battles. I grew up and grew connected because of the community you provided.

(2 comments) SHARE        Saturday, June 27, 2015
Same-sex marriage isn't equality for all LGBT people. Our movement can't end We need to send a powerful message to the world in a unified voice: that we can fight for social justice for everyone, everywhere and change the world, not just get married. We can continue to build our communities and address the root causes of queer and trans poverty and deaths. I am trans woman and I am here to recruit you to the next stage in the equality movement. Join me.

(1 comments) SHARE        Monday, February 22, 2016
Privacy is a right, not a luxury -- and it's increasingly at risk for LGBT people I support Apple in its fight against the FBI: we should fight any government or organization that seeks to remove our community's strongest and most effective means to guard ourselves from discrimination, persecution, torture and genocide. Privacy is not a luxury in America: it is a right.

(1 comments) SHARE        Wednesday, November 2, 2016
I can't vote. If you can, you must Disenfranchisement and legal exclusion -- whether by race, gender, class, immigration status, or otherwise -- from our democratic institutions is one of the most significant failures of American society today. While universal suffrage remains an ideal yet to be attained, if you're lucky enough to be able to vote, don't let that privilege go to waste.

(2 comments) SHARE        Friday, March 18, 2016
When will the US government stop persecuting whistleblowers? A better approach for the government would be a Transparency and Accountability Task Force advocating for and protecting employees who have concerns. It would send a message to employees, military service members, contractors and department and agency heads that even if the official channels fail, those who raise concerns will still be protected, listened to and given the chance to speak out in a meaningful forum.