Karoline Leavitt goes full Handmaids Tale in her latest disaster White House press briefing ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iB4HwMCWhQ
#criminalising #homelessness #KarolineLeavitt #Trump #autocracy #NorthKorean #Propaganda

Karoline Leavitt goes full Handmaids Tale in her latest disaster White House press briefing ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iB4HwMCWhQ
#criminalising #homelessness #KarolineLeavitt #Trump #autocracy #NorthKorean #Propaganda
@BackFromTheDud @skinnylatte @minmi
BTW, an interesting POV I learned from Tendayi Bloom, a scholar and editor of the book below (disclosure: of which I am a contributor), is that while #homelessness itself is usually not illegal, the practise of making #natural #human #necessities such as sleeping and excreting waste illegal in public spaces has the same effect as #criminalising being #unhoused.
😡
I am linking the book because there are so many vectors to being treated as non-#citizens that I think it are important to be aware of, even if one is *technically* a citizen, claiming such rights may depend on a number of other systems such as #authenticated #identification to "enjoy" those rights.
Lots of complexity that absolutely could be fixed if policymakers chose to do so. 😡
https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526156419/
#criminalisation
#citizenship
#HumanRights
#dignity
#access
#accessibility
#VictoriaAustralia’s draconian new #AntiProtest laws will have a chilling effect on #FreeSpeech — and won’t keep anyone safe
Far-reaching anti-protest measures and giving police more repressive powers only serve to increase the risk of escalating violence.
by Sarah Schwartz, Jul 9, 2025
"In response to the weekend’s attack on the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has announced she will forge ahead with new anti-protest measures and more #police powers.
"In doing so, she is following what has become the new normal for state governments across the country: using acts of racism and violence as a pretext to #ClampDown on unrelated democratic rights.
"Taking to the streets in peaceful protest is one of the main ways for people to come together and express our political views when our representatives aren’t listening to us. But this right is not without limits. Every person has a right to worship in safety. The attack on East Melbourne Synagogue was not a protest; it was an act of antisemitism. The suspect has been apprehended and charged with a multitude of criminal offences.
"Two other incidents over the weekend, the targeting of a business with ties to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — a US-backed #Israeli organisation linked to the massacres of unarmed #Palestinians seeking aid — and a weapons company with links to the Israeli military, are also being referred to as justifying new laws. It is important not to conflate these actions against Israel with an attack against a Jewish place of worship. International human rights law, as well as our current laws, already place limits on protests that involve intimidation and violence.
"So what is actually being proposed in response? The Allan government is suggesting the creation of a new criminal offence for wearing a #FaceCovering at peaceful protests, banning 'dangerous attachment devices' (e.g. a #chain, a #BikeLock) — which have long been used in non-violent civil disobedience — and #criminalising peaceful protests around places of religious worship.
"The ban on face coverings would be a first in #Australia. It would mirror measures used in #authoritarian states that force people to submit themselves to various forms of #StateSurveillance.
"#VictoriaPolice has been using facial recognition software for years without any regulatory or legislative framework to prevent breaches of privacy. This technology, combined with a ban on face coverings at protests, would essentially amount to an obligation on behalf of individuals to submit to surveillance by the state, corporations and other groups that surveil protesters.
"Unless you’re a #MiningCompany spending hundreds of millions buying politicians’ favour or can wine and dine decision-makers, peaceful protest is one of the main ways for people to hold governments and corporations to account. Protests for the eight-hour workday, #WomensRights, #FirstNationsRights and the #AntiWar movement have led to significant improvements in all of our lives.
Know something?
"Many people attending protests wear face coverings to protect their privacy and anonymity. For temporary migrants, the consequences of identification can include visa cancellation and detention. #FarRight groups, abusers of gender-based violence and other political groups have all been documented as engaging in doxing, surveillance and retaliatory violence against people identified at peaceful protests.
"Even with exemptions, a ban would mean that people who wear facemasks for reasons of health, disability status, or religious or cultural reasons would be at risk of police targeting and made to justify their use of a face mask.
"Adding new repressive police powers against peaceful protesters only serves to increase the risk of escalating violence at already heightened public demonstrations. People will not stop taking to the streets on issues they care about, even if the state tries to stifle their voices. Donald #Trump’s deployment of the #NationalGuard in response to protests in LA shows us how deploying more state force at protests increases rather than decreases the risk of violence.
"A ban on protests outside or within a certain proximity to places of worship would mean police could arrest those engaging in peaceful protests for a genuine, non-discriminatory purpose — for example, protests by survivors of #ClergySexualAbuse or by congregants against the political activities of their own religious institutions.
"It would also have the unintended consequence of rendering large areas of the state no-go zones for peaceful protest, due to the high number of places of worship. Similar laws in #NSW are already being challenged for their #unconstitutionality.
"Taken together, this suite of laws, which would provide police with extraordinary powers against people peacefully raising their voices against #injustice, would have a chilling effect, deterring #MarginalisedGroups from attending protests and exercising their rights to freedom of expression, which the Victorian government has sought to protect.
"Ultimately, banning face coverings at peaceful protests and banning protests outside places of worship would not have done anything to prevent what occurred over the weekend. Premier Allan knows this. Yet she is stuck in the same reactive law-and-order merry-go-round that saw NSW Premier Chris Minns enact fear-based, repressive anti-protest measures in response to what we now know was an opportunistic criminal conspiracy.
"Encouraging people to express their political views peacefully is the antidote to non-peaceful forms of protest and is something that all governments should be encouraging and facilitating. At times like this, we should be able to trust our politicians not to fuel division and panic through misguided and knee-jerk responses, but to take measures to address the root causes of racism and hatred."
#AntiProtestLaws #ProtestLawsAustralia #ACAB #SilencingFreeSpeech #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingProtest #Authoritarianism
#Politicians show up for #PinkDot despite #Conservative #scorecard #grading their support for #traditional '#familyvalues' (Religion), say it's #important to #engage with different #HumanRights groups
This is the second Pink Dot since #Section377A, a #ColonialEra #law #criminalising #gay #sex, was #repealed in November 2022.
#Women #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #Asia #Singapore #Representation #Culture #Religion #Hate #Bigotry #Homophobia #Transphobia #EmptyThePews https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/pink-dot-sg-lgbtq-community-hong-lim-park-politicians-4445501
SINGAPORE: Despite the emergence of a scorecard grading politicians based on their traditional stances on family values, several politicians attended this year's Pink Dot rally, with two Members of Parliament (MP) from the People's Action Party saying that it is important to speak to all communities in Singapore.
#Iraq #Criminalises #SameSex #Relationships with Maximum 15 Years in #Prison
The #Iraqi #government says the new #legislation #criminalising #samesexrelationships, #gendernonconformity will combat #sexualdeviancy.
https://www.arise.tv/iraq-criminalises-same-sex-relationships-with-maximum-15-years-in-prison/
The #Barbaric #practice of ‘#ConversionTherapy’ still continues in #India, despite a #ban.
The #NationalMedicalCommission (NMC) #banned ‘#conversiontherapy’ and #categorised it as #professional #misconduct in 2022. But the lack of #legislation is a major #hurdle in #criminalising the practice.
#Women #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #India #ConversionTherapy #Torture #Religion #Hate #Bigotry #Discrimination #Homophobia #Transphobia #EmptyThePews
https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/conversion-therapy-still-continues-india-despite-ban-180485
#Jamaica’s break from #British #monarchy must bring about #queer #liberation, #activists say.
#Jamaica has also retained #colonialera #laws #criminalising #samesex #sexual #activity.
#Women #Transgender #LGBTQ #Caribbean #Jamaica
https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/05/20/jamaica-republic-lgbtq-rights-kings-coronation/
Stop, search, arrest, repeat: the new police powers
The draconian actions of the #police during the coronation are just a taste of things to come under the new laws #criminalising #protest
https://www.counterfire.org/article/stop-search-arrest-repeat-the-new-police-powers/