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

IHIP News: Karoline Leavitt Has TOTAL MELTDOWN Over Trump During DISASTER WH Presser!!

YouTube

@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

Manchester University Press - Statelessness, governance, and the problem of citizenship

Statelessness, governance, and the problem of citizenship - Browse and buy the Hardcover edition of Statelessness, governance, and the problem of citizenship by Tendayi Bloom

Manchester University Press

#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.
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"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."

https://www.crikey.com.au/2025/07/09/victoria-anti-protest-laws-police-powers-jacinta-allan-miznon-east-melbourne-synagogue/

#AntiProtestLaws #ProtestLawsAustralia #ACAB #SilencingFreeSpeech #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingProtest #Authoritarianism

Victoria’s draconian new anti-protest laws will have a chilling effect on free speech — 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.

Crikey
Politicians show up for Pink Dot despite scorecard grading their 'family values', say it's important to engage different groups

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.

CNA
Iraq Criminalises Same-Sex Relationships with Maximum 15 Years in Prison - Arise News

The Iraqi government says the new legislation criminalising same-sex relationships will combat sexual deviancy.

Arise News
Jamaica’s break from British monarchy must bring about queer liberation, activists say

King Charles' coronation has accelerated Jamaica's plans to become a republic, and activists say it’s time to talk about LGBTQ+ equality. 

PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news

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/

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, argues Terina Hine  This government has relentlessly attacked the right to protest.

Counterfire