Hi John,

This month, I’m not feeling hopeless—just pissed off. At the Supreme Court’s conservative majority, whose gaslighting, gatekeeping, and atrocious judgment rival only that of my ex-boyfriend and his electric unicycle.

Yes, those exist (see and shudder below). As, unfortunately, do the decisions we received at the end of last month.

Gaslighters!

The Supreme Court’s decision on June 30—to effectively strike down affirmative action in college admissions—was 100 plus pages of ✨ gaslighting ✨.

The conservative majority tried to convince us that society really should be colorblind, even though we all know that structural racism has been ingrained in our country for centuries and now college admissions offices are... supposed to just ignore that?

Let me echo the words—the truth—written by the Court’s dissenting Justices: "Ignoring race will not equalize a society that is racially unequal. What was true in the 1860s, and again in 1954, is true today: Equality requires acknowledgment of inequality."

But wait... there’s more!

On the last day of Pride Month, the Supreme Court decided that a Colorado business, which said it wanted to create wedding websites, had a free speech right to refuse to provide custom websites to LGBTQ+ couples. Although this ruling should be limited to custom products and services that communicate specific messaging (and so actually not apply to most businesses), this decision still gives bigots a new way to try to expand discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community.

Let me use my free speech to say: F**k that!

If you’re pissed off, at the Supreme Court and/or electric unicycles, here are some actions you can take to fight back:

Must-Do's:

• We want everyone to know that the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision DOES NOT affect anything besides college admissions. So, make sure to keep supporting workplace DEI efforts and other work to support diversity and inclusion in the education space!
• Support the Equality Act, re-introduced last month in Congress, so that LGBTQ+ folks are more explicitly included and protected in our civil rights laws.
• Instead of supporting homophobic businesses, how about some incredible queer artists instead?

Must Read:

We are so proud to share our new issue brief, The Economic Security and Health of Older Women of Color, which highlights policy solutions that are targeted to support older women of color.

Banned Book Club

Last weekend, I was in Chicago for a work conference.

Aside from the impeccable food (bear witness to my deep-dish baptism below), I networked with some fantastic organizations, including Freedom to Learn—a collective that fights back against racist book bans.

These incredible folks were giving out free banned books, including Kiese Laymon's Heavy: An American Memoir about the “jagged, uneven road to becoming a writer and a man.”

But it’s no fun reading something... if you can’t gab about it. So, I was wondering if you’d like to join me?

Reply to this email with any thoughts, feelings, or vibes you have about Heavy, and we can start an in-depth (or deep-dish) dialogue together 😊

Last Weekend, I Took Plan B

Last Sunday—in 91 degrees, under 81% humidity, while wearing hot pink crocs—I sped walk to CVS, on the hunt for Plan B.

As a feminist, I know I should feel no shame buying emergency contraception. Yet having to approach a rolling-their-eyes worker... and ask for the pill to be unlocked... made me feel like absolute shit.

But if I had been in McGregor, Minnesota—population 378—I would not just have been shamed, but doomed.

On a below-freezing morning in January 2019, Andrea Anderson called Thrifty White, the only pharmacy in town, to see if she could get ella: an emergency contraceptive prescribed by her doctor.

Thrifty White, the pharmacy, refused to fill Ms. Anderson’s ella prescription and did not ensure she was able to get it there or from another pharmacy. So, Andrea was forced to drive three hours, in a dangerous snowstorm, to a city 50 miles away, just to access this basic health care.

Thrifty White’s policy is unacceptable—and blatant sex discrimination. Read the brief we filed in support of Andrea here.

Barbie Moment of Joy !!

I wanted to be honest about how I was feeling—pretty f**king hopeless—without bringing y’all down. But from your replies, it seems like many of you understood.

First off, thank you, so much, for making me feel less alone. Second, you know that sleepover feeling of chatting, for hours, with your women best friends? About everything from exes and electric unicycles to catcalling and sexual assault.

Not once having to explain—or defend—yourself. Because these are shared experiences. Because you feel, for once, profoundly understood.

That’s the exact feeling that the Barbie movie gave me. It reminded me how much I love being a woman—and it went a long way in restoring my (hot-pink) hope.

See you next month,

Gemma Simoes Decarvalho
she/her/hers
Writer and Editor
National Women’s Law Center