Nigerians Demand Government Do More to Bring Home Kidnapped Girls

Nigerians took to the streets Thursday to demand the government do more to rescue scores of girls abducted by militants more than two weeks ago. Militants seized about 230 girls in the dead of the night at a high school in the nation’s far northeast, a hotbed for Islamist group Boko Haram. Armed men herded the girls out of bed and forced them into trucks on April 16 in the town of Chibok. The convoy of trucks then disappeared into the dense forest bordering Cameroon. Roughly 200 girls are still missing, although the authorities and parents differ on the number.

Continue reading on CNN.

Biden Triggers Speculation About ENDA Executive Order

Vice President Joseph Biden said in an interview with The Huffington Post’s Jennifer Bendery on Thursday he sees “no downside” to President Obama’s signing an executive order barring federal contractors from engaging in anti-LGBT workplace discrimination. Although Biden said passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act would be a better approach to combatting anti-LGBT discrimination because passage of the legislation “ends it everywhere,” his comments on the executive order raise a question: Will it be enough to push Obama, who has withheld the order despite calls from LGBT advocates, to sign the directive?

See more at the Washington Blade.

MTV Launches Multi-Year Campaign to Fight Racial, Gender & LGBT Inequality

[M]TV - in partnership with a coalition including the Anti-Defamation League, NAACP, National Council of La Raza, National Partnership for Women & Families, The Trevor Project and many others - launched “Look Different,” a multi-year campaign empowering America’s youth to better counter the hidden racial, gender and anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) biases all around us. The campaign reflects Millennials’ deep commitment to the principles of equality and fairness, while inviting them to look differently at subjects like privilege, prejudice and “colorblindness.” Original research MTV conducted over the last year shows that a commitment to fairness, coupled with lack of historical perspective, can result in a clouded view; as an example, half of white Millennials now believe discrimination against whites has become as big a problem as discrimination against people of color.

Read more at Broadway World.

Education Department Moves to Protect Transgender Students from Discrimination

Transgender students are protected from discrimination under the same federal law that prohibits sex discrimination, the Department of Education announced Tuesday.

According to guidance issued by the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 “extends to claims of discrimination based on gender identity or failure to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity or femininity.” Moreover, the Office for Civil Rights states that it will investigate complaints of discrimination on the basis of gender identity.

Continue reading over at Metro Weekly.

Why I Asked Alicia Menendez About Her Vagina And Other Invasive Questions

I initially said, “No,” when Alicia Menendez reached out to me on Twitter about her “great idea.” Alicia’s pitch involved me asking her the invasive questions I’m asked by TV producers, journalists and on-camera hosts for a segment on her Fusion show, AM Tonight.

I said no frankly because I didn’t want anyone to be at the receiving end of such an interrogation of her identity, her experiences and her body. I know all too well the journey of not only revealing yourself publicly, but also having the public’s gaze on your body. I know women, specifically those of color, whether they are cis or trans, are battling the public’s dissection of their bodies and their validity as “real” women daily in our racist, misogynistic, and gender-policing culture.

So no, I did not want to play the role of oppressor, putting another woman of color on display for dissection, but Alicia assured me that our demonstration would be a teaching moment — and I am glad she persuaded me otherwise. Our demonstration has since gone viral, becoming a catalyst for conversations about how we all interrogate trans identities and how this desire to pull apart trans people’s bodies in media — for the vain purpose of assuaging curiosity or bridging gaps of understanding — must end.

Read more on Janet Mock’s blog.

Robin Roberts Shares Sweet Shot of Girlfriend

She wouldn’t come out from backstage, but Amber Laign was with Robin Roberts as she stopped by to tape an appearance for Tuesday’s Ellen DeGeneres Show.

And we got to see a nice photo of the two as Roberts, 53, explained that they’ve been together for nearly a decade.

“That was my birthday,” which is in November, said Roberts of the photo that was shown of her with a smiling Laign. “She photographed much better in this picture than I did but I said, you know what, I’m gonna use this picture because you look so doggone good and I’m like heehee (laughing).”

More on USA Today.