Daily Fix: Ahmed Mohamed Will Get to Take His Clock to the White House and More News

Here’s your news fix for the day! We’re trying a new schedule for these and putting them up in the afternoon rather than early in the morning, testing the theory that maybe you’d rather read about the news as your day winds down, including the news that happened over the course of the day itself. Let us know what you think!

Republicans

Last night there were two debates between two separate sets of Republican presidential nominee candidates. I talked about one of them a bit over here; it’s not a full recap because the debate was three hours long and to be honest I’m not sure I could have handled a recap, but you can read the full transcript. I do still think it’s worth talking about the other debate, between the four lowest-polling candidates, people who have virtually no chance at the nomination. If you have about an hour to kill and wouldn’t rather be watching, oh, anything else at all, I’d recommend watching it. Much of the debate is actually a sort of meta discussion about the state party itself. It reveals politicians who are frustrated and divided over what their party’s values even are, and frightened of an increasing lack of clear identity and relevance, pinning all their hopes on winning this election so they can be in control of the executive branch instead of defining themselves largely in terms of their reaction to Democratic moves. Anyways! Interesting stuff.

politifact_photos_GOP_debate_field

Law & Order

+ On Monday, 14-year-old Sudanese-American Ahmed Mohamed was arrested in Texas when he brought a clock he had designed and created on his own into school to show his teacher, reasonably expecting that she would be impressed. Instead, school staff were concerned that the clock was a bomb, and arrested Mohamed — while doing so, they also violated his civil rights by refusing to let him speak to his parents, even though he’s a minor. It also doesn’t seem as if the school called a bomb squad or anything like one, which seems confusing if we are to believe that the school was truly worried about a bomb threat. (It’s anecdotal, but for contrast, when I was in high school a shiny silver makeup case that someone left in the school parking lot was mistaken for a bomb; 911 was called to deal with the “bomb,” but no one was arrested.)

Ahmed gave a statement yesterday in which he thanked his supporters, indicated an interest in changing schools, and also that he’s interested in taking up some of the offers that big names like President Obama, Mark Zuckerberg and more have made him. The LA Times has a story on how Ahmed’s social media celebrity has developed, which is great. Whether social media response to the unfair and dehumanizing response that Ahmed unfortunately experienced can improve educational conditions for other young black, Muslim and black Muslim children is another question.

+ There’s no question that Jonathan Stuart Kenney killed his girlfriend, Janette Tovar; still, he’s only getting ten years’ probation and a $2500 fine for her death. Janette Tovar’s cousin Marisa Anguiano believes the light sentence is because Tovar was a trans woman.

“To this day, to this very hour and minute, we have no idea how this deal was reached,” she said. “We have never seen a police report, [Kenney’s] statement, no evidence, no case file, no nothing. Have you ever heard of such a thing?”

Anguiano added that early on in the case, prosecutors were more communicative with the family but eventually “something changed” and scheduling meetings became more difficult.

“Why are they treating my family the way that they are?” Anguiano said she has asked herself throughout this process. “What could we say except that she was transgender? There seemed to be this bias.”

Janette Tovar

Janette Tovar

+ Three people who assaulted a same-sex couple in Center City last year are allegedly considering pleading guilty.

Research & Data

+ The Department of Education has released new data on American universities, with several important findings. One is that graduates from elite educational institutions like MIT still have major gender pay gaps when they enter the workforce.

+ According to a report by the Violence Policy Center, South Carolina has been ranked the worst for violence against women.

+ GLAAD has released a survey which indicates that among adults polled,the number of Americans who know a transgender person has doubled over the past seven years, from 8% to 16%.

+ A new study finds that black kids who go to the emergency room are less likely to receive painkillers than whites, even when they’re “suffering from agonizing conditions.” The report finds that across all backgrounds, 57% of children who go to the ER with acute appendicitis get pain medication; 41% get opioids. If you isolate the numbers on only black children, only 21% were given opioids.

+ A new report has been released on the health disparities experienced by bisexual people, particularly bisexual women, who suffer disproportionately high rates of cancer, heart disease, and more. You can read the full report here.

Grab Bag

+ Argentina will lift its ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood.

+ A lesbian couple says they were refused entry to a strip club in North Miami Beach because they weren’t “accompanied by a man.”

+ Feministing has a story on 100 women marching 100 miles for migrant dignity. Their march will end in Washington, D.C. in time for the Pope’s arrival.

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!

Rachel

Originally from Boston, MA, Rachel now lives in the Midwest. Topics dear to her heart include bisexuality, The X-Files and tacos. Her favorite Ciara video is probably "Ride," but if you're only going to watch one, she recommends "Like A Boy." You can follow her on twitter and instagram.

Rachel has written 1141 articles for us.

13 Comments

  1. A security based thought on a woman or women not being permitted into a strip club without a man accompanying would be fear that unaccompanied woman is there to beat the shit out of her man who’s in there against her wishes, or even one the dancers out of jealousy.

    Still sexist as shit a thought tho because they were a couple.

    And dumb too
    I’ve been to a strip club, sat at the stage and lemme tell ya the men who were being simply polite with their money started to make it rain when the dancer on stage started giving me and mine attention.
    Letting the queer ladies is just smart business for all involved.

    No words or thoughts I have for what happened to young Ahmed, just groaning and headdesking.

  2. He slammed her head into the concrete. She died. How is that not murder? I’m literally sick to my stomach right now.

    • It’s obviously because she was trans. That’s why the hints that she might have been “an aggressor.” So (as usual), the authorities saw her as really a man. Just a fight between a couple of guys, right? I feel very bitter.

  3. I love Daily Fix in the morning when I’m still trying to blink the sleep out of my eyes at my desk, but however you guys want to do it is fine too :-)

  4. Ahmed handled all of this so much better than I would have. I’m pretty sure 14 year old me would have just curled up and cried in the corner for a few years.

    Also, I can only stomach what’s going in the Republican race when close my eyes and pretend really hard that it’s just a show on HBO.

  5. Deferrals for blood donors should always be focused on safe sex practices, not on sexual orientation or stereotypes. After all, we’re living in 2015, not 1985, science has made huge advances in testing blood.

    Sometimes I’m very proud of my country.

    • I think a Daily Fix in the afternoon allows you to see how certain news develop in the course of the day.

  6. I read the daily fix whenever I have a chance–as you can see, the day after in this case. It all just depends on my schedule. :) So… I say keep posting in the morning: it’s not like it goes away in the afternoon.

  7. I am permanently ineligible to donate blood, but I am always thankful when more people can: it saves lives! =)

  8. Some of you might enjoy the Australian Guardians First Dog On The Moon cartoon about Amhed Mohamed’s detention and rights violation. I’d attach a link if I knew how, but FD (as many of us call him) has written a beauty of a Social Advocacy cartoon that touches a nerve here and I think would be appreciated in the US too. Google and enjoy.

Comments are closed.