After thousands of emails from women and men who believe in women's choice, CBS still refuses to withdraw the anti-abortion ad they plan to air on February 7th.

In the past, CBS had a stated policy to reject all ads it deems controversial. "Controversial" organizations included MoveOn.org, and even the United Church of Christ. The liberal Christian church's sin was to suggest that their church would model tolerance. Their objectionable slogan? "Jesus Didn't Turn People Away. Neither Do We".

The Feminist Majority Foundation said that after protests of the anti-abortion ad, CBS announced they had loosened their policy. But, the foundation reports, the network then quickly rejected an advertisement because it featured two men watching football and engaging in a kiss.

Activist group the South Florida Raging Grannies answered a call issued by the Women's Media Center to respond to the network's plan to run the anti-choice ad. The Grannies created a video with new lyrics to the tune "Three Blind Mice" that criticizes what the Grannies say is the network's hypocrisy. Members of groups including the San Francisco Bay Area Raging Grannies, CodePink, World Can't Wait, Revolution Books, Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights and others sang the Florida Grannies' composition in front of KPIX-TV in a protest on February 4th.

Read More 1 | 2 | 3 Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

San Francisco Protest Announcement | The Women's Media Center | Feminist Majority Foundation | Raging Grannies International

January 22nd marked the 37th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

The January 23rd "Walk for Life" was smaller than in past years. By its own estimate, the group against reproductive choice was 20,000 to 30,000. However the San Francisco Chronicle estimated the size at "several thousand", not the "tens of thousands" that the pro-lifers claim.

More than 200 pro-choice activists, while a smaller group, had a significant presence, including music by Brass Liberation Orchestra, the Raging Grannies, a great pro-woman rapper on stage, and loud chants directed at the anti-choice demonstrators.

Their demands included affordable, accessible abortion without apology, and the elimination of insurance companies via a single payer Medicare for All style national health care system, with true universal coverage. In addition to concerns for women's healthcare, the coalition of activists demanded an end to sexual violence and rightwing terrorism. They called for civil rights for queers and immigrants.

Queer and feminist activists managed to block the "Walk for Life" march for a brief period by extending a 25-foot banner across the Embarcadero at the moment the march began. Their banner read "Religious Bigots Unwelcome in San Francisco." After police forced the pro-choice protesters off the road, they held the banner along the side where all the marchers saw it.

The Day of Action for Reproductive Justice was endorsed by many community groups, elected officials, individuals and grassroots organizations. An abbreviated list includes: California Coalition for Women Prisoners, Single Payer Now, Nursing Students for Choice - UCSF, American Federation of Teachers (AFT Local 212), and Latin American Alliance for Immigrant Rights (ALIADI). State Senator Mark Leno endorsed the action as did State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, who addressed the crowd.

Videos: 1 | 2 | Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Audio: 1

There was also a "Walk For Life" in Los Altos on Januray 22nd. Linda Williams, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, adressed about 100 people, then they walked and marched through downtown Los Altos. They outnumbered their Catholic Church opponents on the opposite side of the street three-fold. Photos

Previous years of SF "Walk For Life" counter-protests: 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006

Demonstrators staged a die-in at the feet of busy shoppers in front of one of San Francisco's busiest markets on December 5th. Posed by their side, members of satirist group "Billionaires for Wealthcare" dramatized the disparate treatment of rich and poor in America's healthcare system.

Activists for a single payer healthcare system that would provide medical care to people at all income levels said that the Stupak amendment to the US Congress' health care reform plan is an attack on women's rights, but especially on poor women's access to reproductive care. Their protest started when they fell as if dying in front of San Francisco's Ferry Building, then continued as demonstrators rose to solemnly march through the crowded farmer's market. They carried the mock coffin of a victim of poor healthcare.

Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Audio: 1 | 2

G. Melesaine writes: "When I saw the trailer for the new film 'Precious' I cried. This film made me think a lot about an old life I was too familiar with. It made me think about a lot of women that I am close to. It made me think about my sister in her Tenderloin days, about that loud funny girl in class that smacked her gum too loud, about that girl in West Point who had AIDS and everyone stayed away from her, about that girl walking up and down Folsom pretending she has somewhere to go, about that teacher I use to have a crush on in middle school, about women. 'Precious' women. This was their story.

"I couldn't be objective watching this film, it gave me a sort of PTSD watching it and I even cried on my BART ride home. There has been quite the controversy of the film because some believe it perpetuates the stigma of life for African-American women. But to me it brings light and advocates a new hero to the Hollywood industry.

"The film is based off of Sapphire's novel, "Push.” The film to me has arrived at a pivotal moment. It comes at a time where a 15-year-old girl in Richmond is gang raped, at a time where a lot of people call a famous pop star beating a woman a "small mishap" to his career, at a time where young women, especially of color or queer in the inner-city, are barely visible in the conversation of anything and ignored."

Read More | Armond White: Precious is the Most damaging Film to the Black Image Since ‘Birth of a Nation’

On Friday, November 20th, members and supporters of the transgender community in San Francisco held an event at the API Wellness Center in San Francisco called the 11th Annual San Francisco Transgender Day of Remembrance. Many people turned out for the event including Alexandra Byerly from El la program, Senator Mark Leno, Theresa Sparks and plus the many many speakers from the community who simply wanted to pay tribute to all the transgender men or women who have been killed.

This year alone at least 100 transgender people have been murdered in the world and at least a dozen in the United States. This year's Transgender Day of Remembrance theme was "appreciating those whose journey has come to an end this past year." The event culminated with a march through the Tenderloin which was hosted by the group "One Struggle One Fight."

The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder in 1998 started a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Since then, the event has grown to encompass memorials in dozens of cities across the world. Read more | SF TGDOR 2009 video | Suspect's DNA sat in lab as rapes multiplied

Older Coverage:San Diego Hosts Transgender Day of Remembrance, 2008 | 2nd Annual Alameda County Transgender Day of Remembrance Held November 18, 2007 in Oakland, CA | Oakland Event Honors Transgender Victims of Hate Crimes, Celebrates Community Resources, 2006 | Transgender Day of Remembrance, 2005

see also: Transgender and Gender Queer Panelists Address Therapists, Mental Health Practitioners

Lynne Stewart embraced supporters outside a federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan just a few days ago. On November 23rd demonstrators in San Francisco showed solidarity with her stance for defending unpopular clients. Ms. Stewart surrendered last week to begin serving her 28-month sentence for "assisting terrorism".

Her attorney, Michael Tigar, called the ruling an attack on the First Amendment right of free speech, free press and petition. Demonstrators in San Francisco agreed. They called for the freeing not only of Ms. Stewart but other political prisoners as well. In 2005, Stewart was convicted on charges of conspiracy and providing material support to terrorists. Her felony conviction led to her being automatically disbarred. She was convicted of helping pass messages from her client, Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, an Egyptian cleric convicted of planning terror attacks, to his followers. Demonstrators today said that she was actually convicted of daring to defend a much-hated client who, nevertheless, deserved the right to counsel.

Amongst those demonstrating were members of the ANSWER Coaltion, the Raging Grannies, and citizens who happened by after attending an immigrant rights demonstration directly across the street. One demonstrator interviewed stated she believed that Stewart's efforts to release communications from her client were part of her defense method to gain public awareness and support, that charges against Stewart were "trumped up" and that misogyny played a role in this conviction.

Read more | Fascist Obama Jails Framed Ill People's Lawyer Lynne Stewart | Lynne Stewart: Heroic Human Rights Lawyer Jailed | Civil Rights Attorney Lynne Stewart Responds to Court Ruling Upholding Conviction and Ordering Her to Prison | Lynne Stewart speaks in San Francisco at Socialist-Feminist Conference

2005 Coverage: Lynne Stewart Convicted on Aiding and Abetting Terrorism Charges

NYC IMC Coverage: Lynne Stewart: Heroic Human Rights Lawyer Jailed

q@ writes: "On September 24th some of the most militant politicized street protests the States have seen in nearly a decade countered the G20 summit in Pittsburgh. Anarchist Queers and Trannies were on the frontlines of this struggle; bringing the numbers, the flare, and the wrecking crews. A days worth of tear gas, rubber bullet attacks, and fending off straight-idiot-liberals, set the tone for what would be a night of ravenous Queer revenge. A single march of 200+ Queers, Trannies, Womyn, POC, and some allies bashed the fuck back; causing the most property destruction contained to a single neighborhood in Pittsburgh during the protests. So other Anarchists, why the fuck are you ignoring us? What Happened in Oakland [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania] on Thursday Night?

"A week prior to the G20 protests Bash Back! Pittsburgh, a radical Trans and Queer Liberation group, called for a Queer Cabaret to be followed by a march through Oakland. Oakland has long been a neighborhood unfriendly to anyone not fitting into the straight-white-male category. By 10pm on the 24th nearly 200 people gathered outside of the Queer Cabaret. The mood was set. There were no illusions. Everyone knew what was about to happen. It seemed that people were unified in their goal to terrorize straighty. Windows were smashed, dumpsters flipped and ignited, a frat boy homophobe and his friends were dealt with properly, and the vast majority of participants left feeling empowered and energized.

"However, despite the fact that this march was called for by a local radical queer/trans group, took place immediately following a Queer Cabaret, was executed largely by radical Trans/Queer people and was lead by a banner reading, “Bash Back!” ; most of the reportbacks describing the march include NONE of these important details."

Read More | Bash Back!

While news headlines declared the the US House of Representatives' healthcare legislation "historic" and a cause for great joy, many in the San Francisco bay area are asking: Who is celebrating whose healthcare coverage?

Women reacted to a national plan that will not provide insurance for undocumented immigrants or extend federal funds for abortions, saying that it echoes the right-wing’s racist and sexist agenda. They expressed disappointment that the House Bill also repeals the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) by 2013. Many children now covered by CHIP would be moved into programs largely driven by insurance companies.

The morning following the passage of the bill, women in San Francisco led the rallying cry for "healthcare not warfare" in demonstrations on the steps of City Hall and in front of Speaker Pelosi's and Senator Feinstein's respective homes.

On November 12th, the San Francisco branch of Radical Women will hold a roundtable discussion to address the question: "What will it take to achieve affordable quality healthcare for all?" Featured speakers will be Barbara Commins, a nurse from Single Payer Now, Tiffany Ng, a youth organizer with Chinese Progressive Association and Andrea Weever, a disabled rights activist.

Event Announcement | Photos: 1 | 2 | San Francisco Radical Women

On Sunday, October 25th, Zoya, a member of the radical underground organization Rawa, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, will speak at the SF Friends Meeting House, 65 9th Street. Zoya talk is part of national tour in the U.S. against the ongoing U.S. occupation of Afghanistan and the threat of fundamentalism posed by the Taliban. In a message to Obama and Congress she says: “liberation can only come from within – end the US occupation.”

Zoya was a child during the Soviet invasion of her country. As a teenager, the mujahideen or warlords killed her activist parents. She fled with her grandmother to a refugee camp in neighboring Pakistan but later returned to her country to document life under the Taliban rule. She has been an outspoken critic of the US and NATO invasion of Afghanistan.

For more than thirty years RAWA has organized inside Afghanistan and in the refugee camps of Pakistan for a nation free of war and fundamentalism, that respects women’s rights and human rights. As President Obama prepares to widen the war and commit more troops, it is important to hear from those most affected.

Read More | UPDATE: Audio from 10/25

Voices from Afghanistan: Afghan Women's Activist Zoya Speaks Out on Eight Years of Occupation | RAWA.org: Afghan Activist Calls for End to US Occupation Interview with Zoya, member of RAWA

On Wednesday, September 30th, feminists, activists, and community members protested against budget cuts in front of the California State Building at Civic Center. The rally and speak-out featured demands to "chop from the top" and tax the rich and corporations as a strategy for solving the budget crisis. There were speakers and representatives from many groups as well as students, workers, tenants rights and queer rights activists.

The rally was initiated by Radical Women, a socialist feminist, grassroots activist organization that provides a radical voice within the feminist movement and the Left, and trains women to be leaders in the movements for social and economic justice. It has branches in a number of cities. Read more

AIDS Organizations Meet in SF to Protest Governor Schwarzenegger's Budget Cuts | People with Disabilities Arrested While Protesting State Budget Cuts in SF | SF Mayor Gavin Newsom Hides From Tenants Seeking Renter's Relief Measures

On October 11th, Palestinian and Jewish LGBT/queer activists held a protest against promoting LGBT tourism to Israel in front of the Tel Aviv gay center. The protesters intercepted a group of travel agents and other guests attending a conference that took place inside the gay center. The conference was organized by various Israeli institutes and International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA).

While entering, the guests went by the protesters, who were wearing T-shirts that read "Queers Visit Palestine, Not The Occupiers & Oppressors". Some of the protesters faces were covered with dirt, contrasting the concept of a "tourist attraction," putting themselves on display, not as shining examples of gay Israeli privilege but as wounded dirty queers, embodying the ugly side of the occupation being masked by the gay tourism initiative.

Haneen, one of the protesters said: "These conferences are trying to create an aesthetic facade that everything is rosy, when minutes from here there is poverty, exploitation, discrimination and occupation. We are against an event that bluntly deny and hide the dirt of our realities. It is our duty as queers not to overlook the oppression of others and to engage in their struggles".

"At a time when Israel still holds Gaza under siege, controls, segregates and divides the West Bank - there is no place for a 'business as usual' attitude", added Ayala Shani.

Read more

Queer Activists Disrupt StandWithUs I-Pride, Refuse to be a Propaganda Tool for Israel | Gavin Newsom and Zionist Contingents Confronted During 2009 SF Pride Parade

On August 23rd, Cynthia McKinney, former US Congresswoman and member of the Free Gaza movement, gave a talk at the San Francisco Lunacy Theater. The event was part of a Bay Area benefit tour for the San Francisco Bay View Newspaper, an independent monthly that covers a variety of local and international stories. She also spoke in Oakland at the Grand Lake Theater and the Black Dot Cafe, Sonoma, and El Cerrito. Her speaking tour follows her recent expedition on a boat delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza under siege.

“Gaza lives,” McKinney said. “The people are vibrant and alive despite F-16 bombings, deformed children, depleted uranium. I didn’t think about what could happen to me before going. I’ve been involved in life-threatening political activity for some time, so when I got the call I didn’t think about my safety. Operation Cast Lead sickened me. I just went, and I’m so happy I did, even when my boat was rammed and I was kidnapped by the Israelis. They took us to Israel and then charged us with illegal entry! I spent seven days in prison with Ethiopian immigrants facing similar charges. Meanwhile, the Congress and White House said nothing. We had a boatload of $500,000 worth of trucks, cars, medical supplies for Gaza, but Egypt denied entry. They’re still sitting in the port right now.”

She spoke of the “two Americas” --one inhabited by the wealthy elite and the other the impoverished majority, and urged Americans to cultivate a stronger resistance movement in order to respond to political corruption and election fraud. She cited the Haitian uprising against the kidnapping of democratically elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide as well as the social unrest in Mexico City following 2006 election as model examples of mobilization for the United States. Read more

Interview with former presidential candidate and former congresswoman Cynthia McKinney | FREE GAZA 21 UPDATE - Cynthia McKinney, prisoner 88794, speaks from Israeli jail | Cynthia McKinney, the Israeli Navy, and $4 billion worth of natural gas off Gaza

After being pulled over for a "routine traffic stop" in Albany, Michael and Stephanie Williams report that they were brutalized by the Albany police department on June 5th in front of their children. Michael was tasered multiple times and Stephanie was searched under her clothing by a male officer. Both parents were arrested, while their crying children were picked up by their grandmother. The family spoke about their ordeal at the Uhuru House in East Oakland on June 14th.

A rally was held at the Albany City Council meeting on August 5th in support of the Williams family. Supporters demanded that charges filed against Michael Williams be dropped and that the Albany police department fire officers Michael H. Gibson, Thomas E. Dolter, and Donald J. Maiden.

Michael Williams has a preliminary hearing in Alameda County on Monday, August 10th, for charges related to the Albany police claim that he threatened them. Activists are asking supporters to pack the court room to demand charges be dropped.

Read more with audio | Rally announcement | Uhuru News video