Spring has sprung here at the University of Oregon. But has it really? It looks pretty much the same from under the hood of my rain jacket.
Here’s some of the news you may have missed while enjoying all that syllabus week has to offer. EI quarters, taco Tuesday, dollar beers, drink wheel, etc.
Controversy over Indiana’s new religious freedom law
With the exception of the last season of Parks and Recreation I haven’t paid much attention to the state of Indiana lately. That changed recently with Indiana’s new Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Many opponents of the law say that it would allow business owners to legally discriminate against members of the LBGT community.
Tons of companies like Apple, Nascar, the NCAA, Twitter and more have publicly come out against the legislation signed into law by the Indiana governor, Mike Pence, last week. Not to mention that Wilco canceled its upcoming show. The band tweeted, “We’re canceling our 5/7 show in Indianapolis. Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act feels like thinly disguised legal discrimination.”
On March 31, Pence said that he plans to modify the law.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that it would be helpful to move legislation this week that makes it clear that this law does not give businesses the right to discriminate against anyone,” Pence said in a press conference.
Thursday Pence signed a new measure to ‘fix’ the religious freedom restoration act.
Indiana is getting tons of attention for the new law, but it’s not the only state with controversial religious freedom laws. The New York Times reported that 20 states around the country have similar religious freedom laws, 12 states introduced religious freedom legislation this year.
International Transgender Day of Visibility
March 31 was the International Transgender Day of Visibility. The event was founded in 2009 by Rachel Crandall, a transgender activist at Michigan State University. The event aims to celebrate trans individuals, largely through social media.
Trevor Noah to host the Daily Show, and some twitter controversy
Monday, Comedy Central announced that Trevor Noah will replace Jon Stewart as the host of the Daily Show. The internet has been buzzing about Noah ever since. Many congratulated the South African comedian, some lamented that Comedy Central didn’t hire a woman and many took issue with his past tweets.
A few tweets about Jews and women are sprinkled throughout Noah’s twitter feed. Tweets like, “South Africans know how to recycle like Israel knows how to be peaceful,” in 2010 and “Oh yeah the weekend. People are gonna get drunk & think that I’m sexy!” — fat chicks everywhere,” in 2011.
Tuesday, Noah tweeted, “to reduce my views to a handful of jokes that didn’t land is not a true reflection of my character, nor my evolution as a comedian.”
Comedy Central issued a statement in support of Noah, on March 31.
Many comedians like Patton Oswalt came to Noah’s defense with a 53 tweet satirical thread that addressed being politically correct on Twitter.
Where was Avril?
The world finally has an answer to the question we’ve all been asking, where is Avril Lavigne?
This week Lavigne was on the cover of People magazine talking about her recent experience with Lyme disease. The singer said that she was bedridden for 5 months.