r/socialjustice101

Sharing an update on efforts to introduce a statewide open movie caption bill in New York State. NYC already has a law, but this would expand it statewide.

HLAA-NYS has been in contact with the legislature and was told in March that multiple Senators had expressed interest in sponsoring the 2026 bill, and that a lead sponsor would likely be determined soon probably before the end of March.

The message below is from Jerry Bergman, Director of the Advocacy Committee for the Hearing Loss Association of New York State:

Friends,

For over three months and counting, the New York State Legislature has failed to assign a lead Senate  sponsor to the Open Movie Caption Bill.  It’s pretty outrageous that cinema chains are allowed to continue to discriminate against deaf and hard of hearing moviegoers by making them obtain closed caption devices when they could easily and at no cost provide a few open captioned movie showtimes.

But here’s a bit of good news:  On April 6, Virginia Governor Spanberger signed OCAP bill HB 602 into law, to take effect on July 1 and make Virginia the 6th jurisdiction — following Hawaii, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Washington State and New York City — to require cinemas to give equal treatment to deaf and hard of hearing people.

If you live in New York State and care about this failure of our lawmakers to do the right thing, please call and write to your elected state senator and demand that the legislature act.

Jerry Bergman,

Director, Advocacy Committee

Hearing Loss Association of New York State

Check out: MartyrsDay.us

On July 5, remember the slain American protesters who died trying to make this nation better. They are American martyrs. Say their names. Join our movement. Make history. July 5. America’s first Martyrs Day.

Link: MartyrsDay.us

There was a survey response on what others considered to be SA. Of those polled, 13% said that the scenario of  “Sage and Taylor have been in a relationship for two years. Sage asks Taylor for sex, who doesn't really feel like it. But Taylor wants to make Sage happy, and has sex with Sage anyway.” was SA.

I was shocked. I thought having sex to make your partner happy/offering sex was normal. I do it all the time. I don’t feel coerced, I just use my body to make my partner feel good in that moment.

But on a queer centric sub, quite a few people still felt this was SA.

I know non-sexual ace people who have sexual relations with their partners to make them feel good who don’t seem upset by this. One person stated that even with consent, it’s still SA, because it’s not enthusiastic. This was a highly upvoted comment.

Have I been understanding consent poorly?

Children on reserve are growing up in toxic homes filled with mould, mycotoxins, and pests, a preventable health emergency the federal government has known about for over 30 years.

I just released a presentation that explains the toxic cycle (mould + bed bugs + cockroaches + failed chemical remediation) and presents a patented, chemical-free, Indigenous-led solution that cleans homes in one day, creates real jobs, and gives Nations ownership.

The full 29-minute video is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN\_9Mo0itQ4

I would genuinely appreciate comments and shares. This affects real families and communities.

Have you come across stories about workers in Pakistan who are stuck in debt for years — sometimes their entire lives?

A lot of them work in brick kilns, and the debt doesn’t just go away. It actually grows over time, and when someone dies, it can pass down to their kids. So people are basically born into it.

What will shock you is that some workers end up selling their kidneys just to try and pay it off. Not because they want to, but because they feel like there’s no other way out.

And even then… it doesn’t really fix anything. The debt often stays.

Cases of organ trafficking or extreme exploitation are often looked at as something rare or hidden. But this seems way more normalized in certain systems.

Organ trafficking is a crime and governments must step up to tighten their laws to protect the vulnerable workers.