Metro Weekly magazine — 2019-10-31 edition (PDF)
By Metro Weekly Contributor
on
October 31, 2019
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America's first female astronaut to be launched into space, Dr. Sally Ride withstood the pressures of being first, including untold amounts of ignorant, sexist hostility and public scrutiny. She understood the risks and responsibility that rested on her confident shoulders. And Sally, a new National Geographic documentary, recounts much of her experience in unflinching detail.
Director Cristina Costantini (Science Fair) dives right into the whirlwind of press and public hoopla that accompanied the buildup to, then glowing success of Ride's first launch in 1983, aboard the space shuttle Challenger.
The Israeli city of Tel Aviv canceled its Pride festivities -- including the Pride parade -- that had been scheduled for the past weekend, citing concerns over potential retaliation against Israel for air strikes on Iranian nuclear and military targets that began on June 13.
The air strikes, part of Operation Rising Lion, involved 200 Israeli fighter jets targeting nearly 100 locations across Iran, including nuclear enrichment facilities and the presumed hiding places of Iranian military leaders.
The U.N. Human Rights Council has voted to extend the mandate of its LGBT rights expert, ensuring continued global oversight of anti-LGBTQ human rights violations for another three years.
Under the mandate, the U.N.'s Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity is tasked with identifying the root causes of anti-LGBTQ violence and discrimination, and advising U.N. member states on how to better protect LGBTQ communities.
The current independent expert, South African scholar Graeme Reid, will continue in the role for another three years. Reid is the third person to hold the position since it was established in 2016.
