Latest news with #discrimination
Russia Today
19 hours ago
- General
- Russia Today
US women's-only spa barred from excluding transwomen with penises
A federal appeals court has obliged a Korean spa in Lynnwood, Washington to provide services to transgender females. The beauty parlor had attempted to bar transwomen who have not undergone gender-affirming surgery from entering its ladies-only facilities. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday, in a 2–1 vote, that Olympus Spa must change its admissions policy to comply with the anti-discrimination law. The court found that the spa's owners were not being deprived of their First Amendment rights, such as the right to free exercise of religion, freedom of speech and right of association, by the State of Washington's requirement. Olympus Spa, which operates two locations in the state, is a traditional Korean bathhouse offering massages, body scrubs, and hot tubs that require full nudity. In 2020, the Washington State Human Rights Commission filed a complaint after a transgender woman—who had not undergone genital surgery—was denied entry. The Commission argued that the spa's ladies-only policy violated the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD), which prohibits discrimination in public accommodations based on gender identity and gender expression. In response, Olympus Spa filed a lawsuit claiming the state was violating the owners' constitutional rights to freedom of religion, speech, and association. The spa, run by a Christian Korean-American family, cited religious and cultural beliefs in opposing the inclusion of individuals with male genitalia in female-only spaces where nudity is required. 'The family-run business is owned by Korean Christians who hold sincere faith-based convictions against allowing persons whose genitals are external (males) to be present with persons whose genitals are internal (females) while in a state of partial or full undress if such persons are not married to one another,' the complaint stated. However, the Ninth Circuit ruled that enforcement of the state law does not violate the First Amendment. Writing for the majority, Judge Margaret McKeown said that providing a Korean body scrub or massage does not constitute protected expressive conduct. She added that accepting the spa's argument would essentially make every gym or massage parlor exempt from nondiscrimination laws. The ruling comes amid broader national debates on transgender rights. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump reversed several protections for trans individuals, ending federal support for child sexual mutilation procedures for minors and issuing executive orders banning transwomen from women's sports and removing 'radical gender ideology' from the military.
Washington Post
21 hours ago
- General
- Washington Post
Discrimination cases unravel as Trump scraps core civil rights tenet
For decades, the federal government has used data analysis to ferret out race and sex discrimination, winning court cases and reaching settlements in housing, education, policing and across American life. Now the Trump administration is working to unwind those same cases. In recent weeks, the Justice Department backed out of an agreement with an Atlanta bank accused of systematically discouraging Black and Latino home buyers from applying for loans. The Education Department terminated an agreement with a South Dakota school district where Native American students were disciplined at higher rates than their White peers. And federal prosecutors have dropped several racial discrimination reform agreements involving state and local police departments — including that of Minneapolis, where George Floyd was murdered by an officer in 2020.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- General
- Daily Mail
KHADIJA KHAN: I don't approve of burning books, but the man on trial for setting fire to a Koran has a right to protest, whatever Islamists and their apologists say
Growing up in my native Pakistan, I came to the conclusion that Islam was discriminatory and misogynistic. It was a religion that had been weaponised to keep independent-thinking women like me, and anyone who opposes the fundamentalists, in their place by fear. I'd watched, appalled, at news footage of people being lynched in the street or burned alive for raising the questions about Islam I had privately asked myself.
Telegraph
a day ago
- Health
- Telegraph
NHS surgeon who compared Islam to Nazism struck off
An NHS surgeon, who claimed he had been discriminated against at work, has been struck off for anti-Islamic posts comparing the religion to Nazism. Dr Keyur Buch also shared a post on X that claimed '99.8 per cent of terrorists across the world are Muslims'. The surgeon, currently based in Ahmedabad, India, was initially suspended from the register for just four months over the 'racially and religiously hostile' posts. A review panel has now found that the surgeon had 'persistently failed' to show insight into his actions and decided to strike Dr Buch from the General Medical Council (GMC) register. The medical practitioners tribunal reviewing his case heard that Dr Buch qualified in India in 1987 before moving to the UK in 1995. He left the country in 2016 but has remained on the GMC register. In July 2022 he gave an interview to a UK-based Asian newspaper alleging that a colleague had once told him he would 'never hire a brown person' and that the NHS was 'institutionally racist'. 'Sanction of erasure' He was first reported for his 'hostile' posts in September 2022 by a fellow doctor and two members of the public, shortly after they were published. Dr Buch was initially suspended for four months following a hearing in 2023. The suspension was then extended by a further 12 months in April 2024. The review panel has now decided to strike Dr Buch off entirely, saying: 'A sanction of erasure was the only sanction that would address Dr Buch's persistent failure to demonstrate insight. 'The tribunal was satisfied that there was a lack of meaningful engagement from Dr Buch, and he had failed to demonstrate adequate development of insight or any remediation in the 16 months since he was suspended.' The 2023 hearing was told that the medical professional had made several inappropriate posts on an X account under the name 'Dr Keyur Buch | Consultant Orthopedic Surgeon'. In one of his posts he said: 'Just like Nazism and Communism, I5lam is a supremacist violent cult that needs to be got rid of because it harms Mu5lims and nonMus1ims alike.' Dr Buch also used the hashtag '#IslamIsTheProblem', linked 'Muslim schools' with 'Islamic terrorists' and referred to the Prophet Muhammad as 'MohMad'. In another post the surgeon claimed there was an 'invasion' of Pakistani Muslims on Hindus in the UK. 'Provoked' by riots Screenshots of his social media posts were sent to the GMC by a doctor and two members of the public who said they 'incited hate towards Muslims'. Dr Buch told the tribunal he 'acknowledged the upset and hurt caused' by his posts and claimed they were 'provoked' by the Leicester riots taking place at the time. He said the unrest between British Muslims and Hindus in the Midlands city, sparked by a cricket match, was 'personal' because a temple he used to visit in Leicester was attacked. He also said his account had been 'hacked' and the posts were written by others. The 2023 panel found the 'offensive nature' of the surgeon's statements had 'undermined' the integrity of doctors. They suggested he could assist future reviews by showing that he had taken steps to 'better understand' equality and diversity.
CNA
a day ago
- Business
- CNA
China displaces old foe Japan in South Koreans' minds ahead of vote
SEOUL: Shops selling steaming snacks line the streets of Seoul's Daerim neighbourhood, home to thousands of ethnic Chinese, some feeling the pressure from mounting anti-Beijing sentiment ahead of South Korea's election. China has displaced longtime foe and former colonial power Japan in many South Koreans' minds as the country's most distrusted neighbour in recent years. And ahead of Tuesday's (Jun 3) vote, anti-Chinese feeling has spread among South Koreans - online, at right-wing rallies and in Seoul's Chinatown. Many of the quarter's Chinese residents, such as 74-year-old Yu Shunzi, flocked to South Korea seeking economic opportunities in the 1990s and 2000s. "A lot of Koreans still think China is a very backward country and discriminate against Chinese a lot," she told AFP. Yu, who arrived in 2007 from the northeastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang, said the situation is so bad that she planned to move back when the economy allowed. "I want to go home, but with the exchange rate being this low, I'd lose a lot of money," she said. While former colonial master Japan has long had a difficult relationship with South Korea, Seoul's ties with China have increasingly come under the spotlight. In 2022, polling conducted by Hankook Research showed for the first time that South Koreans distrusted China more than they did Japan - a trend that has continued in recent years. "NO AFFINITY" TOWARDS CHINA Former leader Yoon Suk Yeol referred to vague allegations of Chinese spying when he tried to justify his declaration of martial law, which led to his ousting. Conspiracy theories have since run rampant among the South Korean right, fuelling the distrust. But analysts also say that a series of clashes between Beijing and Seoul in recent years over history, territory and defence are the deeper cause of the schism. "China's growing assertiveness is the main reason behind South Korea's negative views about the country," said Ramon Pacheco Pardo from King's College London. "Most South Koreans have no affinity towards today's China," the international relations professor told AFP. Seoul has long trodden a fine line between top trading partner China and defence guarantor the United States. Relations with China nosedived in 2016 following the South's decision to deploy the US-made THAAD missile defence system. Beijing saw it as a threat to its own security and reacted furiously, imposing a string of restrictions on South Korean businesses and banning group tours as part of sweeping economic retaliation. A series of public spats about the origins of Korean cultural staples such as kimchi, which China had claimed as its own, also left a bitter taste. Yoon's administration deepened that divide, cleaving close to the United States and seeking to improve ties with Japan. "Under his leadership, Seoul made its position unmistakably clear: it stood with Washington and its allies, not Beijing," Claudia Kim, assistant professor at City University of Hong Kong, told AFP. Opposition leader and election frontrunner Lee Jae-myung has publicly hinted that a softer line might be in the works if he wins. Beijing won't "miss the opportunity to improve relations with the South" if Lee wins, Cheong Seong-chang at Seoul's Sejong Institute told AFP, suggesting a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping could even take place. Lee has also raised alarm bells by saying that a future conflict between China and Taiwan would not be South Korea's concern. That could put him on a collision course with the administration of US President Donald Trump, which has made containing China a cornerstone of its bid to reshape the international order. "Trump's focus on deterring China may lead to a mismatch of foreign policy priorities with Lee," Edward Howell, a lecturer in politics at the University of Oxford, told AFP. FAKE NEWS THRIVES Compounding deepening distrust of China has been a surge of conspiracy theories. Analysis by AFP revealed many of the most widely-circulated pieces of misinformation tap into fears of meddling by China. Rallies in support of ex-president Yoon have featured calls to oust alleged "pro-Chinese Communist Party" forces, as well as posters with anti-Chinese slurs and slogans advocating for Chinese nationals to be deported. A recent editorial in Beijing's state-run nationalist tabloid Global Times condemned "far-right" forces in South Korea for "stirring up xenophobia" against Chinese people. In Seoul's Chinatown, Li Jinzi, 73, complained about a culture of "misinformation" that was breeding negative feelings towards her home country.
