Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for Transgender and Gender Expansive Health released a study in the journal Annals of Plastic Surgery on November 1. They reviewed over 2,300 cases of chest masculinization surgery (top surgery) performed in the U.S. between 2012 and 2020. The researchers found no correlation between a patient’s BMI and whether the person develops severe post-surgical complications, even though that measurement is frequently used to determine whether a surgery will be approved or denied. The authors of the study recommend “re-evaluation of BMI cutoffs” and say “When you look at the data and you look at complications resulting from top surgery, BMI really doesn’t factor into it much at all,” Despite this Both major providers of chest masculinization surgery in Denver, CO Denver Health and UCHealth will often not even take referrals for people with a BMI over 40. My primary care doctor told me that there was no point in her ever referring me because they will just deny the referral. These two hospitals are the only places in the entire state of Colorado that I could find who take Medicaid for chest masculinization surgery as well which leads to more denials for poor and disabled trans people. Please consider signing and sharing this petition so that more trans people of Denver have access to the gender affirming care they need!

Netflix’s newest price increase follows its unpopular and restrictive policy change regarding password sharing, requiring customers to pay an extra $7.99 to share their password with someone outside of their household. Netflix needs to know that consumers have the power—and we're not going to allow them get rich while they slash services and raise costs. The reality is, when one streaming giant like Netflix raises its prices, the others often follow. Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV+, Discovery+, and AMC+ are also raising prices on some of their monthly subscriptions. It’s unacceptable. Over the years, many people have ended their traditional cable TV contracts and migrated to streaming services, but the price hikes on these services are quickly becoming unsustainable. Netflix must stop the price hikes, NOW. Netflix is implementing a price hike despite anticipating 5 BILLION dollars in free cash flow, partly due to writers and actors going on strike because Netflix and other streaming giants were refusing to offer them a fair contract. So essentially, writers and actors with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) went months without work or pay while Netflix got richer. It’s corporate greed on the backs of writers, actors, production staff, and Netflix subscribers, plain and simple. It must end. The massive wealth inequality that we see between the ultrawealthy and everyday working people is reflected in the entertainment industry too. Streaming companies like Netflix make BILLIONS of dollars in corporate profits each year and pay top executives hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars combined, while exploiting writers, actors, production staff, and streaming subscribers. This is one of the many reasons why we have to come together to stop these price hikes. Add your name to the petition, and then send it to three friends to spread the word!

This will allow for a safe mode for transport in our neighborhood. Additionally paved roads offer a smoother transportation, reducing wear and tear on vehicles. They enhance accessibility, fostering economic development and connecting communities. Paved surfaces minimize dust, improving air quality, and facilitate efficient drainage, reducing water-related issues. Overall, they contribute to a more organized and reliable transportation infrastructure.

Paxlovid saves lives. And Pfizer is jacking up its price. Pfizer just announced it’s going to nearly triple the price of the antiviral COVID drug that can help reduce symptoms, prevent hospitalizations, and save lives.1 Pfizer executives are prioritizing profits over patients. This is Big Pharma greed, plain and simple. Pfizer’s CEO doesn’t need any more millions — he made $33 million in 2022,2 while so many Americans struggle to pay for the prescription drugs they need to survive. We must let President Biden know this is unacceptable. Sign the petition: Tell President Biden to stop the corporate profiteering off of COVID treatments by guaranteeing access to all Americans. Paxlovid costs $13 to make. Pfizer is going to sell it for $1,400.3 That’s a 10,000% price markup. Drug corporations are making massive profits on medicine people need to survive. Pfizer became the first ever Pharma company to bring in $100 billion in revenue. That’s right, $100 billion.4 While everyday Americans are struggling to afford medications, Pfizer executives are getting richer and richer. Big Pharma will always want to maximize profits. Big Pharma executives will always want fat bonuses. That's why President Biden must step in. Add your name: Stop this outrageous Paxlovid increase, end Big Pharma greed! Sources: MSNBC, “The estimated production cost of Paxlovid: $13. Its new list price: $1400,” October 23, 2023. Fierce Pharma, “Coming and going paid off for biopharma CEOs in 2022,” July 27, 2023. MSNBC, “The estimated production cost of Paxlovid: $13. Its new list price: $1400,” October 23, 2023. Fierce Pharma, “Coming and going paid off for biopharma CEOs in 2022,” July 27, 2023.

Help us drive positive change in the AMGA by requestion long overdue changes to the By-Laws which will help create a more equitable distribution of influence and power on the Board of directors.

In September, the Department of Labor (DOL) proposed new regulations for the H-2A guest worker program that would reduce abuse, exploitation and trafficking of farm workers. Transparency and accountability in the H-2A program will in turn improve the wages and working conditions of US workers. The 327 pages of complex regulations by the Biden administration would improve the lives of the hard working men and women who harvest our food and reflect the recommendations that the farm worker movement have been making for years. The public comment period will be open until November 14th. Please help us do all we can to make sure these changed regulations go into effect by sending your email to make sure the final regulations are as strong as possible and improve workers' conditions, wages, and ability to organize. The proposed DOL regulations would improve conditions for H-2A farm workers by: * Strengthening workers' right to advocate, form a union & have key services in employer-provided housing * Protecting workers from unjust firing, retaliation, and other violations by employers * Prohibiting employers from confiscating travel documents to prevent human trafficking * Targeting unlawful fees, fraud, and other abuse in the recruitment and hiring of workers These changes are urgently needed. Just last year, a federal investigation uncovered how H-2A employers ran a human trafficking ring, described by prosecutors as "modern day slavery" in Florida, Texas, and Georgia. In Utah, the former President of the Utah Farm Bureau is now subject to a human trafficking investigation after physically assaulting H-2A workers on his farm. Wage theft, abuse and exploitation are commonplace in the H-2A program and displace US workers while employers profit. This can't keep happening. The current system is broken and oversight is urgently needed and the regulations must be changed. Take action to send us your comments, add a personalized comment on the box on the share page and we can submit them en masse and save you the difficulty of navigating through the government website.

Small chocolate companies are not able to compete against the prices of big chocolate corporations that use child slavery. Since the farm labor is unpaid, and all the wages, just go to the CEOs, it’s no wonder why it’s important to compete against companies like them. However, they have normalized child-slavery in cocoa in West Africa for over 120 years or eight generations. So it’s time for the normality of child slavery in cocoa to become a shocking occurrence, or not happen at all, instead. No competition can happen that’s fair while some employees are (forced into) working for free. Chocolate is an unfair market and there’s no way to compete and no way to enter. New companies would almost have to use cocoa produced by child slavery to have prices near the same as big chocolate corporations. Chocolate companies deserve to be able to compete with Big Chocolate corporations. It’s not fair that they’ve destroyed competition, through the deliberate use of child slavery. And, of course, keeping it all hidden.

As the whole world grapples with the escalated violence in Israel and Palestine, the Israeli government has stopped all food, fuel, water, electricity, and humanitarian assistance from entering Gaza, which has already had devastating impacts on over 2 million people, half of whom are children. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees just announced that “Gaza is running dry,” and hospitals in Gaza reported that their backup generators would run out of fuel last night, cutting off life support and vital systems. This action has exacerbated the existing humanitarian crisis caused by the Israeli government's air, land, and sea blockade, and will likely result in catastrophic loss of life if continued. Nearly half of Gaza is under the age of 16, and 65% under the age of 25, effectively meaning that Palestinian children are bearing the brunt of the Israeli government's collective punishment. It’s unacceptable, inhumane, unjust, collective punishment, and is also a violation of international law. It must end now. President Biden and our leaders must publicly call for an immediate ceasefire and deescalation, demand the protection of all civilians including securing the release of hostages, and tell the Israeli government to turn on electricity in Gaza and to allow humanitarian aid for Palestinians to enter! While the Biden administration is close to an aid agreement with Israeli government officials to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and establish ‘safe zones,’ there is still no action or plan in place. The United Nations and aid organizations are sounding an alarm that conditions in Gaza are dire right now. There is no time to spare. A military response from Israel will not secure the safety of those currently hostage or trapped, some of whom are Americans, and instead punishes a generation of young Palestinians living in Gaza. Netanyahu, facing mounting pressure and polling the lowest among Israeli voters, has led decades of policies that have resulted in no more peace or safety for Israelis. The Biden administration must call for a ceasefire and urge Netanyahu to do everything in his power to reunite hostages with their loved ones without putting more lives in danger. Israelis and Palestinians must not be bargaining chips, and their lives must be protected through diplomacy and new solutions. The Israeli government is preparing a massive ground invasion of Gaza as you read this, and they have already been targeting and bombing civilians in their attacks, which is an egregious violation of international law. This comes as the Israeli government dropped tens of thousands of leaflets from the sky to issue an evacuation order to Gazans living in the northern Gaza Strip, telling 1.1 million Palestinian residents to evacuate south within 24 hours, which the UN said would be impossible without devastating humanitarian consequences. Then, despite naming which routes would be safe for evacuation, the Israeli government bombed Palestinians evacuating. Humanity and millions human lives are at stake here. We must collectively act now to stop loss of life. United States leaders have the massive power to step in and stop it. And the time is NOW to come together and demand it end. The people of Palestine and Israel deserve to live their lives without fear of violence and mass death. Will you join in solidarity and sign the petition?

Over an average of 800,000 people tune in to MSNBC’s prime news every day. It is unacceptable for a trusted news source to sideline, silence, or censor their Muslim broadcasters. And because the area of expertise of Ayman Mohyeldin, Ali Velshi, and Mehdi Hasan are related to the unfolding crisis, this blatant discrimination against MSNBC broadcasters affects the public’s ability to access fair and balanced reporting. Bias in media coverage on Muslims and Muslim Americans is well-documented and researched—and that bias can perpetuate and exacerbate existing stereotypes and discrimination against Muslims in our country. Both Jews and Muslims are often the targets of religiously-motivated hate crimes in the U.S., making the need for fair and balanced media reporting even more dire. Over an average of 800,000 people tune in to MSNBC’s prime news every day. It is unacceptable for a trusted news source to sideline, silence, or censor Muslim broadcasters. And because the areas of expertise of Ayman Mohyeldin, Ali Velshi, and Mehdi Hasan are related to the unfolding crisis, any silencing has a direct affect on the public’s ability to access fair and balanced reporting. Bias in media coverage on Muslims and Muslim Americans is well-documented and researched—and that bias can perpetuate and exacerbate existing stereotypes and discrimination against Muslims in our country. Both Jews and Muslims are often the targets of religiously-motivated hate crimes in the U.S., making the need for fair and balanced media reporting even more dire. MSNBC values their reputation for having journalists who bring diverse backgrounds to news production and news coverage. Journalism and news media have an immense amount of public influence, and that’s why networks should take their responsibility seriously and be held to high standards of ethics. We’re calling on MSNBC to live into their values, affirm their commitment to fair and unbiased reporting, and commit to amplifying the voices of their Muslim hosts!

I support the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Associations letter of comment that states: "Commercial lobstering is one of the most historic and iconic fisheries, employs thousands of people and now more than ever, the commercial lobstermen of the Commonwealth need your help to survive. Over the last several years the commercial lobstermen, here in the Commonwealth, have been at the forefront of conservation for Right Whales. Over 11,000 square miles of closed waters and with no State waters left open in February, March, April up until May 15th. These closed months are not the only time commercial lobstermen are restricted from earning a living because it takes them one month to set gear and one month to remove that same gear. This extends the loss of lobster harvesting to five months. 750 active commercial lobstermen in Massachusetts landed 14,608,443 pounds of American Lobster with an ex-vessel value of $81,793,467 in 2022. Given that the cost of doing business today has increased an estimated 300% and, the average price per pound in 2022 was comparable to the price received in the 1990’s. Established in 1963, the MLA is a member-driven organization that accepts and supports the interdependence of species conservation and the members’ collective economic interests. The MLA continues to work conscientiously through the management process with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), Atlantic States Marine Fisheries, New England Fisheries Management Council, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration to ensure the continued sustainability and profitability of the resources in which our fishermen are engaged in. This Act will establish a program that will be administered by the Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA). This program would be a similar program to the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. The MLA will be available to assist and answer any questions with this program in anyway possible to ensure the programs success. The MLA does not see this Act relative to lobstering closure mitigation as a forever fund. This Act is meant to help those commercial lobstermen who are not yet incorporated to, become incorporated. The MLA will work with commercial lobstermen over a three-year period to become incorporated through a series of seminars once the Act is passed. Now, more than ever the commercial lobstermen of the Commonwealth need the passage of S552 An Act relative to lobstering closure mitigation. The passage of this Act is an investment in the survival of the survival of the commercial lobster fishery to ensure it will be here for generations to come."

No one should have to bury their loved ones because of someone else’s lack of concern.

Housing can be a particularly cruel method of racial oppression and Home Owner Associations (HOAs) are often the tool. Green Valley Ranch HOA -- and many other HOAs -- have far too much power over residents and are motivated entirely by profit, often on the backs of low income people of color looking for the American dream of owning their first home. HOAs should never restrict anybody's right to shelter. Nowhere is this more clear than in Denver at the Green Valley Ranch properties. We can stop Green Valley Ranch and other HOAs by joining together and making change on the local, state and national level. The Redress Movement works in deep partnership with local communities to repair the harm caused by intentional policies to segregate communities and we do our work by educating, mobilizing, shifting the narrative, and winning redress victories. Our starting point is housing but we work in solidarity with others who are facing the facts of history, redressing harms of the past, and healing our nation by dismantling the barriers that divide us.