One of the perpetrators' friends commented online that "the song of the night" was Nirvana's "Rape Me." The same year, high school football players in Steubenville, Ohio raped an unconscious 16-year old girl at a party and used social media to share images of the assault. In 2012, just a year after the CDC's findings that 1 in 5 American women had been raped, several Republican candidates used their campaigns to share their views on the subject -ranging from Richard Mourdock's claim that rape reflected the will of God to attempts by Congressmen Todd Akin and Ron Paul to clarify which instances of sexual violence they believed constituted "legitimate" and "honest" rape. Twenty years later, however, America's culture wars remain very much alive, and boastful opposition to so-called "political correctness" is used to justify intolerance and oppression in many forms. Indeed, from the growing popularity of countercultural music (both "alternative" rock and hip-hop) to the rise of the global justice movement, the 1990s seemed to offer a youth-led counterbalance to the racism, sexism, and homophobia that swept Ronald Reagan and George H.W. They will hide that Nirvana was a band of rebels.Ī year before his death in 1994, Kurt Cobain expressed hope that his generation could reject the "Reaganite bullshit" that was forced upon them during their childhoods. These tabloid narratives will overshadow Nirvana's political and cultural significance. Echoing the tired, sexist tropes of "John and Yoko" and "Sid and Nancy," many will also associate Cobain's downfall with his wife, Courtney Love. In recognition of that anniversary, a host of retrospectives will recognize both the raw potency of Cobain's songwriting and the tragedy of his heroin use and suicide. Several were young transgender children and their parents, who said they pulled the kids out of school for the trip to Jefferson City.This April marks twenty years since the death of Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain, one of the most iconic cultural figures of the late 20th century. So many showed up to testify that the three-and-a-half hour hearing had to be split into two halves. “I think this is bad for children and I will fight for that,” Pollock said. “You’re essentially stepping in the way of the parent, the child and their doctor in saying that we, the state, know better,” said Rep. Pollock said the medications are dangerous and that youth who undergo treatment have regrets, claims that her opponents disputed. It’s backed by the religious conservative group Concerned Women for America, and the American College of Pediatrics, an organization that supports conversation therapy for gay teenagers. The bill is opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union and PROMO, the state’s LGBT advocacy group and medical associations including the American Academy of Pediatrics. It’s generated hundreds of pages of testimony. Instead, they may receive treatments that delay the onset of puberty while youth determine whether they want to pursue longer-term treatments including hormone therapy. In general, surgery is not sought for prepubescent children who are thinking about transitioning.
Missouri clinics that treat transgender youth follow standards set by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, which bars gender reassignment surgery on children to treat gender dysphoria, the feeling of unease when one’s gender identity does not match one’s body. An identical bill had a hearing the same day in the Senate. That includes puberty blockers like DeMichieli’s treatments, hormone therapy and surgeries. The bill DeMichieli testified against last week in the House Children and Families Committee would make any transition-related medical treatments illegal for minors. The Missouri State High School Activities Association currently allows transgender boys undergoing testosterone treatment to compete on boys’ teams, and transgender girls to compete on girls’ teams after documenting one year of treatments that suppress testosterone. The sports bill, passed by one House committee last week and awaiting a vote in another, proposes a constitutional amendment requiring students to play sports on teams based on their sex assigned at birth.