Even if the Kentucky GOP is right and this is what loses Beshear the election, it it was clearly the right thing to do. I want Beshear to stay in office, but I don’t know if I could vote for him if he didn’t resist the queerphobia coming out of the General Assembly. Shame on our legislature for passing this bill—and for so clearly acknowledging here that it’s to score political points at the expense of Kentucky children.

Over the past several months, the University of Kentucky has been pushing us to set up profiles on a new research analytics platform. The platform looks… fine, but I’ve been irritated with some of how the platform works and curious why UK is so keen on having us fill out our profiles. It’s felt from the beginning like this is something more for UK’s benefit than for our individual benefits as faculty.

Grumpy about this this morning. link to ‘KY lawmakers reverse vote, give politicians control of libraries | Lexington Herald Leader’

Wish that I’d been paying better attention to this legislation. Libraries are pillars of our communities and ought to retain partisan independence. link to ‘KY libraries worried by bill giving politicians control over them | Lexington Herald Leader’

Worries about this picking up. General Assembly took steps in a bad direction this session, but they could go further next time. link to ‘LGBTQ biases led to uproar after board message, KY teacher says | Lexington Herald Leader’

I have spent a few hours this week reading violently anti-trans posts as part of a research project. My patience for queerphobic dog whistles disguised as feigned concerns about girls’ sports is at zero. So disappointed in the Kentucky legislature. link to ‘LGBTQ advocates raise alarm against trans attacks in Ky. legislature – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’

I do not always have praise for the local Republican supermajority, but I’m glad to see this goes beyond Ukraine to provide support for all kinds of refugees. Tentative optimism here. link to ‘Kentucky lawmakers advance bill to resettle war refugees | Lexington Herald Leader’

Textbook example of why it is never enough to say you didn’t mean any harm. This is shameful and gross. link to ‘Ky. lawmaker apologizes for comments about Jewish women during abortion debate | Lexington Herald Leader’

Tremendously worrying stuff. Taxes are the price we pay for democratic society. link to ‘House Introduces Tax Bill that Would Devastate Kentucky’s Budget for a Giveaway to the Wealthy - Kentucky Center for Economic Policy’

Amazon already has too big a footprint here. Don’t feel great about this. link to ‘KY lawmakers advance data center tax incentives to woo tech giants | Lexington Herald Leader’

Disappointed to see more legislation like this under consideration. link to ‘Ky. Republicans advance another bill banning trans girls from girls sports – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’

Glad to hear this—and glad my state rep seems to me a voice of reason here. link to ‘Proposed tax break for private airplanes stalls in KY House | Lexington Herald Leader’

Nope nope nope. link to ‘Ky. lawmakers resurrect bill to make it illegal to insult police, boost penalties for ‘rioting’ – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’

Supermajority is not enough for some folks, it seems. link to ‘Republicans limit debate on first day of Ky. legislative session – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’

Emailed my Kentucky General Assembly representative this morning to express concern about a bill and got a personal answer back by afternoon. Way better than responses I get from US House/Senate.