WaPo: “If people didn’t want to be gay, he thought, God could transform them. Danny had read accounts of conversion therapy, and he believed that it could work. But by 2014 he’d begun to notice that it hadn’t worked for any of the gay people he actually knew. One afternoon he went out for coffee…

WaPo: “The Louisiana House on Tuesday passed a bill that classifies the two drugs used to induce an abortion as “controlled dangerous substances.” Abortion opponents hope the measure, now on its way to Gov. Jeff Landry, will be a template for conservative states trying to end the procedure. The bill passed 64-29 after more than an hour…

NC Newsline: “Individuals and law firms making false claims of fraudulent voting cannot be sued for defamation,  the NC Supreme Court ruled Thursday.  The state Supreme Court’s five Republican justices ruled unanimously that people and entities bringing election protests enjoy “absolute privilege” that protects them from defamation lawsuits.  The case stems from false claims of…

Reuters: “U.S. workers at a Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE), opens new tab plant in Alabama handed a stinging loss to the United Auto Workers on Friday, rejecting the union in a vote it had expected would build on a win at a Tennessee Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), opens new tab plant and push it deeper into the U.S. South. It marked the first…

ATL Journal-Constitution: “President Joe Biden gave a high-stakes commencement speech to hundreds of young Black men at Morehouse College on Sunday, delivering a direct address to the constituency his campaign worries is shifting against him as he runs for reelection against former President Donald Trump. The Democrat focused parts of his speech laying out the…

TX Tribune: “Protests have been a century-long tradition at UT-Austin, and The Daily Texan, the student-operated university newspaper, has faithfully covered and recorded these significant historical events. UT-Austin President Jay Hartzell, in an op-ed following the protests, defended the university’s response and also acknowledged the university’s long, proud history of protest. He recognized the campus…

KUT News: “Pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched near the Texas Capitol on Sunday after the Texas Department of Public Safety announced the grounds would be closed through at least Monday to ensure the safety of “persons and property within the complex.” In a statement, organizers from the Palestinian Youth Movement called the closure an “instance to repress…

NC Newsline: “Despite strong opposition, the North Carolina Senate voted this month to boost enrollment in privately run K-12 schools by doubling state funding for tuition subsidies called “opportunity scholarships.” More than $200 million is earmarked for kids in high-income families.  Why would Republican leaders do this now when polls show voters oppose subsidies for the rich? And when public schools…

WaPo: “Not content to prevent women from obtaining abortions in his own state, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is doing his best to prevent them from traveling to states where the procedure remains legal. Fortunately, a federal judge just ruled that the Constitution won’t let him. Unfortunately, we might have more of this kind of zealotry…

ABC9: “A new bill filed by a Tennessee congressman would revoke the visa of individuals arrested while rioting or participating in an unlawful protest at a college or university. Tennessee U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-5) filed H.R. 8322 in Congress last week, otherwise known as the Study Abroad Act. The bill calls on the Secretary of State…