feminist news round-up 15.06.13

15 June 2013

Amy Nicholls-Diver

Image of Danielle Powell via HuffPost

Woman kicked out of uni for being gay now owes college thousands of dollars

Danielle Powell was kicked out of her university after officials found out she was dating a woman. Her scholarship to Grace University in the US was also withdrawn as a result of the judicial board hearing that forced her expulsion. Now the college is demanding she pays over $6000 for the semester she partially attended, threatening to withhold her academic transcript until she pays. Her wife, Michelle Rogers, has started a change.org petition that has received more than 37,000 ‘signatures’ asking Grace waive the debt.

Radio DJ harasses PM over partner’s sexuality

Julia Gillard has once again been subjected to inane and personal public questioning this week as radio DJ Howard Sattler questioned her partner’s sexuality based on his profession as a hairdresser. Sattler pressed Gillard on the specifics of her relationship, including the prospect of marriage. The interview was widely condemned and Sattler was later sacked. Many commentators have speculated that a male PM would not be probed on personal matters, and Gillard later said she hoped women would not be deterred from entering politics because of the risk of such scrutiny.

British man calls emergency services because sex worker is not hot enough

Emergency services in the UK received a call from an indignant man wishing to report a sex worker for ‘breaching the Sale of Goods Act’. He has received a warning from police for wasting police time and soliciting sex. “The caller claimed that the woman had made out she was better looking than she actually was and he wished to report her for breaching the Sale of Goods Act,” a spokesperson for the force said.