The 19th

For a few years now, whether it’s been clear or not, gender has become a test to pass or fail. Since 2021 , at least 177 anti-transgender bills have become law in states across the country, according to the Trans Legislation Tracker. And as these bills continue to impact trans lives, we are all taking this new gender test. To understand how the anti-trans agenda could reshape all of our lives, our reporters have set out to examine how anti-trans laws are impacting the lives of Americans, whether or not they are trans. The goal of our reporting series is to connect the dots that will show how these laws, intended to target a small minority, are rewriting the future for all of us, and for generations to come. This is the toll of America’s anti-trans war.

Minyon Moore’s name has never been on a ballot. She’s not giving speeches to thousands of adoring voters chanting her name. She’s not running to be the nation’s commander in chief. But she helped pave a path for Vice President Kamala Harris to do all those things — and accept the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination at the upcoming Democratic National Convention.

Wildfire smoke is becoming a mental health stressor for pregnant people, and for low-income residents, information about smoke hazards — and solutions for how to protect themselves — can be out of reach. https://bit.ly/4dRRtbJ

Four years after police fatally shot 26-year-old Breonna Taylor in a raid of her home, a federal judge on Thursday dismissed felony charges against two former Louisville officers accused of using false information to obtain a “no-knock” search warrant that resulted in Taylor’s death. A U.S. district judge ruled that the “legal cause of Taylor’s death” was not the bad warrant, but her boyfriend’s decision to fire a shot at police after they used a battering ram to break down the door of her home around midnight on March 13, 2020. Former Louisville Police Detective Joshua Jaynes and former Sgt. Kyle Meany were among four officers charged in connection with the raid. Meany, Jaynes and another officer were not present during the shooting, but faced federal charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and civil rights violations for their role in coordinating to mislead the judge who approved the no-knock warrant. This week the judge wrote in his ruling that “there is no direct link between the warrantless entry and Taylor’s death.” He also kept a conspiracy charge against Jaynes and another charge against Meany, who is accused of making false statements to investigators. Taylor’s killing received national attention and called attention to the use of no-knock warrants. The very nature of surprise entering someone’s home — often late at night or early in the morning — heightens the risk of violence, experts say. Taylor’s case also reignited the #SayHerName movement’s calls for awareness about Black women victims of police brutality. In two other cases, members of law enforcement in Illinois and Ohio were recently charged in the shooting deaths of two Black mothers: 21-year-old Ta’Kiya Young and 36-year-old Sonya Massey. Nationwide, police officers are prosecuted in about 2 percent of fatal police shootings. ✍️: Candice Norwood, reporter 📸: Jon Cherry/Getty Images

The 2024 Paris Olympics marked the first year there was parity between men and women athletes. While the Paralympics as a whole has not yet reached that point, Team USA is ahead of the curve: This year, for the first time, an equal number of men and women will be competing for the United States. Team USA will consist of 110 men, 110 women and five guides to support blind athletes. At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, only 40 percent of athletes were women. In Paris, 45 percent of athletes will be women. The excitement around Olympic “full gender parity” in Paris is frustrating to many women Paralympians, former Paralympians or fans of women’s sports. “That headline alone isn't including the Paralympic [community]. There's an entire group of athletes that aren't being talked about," retired Paralympian Alana Nichols told Reuters. Nichols is a three-time gold medalist in basketball and alpine skiing. One issue behind the lower number of women athletes is that fewer disabled women are in the Paralympic pipeline or participating in sports in the first place. "It's kind of this self-reinforcing process that happens where women, I think, with disabilities have far less media coverage and access,” Nichols said. “There's fewer women that are seeing the potential that they could reach." Wheelchair rugby, a sport popularized by the 2005 documentary “Murderball,” is nominally co-ed at the Paralympic level. However, few women participate.This year, Sarah Adams will be the first woman on Team USA’s Paralympic wheelchair rugby team. A press release from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) describes her as a “pioneer.” Craig Spence, the IPC's chief brand and communications officer, told Reuters that while there have been improvements in gender parity for women in para-sports, there is still a long way to go. "With us, we're almost dealing with double marginalization: the marginalization of persons with disabilities all around the world, and this marginalization of women as well," he said. The Paralympics will run from August 28 to September 8. American viewers can stream every Paralympic event on NBC’s streaming platform, Peacock. ✍️: Sara Luterman, disability and aging reporter 📸: Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for USOPC

"I will be a president who unites us around our highest aspirations, a president who leads and listens ... and always fights for the American people. From the courthouse to the White House that has been my life’s work." https://bit.ly/46V5l2N

Some Democratic women have been spotted donning all white at this year’s convention — a tribute to women’s suffragists. https://bit.ly/4dSaWJt

In the two decades that have passed since people burned the country trio’s CDs in front yards nationwide and The Chicks were excised from country radio, things have gotten only more complicated for women in country music.

The Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed the Secretary of State’s assertion that supporters did not submit the correct documents at the right time. From Arkansas Advocate:

In an interview with The 19th, Hillary Clinton shares the joy of seeing a "liberated" Vice President Kamala Harris step out of the shadows and into her real history-making potential.