Passenger Arrested After Opening Plane’s Emergency Exit and Walking on Wing at Australian Airport

A passenger was arrested at an airport in Australia after he left a stationary airplane through an emergency exit, walked along a wing, and then climbed down a jet engine to the tarmac on Thursday, officials said.

At around 10 a.m. local time, Jetstar Flight JQ507 arrived at Melbourne Airport from Sydney. That’s when one passenger exited via the emergency exit, though a spokesperson from Jetstar said that the plane was parked at the gate at the time.

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“We can confirm that a passenger opened the emergency exit door after arrival into Melbourne, which automatically deployed the slide,” the spokesperson said in a statement emailed to TIME. “We thank our passengers for their patience and understanding while our team assisted the Australian Federal Police (AFP) to manage this incident.”

The man was detained by staff at the airport and then arrested by the AFP, who later confirmed the man was taken to hospital, where he remains currently.

“AFP officers arrested a man for alleged aggressive behaviour and breaching aircraft safety protocols on a domestic service arriving from Sydney,” an AFP spokesperson said in a statement provided to TIME.

After the remaining passengers disembarked the aircraft, some spoke to news agencies about the incident. Audrey Varghese, who was on the flight, told 10 News First Melbourne that the man exhibited strange behavior.

“He charged a few rows ahead to the emergency exit, was pushing people out of the way and shoving them, and that’s when people started screaming and then he ripped open the emergency door,” Varghese claimed.

This is not the first time in recent history that a passenger has opened up an emergency exit door to an aircraft—nor the first time they were arrested for it. In January, an Aeromexico passenger opened the emergency exit and walked on the plane’s wing—it was seemingly in response to being stuck for hours on the tarmac, reportedly without air conditioning or water for passengers. The fellow passengers even wrote a joint statement supporting the man who made the unorthodox exit.

In 2020, a female passenger pulled a similar stunt—opening up the emergency exit on a Ukraine International Airlines plane to walk on the wing.

Though the motive is currently not known for why the man at Melbourne Airport walked on the wing, AFP says they are continuing to investigate this matter, and charges are likely to be laid at a future date.

source https://time.com/7013952/passenger-arrested-opening-plane-emergency-exit-door-walking-on-wing/

‘The Stuff That Black Girl Magic Is Made Of.’ Amanda Gorman on Her Big Night at the DNC

There’s a man lingering around the corner, singing, and Amanda Gorman is a smidge distracted. Just minutes ago, she stepped off the stage at the Democratic National Convention after performing her poem “This Sacred Scene,” and now she’s tucked herself into the quietest spot she can find in the stadium: the Chicago Bulls’ showers. “I’m so sorry,” the 26-year-old poet says, her long gown rustling through the phone as she and her minder hurry to shush whoever’s out there making noise. There’s a pause, and then, “Oh, my God!” A moment later: “We love you—we love you.” It was John Legend, passing through on his way backstage.

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Gorman and Legend were just two of the big names lined up to rouse the crowd at the DNC on Aug. 21—Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and Oprah also took the stage at the United Center, urging voters to support Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz in their campaign. Gorman, who became the nation’s youngest inaugural poet when she performed “The Hill We Climb” at President Joe Biden’s swearing-in in January 2021, originally had a different candidate, and a different tone, in mind as she began to think about a potential recitation at the DNC. It was only about a week ago that she got the official invitation to participate and began writing “This Sacred Scene” for this moment.

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The energy has been high at this year’s DNC, and Gorman’s recitation added to the mood. “Invite her at your own peril,” one of ABC’s anchors said as Gorman took the stage. “She certainly stole the show in 2021.” Dressed in a stately, icy blue gown, Gorman delivered a poem reframing the American dream: “Only now, approaching this rare air / Are we aware that perhaps the American dream / Isn’t a dream at all, but instead, a dare.”

After the performance, John Legend dispatched, Gorman spoke to TIME about her own presidential ambitions, who she thinks should recite at a potential Harris-Tim Walz Inauguration, and how she’s thinking about hope during this election season. She also shared details on her next book, exclusive to TIME.

You looked so confident and so poised as you recited tonight. How do you feel you’ve changed in the past three-plus years when it comes to your confidence, your presence, and your ability to hold a room?

I had to do a bit of growth in order to show up at the DNC in the way that I did. At the Inauguration, there’d only been a few hundred people there. They were all behind me. There was no one at the National Mall because of COVID and the insurrection. So it was actually an incredibly intimate way to participate in politics as a poet. When I got the invite for the DNC, I was honored, but I was also very nervous about what it would be like in such a different environment—to be inside, to be in a stadium, to have so many people watching not just digitally but this time in person. I had to go back to my fundamentals and my basics as a poet to make sure that the poem was as good as it could be, to make every line sharp, and to feel really confident and comfortable in expressing that and holding that space.

Read More: ‘Unity With Purpose.’ Amanda Gorman and Michelle Obama Discuss Art, Identity and Optimism

Tell me about your experience right as you stepped onstage—what is your energy like in those moments?

It’s kind of like, let’s do this. I have a very fake-it-till-you-make-it personal energy that I go by, because you step out and the first thing that I felt was like, Oh my God, this room is huge. I saw it during rehearsals, but it had been relatively empty. When I walked out on stage, I was so blown away by the positive response of the audience. I didn’t realize that so many people would know who I was or remember, so I just soaked that in because it felt so heartwarming.

I have to tell you, I just saw a tweet that said, “I can’t wait to vote for Amanda Gorman for President one day.”

That’s amazing. That’s so sweet. Yeah, I’ll be back. I’m here for Kamala and Walz this time, and, you know—10 more years, I’ll be back. 

What would it mean to you to see a Black woman elected president?

Oh, my God, I can’t even describe it. I’m sure it’s going to be a full body experience. It would be the greatest dreams of my ancestors realized. If I could see that happen, I don’t think I could want for anything else.

• Your Questions About the DNC, Answered
• The Biggest Moments From Joe Biden’s Speech
• Read Hillary Clinton’s Full Speech
• A Breakdown of Barack Obama’s Speech
• Key Moments From Tim Walz’s Speech

Do you see yourself reciting if Harris and Walz win?

That’s totally up to them. If they were to ask, I would think about it, but I honestly think I would love for Joy Harjo to recite. She’s an amazing poet, has served as U.S. Poet Laureate, and does incredible research and poetry about Native Americans and that historicity. She really deserves the spot, and the spot necessitates her.

Hope is a theme of the Democratic Party this season. It’s also a term that can sometimes feel like a buzzword. What do you make of hope as a theme? Does that word feel right to you, for where you are?

I would absolutely use hope. For me, hope isn’t something I possess—it’s something I practice. You have to wake up every day and work it like a muscle, and not in this La La Land, fake, superficial hope way where everything is fine and everything will work out, not the kind of hope that doesn’t pay attention to grief, loss, hurt, and longing. The most powerful and sustainable hope we have is hope that is invested in the totality of our human experience, and that includes the pain and the power—only then can you marshal it for worldwide change.

You’ve made your endorsement clear—are you feeling hopeful for the outcome of the election? Do you believe Harris will be President?

Absolutely. I believe she can and will win. Part of the mantra that the campaign and a lot of supporters have been using is “When we fight, we win.” And I believe in that wholeheartedly, not just for Kamala but for changemakers in general. Regardless of how the Presidential election turns out, we know that when women run that has massive impacts in our community. I think back to Hillary Clinton—a lot of people have characterized that as a failure, but when you look at the number of women politicians who entered public service, that was astronomically high after that. So I have faith that Kamala will win, and even if I’m terribly mistaken, which sometimes happens, just in the fight and just in running she will have won so many victories for us in representation and in hope. And that’s why you run—not just to become a head of a government, but also to inspire hope and dreaming in the next generation.

Let’s talk about your next book: Girls on the Rise, which is a children’s book coming in January based on an adapted version of your 2021 poem “We Rise.” The theme is obviously very apropos, so why this poem in this moment?

I’m so excited about this book because it really leans into a poem that I wrote a few years ago when I was a bit of a younger woman, and I was thinking about the importance of elevating female voices and listening to them, but also in a way that’s gender inclusive, because there’s so many ways to be and identify as a woman. So when I was thinking about my next children’s book, I really was like, in none of my children’s books has my femininity shown up in a vibrant way. Loveis Wise contributes so much in terms of the art and having this really expansive, visual definition of womanhood. I didn’t realize Kamala was going to be running when I wrote that book, but I couldn’t have chosen a more perfect time to indulge in the fantasy of having it out in the world.

Is there one line from the book that you want to call out and encourage people to hold in their minds during this season?

We are Girl,

Glowing and growing, 

Knowing where the wind is

blowing.

We are where change is going.

I love this line because it encapsulates how girls are always at the forefront of progress. 

You’re very intentional with your fashion and the colors you wear, and I’d love to hear the story behind your gown tonight at the DNC. Why did you choose it?

The dress is Solace London, in baby blue. I really like the color, not just because it’s similar to the color of the Democratic Party, but when I’m in therapy and I’m trying to envision things I want from my life—new joys, new peace—we call it my blue sky to imitate the sensation of laying in grass and looking at the sky and the clouds and daydreaming. So I really wanted to wear my blue-sky color to remind myself to dream and hope big.

And now I must know: Did you get to go see Oprah tonight?

I did get to see Oprah, which was so amazing because we’ve connected a lot—she’s done interviews with me, she bought my jewelry for the Inauguration, she’s so supportive and has been like a guardian angel on my shoulder—but we’ve never been in the same room together. I was texting her so excited, like, Oh my god, I can’t wait. To see her in person tonight was so wonderful. She gave me a big hug, and I was like, Oh, this is the stuff that Black girl magic is made of.

Read the full text of Amanda Gorman’s DNC poem, “This Sacred Scene” here:

We gather at this hallowed place
Because we believe in the American dream.
We face a race that tests if this country
We cherish shall perish from the earth,
And if our earth shall perish from this country.
It falls to us to make sure that we do not fall,
For a people that cannot stand together cannot stand at all.
We are one family,
Regardless of religion, class or color;
For what defines a patriot
Isn’t just our love of liberty,
But our love for one another–
Loud in our country’s call.
Because while we all love freedom,
It’s love that frees us all.
Empathy emancipates,
Making us greater than hate or vanity.
That is the American promise, powerful and pure:
Divided, we cannot endure,
But united, we can endeavor to humanize our democracy,
And endear democracy to humanity.
Make no mistake, cohering is the hardest task history ever wrote.
Yet tomorrow isn’t written by the odds of hardship,

But by the audacity of our hope; by the vitality of our vote.
Only now, approaching this rare air,
Are we aware that perhaps the American dream
Isn’t a dream at all, but, instead, a dare: To dream together.
Like a million roots tethered,
Branching up humbly,
Making one tree,
This is our country:
From many, one;
From battles won,
Our freedom’s rung;
Our kingdom come
Has just begun.
We redeem this sacred scene, ready for our journey from it.
Together, we must birth this early republic
And achieve an unearthly summit.
Let us not just believe in the American Dream.
Let us be worthy of it.

source https://time.com/7013701/amanda-gorman-dnc-poem-interview/

Pakistani Man to Remain in Officers’ Custody Over Misinformation That Sparked U.K. Rioting

LAHORE, Pakistan — A court in Pakistan on Thursday allowed investigators to question a man in their custody for four more days about his role in spreading misinformation that sparked widespread rioting in the U.K. earlier this month, officials said.

The court’s decision came a day after authorities charged the suspect Farhan Asif, 32, with cyber terrorism following his arrest from his home in Lahore, the capital of eastern Punjab province.

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Asif, who is a freelance web developer, was produced before the court amid tight security. He was not allowed to talk to the media.

Kiran Muqeem, a prosecutor for the Federal Investigation Agency, told the court that Asif did not cooperate with officers after the same court the previous day allowed them to question him for a day. They demanded his custody for two weeks but the court said it would only allow it for four more days.

Muqeem later told reporters that Asif disseminated fake news and caused riots in England.

Asif was handcuffed and wearing blue shalwar kameez garments when brought to the court.

His lawyer Rana Rizwan told reporters that the court remanded his client into the custody of the federal agency in a hurry and without hearing him.

“We were informed by the court that the case of Asif would be taken up after lunch break. But the court took up the matter before the lunch break, and allowed FIA to keep him in their custody,” Rizwan said.

Asif is accused of spreading misinformation from YouTube and Facebook about the British teenage suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three girls and injured 10 other people on July 29 at a dance class in Northwest England.

The false information claimed that the suspect was a recently arrived asylum-seeker and had a name that suggested he was Muslim. After the misinformation led to a violent mob attacking a mosque near the site of the stabbing the next day, police took the unusual step of clarifying that the suspect was born in the U.K.

British media has widely reported that his parents are from Rwanda and are said to have Christian beliefs. Channel3 Now, an account on the X social media platform that purports to be a news channel, was one of the first outlets to report the false name, Ali Al-Shakati.

A Facebook account for the channel said it is managed by people in Pakistan and the U.S. But, officials say Asif was solely running the Channel3 Now, and he spread misinformation to gain more viewers.

source https://time.com/7013901/pakistani-man-officers-custody-misinformation-sparked-uk-rioting/

Anti-LGBTQ+ Policies Across American Schools Are Seriously Impacting Queer Youth

Nearly one in three LGBTQ+ students say their school has at least one anti-LGBTQ+ policy, a survey released Wednesday found. 

The survey was conducted by the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention organization that provides 24/7 crisis support for LGBTQ+ youth. About 18,000 LGBTQ+ youth, ages 13-24, were polled about whether students were able to do things like use their chosen name or pronouns and use locker rooms that matched their gender identity.

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Many anti-LGBTQ+ rules in schools target students’ access to support services and affirmative spaces, though others were much broader—limiting conversations about LGBTQ+ topics both during classroom instruction and out of it. Schools with at least one anti-LGBTQ policy were also less likely to have a gay-straight alliance—a student-led club that is intended to be a safe space for queer individuals—or a gender-neutral bathroom, according to the survey. Seven percent of respondents also said that their school used to have a gay-straight alliance but stopped offering it.

The new survey adds to another Trevor Project survey published in May that found 40% of LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the last year. The latest study didn’t re-measure suicidal ideation, but found that LGBTQ+ students attending more supportive school environments had lower suicide risk rates and reported fewer depressive symptoms compared to queer youth attending schools that were less supportive. Attending a school with anti-LGBTQ+ policies also meant students were more likely to be exposed to verbal and physical attacks, as well as unwanted sexual contact, because of their gender identity or sexual orientation.   

“These alarming findings signal that anti-LGBTQ+ school policies have real-life consequences on the mental health, well-being, and overall safety of LGBTQ+ youth,” Ronita Nath, Vice President of Research at The Trevor Project, told TIME. “Young people learn harmful and discriminatory behavior from the adults, communities, and institutions that raise them…When anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment is normalized in school environments, it is then internalized by students and creates a culture of intolerance and hostility towards LGBTQ+ people in general.”

School districts and local legislatures have become hotbeds for culture wars across the U.S. At least eight states—including New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Alabama—explicitly forbid curriculum about LGBTQ+ people or topics, according to the Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit think tank. By contrast, only seven states have laws that require LGBTQ+ inclusion in state education curriculum.  

And while anti-LGBTQ+ policies impact the queer community as a whole, transgender and nonbinary students are disproportionately impacted, according to Nath, as they confront barred access to sports teams and bathrooms, as well as parental notification laws, which require staff to inform parents or guardians of their child’s gender identity or pronouns. Other data by the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute looking at the broader effect of anti-LGBTQ+ policies, including those outside of classrooms, found that 93% of transgender youth ages 13 to 17 were living in a state that had passed or was considering a bill that targeted access to gender-affirming-care, the ability to use pronouns that match students’ gender identity, and more.

Anti-LGBTQ+ policies appear to be more prominent in certain regions. For instance, the survey found that 34% of LGBTQ+ youth living in the South reported going to a school that had at least one anti-LGBTQ+ policy—the highest rates in the country—followed by the Midwest at 29%.  

The impact of such policies is perhaps best seen in states like Florida, which Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida, calls the “frontline in America’s fight against the far-right anti-LGBTQ agenda.” Gov. Ron DeSantis made headlines in 2022 when he signed a bill dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” that would ban public schools from teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity. (This March, the state settled a lawsuit that allows students and school staff to write and speak about LGBTQ+ issues and people in classroom discussion, though the ban is still active in terms of classroom instruction.) A January 2023 study by UCLA’s School of Law’s Williams Institute found that 88% of LGBTQ+ parents living in Florida were concerned about the impact Don’t Say Gay would have on their children, and more than half of LGBTQ+ parents considered moving out of the state because of the bill. 

“Despite what proponents of anti-LGBTQ+ policies say, these efforts do not make school safer or better for any student. Instead, they stop LGBTQ+ students from being able to bring their full selves to school, and prevent school staff and allies from providing them with the support they need,” says Nath. “Making schools inclusive of LGBTQ+ students can provide a life-saving sense of belonging for young people.”

If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental-health crisis or contemplating suicide, call or text 988. In emergencies, call 911, or seek care from a local hospital or mental health provider. 

source https://time.com/7012940/anti-lgbtq-policies-impacting-queer-youth/

What Kamala Harris Could Do for Afghan Women

Three years ago, Afghan women lost most of their civil rights overnight, when the Taliban marched into Kabul and quickly seized the country against little resistance. As Vice President Kamala Harris accepts the presidential nomination this week at the Democratic National Convention, the Taliban’s wholesale disregard for women’s rights is a stark contrast to the possibility of the first woman President in American history. But Harris, who has taken a strong stance on women’s rights, could break with previous U.S. policy failures and reset the U.S.-Afghan relationship in a way that genuinely prioritizes Afghan women.

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Today, Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls are prohibited from going to school. Women and girls are banned from many public spaces, are required to cover their faces in public, and are restricted from employment. These increasingly prohibitive fatwas—legal rulings under the Taliban’s perverse interpretation of Sharia law—severely restrict women’s movement and participation in society in what many are calling “gender apartheid.”

Read More: Why TIME Dedicated an Issue to Afghan Women Around the World

The horrific impact of gender apartheid in Afghanistan is unsurprising. Afghans are poorer, jobs have been decimated, civil society and media have collapsed, and the country now has one of the lowest Human Development Index rankings. The social, cultural, and political gains that were made for women during the U.S. war in Afghanistan have all but disappeared. The country remains the unhappiest in the world.

Yet Afghan women continue to resist. Despite serious risks to their safety, women are protesting in the streets under the slogan “Bread, Work, Freedom,” organizing underground schools just as they did in the 1990s, and allying with women’s rights champions like Malala Yousafzai and Angelina Jolie to raise global awareness.

With the prospect of a President Harris, Afghan women are wondering: can they expect an ally in the White House? 

President Biden’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan was catastrophic for Afghan families now painfully separated and, especially, for the women now repressed under Taliban rule. What’s more, a push to normalize U.S.-Taliban diplomatic relations is gaining momentum. The Taliban is now the U.S.’ primary counterterrorism partner in Afghanistan. Even U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres met with Taliban leaders in Doha in June, granting them more legitimacy and undermining women’s rights advocates who were excluded entirely from the gathering.

Instead, a President Harris could globalize her outspoken support for women’s rights to include Afghan women. She could embrace the effort to codify gender apartheid in the U.N.’s Crime Against Humanity treaty, allying herself with women in places like Afghanistan and Iran to elevate their cause while building trust with the U.S. government and an international system that has disregarded their issues.

The U.S. has already disbursed around $3 billion to Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover. But Harris could step up that humanitarian funding, particularly to aid locally-led organizations working in Afghanistan to support women—recognizing that living under a gender apartheid system presents unique challenges. And she could recommit to offering asylum to Afghan women endangered by the Taliban. There are about 70,000 Afghan evacuees in the U.S and their future is still uncertain. A President Harris could secure their future by ensuring that the Afghan Adjustment Act passes through Congress.

More fundamentally, Harris could be the first President since Jimmy Carter who chooses to not view Afghanistan solely through a geopolitical lens—whether anti-Communism during the Soviet invasion or counterterrorism following 9/11. She could renegotiate the diplomatic relationship with the Taliban, making it conditional upon respect for women’s rights, including a guarantee of access to healthcare and education.

Some may argue that women’s rights are secondary to the need for partnership with the Taliban to counter the threat of a rising Islamic State-Khorasan in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan. Indeed, Trump’s record suggests that a transactional approach would guide his Afghanistan policy. But 40 years of failed U.S. policies in Afghanistan are the result of this faulty thinking. 

Ultimately, Afghanistan is more stable and its people more successful when women are not repressed—when they can be educated and work.

A President Harris offers the chance of a reset.

source https://time.com/7013395/kamala-harris-afghanistan-women/

Stop Taking First Dates So Seriously

I have been privy to hundreds of first date stories, from the joyful first pangs of connection to the utter dread of a downer date. Clients of mine over the years have expressed how all they want is to have fun and engaging first dates, regardless of what happens between them and the other person. In fact, many of them have never had a single positive first date experience.

Recently, however, after a string of tense first dates where several men either talked about their exes or conducted the conversation like a meeting, one of my clients said “We all need to stop taking first dates so seriously!” She may have been on to something profound there.

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First dates are an essential, but decidedly unserious part of dating. In fact, that’s the beauty of first dates: you get to enjoy learning about someone new without any of the demands of a relationship yet. They are testing grounds for a spark—not a guarantee of anything more than what they are. The purpose of a first date is to see if there is anything of interest between you and your date, but the seriousness of it all can get in the way of this very simple objective.

It feels like a universal desire that first dates feel easy and enjoyable. But because this desire also comes with an incredible amount of pressure (because, who knows—maybe it be could the start of a potential relationship), so many people feel like they’re failing at first dates, and falling into formulaic and stiff encounters. There’s an air of seriousness or anxiety to the date that makes it difficult to open up, flirt, and see if there’s a connection. It’s hard to have fun when you’re worried about sweating into your drink, for instance. First date nerves are common, but they don’t have to dominate the evening. Verbally acknowledging the nerves or anxiety can bring the levels of these feelings down a bit and could inspire connection with a date, who is also likely to be experiencing first-date jitters no matter how calm and collected they seem.

Read More: Companionship Is Underrated

First dates are also not, contrary to popular belief, job interviews. For instance, one client shared with me that her date whipped out a print-out of “50 First Date Questions To Ask” and insisted they run down the entire list together. While questions help you get to know someone, moving an interaction from a conversation to an inquisition doesn’t set the mood for romance. There’s a give and take to conversation, and that banter is a dance that can make or break a date.

On the flipside, another common complaint I hear about first dates is that the date didn’t ask any questions at all. Not asking questions inhibits flirty banter and makes your date do all of the conversational heavy lifting. It also sends a strong signal that you’re not really interested in your date or being there, even if you’re having a good time. In the interest of keeping things light, asking how your date likes the place you picked or basic biographical information like where they grew up, and following up on anything about them that stood out, like interests or hobbies you have in common, could be great conversation starters. Tailored questions can spark connection and conversation that keeps you both engaged and enjoying yourselves.

There are a million different ways that first dates fizzle or are just plain annoying. It’s easy to go down a rabbit hole of how awful first dates can be, and there are plenty of examples all over the internet. It can make you forget that first dates are supposed to be lighthearted and casual opportunities for two people to meet and try to find common ground. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to having a good first date. The best first dates are those that take into account the needs and interests of everyone involved.

Read More: Is Summer Really the Sexiest Season?

Time and time again, I hear about how awkward first dates can be—and those people are right! It is an awkward experience, until it’s not and you get to know the other person. There is a certain amount of discomfort that we all go through when trying to find a potential partner. It’s, therefore, important to consider how you’d want to feel in your next relationship, so that you can get an indication from your date that there’s something worth pursuing. It’s also vital to note that not all mediocre first dates are a sign that there isn’t a connection. That elusive “spark” that most daters want to feel is something that can evolve over time.

Going on first dates with the expectation that anything can happen—and that the main goal is just to meet with a new person—can increase how much fun you have on a date. People who can acknowledge the stress that first dates create, stay open to the unique person in front of them, and take things less seriously will enjoy themselves more. There’s nothing on the line yet, so relax and just have a fun, weird time.

Because here’s the truth: No one has enough information before a first date to decide whether their date will be someone in their life long-term. That’s what dating is for.

source https://time.com/7012203/first-dates-not-serious-essay/

Who Is Gwen Walz, Tim Walz’s Wife?

The Democratic National Convention kicked off in Chicago on Monday with the Illinois delegation breakfast, which featured a surprise speaker: Gwen Walz, the wife of Minnesota governor and vice presidential candidate Tim Walz.

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Speaking to the delegates, lawmakers, and journalists in the room, Gwen Walz shared that she and her husband met while teaching at the same school—and that she and her family love to visit Chicago for their New Year’s Eve celebrations, according to POLITICO. She went on to express support for Vice President Kamala Harris, who announced earlier this month that she chose Tim Walz as her running mate for the 2024 presidential election.

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“I can’t think of a better team than Kamala and Tim,” Gwen said at the breakfast. “They want to give everyone a chance at the American Dream. And isn’t that what we all want?”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Gwen Walz (@gwenwalz)

Tim Walz introduced his wife as he joined the presidential ticket: “I can’t wait for all of you and America to get to know my incredible wife, Gwen, a 29-year public school educator,” he said at a rally in Philadelphia earlier this month. “Don’t ever underestimate teachers.”

Here’s what to know about Gwen Walz.

She was a teacher

Gwen Walz, 58, was born in Glencoe, Minn. Her parents were both teachers and small business owners, and she has three younger sisters. She earned degrees from Gustavus Adolphus College and Minnesota State University before moving to Nebraska, where she followed in her parents’ footsteps and began teaching.

While teaching high school English there, she met Tim Walz, who was a teacher at the same school. They went to a movie for their first date, and Gwen later told The Minnesota Star Tribune that she turned down a kiss from him, prompting her now-husband to respond: “That’s fine, but you should know I’m going to marry you.” They got married in 1994.

Today, Gwen and I are celebrating our wedding anniversary! In 1994, on this day, we were surrounded by our family and dear friends. Today, we remain most grateful for them and each other! pic.twitter.com/esbnuuUlu7

— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) June 4, 2022

They later moved back to Minnesota and started working at Mankato West High School, where she taught English and he taught social studies.

The Walzes have two children: Hope, 23, and Gus, 17. They have been outspoken about how they struggled with infertility, and have criticized Republican-led efforts to roll back reproductive health care, including fertility treatments like in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Read More: Where Tim Walz Stands on the Issues

She’s an advocate for education access in prisons

Gwen Walz has been a vocal supporter of increasing access to education for people who are incarcerated. She’s toured prisons and worked with the Bard Prison Initiative, which aims to provide college educational opportunities in prisons.

“She was a devoted Midwestern public school teacher who approached education without prejudice or presumption about what kind of students might achieve what kinds of things and a real optimism for all kinds of students,” Bard Prison Initiative founder Max Kenner told USA TODAY. “She also had a real frustration, or even feeling of disappointment, of how much we’ve failed in this country to create real educational opportunities for so many people, particularly access to college.”

She’s taken on a role alongside her husband’s political career

Gwen Walz has previously said that she and her husband “have always worked as a partnership,” describing themselves as each other’s “closest advisers.” She has taken on an involved role as a political spouse—she was the first gubernatorial spouse in Minnesota to establish her own office in the state Capitol, according to the Star Tribune. She’s even filled in for her husband before—The New York Times reported that she took the stage in Tim Walz’s place at a 2006 fundraising dinner for her husband’s congressional campaign after he had gotten sick with laryngitis.

source https://time.com/7012973/gwen-walz-tim-dnc-teacher/