Civil Rights

NORTH CAROLINA: Both Chambers Recess For Lunch With No Repeal Bill Filed For Anti-LGBT Hate Law

But we still may see some action very shortly. Here’s how things got started this morning: The session began with a packed House gallery and attempts by some Republican lawmakers to short-circuit it. Rep. Jeff Collins of Nash County rose to declare the session unconstitutional and decried the “extraordinary hubris” of Charlotte City Council in prompting it. Two other members …

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NORTH CAROLINA: Hate Law Repeal Now In Jeopardy As State GOP Chair Screams About “Lying” Democrats

The Charlotte Observer reports: Legislators who will convene Wednesday morning are expected to take up repeal of House Bill 2, the “bathroom bill” that has rocked the state’s social and economic climate since it became law nine months ago. Charlotte City Council set the fifth special session of the year in motion on Monday with the surprise repeal of a …

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NORTH CAROLINA: Gov. Pat McCrory Calls For Special Session To Repeal Anti-LGBT Hate Law [VIDEO]

The Charlotte Observer reports: Following a surprise move by Charlotte City Council on Monday, Republican Gov. Pat McCrory has called for a special session Wednesday to consider repeal of House Bill 2. The governor’s statement came in a series of rapidly unfolding events that could signal an end to the nine-month drama that has catapulted North Carolina into national headlines. …

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United Nations Rejects Another Attempt To Abolish LGBT Rights Watchdog Post Despite Vatican Pressure

Via press release from OutRight Action International: Today in the United Nations General Assembly, a cross-regional group of states affirmed the principles of universal human rights by blocking a hostile attempt to prevent the work established by the UN Human Rights Council of the Independent Expert on Discrimination and Violence based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. A small group …

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LGBT Groups Condemn Repeal Of Charlotte Rights Ordinance, Demand Full Repeal Of Statewide Hate Law

From a joint statement issued this afternoon by the ACLU and Lambda Legal: “H.B. 2 was an unprecedented attack on the LGBT community, in particular against transgender people, and we are encouraged that its days are numbered,” said Sarah Gillooly, Policy Director for the ACLU of North Carolina. “It is imperative that the General Assembly hold up their end of …

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Pat McCrory: Charlotte’s LGBT Rights Repeal Proves The Issue Was Invented To Cost Me My Governorship

Via press release: “Governor McCrory has always publicly advocated a repeal of the overreaching Charlotte ordinance. But those efforts were always blocked by Jennifer Roberts, Roy Cooper and other Democratic activists,” said Graham Wilson, Press Secretary. “This sudden reversal with little notice after the gubernatorial election sadly proves this entire issue originated by the political left was all about politics …

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MONTENEGRO: Dozens March In Small LGBT Pride Parade Under Protection From Hundreds Of Police

The Associated Press reports: Dozens of people have participated in a gay pride event in highly conservative Montenegro where authorities are promising to boost gay rights as part of efforts to join the European Union. Hundreds of policemen deployed Saturday in downtown Podgorica, the capital, to prevent possible attacks from extremists. Participants in the pride march carried banners reading “born …

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CHAD: Parliament Votes To Criminalize Homosexuality

Erasing 76 Crimes reports: The parliament in the north-central African country of Chad has adopted a new penal code that makes homosexual activity a crime. By this blog’s count, that action, assuming that it is not blocked by the country’s president, increases to 77 the number of countries with anti-homosexuality laws. Chad’s new law provides for violators to be fined …

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Pro-Gay Philanthropist Chuck Feeney Donates $600M To Fight White Nationalism Because Donald Trump

Irish Central reports: Irish American former billionaire Chuck Feeney and his Atlantic Philanthropies group have announced their final gift, a record $600 million to combat health issues, racism and inequality in South Africa, Australia and the United States. The last round of gifts brings Feeney’s total of philanthropic giving to $8 billion spread out over 35 years, in 23 countries …

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NORTH CAROLINA: San Francisco Symphony Cancels Two Concerts Over State’s Anti-LGBT Hate Law

The New York Times reports: The San Francisco Symphony announced on Monday that it had canceled a pair of April concerts in North Carolina to protest the new state law curbing anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The orchestra joins a growing list of luminaries who have shunned the state: rockers such as Bruce Springsteen and Ringo …

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MCCRORY FALLOUT: Kentucky Governor Now Says He Won’t Push For Anti-Transgender “Bathroom Law”

The Associated Press reports: Kentucky’s Republican governor says he will not use the state’s new GOP majority to push through a bill restricting transgender bathroom use. Matt Bevin held a news conference Friday to discuss his first year in office and look ahead to the 2017 legislative session, where Republicans will hold super majorities in both chambers for the first …

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Arkansas Supreme Court: It’s A “Basic Biological Truth” That Gay Spouses Can’t Be Listed On Birth Certificates

The Associated Press reports: Arkansas’ highest court on Thursday threw out a judge’s ruling that could have allowed married same-sex couples to get the names of both spouses on their children’s birth certificates without a court order, saying it doesn’t violate equal protection “to acknowledge basic biological truths.” The state Supreme Court also issued a rare admonishment to Pulaski County …

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ISRAEL: Attorney General Pledges To Equalize Citizenship Rules For Foreign Spouses Of Gay Israelis

The Times Of Israel reports: The path to citizenship for gay foreigners who marry Israelis abroad will be brought into line with that for straight spouses from overseas, the Attorney General told the Supreme Court Wednesday, according to Hebrew language media reports. Straight partners currently undergo a four-year process to gain citizenship, while same-sex partners have a seven-year path to …

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BRITAIN: House Of Lords Extends Pardons For Archaic Sodomy Laws To Gay/Bi Men In Northern Ireland

The Guardian reports: An amnesty for gay and bisexual men convicted of consensual sex with people of the same sex has been extended to Northern Ireland. Until Wednesday, the region was excluded from legislation that posthumously pardons men convicted of sexual offences that are no longer illegal and allows the living to apply to have convictions overturned. The legislation did …

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TEXAS: State Rep Seeks To Strike Gay Sodomy Ban

The Houston Chronicle reports: Every day in Texas, more than an estimated half-million people are breaking a law that’s on the books, but unenforceable. It’s technically illegal to be gay in Texas. The law, passed in 1974, makes homosexual conduct a class C misdemeanor, punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine. The law has been …

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FLORIDA: Federal Appeals Court Rules That Middle Schools May Form Gay-Straight Alliance Clubs

The Orlando Sentinel reports: A federal appeals court Tuesday overturned a lower-court ruling that supported the Lake County School Board’s decision to block middle-schoolers from forming a gay-straight-alliance club to combat bullying. In a battle dating to 2011, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling found that the Equal Access Act, which requires federally funded secondary schools to treat all …

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SECRETARY OF HATE: Pat McCrory To Meet With Trump

That didn’t take long. The Hill reports: North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) will meet with President-elect Donald Trump this week, two days after conceding a drawn-out gubernatorial race. Trump transition aide Sean Spicer told reporters that McCrory will meet with the president-elect in New York on Wednesday following Trump attending a transition fundraising breakfast. Spicer offered no additional details …

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NORTH CAROLINA: Durham County Begins Recount

The Raleigh News & Observer reports: Durham County will begin recounting ballots on Saturday afternoon, moving the date from Sunday to comply with an order from state elections officials to complete the task by Monday night. The Durham County Board of Elections scheduled an emergency meeting for 11 a.m. Saturday and planned to begin the recount at 1 p.m. After …

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That Time Attorney General Nominee Jeff Sessions Went Crazy Trying Stop A Conference On LGBT Rights

CNN reports: As Alabama’s attorney general in 1996, Sessions attempted to stop the Southeastern Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual College Conference from meeting at the University of Alabama under a state law passed in 1992 that made it illegal for public universities to fund in any way a group that promotes “actions prohibited by the sodomy and sexual misconduct laws.” Fob James, …

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Mad Magazine Names McCrory To 2016 “Dumbest” List

The Raleigh News & Observer reports: The humor publication MAD Magazine has named Gov. Pat McCrory to its annual “20 Dumbest List” because of his support for House Bill 2. The December issue spoofs McCrory as a “stall cop” with an image of the governor in a security officer uniform, a nod to the Paul Blart “Mall Cop” movies. “Keeping …

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