Civil Rights

Walmart Stands Firm After Haters Ambush Shareholders Meeting Over Opposition To “Religious Freedom” Laws

Just as they did at PepsiCo’s shareholders meeting in North Carolina last month, anti-LGBT activists from the National Center for Public Policy Research ambushed Walmart executives at yesterday’s annual shareholders meeting in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where the Duggar clan infamously launched its attacks on a local pro-LGBT civil rights ordinance. The group demanded that Walmart issued a report explaining its “hypocrisy” …

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NBA Again Warns North Carolina About All-Star Game: We Need A Resolution By The End Of Summer

USA Today reports: If there isn’t satisfactory resolution to North Carolina House Bill 2 by the end of summer, Charlotte risks losing the 2017 All-Star Game, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said before Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday. Silver has expressed the league’s opposition to the controversial bill, which nullified local ordinances that gave protections and rights to …

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Obama Speaks Out On Transgender Students: We Should Treat Them With Dignity And Kindness [VIDEO]

Chris Johnson report at the Washington Blade: President Obama predicted on Wednesday courts will settle which public restroom transgender students should be able to use amid continuing controversy over the issue. Obama made the remarks in response to a question during a town hall on “PBS News Hour” with Gwen Ifill as part of a trip to Elkhart, Ind., in …

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CANADA: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Raises Pride Flag On Parliament Hill For First Time [VIDEO]

With a big shout-out to trans rights! The Star reports: The Pride flag flew on Parliament Hill on Wednesday in a historic all-party show of support to mark the start of the month celebrating Canada’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had the honour of raising the distinctive rainbow banner on the Hill for the …

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BREAKING: Massachusetts House Approves Transgender Rights Bill, Republican Gov. Charlie Baker To Sign It

From GLAD: “This is an incredible moment. After years of brave and steadfast work by transgender people, family members, allies, businesses, faith leaders, and community organizations, we are inches from full equality for transgender people in our state. This bill will not only ensure fair and long overdue protections for transgender people, but enshrine in law a recognition of the …

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TEXAS: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Orders Public Schools To Defy Feds On Transgender Student Guidelines

From the Associated Press: The fight over bathroom rights for transgender students escalated in Texas on Tuesday as the state’s lieutenant governor urged schools to defy the Obama administration while parents of transgender children accused Republican leaders of stoking intolerance and making their kids targets for bullying. Few states are as publicly and persistently pushing back on transgender rights as …

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NBC/Universal Celebrates LGBT Pride Month [VIDEO]

NBC/Universal this afternoon posted a video in celebration of LGBT Pride Month. Narrated by out MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts, the clip features a montage of activists and recent events in LGBT rights. Watch below.

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LIVE VIDEO: Massachusetts House Hears Trans Bill

The Massachusetts House is currently hearing debate on the transgender rights bill that passed in the state Senate last month. Watch live here. As noted in the post below this one, GOP Gov. Charlie Baker has promised to sign the bill should it reach his desk.

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MASSACHUSETTS: Republican Gov. Charlie Baker Says He’ll Sign Transgender Rights Bill

From the Boston Globe: After months of taking heat for ambiguity on a deeply controversial issue, Governor Charlie Baker said Tuesday he would sign a transgender public accommodations bill should it reach his desk. His declaration marked the beginning of the end of a bitter, years-long legislative battle over the rights of transgender people in Massachusetts. “We’ve certainly listened to …

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Democrats Slam Vague “So-Called Religious Freedom Laws” In 2016 LGBT Pride Month Proclamation

Via press release from Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Shultz: As we begin LGBT Pride Month, members of the LGBT Community and their allies have many victories to celebrate. Our nation has made enormous progress in recent years in the fight for equality – the result of courageous individuals and dedicated groups in every corner of our country standing …

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NORTH CAROLINA: Human Rights Campaign Petitions FAA To Cut Airport Funding Over Anti-LGBT Law

The Charlotte Observer reports: The Human Rights Campaign is asking the Federal Aviation Administration to consider whether House Bill 2 is causing North Carolina airports to violate grant requirements. If the FAA joined the U.S. Department of Justice’s position that HB2 violates the Civil Rights Act, the move could jeopardize millions of dollars in federal funding that helps operate and …

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Fourth Circuit Court Rejects Rehearing Of Case That Granted Bathroom Rights To Transgender Student

Big news via the ACLU: The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit will not rehear the case of a Gloucester County transgender high school student suing his school board over discriminatory bathroom policies. The court today denied the Gloucester County School Board’s request for an en banc review of an April decision which held that Title IX …

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Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant: Christians Will Line Up For Crucifixions In Order To Stop LGBT Rights [VIDEO]

Kyle Mantyla report at Right Wing Watch: At least week’s Watchmen on the Wall conference, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins presented Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant with the first ever “Samuel Adams Religious Freedom Award” for having signed a radical anti-LGBT bill into law earlier this year that will allow businesses to deny service to gay people. While introducing the …

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Kentucky To Join Anti-Transgender Suit Against Feds

Law Newz reports: On Friday, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin promised his state would join several others in a lawsuit fighting the Obama administration’s transgender bathroom guideline. “The federal government has no authority to dictate local school districts’ bathroom and locker room policies,” he said in a statement. “The Obama Administration’s transgender policy ‘guidelines’ are an absurd federal overreach into a …

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NORTH CAROLINA: State University System Tells Federal Court It Won’t Enforce Anti-LGBT Hate Law

From the Associated Press: The University of North Carolina system told a federal court Friday that it won’t enforce a law requiring transgender students to use restrooms corresponding to the sex on their birth certificates. The declaration came in a motion asking a federal court to halt civil legal proceedings against the university system while a higher court decides a …

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Tony Perkins: President Obama’s “Transgender Agenda” Is One The Biggest Miscalculations Of His Tenure

Via press release from hate group leader Tony Perkins: If Ohio is the bellwether of America, then the president’s agenda is in a heap of trouble. The Buckeye State isn’t about to stand back and let the Obama administration take its schools hostage to a transgender agenda that puts its students at risk. This morning, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine …

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House Republicans Walk Out On Colleague Who Called Them Sinners For Backing LGBT Protections

The Hill reports: A House conservative went after dozens of fellow Republicans on Thursday with suggestions that they’d sinned for backing an anti-discrimination proposal against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. Rep. Rick Allen, a Georgia freshman, launched the GOP’s regular policy meeting in the Capitol basement by reading a Bible passage condemning homosexuality and suggesting that supporters of …

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MISSISSIPPI: Dem AG Says Other Things Are More Important Than Joining Anti-Trans Suit Against Feds

Via press release from Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood: “Last year, the Office of Attorney General joined a lawsuit in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to stop the Department of Justice from interfering with the way in which local schools operate their restrooms. For that reason, I chose not to join the Texas lawsuit. I also have concerns on …

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Walmart Stays Mum On Transgender Policy

From the New York Daily News: Walmart, the country’s biggest retailer, is staying silent about its transgender bathroom policies. The Arkansas-based corporation repeatedly refused to reveal its stance about transgender bathroom use for its shoppers and employees, despite requests by the Daily News every day for the past week. Inquiries to Walmart’s media relations team were first sent last Tuesday, …

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Democrats Help Vote Down House Spending Bill Despite Earlier Approval Of LGBT Rights Amendment

Last night openly gay US Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney finally succeeded in pushing through an amendment that would put President Obama’s executive order on federal contractors into law. Today Maloney and his fellow Democrats vowed against the underlying spending bill. The Hill explains: Most Democrats voted against the bill due to its spending levels and policy riders. Taken together with …

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