Civil Rights

VA House Approves LGBTQ Protections, Gov Will Sign

Michael Lavers reports at the Washington Blade: A bill that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to Virginia’s nondiscrimination law passed in the Virginia House of Delegates on Thursday. State Del. Mark Sickles (D-Fairfax County), the openly gay man who introduced the Virginia Values Act in the House, before the vote insisted the bill does not “interfere with anybody’s …

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California Governor Posthumously Pardons Civil Rights Leader Bayard Rustin For 1953 Gay Sex Conviction

NBC News reports: California’s governor announced Wednesday that he is posthumously pardoning a gay civil rights leader while creating a new pardon process for others convicted under outdated laws punishing homosexual activity. Bayard Rustin was a confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and a key organizer of the March on Washington in 1963. He also helped plan other nonviolent …

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Democratic State AGs Sue For Ratification Of ERA

Axios reports: Three Democratic state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against a federal government official on Thursday to certify the Equal Rights Amendment, which would ban sex-based discrimination, into the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit follows the National Archives and Records Administration’s decision not to adopt the amendment, despite Virginia’s General Assembly approving the ERA in mid-January, becoming the 38th state …

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Iowa Bill To Legalize Anti-Trans Discrimination Is Dead

The Associated Press reports: A bill proposed by a group of Republican lawmakers on Wednesday that would have amended the Iowa Civil Rights Act by removing protections against discrimination for transgender people is dead, a powerful committee chairman said. Nine Republican House members sponsoring the bill introduced it Wednesday morning but by evening Republican Rep. Steven Holt, chairman of the …

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MICHIGAN: LGBT Rights Initiative Approved For Ballot

Michigan Live reports: Supporters of a ballot initiative to protect LGBT Michigan residents from discrimination say they’ll begin collecting signatures as soon as this weekend following initial approval from a state board. Michigan’s Board of State Canvassers voted to approve summary language and form of an initiative backed by Fair and Equal Michigan Tuesday, a procedural step that clears the …

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Virginia House Repeals 2006 Same-Sex Marriage Ban

So many advances in Virginia with more to come: Virginia’s House of Delegates on Tuesday officially repealed a 2006 amendment to the state constitution banning same-sex marriage. “We just voted for Del. @nancyguyva’s bill to repeal the statuary [sic] code that unconstitutionally and unenforceably bans marriage equality in Virginia,” tweeted Virginia Del. Danica Roem (D), the first openly trans woman …

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VIRGINIA: Lawmakers Finalize Ratification Of ERA

The Washington Post reports: Virginia officially became the critical 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment on Monday, clearing the way for likely court fights over whether the measure can be added to the U.S. Constitution. State lawmakers made history earlier this month when each chamber of the General Assembly separately approved ratification resolutions. On Monday, the House and …

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Empowered VA Senate Passes Host Of LGBT Rights Bills

The Washington Post reports: The Virginia Senate on Tuesday passed a host of LGBT rights bills as Democrats continued to flex their new power in the Capitol. The Senate voted to ban conversion therapy on children, repeal the state’s now-defunct ban on same-sex marriage and establish statewide policies for the treatment of transgender students. The chamber also voted to replace …

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Virginia Lawmakers Approve Equal Rights Amendment

Reuters reports: Virginia moved to the brink of becoming the crucial 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment on Wednesday, a momentous victory for many women’s rights advocates even though it is far from certain the measure will ever be added to the U.S. Constitution. The affirmative votes in both chambers of the Virginia legislature came decades after Congress …

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Texas Sued For Second Time Over Voter Suppression

Courthouse News reports: Three voters and two nonprofits brought a federal complaint Tuesday that says the failure by Texas to register voters through its online driver’s license application is illegal. The lawsuit comes eight days after a cadre of Democrats sued the Texas secretary of state on voter-suppression claims; thousands of Texans were improperly barred from voting in the 2018 …

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UK Rapist Spawns Anti-LGBT Action In Indonesia

The Jakarta Post reports: In response to reports that the family of Reynhard Sinaga, an Indonesian convicted serial rapist in the United Kingdom, lives in Depok, West Java, the city’s mayor has instructed his administration to conduct raids against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Reynhard, a 36-year-old PhD student, was sentenced on Jan. 6 by a court …

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Michigan Sees Push To Place LGBT Protections On Ballot

Michigan Bridge reports: A coalition of civil rights, business and political leaders is launching a petition drive initiative to expand Michigan law by including anti-discrimination protections for gay and transgender residents. Organizers who announced the effort Tuesday hope to spur action by the Republican-led Legislature, whose leaders have cited religious freedom concerns in resisting similar legislation, or put the issue …

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207 Congress Members To SCOTUS: Undo Roe V Wade

CBS News reports: Over 200 members of Congress asked the Supreme Court to consider overturning Roe v. Wade, which guarantees the right to an abortion, in a brief urging the court to uphold a Louisiana law severely restricting abortion. The 39 senators and 168 House members submitted the amicus brief in the case of June Medical Services LLC v. Gee, …

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UN Official: Past Decade Saw Human Rights Backlash

The Associated Press reports: The past decade has seen a backlash against human rights on every front, especially the rights of women and the LGBT communities, according to a top U.N. human rights official. Andrew Gilmour, the outgoing assistant secretary-general for human rights, said the regression of the past 10 years hasn’t equaled the advances that began in the late …

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Morocco Jails Popular YouTuber For Insulting King

The BBC reports: A well known Moroccan YouTuber has been jailed for four years after being found guilty of insulting the country’s king. Mohamed Sekkaki [photo] was arrested earlier this month after criticising King Mohammed’s speeches and for calling Moroccans donkeys. He plans to appeal against the verdict. Rights groups are worried that personal freedoms are under increasing threat in …

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NC’s Voter ID Law Gets Temporary Block From Court

The Raleigh News & Observer reports: North Carolina voters might not have to show a photo ID in the 2020 elections, due to a ruling in federal court that’s expected in the coming days. A federal judge in North Carolina said Thursday she would block the law, at least temporarily, as the voter ID lawsuit against the state continues. She …

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Turkey Imprisons More Journalists Critical Of Govt

The Associated Press reports: A Turkish court on Friday convicted six journalists and one other employee of an independent newspaper of aiding the network of a U.S.-based cleric who is accused of masterminding the failed coup in 2016, the state-run news agency reported. The seven were accused of supporting the coup through their work for the newspaper Sozcu, which has …

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GEORGIA: Court Says State Can Purge 309K Voters

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports: About 309,000 names were set to be erased from Georgia’s list of registered voters Monday night, a mass cancellation that a federal judge allowed to move forward. By Tuesday morning, the number of registered voters in Georgia was set to shrink from 7.4 million to 7.1 million. A voting rights group, Fair Fight Action, said in …

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Gabon Is 70th Nation To Criminalize Homosexuality

Reuters reports: Gabon has passed a law against gay sex, becoming the 70th country to ban the practice, an official confirmed, as the global pace of reform falters. The central African country banned “sexual relations between people of the same sex” in a new penal code earlier this year, according to copies of the law online. A government official who …

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SCOTUS Rejects Challenge To Abortion/Ultrasound Law

The Associated Press reports: The Supreme Court on Monday left in place a Kentucky law requiring doctors to perform ultrasounds and show fetal images to patients before abortions. The justices did not comment in refusing to review an appeals court ruling that upheld the law. The American Civil Liberties Union had challenged the law on behalf of Kentucky’s lone remaining …

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