Civil Rights

The Washington Post reports: The Trump administration on Friday once again asked the Supreme Court to bypass the usual legal process to take on another controversial issue — President Trump’s decision to ban transgender people from military service. Solicitor General Noel J. Francisco asked the justices to consolidate the challenges to the ban — which so far have been successful …

The BBC reports: A Chinese writer has been given a 10 year sentence for writing and selling a novel which featured gay sex scenes. The writer, identified as Liu, was jailed by a court in Anhui province last month for producing and selling “obscene material”. Her novel, titled “Occupation”, featured “male homosexual behaviour including perverted sexual acts like violation and …

The Taipei Times reports: More than 100,000 people, including musicians, filmmakers and politicians, yesterday rallied on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei to show support for same-sex marriage ahead of Saturday’s referendums on the issue. “In this last week leading up to the referendums, we hope to encourage more people to vote yes on referendums No. 14 and 15, and to vote …

The right wing Washington Examiner reports: A group of 45 House Republican lawmakers wrote President Trump Friday stating that they were “deeply concerned” by the inclusion of “sexual orientation and and gender identity language” in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada-Agreement on trade. The representatives said the inclusion was “inappropriate and insulting to our national sovereignty” and urged Trump to remove the language. The …

Via press release from the ACLU: “By winning the first statewide popular vote on transgender rights, Massachusetts voters reaffirmed our Commonwealth as a place that fiercely defends our basic values of dignity and respect for everyone. When Massachusetts leads on equality, the nation watches – and often, it follows. Tonight, we sent a message not just to transgender people and …

The Boston Globe reports: If the word Masshole is good enough for the dictionary, it’s surely good enough for a political ad. But this still appears to be a first. A local group is using the colloquialism in an attempt to persuade Massachusetts residents to vote yes on Question 3, the referendum on the state’s transgender anti-discrimination law. “We’re Massholes, …

From the site Business For Trans Equality: We, the undersigned businesses, stand with the millions of people in America who identify as transgender, gender non-binary, or intersex, and call for all such people to be treated with the respect and dignity everyone deserves. We oppose any administrative and legislative efforts to erase transgender protections through reinterpretation of existing laws and …

Politico reports: U.S. diplomats may soon be prohibited from using the phrases “sexual and reproductive health” and “comprehensive sexuality education” under a proposal being floated to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, four people familiar with the issue said. The proposal is being pushed by a handful of conservative political appointees at the State Department and other agencies, including Mari Stull, …

From Pat Robertson’s CBN News: With midterm elections quickly approaching, House Democrats are making promises to the LGBTQ community. Officials say they will prioritize anti-discrimination legislation that would establish widespread equal rights protections for LGBTQ individuals. Minority leader Nancy Pelosi said she would introduce the “Equality Act” as one of her first orders of business. Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill told …

The Moscow Times reports: State Duma deputy and notorious anti-gay crusader Vitaly Milonov reportedly attempted to shut down Russia’s only LGBT film festival on its opening night. The St. Petersburg-based Fontanka news website reported that the deputy, accompanied by six men, physically blocked the entrance to the “Side by Side” film festival. In footage posted online, the lawmaker is heard …

From Caitlyn Jenner’s op-ed for the Washington Post: I believed I could work within the party and the Trump administration to shift the minds of those who most needed shifting. I made many trips to Washington to lobby and educate members of Congress, other Washington policymakers and powerful influencers. These meetings were generally positive and almost always led to encouraging …

Bloomberg Law reports: The Justice Department today told the U.S. Supreme Court that businesses can discriminate against workers based on their gender identity without violating federal law. Solicitor General Noel Francisco told the high court that a civil rights law banning sex discrimination on the job doesn’t cover transgender bias. That approach already has created a rift within the Trump …

Teen Vogue reports: In a bizarre and objectively hypocritical turn of events, Trump’s official website is still selling a pro-LGBTQ T-shirt in its online store. The “Trump Pride Tee” is a basic white crewneck shirt emblazoned with watercolor stripes of the colors of the rainbow, over which the words “LGBTQ for TRUMP” are printed. “Show your pride and your support …

I don’t often post these kinds of press releases in full, but reminders of all these past and ongoing actions are worth your attention. From the Democratic National Committee:  This weekend, the New York Times reported that the Trump administration has developed a proposal that would legally define gender as based solely on a person’s genitalia at birth, a significant …

The New York Times reports: Activists in the L.G.B.T. community mobilized a fast and fierce campaign on Sunday to say transgender people cannot be expunged from society, in response to an unreleased Trump administration memo that proposes a strict definition of gender based on a person’s genitalia at birth. The existence of the memo, the administration’s latest effort to roll …

Via press release: The Trump administration is reportedly working to dramatically roll-back protections for transgender students and narrow the definitions of sex and gender that courts have increasingly used to provide protections for LGBTQ people. This is an attack on the very lives and existence of transgender people. It is painful, it is hateful, and it will not go unchallenged. …

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration is considering narrowly defining gender as a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth, the most drastic move yet in a government-wide effort to roll back recognition and protections of transgender people under federal civil rights law. A series of decisions by the Obama administration loosened the legal concept of gender …

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: With expectations of a “blue” wave in the congressional mid-terms and good chances Democrats will retake control of the U.S. House, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has signaled that comprehensive LGBT non-discrimination legislation will be a top priority if she becomes speaker. Speaking at an event Tuesday at the John F. Kennedy …

The Asian Review reports: Thailand may have a reputation for acceptance when it comes to the transgender females that perform in the capital’s extravagant cabaret shows, but the country’s legal system, like many in Southeast Asia, has traditionally been less accommodating to the LGBT community. This appears to be changing, however, as the junta aims to prepare a bill that …

Reuters reports: Puma is launching a campaign to mark the 50th anniversary of U.S. sprinter Tommie Smith’s black-gloved salute at the 1968 Olympics, shortly after rival Nike scored a hit with an ad featuring a modern-day activist for racial equality. Nike saw a jump in sales after its advertisement with American footballer Colin Kaepernick, who began kneeling during the U.S. …