Civil Rights

Politico reports: Twenty Democratic senators on Thursday urged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to reverse course on the “unnecessarily cruel” decision to end an Obama-era policy that granted visas to the same-sex partners of LGBTQ diplomats whose unions are not recognized by their home countries. In July, the U.S. mission to the United Nations informed foreign delegations that beginning Oct. …

Posted last night to the ACLU’s blog: President Trump has a record of attacking the rights of protesters, from suggesting that protest be illegal to praising dictators who crush any kind of dissent. Now, the Trump administration proposes to dramatically limit the right to demonstrate near the White House and on the National Mall, including in ways that would violate …

Reuters reports: Romania’s ruling party aims to introduce legislation to legalise civil unions for same-sex couples, the state news agency quoted a cabinet minister as saying, after a referendum to curb such rights failed to draw enough voters to be valid. Sunday’s referendum to change Romania’s constitution to prevent same sex couples from securing the right to marry was seen …

Washington DC’s CBS affiliate reports: An alarming day for a young, transgender girl after she was barred from using both the boys’ and girls’ locker room. During a lock down safety drill at her middle school in Stafford County, Virginia, last week the LGBTQ rights group Equality Stafford says she was forced to sit alone on the bleachers and then …

Human Rights Watch reports: The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has passed a bill that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, Human Rights Watch said. The act, enacted on October 5, 2018, also commits the city government to conducting public education about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights. Tokyo authorities were inspired to draft the bill …

The Twin Cities Pioneer-Press reports: For the first time, Minnesotans have the option to choose a gender other than male or female on their driver’s license. Along with “M” for male and “F” for female, there will be “X” for non-binary when choosing a gender on a license application. The new option to identify as non-binary, a term used by …

The Winston-Salem Journal reports: A federal judge ruled Sunday that a 2017 law replacing the controversial HB2 doesn’t prohibit transgender people from using restrooms and other public facilities that correspond to gender identity. U.S. District Judge Thomas D. Schroeder also allowed a legal challenge to go forward on one part of the new law, known as HB142. The challenge is …

Reuters reports: Texas’ Republican governor said on Friday that legislation limiting transgender people’s access to bathrooms in public schools and government buildings is no longer a priority, signaling a slight change in his stance on a measure seen by critics as discriminatory. Governor Greg Abbott, who is running for re-election, made a “bathroom bill” one of his priority items in …

Radio Free Europe reports: Romania’s top court has ruled that gay couples should have the same family rights as heterosexuals, a judgment that comes ahead of a national referendum seeking to ban same-sex marriage. The Constitutional Court ruled that same-sex couples had the same rights to a private and family life as heterosexuals and should “benefit from…. legal and juridical …

A glimmer of light in a dark week. Metro Weekly reports: An amendment to a federal appropriations bill that would have allowed child placement agencies to discriminate against same-sex couples has been removed, marking a major victory for LGBTQ and child welfare advocates. On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives agreed to a conference report — ironing out the differences …

The Japan Mainichi reports: The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is set to propose the first ordinance bill including a stipulation to prohibit discrimination against LGBT and other sexual minorities to the metropolitan assembly on Sept. 19. The bill is prospectively named “the ordinance aiming to realize the idea of respect for human rights in the Olympic Charter.” The Olympic Charter, established …

Via press release from the Democratic National Committee: This weekend, Democratic National Committee members passed historic new rules expanding the definition of gender in delegate selection and caucus participation rules to include gender non-binary Democrats. Members also passed a resolution condemning the Trump administration’s acceptance, empowerment, and promotion of anti-LGBTQ discrimination. New rules, passed first by the Rules and Bylaws …

Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed News: President Donald Trump offered skeptical LGBT Americans an olive branch when he took office in January 2017. The White House promised to safeguard a 2014 executive order that protects workers, announcing former President Obama’s ban on anti-LGBT discrimination by federal contractors “will remain intact.” But on Aug. 10 of this year, the Department of …

The Denver Post reports: The owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop has sued Gov. John Hickenlooper and state civil rights officials, claiming Colorado has renewed its religious persecution by investigating him — in defiance of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision — for refusing to create a cake commemorating gender transition. Jack Phillips of Lakewood brought the lawsuit late Tuesday night in …

Politico reports: Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s Senate confirmation hearings will start on Sept. 4 and last between three and four days, Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced on Friday. That scheduling tees up the GOP to meet its goal of getting President Donald Trump’s pick seated on the high court by the time its term begins in early October, …

Via press release: Governor Tom Wolf today will sign an executive order creating the Pennsylvania Commission on LGBTQ Affairs, the only one in the nation. “The creation of the commission on LGBTQ Affairs is one step of many we have taken to ensure obstacles are removed for anyone who is facing an unfair disadvantage based on sexual orientation, gender identity …

The Hill reports: The American Civil Liberties Union and two other groups are alleging in a lawsuit that illegal immigrants being held in a California federal prison are being denied their constitutional rights. The ACLU filed the lawsuit against the Trump administration alongside civil rights groups the Prison Law Office and Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center, arguing that the …

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports: A St. Louis County senior community has denied housing to a married lesbian couple who have been together for nearly four decades because of the couple’s sexual orientation, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court. Mary Walsh, 72, and Bev Nance, 68, both of Shrewsbury, say the Friendship Village senior living community, …

CNN reports: Former Democratic President Jimmy Carter says the United States has “lost its place” as a global leader of human rights. “We should be the champion of human rights. We’re a superpower, not based solely on military power; part of that definition should be a commitment to human rights,” Carter said Tuesday at an event at The Carter Center …

The Times of Israel reports: Protesters briefly blocked the Ayalon freeway in central Tel Aviv on Sunday morning amid demonstrations across the country, as the LGBT community began an unprecedented nationwide strike in protest of Israel’s failure to include gay couples in its surrogacy laws. The main southbound artery through the city was temporarily blocked by thousands of marchers waving …