Civil Rights

Ireland To Criminalize Anti-Transgender Hate Speech

The Irish Times reports: New laws will criminalise incitement to hatred against transgender people and those with a disability, the Cabinet agreed on Tuesday when approving a Bill intended to make prosecutions for hate speech and hate crimes easier. The Bill will add gender, including gender expression and identity, as well as disability to a list of “protected characteristics” which …

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Italian Activists Fear Erosion Of LGBTQ Rights Is Coming

Reuters reports: The LGBT community has “very real fears” after a conservative bloc dominated by the far-right won Italy’s general election, a leading gay rights campaigner told Reuters. The nationalist Brothers of Italy group, led by Giorgia Meloni, emerged as the largest party in the ballot and will lead the most right-wing government in Rome since World War Two. Meloni, …

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Court Strikes Down Buggery Law In St. Kitts And Nevis

Reuters reports: A Caribbean regional court has ruled that a Saint Kitts and Nevis prohibition on gay sex is unconstitutional because it violates the right to privacy, striking down one of a handful of bans on same-sex intercourse that still exist in the region. The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court ruled against two portions of the Offences Against the Person Act, …

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Vietnam Declares Being LGBTQ “Entirely Not An Illness”

Human Rights Watch reports: Vietnam’s Health Ministry officially confirmed that same-sex attraction and being transgender are not mental health conditions, Human Rights Watch said today. The decision brings Vietnam’s health policy in line with global health and human rights standards. Vietnam’s new directive states that “the American Psychiatric Association and the World Health Organization (WHO) have confirmed that homosexuality is …

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Singapore To Decriminalize Sex Between Men But Will Also Amend Constitution To Ban Same-Sex Marriage

ABC News reports: Singapore announced Sunday it will decriminalize sex between men by repealing a colonial-era law while protecting the city-state’s traditional norms and its definition of marriage. During his speech at the annual National Day Rally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he believed it is the “right thing to do now” as most Singaporeans will now accept it. …

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POLL: 70% Want Abortion Rights On Their State Ballot

USA Today reports: Americans overwhelmingly would like to be able to vote on an abortion measure on their state ballot, an exclusive USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll finds. And if they had the chance, they would oppose efforts to ban the procedure by almost 2-1. The survey, taken in the aftermath of the stunning defeat in Kansas last week of a proposal …

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Kansans Decisively Vote To Protect Abortion Rights

The Associated Press reports: Kansas voters on Tuesday sent a resounding message about their desire to protect abortion rights, rejecting a ballot measure in a conservative state with deep ties to the anti-abortion movement that would have allowed the Republican-controlled Legislature to tighten restrictions or ban the procedure outright. It was the first test of voter sentiment after the U.S. …

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Senate Vote On Marriage Bill To Come In September

Reuters reports: The U.S. Senate is likely to delay a vote on protecting gay marriage until September, as Democrats push forward with a $430 billion climate change and drug pricing bill, which could cost them Republican support for the marriage measure, aides and advocates said. Proponents of the bill worry that waiting could cause support to dwindle as opponents ramp …

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Justice Department Sues Idaho Over Anti-Abortion Law

The Associated Press reports: The Justice Department on Tuesday filed a lawsuit that challenges Idaho’s restrictive abortion law, arguing that it conflicts with a federal law requiring doctors to provide pregnant women medically necessary treatment that could include abortion. The federal government brought the lawsuit seeking to invalidate the state’s “criminal prohibition on providing abortions as applied to women suffering …

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Dem Approval Of SCOTUS Falls To Record Low 13%

Gallup reports: After several prominent rulings at the end of its term in June, most of which were decided in favor of conservatives’ positions on the issues, the U.S. Supreme Court’s overall job approval rating is 43%, statistically unchanged from last year’s 40% reading. However, the stability in the overall reading masks big swings among partisans, with Republicans’ approval rating …

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Michigan Supreme Court Backs LGBTQ Protections

Bridge Michigan reports: Michigan businesses cannot fire employees or discriminate against customers because of their sexual orientation, the state Supreme Court ruled in a closely watched case that will greatly expand civil rights protections. In a 5-2 ruling, the Michigan Supreme Court held that discrimination based on sexual orientation is already prohibited under the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, which …

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GOP Mass Gov Signs Bill Codifying Abortion Rights

Via press release: Governor Charlie Baker today signed legislation to further protect access to reproductive health care services in Massachusetts following the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade. The legislation codifies several measures that were first included in an Executive Order issued by Governor Baker in the hours following the Supreme Court’s decision last month. The law also adopts …

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Former Cop Sentenced 2.5 Years In George Floyd Case

The Associated Press reports: Family members of George Floyd say they’re angered at a federal judge’s sentence Thursday of 2 1/2 years for a former Minneapolis police officer convicted of a civil rights violation in Floyd’s killing. U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson sentenced Thomas Lane well below the 5 1/4 years that was the bottom of a range called for …

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Trump Judge Temporarily Blocks LGBTQ Protections

The New York Times reports: A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Biden administration from enforcing directives that extended civil rights protections to L.G.B.T.Q. students and workers. The ruling comes roughly one year after a group of 20 conservative state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against two federal agencies for their interpretation of the 1972 landmark civil rights statute …

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House Votes 219-210 To Codify Roe v Wade Protections

The Associated Press reports: The House has voted to restore abortion rights nationwide in Democrats’ first legislative response to the Supreme Court’s landmark decision overturning Roe v. Wade. The bill has little chance of becoming law, with the necessary support lacking in the 50-50 Senate. Yet voting marks the beginning of a new era in the debate as lawmakers, governors …

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Derek Chauvin Gets 21 Years On Civil Rights Charges

USA Today reports: A federal judge sentenced former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin to 21 years in prison for violating George Floyd’s civil rights when he killed Floyd by pinning the unarmed Black man to the pavement with his knee for more than nine minutes. Chauvin was convicted in a separate case on state charges of murder and manslaughter and …

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Dems Have Raised Over $80 Million Since Roe Overturn

The Associated Press reports: In the first week after the Supreme Court stripped away a woman’s constitutional right to have an abortion, Democrats and aligned groups raised more than $80 million, a tangible early sign that the ruling may energize voters. The massive $80 million fundraising haul was recorded by ActBlue, the Democrats’ online fundraising platform, which has a ticker …

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NY Moves To Enshrine Abortion Rights In Constitution

Politico reports: New York legislators on Friday approved a long-stalled proposal to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, making New York the latest state to pursue long-term protections in wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade reversal. The Assembly passed the broad state equal rights amendment, which would add explicit protections for New Yorkers to access abortion …

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Dems Seek Probe Of Web Tracking In Wake Of Roe

Ars Technica reports: Four Democratic US senators today asked the Federal Trade Commission to “investigate Apple and Google for engaging in unfair and deceptive practices by enabling the collection and sale of hundreds of millions of mobile phone users’ personal data.” The letter cited the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, saying that women “seeking abortions and other reproductive …

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West Coast States Sign Pact To Protect Abortion Access

The Hill reports: Three West Coast states signed a multistate commitment to protect abortion access on Friday after the Supreme Court ruled earlier to overturn Roe v. Wade. The governors of California, Oregon and Washington — all of whom are Democrats — vowed to expand abortion access for those seeking the medical procedure, refuse to extradite individuals to other states …

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