Civil Rights

At today’s press briefing, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer dodged a question from Washington Blade reporter Chris Johnson about reports of an impending anti-LGBT executive order. Johnson: “The LGBT group the Human Rights Campaign has issued a statement citing rumors that the president is about to sign a religious freedom executive order that would undermine LGBT rights. Is this …

Politico reports: Former President Barack Obama’s office released a statement Monday supporting the protests going on around the country, and speaking out against discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion, saying “American values are at stake.” Kevin Lewis, spokesman for Obama in his post-presidency, said that Obama — who has been threading the balance between the tradition of …

LGBTQ Nation reports: An executive order from President Donald Trump opening up discrimination against the LGBTQ community on the basis of religious belief is expected sometime this week, possibly as soon as today. Several sources spoke with LGBTQ Nation on the condition of anonymity who have told us that the order will allow for discrimination in a number of areas, …

Slate reports: The American Civil Liberties Union broke all its fundraising records this weekend as it became the main group challenging President Donald Trump’s immigration restrictions. The ACLU raised $24,164,691 this weekend from 356,306 online donations after Trump signed the order suspending the country’s refugee program and banning entry into the United States of citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries. …

Fortune reports: President Donald Trump on Monday sought to deflect blame for the chaos and confusion that his executive order clamping down on immigration caused this weekend at airports around the country, wrongly blaming Delta Airlines in the wake of a “systems outage” that caused delays and cancelations. Delta’s snafu didn’t begin until after outrage over Trump’s order to bar …

The Telegraph reports: Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK is expected to be debated in Parliament after senior Conservatives joined hundreds of thousands calling for it to be cancelled. More than 600,000 people had by Sunday night signed a letter calling for the visit, which is due to take place in the Summer, to be abandoned because of the …

ABC News reports: Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York called on President Donald Trump to reverse his executive order on immigration, calling it “mean-spirited and un-American.” Schumer said Senate Democrats will soon introduce legislation attempting to overturn Trump’s travel ban executive order. An aide to Schumer says the legislation could come as soon as Monday. At a press …

Washington’s CBS affiliate reports: Massive crowds have gathered at the White House Sunday afternoon to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration plan. The president’s executive order suspends the entry of all refugees to the United States for 120 days, halts the admission of refugees from Syria indefinitely and bars entry for three months to residents from the predominantly Muslim countries of …

I don’t know how much longer we’ll get press releases like this one, which is from the Navy Office of Community Outreach. Here is their photo caption: Capt. Jeffrey Ward, commanding officer of amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), facilitates transgender training with chiefs and officers in the ship’s wardroom. The training was conducted to provide command leadership …

The Wyoming Tribune-Eagle reports: A controversial bill titled the “Government Non-discrimination Act” was recalled from the Wyoming House of Representatives by its sponsors Thursday afternoon. The action was in order to “give Wyoming citizens time for more thorough consideration,” the bill’s sponsors said in a statement emailed to media members Thursday afternoon. Supporters of House Bill 135 said it would …

The Raleigh News & Observer reports: Legislators won’t be moving quickly to change House Bill 2 this year, and an “outright repeal” doesn’t have enough support, N.C. Senate leader Phil Berger said this week. Berger spoke in detail about the controversial LGBT law in an interview with Tim Boyum of Time Warner Cable News that aired Thursday night. During a …

The Raleigh News & Observer reports: Does former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory need protection? Do all current and former public officials? At least one state senator thinks so. After a video was posted on Facebook Friday showing a group of people following McCrory during a trip to Washington, D.C., for inaugural weekend, chanting “Shame!” and calling him a bigot, …

ABC News reports: ABC News has learned that Judge Neil Gorsuch has emerged as the leading contender to fill the Supreme Court vacancy, and his nomination is expected as early as next week, according to sources familiar with the selection process. Gorsuch, 49, is currently a judge on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, to which he was nominated by …

LGBTQ Nation reports: Former North Carolina governor Pat McCrory is not too popular in his home state these days, after costing the state millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs due to boycotts over the anti-LGBTQ law he signed while in office. Turns out McCrory is unpopular outside of his state as well, as a video posted Facebook user Udai …

New York Magazine reports: Millions of people across the world marched on Saturday to show their support for women’s rights in response to the U.S. presidential inauguration of Donald Trump. Estimates from two university professors collected from local news outlets puts the number of U.S. marchers somewhere between three and four million, though estimating crowd size is notoriously inexact. Still, …

Talking Points Memo reports: Donald Trump has tapped lawyer John Gore, who defended the University of North Carolina system in a legal challenge over the state’s anti-LGBT law, to be the deputy assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Gore is a partner at Jones Day, the Trump campaign’s law firm. Jones Day announced that Gore and …

The Hill reports: Barack Obama on Friday afternoon tweeted once again from his personal Twitter, marking the official social media transition from president. He followed it with another tweet about the Obama Foundation, which he plans to launch in Chicago and run during his post-presidential life. Despite switching back to his personal twitter, Obama will still have a far reach …

Twitter wonks noticed this happening moments after Trump was sworn in. Via Esquire: Donald Trump was just sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. Just gonna leave that there for a moment. As part of the presidential transition, Trump’s team assumes control of WhiteHouse.gov. Before today, the “Issues” tab of the website had a section devoted to …

The Virginia House Of Delegates is about hear the “bathroom bill” proposed by lunatic Del. Bob “Sideshow” Marshall, who has denounced as “fake news” reports that a similar bill has cost North Carolina’s economy hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of jobs. (Video below.) There are three separate anti-LGBT bills on today’s agenda. Watch live here.

In the last week we’ve had a farewell speech, a final weekly YouTube address, and a final press conference. This afternoon we get President Obama’s official goodbye letter. From the White House press office: My fellow Americans, It’s a long-standing tradition for the sitting president of the United States to leave a parting letter in the Oval Office for the …