Civil Rights

From ACLU of Wyoming: Late last week, a bill popped up on the legislature’s 2017 bill list with the title, “Government Nondiscrimination Act”. With a title like that, interested citizens might understandably believe the bill would be solidifying Wyoming’s stance against discrimination in the Equality State. But they would be wrong. More aptly titled The Wyoming Government Discrimination Act, HB …

The Texas Observer reports: A Republican lawmaker filed the “Abolition of Abortion in Texas Act” Wednesday, which would ban and criminalize abortions in Texas at any stage and direct state officials to ignore federal law established by Roe v. Wade. House Bill 948, authored by state Representative Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington [PHOTO], is the newest and most straightforward attempt by Texas …

The New York Times reports: President-elect Donald J. Trump will meet on Monday with the eldest son of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to discuss the legacy and observe the holiday of the civil rights icon, Mr. Trump’s spokesman said. The unexpected move comes as tensions escalate between the incoming president and a number of prominent black elected …

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Atlantans responded with an incredulous “how dare you!” Saturday after President-elect Donald Trump kicked off the MLK holiday weekend with a twitter rant saying most of Atlanta is in “horrible shape and falling apart” and describing Georgia’s U.S. Rep. John Lewis — a civil rights icon — as “All talk, talk, talk — no action or …

Via Gallup: The portion of American adults identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) increased to 4.1% in 2016 from 3.5% in 2012. These figures, drawn from the largest representative sample of LGBT Americans collected in the U.S., imply that more than an estimated 10 million adults now identify as LGBT in the U.S. today, approximately 1.75 million more …

The Arizona Republic reports: The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was all about justice, that notion that we are all equal, that we all deserve opportunities. He lived by that Old Testament command from God that we should not only be charitable but work for justice. Social justice, he called it. Just don’t dare talk about such things in Arizona’s …

The International Business Times reports: The confirmation process for Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) is “rigged” and should be delayed in order to thoroughly vet Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee, a group of civil rights leaders said in a conference call with reporters Friday. Citing reports that Democrats will be allowed to call only four witnesses to testify at next …

From the Bay Area Reporter: California has banned most taxpayer-funded travel to four states that have adopted anti-LGBT laws. In addition to the three Southern states that the state attorney general’s office had identified in November for inclusion on the list – Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee – Kansas was also named to the official list posted online January 1. …

The Associated Press reports: Texas lawmakers will decide whether to embrace an issue that caused a national uproar in North Carolina – banning transgendered people from using the bathroom of their choice. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a top social conservative voice in the state, unveiled the proposed law Thursday at a news conference. Patrick says the “Privacy Protection Act” is …

The Washington Blade reports: Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Thursday signed an executive order that bans anti-LGBT discrimination among state employees, contractors and subcontractors. “Today’s executive order is a huge leap forward in our goal toward becoming a state that is a safe, welcoming and equal place for all Virginians,” said Equality Virginia Executive Director James Parrish in a press …

The Associated Press reports: North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper took his oath of office minutes after midnight Sunday morning, getting an early start on his duties amid bitter partisan politics in the state but saying he believed there is a way forward. Joined by a small group of family, friends and colleagues, the Democrat was sworn inside the old House …

Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed: A federal judge in Texas on Saturday issued a nationwide injunction halting enforcement of Obama administration protections for transgender and abortion-related healthcare services just one day before they were due to go into effect. The lawsuit — brought by Texas, a handful of other states, and some religiously affiliated nonprofit medical groups — challenges a …

CBS News reports: The Boy Scouts of America is facing tough questions after banning a child over his gender identity. Joe Maldonado, 8, who was born a girl and now identifies as a boy, was removed from his New Jersey Cub Scout troop. Joe’s family says parents of other children had complained. Joe’s mother, Kristie Maldonado, says the organization already …

WOW. From an op-ed published today by the Raleigh News & Observer: In the just released EIP report, North Carolina’s overall electoral integrity score of 58/100 for the 2016 election places us alongside authoritarian states and pseudo-democracies like Cuba, Indonesia and Sierra Leone. If it were a nation state, North Carolina would rank right in the middle of the global …

Raleigh’s NBC affiliate reports: The executive committee of the state NAACP will ask the national leaders of the civil rights group for a nationwide economic boycott of North Carolina to protest the actions of the General Assembly, state NAACP President Rev. William Barber said Thursday. “This legislature is trying to raise a new Confederacy in policy,” Barber said at a …

The Associated Press reports: A Pennsylvania court has ruled that a gay couple can have their 2012 adoption overturned so they could finally get married. A three-judge Superior Court panel on Wednesday handed down a decision saying that state law permits an adult adoption to be dissolved when no one’s opposed. Roland Bosee Jr, 68, and Nino Esposito, 78, of …

ESPN reports: Amid deepening acrimony, a supposedly bipartisan deal to kill the North Carolina law known as the “bathroom bill” fell apart Wednesday night, ensuring the likelihood that global corporations and national sports events will continue to stay away from the state. “The NCAA’s decision to withhold championships from North Carolina remains unchanged,” said NCAA spokesman Bob Williams in a …

Via joint press release from Lambda Legal and the ACLU: Based on a promise from the General Assembly to fully repeal H.B. 2, the Charlotte City Council repealed their LGBT non-discrimination ordinances earlier this week. However, the Legislature failed to follow through on their promise, despite the deep and widespread opposition and outrage over the discriminatory nature of the law. …

After spending much of the day in recess, the North Carolina House has just gone back into session where at this writing a GOP rep is denouncing HB2 opponents as the “lunatic left” and the “California crowd.” Here are the links for live audio and live video. At this point, nobody appears to be holding their breath that any full …

The Guardian reports: Northern Ireland’s attorney general cannot refer back to the supreme court the case of a local bakery fined for refusing to bake a gay-themed cake. John Larkin QC’s legal bid to get the supreme court to review court rulings against Ashers Bakery was deemed to have come in too late, Northern Ireland’s lord chief justice said on …