Civil Rights

President Obama Speaks At Dallas Memorial: Our Nation’s Deepest Fault Lines Have Widened [VIDEO]

Politico reports: Paying tribute Tuesday to the five police officers slain in the line of duty last week in Dallas, President Barack Obama called upon the United States to reject despair after a tumultuous week. “All of it left us wounded and angry. And hurt. The deepest fault lines of our democracy have suddenly been exposed, perhaps even widened,” Obama …

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LIVE VIDEO: House Hears “First Amendment Defense Act” – Bill Would Legalize Anti-LGBT Discrimination

Bil Browning writes at LGBTQ Nation: One month after the mass shooting in Orlando at a gay nightclub, congressional Republicans are holding a committee hearing to discuss legalizing discrimination against LGBT people. Despite repeated calls from fellow lawmakers, activists, and civil rights organizations, chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) refused to cancel or postpone the hearing. The hearing will focus on the …

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White House Slams Tomorrow’s “Disturbing” House Hearing On Bill To Legalize Anti-LGBT Discrimination

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: Tuesday’s congressional hearing on a federal “religious freedom” bill that would enable anti-LGBT discrimination is “disturbing,” a White House spokesperson said Monday. Jeff Tiller, a White House spokesperson, made the remarks in response to an email request from the Washington Blade to comment on the House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform’s controversial …

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Transgender Rights Ad To Air On Fox News During Donald Trump’s Speech At GOP Convention [VIDEO]

The New York Times reports: On the evening that Donald J. Trump is expected to accept the Republican nomination, a coalition of gay rights groups will run a commercial that criticizes laws recently passed in states like North Carolina that limit which public restrooms transgender people can use. The minute-long ad, which will air on Fox News during Mr. Trump’s …

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MISSISSIPPI: Gov. Phil Bryant Demands Court Stay Overturn Of Anti-LGBT Law Pending His Appeal

From the Jackson Clarion-Ledger: Gov. Phil Bryant has given notice of an appeal to the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals of a federal judge ruling blocking House Bill 1523. In a motion filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, Bryant’s attorney Drew Snyder asked that U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves stay his preliminary injunction pending appeal. “This is a good …

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NORTH CAROLINA: Governor Has The Sadz After 68 Major Companies Join Brief Against Hate Laws

From the Raleigh News & Observer: American Airlines, Microsoft and Marriott are among 68 companies that signed an amicus brief in the lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s House Bill 2. Former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson authored the brief on behalf of Human Rights Campaign, the LGBT advocacy group that is leading opposition to the law. The brief will be filed …

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WASHINGTON: Trans Rights Repeal Fails To Make Ballot

The Olympian reports: An effort to ask Washington voters about restricting which bathrooms and locker rooms transgender people can use has fallen short. Supporters of Initiative 1515 did not collect the 246,372 registered voters’ signatures it needed to qualify for the election. I-1515 would have asked voters statewide to allow public and private entities to bar people from choosing a …

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Ohio Bakery: No BIRTHDAY Cakes For Gay Couples

From Toledo’s ABC affiliate: It certainly wasn’t the text message Candice Lowe was expecting to get on her honeymoon. She says it came from the owner of Take the Cake Bakery in Toledo, canceling the order for her wife’s birthday cake. Lowe says, “after she saw my Facebook page, she found out that I was in a same-sex marriage and …

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President Obama Reacts To Latest Killings By Police: These Fatal Shootings Are Not Isolated Incidents

“All Americans should be deeply troubled by the fatal shootings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. We’ve seen such tragedies far too many times, and our hearts go out to the families and communities who’ve suffered such a painful loss. “Although I am constrained in commenting on the particular facts of these …

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MINNESOTA: Woman Live-Streams Harrowing Video After Boyfriend Is Shot And Killed By Police [VIDEO]

The Minnesota Star-Tribune reports: A St. Paul man died Wednesday night after being shot by police in Falcon Heights, the immediate aftermath of which was shown in a video recorded by the man’s girlfriend as she sat next to him and which was widely shared on Facebook. The girlfriend started the live-stream video with the man in the driver’s seat …

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RALEIGH: City Could Lose $40M Over Hate Laws

From Raleigh’s NBC affiliate: Raleigh could lose as much as $40 million in convention business from the state’s controversial law on transgender rights. Statistics from the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau show that 16 trade associations or corporate groups have canceled gatherings in Raleigh because of House Bill 2, causing an estimated economic loss of $5.6 million. Raleigh is …

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NORTH CAROLINA: Trump Flip-Flops On Anti-LGBT Hate Bill, Says “I’m Going With The State” [VIDEO]

Back in April, Donald Trump surprised everybody on the right and the left when he denounced North Carolina’s HB2. His quote from that day: “North Carolina did something that was very strong and they’re paying a big price. And there’s a lot of problems. Leave it the way it is. North Carolina, what they’re going through, with all of the …

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NORTH CAROLINA: Gay Choruses Drown Out Christian Street Preachers Calling For Their Deaths [VIDEO]

Playbill reports that North Carolina’s Triangle Gay Men’s Chorus and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington were performing in a Raleigh park when nearby street preachers began shouting bible verses calling for their deaths. They write: A local resident, Elizabeth Breakey, captured the incident on video and posted on Facebook, where she wrote, “This particular moment in Moore Square was …

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NORTH CAROLINA: Hate Laws Intact As Session Ends

After the NBA and LGBT activists objected to a “fix” to North Carolina’s anti-LGBT laws that many said was worse than the original, the clock ran out last night with only a minor change. The Charolotte Observer reports: The North Carolina legislature adjourned for the year late Friday after lawmakers gave final approval to the state budget, hammered out or …

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MISSISSIPPI: Dem Attorney General Jim Hood Might Not Appeal Anti-LGBT Laws Struck Down By Court

Mississippi News Now reports: Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood says he doesn’t know if his office will appeal a federal judge’s ruling that blocked a state law dealing with religious objections to gay marriage. Hood is the only Democrat in statewide office, and his staff had defended the law that was passed by the Republican-majority Legislature and signed by a …

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Christian Mingle Ordered To Allow Gay Matches

From the Wall Street Journal: The owner of online dating site ChristianMingle.com has agreed to let gay and lesbian users search for same-sex matches under a judge-approved settlement of discrimination claims. Two gay men filed class-actions claims against Spark Networks Inc. in California courts in 2013 alleging that ChristianMingle.com and several other sites in the company’s portfolio of niche dating …

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NORTH CAROLINA: State Senate Moves $500K From Disaster Relief Fund To Defend Anti-LGBT Hate Bill

The Associated Press reports: North Carolina lawmakers took steps Thursday to set aside a half-million dollars for the legal defense of a law limiting protections for LGBT people as a judge sought to streamline a cluster of lawsuits it has inspired. Republican lawmakers were mapping out the end of the session, including possible changes to the law known as House …

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MISSISSIPPI: Federal Court Strikes Down Entire Bill Which Legalized Anti-LGBT Discrimination

All hail Roberta Kaplan! From the Washington Post: U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves late Thursday night issued an injunction blocking a bill by the Mississippi legislature that would have allowed private citizens and some public officials professing a “sincere religious belief” to deny services to gays and lesbians. Just minutes before House Bill 1523 was to take effect at …

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NBA Slams North Carolina’s Attempt To Fix Hate Law

Earlier this week LGBT activists denounced the attempt by North Carolina Republicans to “refine” the anti-transgender section of HB2. This afternoon the NBA and the Charlotte Hornets joined in. Their message: “We have been engaged in dialogue with numerous groups at the city and state levels, but we do not endorse the version of the bill that we understand is …

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UNITED NATIONS: Human Rights Council Votes 23-18 To Approve LGBT Rights Watchdog Position

Buzzfeed reports: The United Nations Human Rights Council voted Thursday to create the institution’s first LGBT rights watchdog. The resolution passed in a vote of 23 to 18, with 6 abstentions. The person appointed to this role will be known as an “independent expert” and the position is charged with monitoring “violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender …

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