Civil Rights

The CBC reports: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in Montreal federal legislation about to be tabled*, which will guarantee legal and human rights protection to transgender people across Canada. “We have worked too hard for us to stop here,” Trudeau said. “Too hard to stop with the progress we have made because I sincerely believe that in Canada we can …

Via press release: Following the introduction of over two dozen bills to curb LGBT rights at the state and federal level, and in observation of International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT), the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus released a video campaign, led by Co-Chair Representative Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18), to show support for the LGBT community. Featuring over 25 members …

President Obama today issued a statement marking the International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia, which was launched in 2004 on the anniversary of the World Health Organization’s 1990 declassification of homosexuality as a mental illness. Obama’s message declares that “LGBT rights are human rights” and that the United States honors the work of activists and will continue to “support their …

The Washington Post reports: Donald Trump vowed Monday that if elected president he would rescind the Obama administration’s new directives aimed at protecting transgender people against discrimination in schools and health-care coverage. But even as Trump accused the administration of federal overreach and argued that such matters should be addressed by the states, the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee also sounded …

Elton John has penned a lengthy piece for The Hill in which he denounces the “ignorance” of North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory. An excerpt: What’s worse than the discriminatory bill itself, and the millions in taxpayer dollars McCrory is wasting to defend it, is that the governor signed it after admitting he had never met a transgender person. Although McCrory …

From Raleigh’s CBS affiliate: Law enforcement started making arrests Monday evening after hundreds of HB2 protesters moved inside the Legislative building. A crowd of around 350 gathered between the Legislative Building and the Capitol building before moving inside the Legislature just before 5 p.m. The Raleigh Police were seen arresting demonstrators around 5:20 p.m. As of 5:40 p.m., 11 people …

Via press release: The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of North Carolina, and Lambda Legal today asked a federal court to order an immediate halt to enforcement of a North Carolina law that targets transgender people for discrimination in single-sex facilities. The three organizations and the law firm of Jenner and Block are challenging the law, House Bill 2, …

Media Matters today provides a primer on Alliance Defending Freedom. An excerpt: News networks frequently invite Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) — one of the most powerful right-wing legal groups in the country — to defend laws like North Carolina’s anti-LGBT bathroom legislation. But media outlets typically identify ADF as merely a “Christian legal organization,” failing to mention the group’s record …

Last night Family Research Council hater Travis Weber appeared on MSNBC’s Hardball, where he flailed and failed to answer when host Chris Matthews repeatedly asked him which bathroom trans activist Jennifer Boylan should use. Media Matters has the transcript: CHRIS MATTHEWS (HOST): Travis, tell Jenny what bathroom she should use. TRAVIS WEBER: Well — MATTHEWS: Which one should she use? …

Via the right wing Townhall: Speaking to reporters Friday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest addressed the new Department of Education directive. The directive requires every school district around the country allow individuals to use the restroom of their gender identity, not of their birth sex. Districts that do not comply have been threatened with federal funding cuts. When asked …

From the European Union: The recently adopted laws including in the states of Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee, which discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons in the United States contravene the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the US is a State party, and which states that the law shall prohibit any discrimination and …

The office of Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) just wrote to say that earlier today he become the first member of Congress to use the term “cisgender” in a House speech. Grayson stood next to a large portrait of transgender pioneer Christine Jorgensen as he delivered a 13-minute denouncement of the GOP and of North Carolina’s anti-LGBT hate law. Grayson is …

Brian Tashman has the transcript at Right Wing Watch: “The country is imploding,” he said. “We are seeing a moral implosion. Just like we saw the World Trade Center on 9/11 when the planes hit the tower, they imploded, they fell from within, and this is what’s happening to our country, we’re falling within. Our foundations have been weakened by …

From the Dallas-Fort Worth NBC affiliate: Top Republicans in America’s largest conservative state are ready to take on the issue of transgender rights and public restrooms, as thousands of party activists gather in Dallas for the Texas GOP convention. An Obama administration directive issued late Thursday amid a court fight between the federal government and North Carolina says public schools …

From the ABC affiliate in southeast Texas:  Port Neches-Groves Superintendent Dr. Rodney Cavness on Thursday slammed the Obama administration’s expected letter which is set to tell districts to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms of their choosing. Dr. Cavness did not mince words when telling 12News anchor Kevin Steele. “I got news for President Barack Obama. He ain’t my …

Via press release: The U.S. Departments of Education and Justice released joint guidance today to help provide educators the information they need to ensure that all students, including transgender students, can attend school in an environment free from discrimination based on sex. Recently, questions have arisen from school districts, colleges and universities, and others about transgender students and how to …

Via press release from the Democratic National Committee: Earlier today, while speaking at the Texas GOP Convention, Governor Abbott made clear that he supports North Carolina’s discriminatory law, HB2. Abbott even hinted that a similar measure could be coming to the Lone Star State, saying “I am working with the governor of North Carolina, and we are going to fight …

The Hill reports: The Obama administration will not strip federal funding from North Carolina amid a legal battle over the state’s controversial law on bathroom use, the White House said Thursday. Cabinet agencies have been conducting a review to determine whether the state’s recent legislation on LGBT rights makes it ineligible to receive education, transportation and other funding under federal …

Minutes ago the Massachusetts Senate overwhelmingly approved a transgender rights bill. The vote was 33-4. More from Reuters: The bill, which would make Massachusetts the 18th U.S. state to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity, has strong support in the Democratic-controlled legislature, although Republican Governor Charlie Baker has not said whether he would sign it. State Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, the …

In so many words, of course. Via press release: “American Family Association is appreciative that Target representatives were willing to accept the signatures of more than one million Americans and meet with us about our deep distress over Target’s unsafe bathroom policy, which permits anyone who identifies with another gender to enter the restroom or fitting room of the opposite …