Civil Rights

The vote is starting. Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed: Mississippi lawmakers are scheduled to take a final vote Wednesday on what critics believe is the most sweeping anti-LGBT legislation in the United States. The bill passed in the state House in February, and opponents are hoping to kill it in the Senate by delaying a possible vote until after a …

We love this. From Atlanta’s ABC affiliate: Atlanta Council members are calling on the NBA to move the All-Star game to Atlanta. Next year’s game is set for Charlotte, North Carolina. But North Carolina just passed a state law that requires people to use the bathroom associated with the gender of their birth, not the gender with which they identify. …

BOOM. The Washington Blade reports: Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Wednesday vetoed a religious freedom bill that critics said would have allowed anti-LGBT discrimination. McAuliffe said in a statement that Senate Bill 41 is “nothing more than an attempt to stigmatize.” “This legislation is also bad for business and creates roadblocks as we try to build the new Virginia economy,” …

And the list just keeps getting longer. From the Associated Press: Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has joined other government officials in banning anything but most publicly funded travel to North Carolina because of the state’s law halting anti-discrimination rules. In making the announcement, Inslee praised Washington’s law that requires buildings open to the public to allow transgender people to use …

From Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin: “The law passed in North Carolina is an absolute disgrace. Vermont has a proud tradition of protecting the rights of LGBT individuals. I’m making this decision in that tradition. I’m proud to join with New York in taking this action. I hope other states will join us in applying pressure on North Carolina to recognize …

The New York Times reports: The onslaught of criticism, economic sanctions and a lawsuit being leveled at Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina grew on Tuesday, as the largest corporation in his state joined the fight against a new law that eliminated anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Bank of America, which has its headquarters in Charlotte, …

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory this afternoon posted a ranting clip in which he claims his state has been “demonized for political gain” and wrongly “been made the target of a vicious nationwide smear campaign.” Watch below. According to McCrory, the avalanche of criticism comes from those are “promoting conflict to advance their political agenda.” Below are some tweeted reactions …

Via press release: Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) responded Tuesday to Attorney General Roy Cooper’s announcement that he will not defend a state law passed with bipartisan support stopping men from entering public bathrooms and locker rooms with young girls and women. “Roy Cooper’s refusal to defend the law makes clear he wants the ACLU to win by default in …

From a Facebook post by the NC Safe Coalition: “While business owners in other states have received criticism and have even been forced out of business for standing up for common sense, hundreds (334) of North Carolina business owners have signed on to a letter thanking Governor Pat McCrory and the General Assembly for passing a law affirming the privacy …

The Springfield News-Gazette reports: A bed-and-breakfast near Paxton that turned down a same-sex couple’s request to hold a civil-union ceremony there in 2011 has been ordered to pay $30,000 in damages to the couple and $50,000 to their attorneys and to stop violating the Illinois Human Rights Act. Michael R. Robinson, an administrative law judge appointed by the Illinois Human …

“Whether or not Gov. Deal realizes it, religious liberties are being stripped away from people of all faiths every day. A religious liberties bill is not intended to discriminate, but instead to protect. Discrimination goes both ways. But choosing not to protect the faithful and their beliefs—a freedom that the U.S. Constitution affords us—discriminates against those who live their lives …

The LGBT religious group Faith In America gets to the core of North Carolina’s hate bill: Yet again, the religious right has hijacked religious narratives to justify their anti-LGBT bigotry. Ill-informed and misguided religious beliefs are being used against the transgender community in North Carolina. “North Carolina revoked a basic human right for their transgender community — to use public …

North Carolina’s High Point Market Week bills itself as the world’s largest home furnishings industry trade show and mere days after the state’s anti-LGBT bill was signed into law, the show’s organizers say they are being deluged with attendee cancellations for next month’s convention, which delivers an estimated $5.4B to the local economy with its spring and fall events. Via …

Add New York state to New York City, San Francisco, and Seattle. From Gov. Cuomo’s edict: Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today signed an executive order banning all non-essential state travel to North Carolina. The order requires all New York State agencies, departments, boards and commissions to immediately review all requests for state funded or state sponsored travel to the state …

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory is a very unhappy with the lawsuit filed yesterday. From a statement issued by his office: “The governor respects the right of any legal challenges; however, he does not respect the continued distortion of the facts by the groups challenging this law and by many members of the state and national media,” said Graham Wilson, …

Yesterday a press conference was held at which the plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit against North Carolina appeared. Watch below. The Associated Press reports: The plaintiffs are two transgender people, a lesbian law professor, the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina and Equality North Carolina. Defendants include McCrory and the University of North Carolina system, where two of the …

And for Georgia too, should today’s veto be overridden. Capital New York reports: Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday he is instituting a ban on “non-essential travel” by New York City employees to the state of North Carolina following the passage of a law there that overturns anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. De Blasio said he …

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Minutes after Gov. Nathan Deal said he would veto the ‘religious liberty’ bill that reached his desk less than two weeks ago, state Sen. Mike Crane [photo] called on his fellow lawmakers to overturn the governor’s decision. Crane, a Newnan Republican running for Congress, said Deal’s announcement Monday “is another example of how the political class …

Early this morning North Carolina was sued in federal court over the recently signed law which overturns LGBT rights statewide and bans transgender citizens from using public facilities that align with their gender identity. The suit was filed on behalf of three individuals and two LGBT rights groups. Buzzfeed News has details: “By singling out LGBT people for disfavored treatment …

“San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee says he is banning all city employees from job-related travel to North Carolina in protest of the action NC Gov. Pat McCrory and the General Assembly just took to preserve basic privacy and protect its citizens from perverts and sexual predators. Can you believe it? I think Mayor Lee needs to focus on the problems …