Tag Archives: ACLU

Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed: A federal judge expressed skepticism on Monday that North Carolina lawmakers were solving a legitimate safety problem when they passed a law in spring that bans many transgender people from restrooms in government facilities that match their gender identity. US District Court Judge Thomas D. Schroeder also seemed flummoxed at one point by how the …

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, …

Via press release from the ACLU: The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Mississippi today filed a lawsuit to challenge an anti-LGBT law passed this spring that allows public officials and businesses to refuse to serve gay and transgender individuals. The lawsuit, which targets the registrar of vital records, was filed on behalf of ACLU of Mississippi members …

AL.com reports: The Oxford City Council today voted 3-2 to rescind its controversial public restroom ordinance, a little more than a week after it was passed. Councilmembers Charlotte Hubbard, Phil Gardner and Mike Henderson voted to rescind the ordinance, while Council President Steven Waits and Councilman Chris Spurlin voted to keep it. The council was able to reconsider the ordinance, …

Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed: The country’s top LGBT legal organizations urged federal officials on Thursday to make it clear that passing anti-LGBT laws like one in North Carolina will jeopardize their federal education funding. In their letter to White House counsel Neil Eggleston and U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, the five groups write, “This administration must make definitively clear …

Lambda Legal says this is a “game changer.” Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed: A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the Department of Education’s interpretation of existing federal civil rights laws to protect transgender people against discrimination in education. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, upheld the department’s interpretation of Title IX of the Education Amendments …

Minutes ago Buzzfeed News reported that Democratic North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper will not defend the constitutionality of his state’s newly-enacted anti-LGBT law. Cooper is running for governor against incumbent Pat McCrory, who has issued lie-filled statements in support of the law, which excludes LGBT citizens statewide from all discrimination protections. Story developing. See the tweets below from Buzzfeed’s …

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 …

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 …

From NPR’s Asheville affiliate: The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina is preparing litigation against the state over a recent bill blocking towns and cities from passing anti-discrimination measures. Governor Pat McCrory signed House Bill 2 late Wednesday night, several hours after the legislature gave final approval during a one-day special session lawmakers called to address the issue. Response …

Via press release: Today, Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of North Carolina, and Equality North Carolina condemned North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signing into law a sweeping anti-LGBT measure, HB 2, and announced that the organizations are exploring legal challenges to the discriminatory law. “We expect the ACLU’s and Lambda Legal’s Legal Help Desks will light …

The ACLU is keeping its eye on the LGBT ball while the rest of the country obsesses on the primaries and terrorism. They write: There are several bills that threaten LGBT equality likely to move this week: North Carolina: The North Carolina legislature will convene in a special session on Wednesday solely to prevent Charlotte’s LGBT non-discrimination ordinance from taking …

A federal judge today ruled moot the ACLU’s lawsuit against Kim Davis, declaring that same-sex marriage licenses she refused to sign are valid under Kentucky law. The Associated Press reports: United States District Judge David Bunning denied the American Civil Liberties Union’s request to order Davis to reissue licenses she had altered to remove her name and title or face …

A bill introduced yesterday by Democratic Missouri state Sen. Jamilah Nasheed [photo] would have police officers record the “perceived” sexual orientation of drivers stopped for infractions. The Fair & Impartial Policing Act is endorsed by the ACLU of Missouri and is part of a broad anti-profiling campaign. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports: “This is not an attack on law enforcement,” …

The ACLU has filed a complaint. They write: “911, what’s your emergency?” There are a lot of situations that may warrant calling 911. But seeing a transgender person is not one of them. But that’s exactly what a hotel manager in West Des Moines, Iowa, did when Meagan Taylor and her friend, both Black transgender women, checked into the hotel. …

Thou shall not steal candy bars is in there somewhere, right? The Friendly Atheist has the backstory: In 2001, the ACLU filed a lawsuit over a Ten Commandments monument outside the new City Hall building in Grand Junction, Colorado. It was a Christian symbol — everybody knew that — so it had no place on government property. Knowing that they …

The state of Utah has relented in a lawsuit brought by a married lesbian couple seeking to have both of their names on the birth certificate of their child. Ben Winslow reports at Salt Lake City’s Fox affiliate: In a joint agreement filed with in U.S. District Court and obtained by FOX 13 on Sunday, the ACLU of Utah and …

The ACLU wants to make the Kim Davis case a class action lawsuit and the Liberty Counsel is VERY unhappy about that, telling the court that the ACLU is just trying to pump up their legal fees. Via World Net Daily: “Unsatisfied with the status quo, plaintiffs are apparently looking to stir up controversy where it does not exist, perhaps …