Tag Archives: civil rights

KANSAS: GOP Gov Signs Anti-LGBT Adoption Bill

Via press release: Americans United for Separation of Church and State criticized Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer for signing Senate Bill 284 into law. The measure gives taxpayer-funded adoption and foster care agencies a right to use religion to deny children loving homes by discriminating against prospective parents. This is a troubling trend: Oklahoma enacted a law like this last week …

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NEW YORK: GOP-Controlled Senate Committee Votes Down Trans Rights Bill For Eleventh Consecutive Year

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: Any hopes that New York would join other states this year and enact a law explicitly prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender identity were dashed Tuesday when a Republican-controlled Senate committee voted down a transgender rights measure. The Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, or GENDA, was defeated in the New York Senate Investigations …

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Trump Rescinds Obama-Era Rules Protecting Trans Inmates: Prisoners To By Housed By “Biological Sex”

Buzzfeed News reports:  The Trump administration on Friday rolled back rules that allowed transgender inmates to use facilities that match their gender identity, including cell blocks and bathrooms, thereby reversing course on an Obama administration effort to protect transgender prisoners from sexual abuse and assault. The Bureau of Prisons now “will use biological sex” to make initial determinations in the …

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KANSAS: GOP Gov To Sign Anti-LGBT Adoption Bill

The Wichita Eagle reports: A bill that ensures faith-based adoption agencies can turn away gay and lesbian couples based on religious beliefs will be signed into law by Gov. Jeff Colyer. Kansas lawmakers passed the legislation after an intense debate early Friday. One suggested the need for the legislation proves the existence of the “homosexual agenda” while another said the …

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NEW HAMPSHIRE: Legislature Adds Trans Protections To Civil Rights Law, GOP Gov. Chris Sununu To Sign Bill

Via press release from Freedom For All Americans: In a legislative victory two years in the making, the New Hampshire Senate, by a bipartisan vote of 14-10, voted in favor of a bill, HB 1319, that adds transgender-inclusive nondiscrimination protections to the state’s existing civil rights law. The bill now heads to the desk of Republican Governor Chris Sununu, who …

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Majorities In 44 States Now Back Same-Sex Marriage

Just in from PRRI Polling: Recent dramatic shifts in support for same-sex marriage are also evident at the state level. Today, majorities in 44 states believe gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to legally marry, compared to only 30 states in 2014. In only six states does the issue of same-sex marriage garner less than majority support: Alabama (41%), …

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BRITAIN: Supreme Court Hears Gay Cake Case

The Guardian reports: A bakery run by evangelical Christians is to launch a fresh attempt to overturn a £500 award made against it for refusing to bake a cake promoting same-sex marriage. Ashers bakery, which has branches in Northern Ireland and is financially supported by the Christian Institute, is taking its claim to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, which is …

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Trump To Roll Back Transgender Health Protections

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration says it plans to roll back a rule issued by President Barack Obama that prevents doctors, hospitals and health insurance companies from discriminating against transgender people. Advocates said the change could jeopardize the significant gains that transgender people have seen in access to medical care, including gender reassignment procedures — treatments for …

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Not One Anti-LGBT Bill Has Passed So Far This Year

The Associated Press reports: In a striking shift from recent years, major legislation curtailing LGBT rights has been completely stymied in state capitols around the country this year amid anxiety by Republican leaders over igniting economic backlash if they are depicted as discriminatory. In the thick of this year’s legislative sessions, LGBT activists were tracking about 120 proposed bills that …

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Theresa May Calls On Commonwealth To Reform Anti-Gay Laws: “I Regret Our Legacy Of Discrimination”

Reuters reports: Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday she regretted Britain’s role in anti-gay legislation across its former colonies, seeking to address criticism of the Commonwealth at its gathering in London. May is looking to reinvigorate the Commonwealth, a 53-country network of mostly former colonies, as Britain seeks new post-Brexit ways to project its influence in the world and …

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Court Upholds Block On Trump’s Trans Military Ban

Axios reports: A federal judge in Washington ordered Friday that a halt to President Trump’s transgender troop ban remain in place, saying that the government must prove its order “was sincerely motivated by compelling interests, rather than by prejudice or stereotype.” In addition to keeping its injunction in place, the judge overseeing the case said that transgender people represent a …

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Woman Fired For Flipping Off Trump Files Suit

Courthouse News reports: Juli Briskman, the woman who was caught flipping off the presidential motorcade in a photograph that went viral last year, has sued her former employer for firing her, claiming it was a violation of her right to free speech. In a 10 page complaint filed in the Fairfax County Circuit Court, Briskman claims her former employer, government …

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TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: Christians To Rally Against “Cancer” Of LGBT Rights Ahead Of Buggery Ruling

The Trinidad Express reports: People who identify themselves as gay, lesbian, homosexual or transgender should not have the same rights as “normal” people. That is the view expressed by the Christian non-governmental organisation, T&T Cause. The group is led by Bishop Keith Ramdass, Bishop Dr Victor Gill and Vernon De Leon and was formed “to resist the tide of immorality …

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MISSISSIPPI: State Supreme Court Rules Divorced Lesbian Has Parental Rights For Non-Biological Child

The Associated Press reports: Mississippi’s Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a woman has parental rights to a 6-year-old boy born to her ex-wife when the two were married, in a case watched by gay rights activists and groups aiding in vitro fertilization. Christina “Chris” Strickland brought the appeal, challenging a lower court decision that an anonymous sperm donor still had …

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MALAYSIA: University Holds Ex-Gay Poster Contest

The New Strait Times reports: A contest at a leading Malaysian university seeking ideas to “convert” gay students sparked anger Wednesday, with activists warning it could drive people in the Muslim-majority country to suicide. It was the latest example of what rights groups say is growing intolerance towards Malaysia’s gay community as religious fundamentalism increases, eroding the multi-ethnic country’s traditionally …

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Linda Brown Of Brown V Board Of Education Dies At 76

NPR reports: Linda Brown, who as a schoolgirl was at the center of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that rejected racial segregation in American schools, died in Topeka, Kan., Sunday afternoon. She was 76. Her sister, Cheryl Brown Henderson, confirmed the death to The Topeka Capital-Journal. The 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education, involved several …

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BREAKING: Trump Moves To Ban Most Trans Troops

Politico reports: President Donald Trump on Friday issued orders to ban transgender troops from serving in the military except in select cases — following through on a controversial pledge last year that has been under review by the Pentagon and fought out in the courts. The memorandum, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, states that while the Secretary of …

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Conference Of Catholic Bishops Issue “Strong Support” Of Bill To Legalize Anti-LGBT Discrimination Nationwide

Via press release: Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee for Religious Liberty, and Bishop James D. Conley of Lincoln, chairman of the Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, gave their strong support for the First Amendment Defense Act, which was recently introduced by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) in …

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KENTUCKY: Liberty Counsel Files To Block State From Paying ACLU Attorney Fees Awarded In Kim Davis Case

Via press release: Liberty Counsel filed a brief today in Rowan County Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis’ appeal of attorney’s fees awarded to the ACLU for suing Davis in 2015 when she stopped issuing marriage licenses while seeking an accommodation for her religious beliefs. Davis previously won her fight for religious freedom when U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning issued an …

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SCOTUS Swats Down Arizona’s DACA Challenge

Reuters reports:  The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday required Arizona to continue to provide driver’s licenses to the so-called Dreamers immigrants and refused to hear the state’s challenge to an Obama-era program that protects hundreds of thousands of young adults brought into the country illegally as children. The case centered on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program created …

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