Tag Archives: civil rights

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 …

Karen Ocamb reports at the Los Angeles Blade: LGBT politicos nationwide were struck by the March 15 announcement that National Center for Lesbian Rights executive director Kate Kendell was stepping down after more than 22 years of service advancing social and economic justice through the lens of LGBT civil rights. “Kate literally changed the world. Her leadership in advancing the …

The Associated Press reports: Protesters seeking to carry signs in an area being secured for Vice President Mike Pence to participate in the South’s largest St. Patrick’s Day parade won a brisk free speech fight Friday as city officials in Savannah backed off prohibiting signs and posters at the event. City officials reversed course and announced signs would be allowed …

Suspended without pay! The Oregonian reports: The Oregon Supreme Court Thursday took the unusual step of suspending a sitting state court judge — Vance Day of Salem — for three years. The high court found that Day — a Marion County Circuit Court judge — had committed “willful misconduct” and made “willful misstatements” to investigators to cover-up the truth. Among …

The Charleston Post & Courier reports: Gov. Henry McMaster is coming to the defense of an Upstate foster care agency that requires participating families to be Christian. McMaster issued an executive order Tuesday that allows foster care providers to discriminate based on religion without losing their license. For nearly three decades, Greenville-based Miracle Hill Ministries has only allowed foster children …

The Associated Press reports: A bill that opponents say would allow religious-based adoption agencies to discriminate against same-sex couples, single people and non-Christians has cleared the Oklahoma Senate. Senate Bill 1140 passed 35-9 Tuesday and now heads to the House. The bill would cover child-placing agencies that block adoptive parents who do not meet the agencies’ religious or moral standards. …

The Hill reports: A group of 22 GOP senators is reintroducing a controversial measure that would protect opponents of same-sex marriage from federal actions intended to curb discrimination. The First Amendment Defense Act (FADA) would bar the federal government from taking any action against individuals who discriminate against same-sex couples or others based on “a sincerely held religious belief.” The …

Christian News reports: The Christian owners of a bridal shop in Pennsylvania who have been receiving threats since declining to assist a lesbian with her wedding last July have decided to close their business due to fears of an impending ordinance that would require them to violate their faith, as well as the inability to market themselves in light of …

CBS News reports: Starkville aldermen vote to allow Starkville Pride to hold a pride parade. The vote passed 3-3 with 1 abstention. Mayor Spruill was forced to break the tie. Ward 3 Alderman, David Little, chose to abstain, while Perkins, Vaughn and Carver voted against. Aldermen Sandra Sistrunk, Jason Walker and Patrick Miller voted in favor of the parade. The …

Portland’s ABC affiliate reports: An appeal has been filed with the Oregon Supreme Court in hopes of overturning a $135,000 penalty given to the owners of a Gresham bakery who refused to bake a cake for a gay couple. The Oregon Court of Appeals upheld a decision by the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries to penalize owners of Sweet …

Miranda Blue reports at Right Wing Watch: People For the American Way, the organization that runs Right Wing Watch, filed suit against the Department of Justice and the Department of Housing and Urban Development today to demand the release of documents concerning reported changes in federal policy toward LGBTQ people. Right Wing Watch had filed Freedom of Information Act requests …

As we await the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, a sobering ad has been released in support of public accommodations rights for LGBT Americans. From the Movement Advancement Project: Inspired by a real legal case, Funeral Home, produced by MAP as part of the Open to All campaign, depicts a grieving widow who has just lost her …

From DNC chairman Tom Perez: Under Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions, the U.S. Justice Department has been wielded as a weapon of injustice, arguing that employers should be able to fire people simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. But despite the Trump administration’s best efforts, the LGBTQ community and their allies have prevailed in federal court today. …

Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed News: A federal appeals court on Monday ruled that a 1964 civil rights law bans anti-gay workplace discrimination. The decision rebukes the Trump administration — which had argued against a gay worker in the case — and hands progressives a win in their strategy to protect LGBT employees with a drumbeat of lawsuits. The dispute …

Hawaii News Now reports: Attorneys for California couple Diane Cervelli and Taeko Bufford are calling it a “great day for justice.” On Friday, Hawaii’s Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld a previous ruling that found a Hawaii Kai bed and breakfast was discriminatory for refusing the lesbian couple a room because of their sexual orientation. The women were represented by Lambda …

The Georgia Voice reports: The Georgia Senate on Friday morning passed a bill that would allow adoption agencies to refuse to place children with same-sex couples based on their religious beliefs. The bill would also prohibit the Georgia Department of Human Services from taking “adverse action” against such agencies. The bill passed 35-19 and will now head to the House …

Politico has published a deep dive into the myriad ways the Trump administration is rolling back, curtailing, or completely ignoring the many pro-LGBT advances won during the Obama administration. The piece begins: The nation’s health department is taking steps to dismantle LGBT health initiatives, as political appointees have halted or rolled back regulations intended to protect LGBT workers and patients, …

The Denver Post reports: Republican members of a powerful budget committee in the legislature on Thursday voted to withhold funding for the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, a move that could be revisited but which quickly stoked political outcry from Democrats and the LGBT community. State Sen. Kevin Lundberg, a Berthoud Republican who sits on the Joint Budget Committee, which held …

The Associated Press reports: The Republican National Committee is siding with President Donald Trump on his order to bar transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. military. In a resolution passed at its annual winter meeting Friday, the committee voted to support Trump’s August demand that military recruitment policy consider transgender as “a disqualifying psychological and physical” condition Trump’s order …

The Independent reports: A Russian same-sex couple who had their marriage recognized after finding an apparent legal loophole have been charged with “intentional damage to passports or negligence”. Eugene Wojciechowski and Paul Stotzko tied the knot in Denmark on 4 January and returned home to Russia, where their documents were stamped and approved, despite same-sex marriage being illegal in the …