Tag Archives: employment

Last night Buzzfeed News reporter Dominic Holden appeared on PBS NewsHour to deliver a succinct recap of North Carolina’s nasty new anti-LGBT law. Watch below. Holden: What the city council did in Charlotte was very common in the United States. There are about 200 cities with ordinances like these that ban discrimination against LGBT people. What the lawmakers did in …

Raleigh’s NBC affiliate reports: Five people were arrested after protesters blocked North Blount Street in front of the governor’s mansion in downtown Raleigh Thursday evening in response to Gov. Pat McCrory signing the state discrimination bill into law Wednesday night. Jade Brooks, 30, of Durham, Salma Mirza, 28, of Durham, Ngoc Tran, 20, of Durham, Jessica Jude, 27, of Durham, …

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 …

From the Associated Press: Gov. Pat McCrory signed House Bill 2 into law shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday, overturning Charlotte’s controversial transgender ordinance. McCrory’s office released a statement Wednesday night, saying “the basic expectation of privacy in the most personal of settings, a restroom or locker room, for each gender was violated by government overreach and intrusion by the mayor …

From Indiana’s NBC affiliate: Kokomo has become the latest Indiana community to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Council members voted 5 to 4 in favor of an ordinance protecting members of the LGBT community after what has been a contentious debate. The crowd maxxed capacity of Kokomo’s council chambers. By fire code, only 157 could fit …

The Human Rights Campaign today announced that 60 major corporations have jointly endorsed the Equality Act. Companies on the list include Amazon, Apple, Google, Twitter, IBM, Facebook, Hilton, Hyatt, MasterCard, General Mills, Coca-Cola, and PepsiCo. See the full list below. Via press release: Since HRC joined with lawmakers and advocates last July to introduce the Equality Act in Congress, HRC …

Via press release: The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today that it has filed its first two sex discrimination cases based on sexual orientation. The federal agency’s Philadelphia District Office filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania against Scott Medical Health Center, and, in a separate suit, in U.S. District Court for the …

A survey conducted by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute reveals that a majority of Americans in every state supports the Equality Act, which would ban anti-LGBT discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations. From the Human Rights Campaign: Currently, 33 states lack clear, fully inclusive LGBT non-discrimination protections, leaving people at risk for being fired, denied a job or …

Mandatory condom use by porn performers is already the law in Los Angeles County and the issue will be put to voters statewide in November thanks to a ballot initiative sponsored by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. However yesterday state OSHA officials declined to beat voters to the punch. From the Los Angeles Times: The state Division of Occupational Safety and …

This is major, especially for a Japanese corporation. Rocket News 24 reports: Panasonic, the Japanese electronics producer and one of the Olympic Games’ biggest sponsors, announces sweeping policy changes. LGBT rights in Japan have been in the headlines quite a bit the last few years, but today it looks like the LGBT community can count another win: Osaka-based Panasonic has …

Watch Pence squirm. Freedom Indiana: “Governor Mike Pence has never been able to answer the question of whether he believes LGBT Hoosiers should be fired for who they are. Time after time, he has dodged the question of why he does not support comprehensive non-discrimination protections for LGBT people. Take action here.”

After hours of testimony from local and national hate groups as well as sobbing out-of-state martyred anti-LGBT business owners, the Indiana Senate Rules and Legislative Procedures committee tonight advanced a heavily-amended “LGBT rights” bill that actually worsens the already poor civil rights status of LGBT Hoosiers. Activist groups below are calling for “all hands on deck” to stop the bill. Freedom …

The Florida Senate Judiciary Committee is just beginning its hearing on a comprehensive LGBT anti-discrimination bill. The chamber appears to be packed with supporters and our enemies. Watch at this link. Equality Florida has the details: The committee will hear The Florida Competitive Workforce Act (SB 120) which would prohibit discrimination against LGBT people in employment, housing and public accommodations. …

The Sun-Times reports: A crowd at a Bernie Sanders’ event in Iowa Monday witnessed a woman break down in tears as she described what life is like living on just $12,000 a year, prompting the senator to try to console the emotional woman. At the event in Iowa Falls, the Vermont senator asked the crowd if anyone knew what it …

Via press release: In a press conference earlier today Governor Bullock celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. day by noting that it is time to “recommit to King’s values of compassion and equity” by expanding protections for LGBT people in Montana. He also spoke to Montana’s private business owners, stating “while an executive order applies to state government only I encourage …

#ThanksObama! The Washington Post reports: The U.S. economy finished the year with a red-hot hiring spree, adding 292,000 new jobs as the unemployment rate held steady at 5 percent, according to new government data released Friday morning. The latest jobs report exceeded the expectations of economists and investors and provided a reassuring note about the resiliency of the labor market, …

Reuters reports: A federal judge will hear a high-profile discrimination lawsuit brought by a former Atlanta fire chief who claims he was fired for his religious beliefs after publishing a book critical of homosexuality. City officials had sought the dismissal of the lawsuit, filed by Kelvin Cochran in a case that has been closely followed by conservative groups advocating religious …

ABC News reports: An all-girls Catholic prep school in Massachusetts violated state anti-discrimination law by rescinding a job offer to a man in a same-sex marriage, a judge ruled. Matthew Barrett was offered a job as Fontbonne Academy’s food services director in 2013, but the offer was withdrawn days later after he listed his husband as his emergency contact. Barrett …

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio has pledged to reverse President Obama’s executive order barring anti-LGBT workplace discrimination among federal contractors, saying faith-based businesses are “being compelled to sin by government in their business conduct.” Rubio made the remarks during Thanksgiving week in the same interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network in which he …

Big news for LGBT teachers in Ireland, where the Catholic Church runs most public schools. From the Irish Journal: The Dail has passed a Bill that will make it illegal for religious-run schools to discriminate against LGBT teachers over their sexuality. The Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 amends the provisions of Section 37(1) of the Employment Equality Act. It has …