Tag Archives: feds

Feds Announce Trans Protections

Via the Associated Press: The Justice Department is now interpreting federal law to explicitly prohibit workplace discrimination against transgender people, according to a memo released Thursday by Attorney General Eric Holder. That means the Justice Department will be able to bring legal claims on behalf of people who say they’ve been discriminated against by state and local public employers based …

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Bishops Have The Executive Order Sadz

Via press release: The regulations published on December 3 by the U.S. Department of Labor implement the objectionable Executive Order that President Obama issued in July to address what the Administration has described as “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” discrimination in employment by federal contractors. We will study the regulations carefully, but we note the following initially. Our Church teaches …

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NOM Appeals Denial Of Legal Fees After Losing Suit Against Feds

Back in June a federal court declared that NOM had not “produced a shred of proof” that their donor information had been deliberated leaked to the Human Rights Campaign. The government did agree to pay NOM $50K for the “unintentional disclosure” of that information, prompting chairman John Eastman to hit Fox News and every teabagger site to declare victory – …

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Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) To Introduce Sweeping Federal LGBT Rights Bill

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) today announced that in the next session he will introduce a sweeping federal LGBT rights bill that will cover employment, housing, credit, and public accommodations. Justin Snow reports at MetroWeekly: Merkley said that while the Senate’s passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in November of last year by a 64-32 vote after the bill failed by …

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Tweet Of The Day

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Senate Releases “Grisly” Torture Report

Via the New York Times: A scathing report released by the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday found that the Central Intelligence Agency routinely misled the White House and Congress about the information it obtained from the detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects, and that its methods were more brutal than the C.I.A. acknowledged either to Bush administration officials or to …

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FBI Issues 2013 Hate Crime Statistics, Gender Identity Bias Listed For First Time

From the FBI: Today, the FBI released its annual Hate Crime Statistics report, which revealed that 5,928 hate crime incidents involving 6,933 offenses were reported by our law enforcement partners to the Bureau’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program in 2013. These hate crime incidents impacted a total of 7,242 victims—which are defined as individuals, businesses, institutions, or society as a …

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Log Cabin Slams GOP Attempt To Stall Executive Order On Federal Contractors

“Bring it on. Unlike his hotly contested unilateral actions on immigration or minimum wage, President Obama’s executive order providing workplace protections for LGBT federal employees is a simple extension of an executive order that was already in place under the administration of President George W. Bush. We hope that Director Shiu calls Congressmen Kline and Walberg on their ridiculous bluff …

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House Republicans Attempt To Stall Executive Order On Federal Contractors

Earlier this week the Department of Labor issued its final rule on the implementation of President Obama’s executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT employees. House Republicans are now trying to stall the order’s enactment. Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed: House Education and Workforce Committee Chair John Kline, a Republican from Minnesota, and Rep. Tim Walberg, the Republican …

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Eric Holder To Launch Justice Department Probe Into Death Of Eric Garner

Via The Hill: Attorney General Eric Holder announced Wednesday night that the federal government is launching a civil rights investigation into the chokehold death of Eric Garner, a black man who was killed by a white police officer in July. A New York grand jury decided earlier in the day that it would not charge the officer. “Our prosecutors will …

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Labor Department Issues Final Rule On LGBT Anti-Discrimination Measures

Via press release: A new rule prohibiting discrimination on the bases of sexual orientation and gender identity in the federal contracting workforce is being announced today by the U.S. Department of Labor. The rule implements Executive Order 13672, which was signed by President Obama on July 21. “Americans believe in fairness and opportunity. No one should live in fear of …

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ALABAMA: Social Security Administration Denies Death Benefits To Gay Widower

JMG reader Paul Hard has received the above letter from the Social Security Administration which advises him that since he and his late husband were not married “under the laws of Alabama,” he is not eligible for federal death benefits. Last month Lambda Legal sued the federal government on behalf of a Texas widow that was told the same: SSA …

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Gay Blood Ban May Be Partially Lifted

Via Bloomberg News: A U.S. advisory panel recommended for the first time that the 31-year ban preventing gay and bisexual men from donating blood should be partially ended, placing the nation’s policy in line with other countries. Men who had sex with men anytime since 1977 are barred from giving blood in the U.S., a policy that dates back to …

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Porno Pete: The Government Should Stop Promoting The Use Of Condoms

“The question is, if we know what behavior is causing these diseases, why don’t we encourage people not to practice the behaviors? Homosexuality, especially among men, is vastly overrepresented in HIV cases, so the government should be taking steps to discourage men and boys from practicing homosexual behavior.  We’re in a situation now where the government is encouraging groups to …

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Ted Cruz: Hearing For Loretta Lynch Must Wait Until New Senate Takes Office

“President Obama’s Attorney General nominee deserves fair and full consideration of the United States Senate, which is precisely why she should not be confirmed in the lame duck session of Congress by senators who just lost their seats and are no longer accountable to the voters. The Attorney General is the President’s chief law enforcement officer. As such, the nominee …

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LIVE VIDEO: Obama Announces AG Pick

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Obama To Nominate NYC Prosecutor Loretta Lynch To Replace Holder As AG

Via Reuters: President Barack Obama will nominate Brooklyn federal prosecutor Loretta Lynch to replace the retiring Eric Holder as U.S. attorney general and if confirmed, she would become the first black woman to serve in the post, the White House said on Friday. The 55-year-old North Carolina native and Harvard-trained lawyer has deep experience in both civil rights and corporate …

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Feds Fine Online Dating Company For Scamming Money Via Fake Profiles

Via The Hill: England-based company JDI Dating and its owner, Mark Thomas, were the target of the $616,165 fines. The settlement forbids the company from misrepresenting facts about the service or its cancellation policy in the future. “JDI Dating used fake profiles to make people think they were hearing from real love interests and to trick them into upgrading to …

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Eric Holder: Federal Government Now Recognizes Married Gays In 32 States

Via White House press release: In the latest development following the Supreme Court’s decision earlier this month to decline to hear any pending cases regarding same-sex marriage, Attorney General Eric Holder announced Saturday that the federal government will now recognize same-sex married couples in six new states: Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, North Carolina, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Last week, the Attorney …

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Lambda Legal Sues Social Security Adminstration On Behalf Of Texas Widow

Via press release: Today Lambda Legal filed suit against the Social Security Administration (SSA) on behalf of Kathy Murphy, a Texas widow denied spousal benefits after the death of her wife, and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (the National Committee), arguing that denying Social Security benefits to same-sex spouses because they live in states that discriminate …

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