Tag Archives: Nebraska

A Nebraska affiliate of the Family Research Council is apparently planning to sue the city of Lincoln in order force a public referendum on overturning that town’s LGBT rights law.  Via Aksarbent: David Bydalek (left) of Family First, Nebraska, an affiliate of the Family Research Council, and Al Riskowki, of the Nebraska Family Council, want the issue on the ballot …

In March of last year, the Omaha City Council narrowly approved a bill granting employment protections to LGBT residents of the city.  Anti-gay Christianist groups immediately launched a campaign to repeal the bill.  Supporting the repeal attempt was Omaha Archbishop George Lucas, who issued a letter demanding that local Catholics sign the repeal petition. Yesterday the backers of the petition …

Source.

God’s Gentle People are working to make it legal again to discriminate against LGBT people in Omaha, which only narrowly approved its workplace protection ordinance in March of this year. Some churches involved in the effort put the call to sign the petition more directly than others; approaches range from reminders to sign petitions after Sunday services to one pastor’s …

Archbishop George Lucas has sent a letter to parish priests encouraging them to promote a petition to repeal Omaha’s brand new LGBT anti-discrimination ordinance, which was adopted by the city council in March. Via the blog Aksarbent, here’s a portion of Lucas’ letter: Dear Father, You will soon learn from the local media about an effort that is underway to …

Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman said yesterday that he too will deny driver’s licenses and public benefits to young immigrants now eligible for deferred deportation status. “They shouldn’t be here if they’re not here legally,” Heineman told reporters. “That’s the whole problem, and I’ve talked to you guys about this many, many times. When you don’t secure the border, have a …

A Nebraska man is suing a local lighting company for not hiring him because he isn’t “Christian enough.” According to the complaint, the manager asked Wolfe “to identify every church he has attended over the past several years; where and when [he] was ‘saved’ and the circumstances that led up to it.” In the interview, Wolfe claims he was told …

Last night the Lincoln City Council (sort of) unanimously passed its anti-discrimination ordinance. The two Republicans on the council abstained from voting. The ordinance protects gay and transgendered people from discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodation. Hate groups are vowing to overturn the measure by a public vote. Opponents now have 15 days to decide whether to refer the …

As some of you guessed, the Nebraska woman who issued that bizarre anti-gay rant to the Lincoln City Council is a diagnosed schizophrenic. Jane Svoboda, 52, lives at an assisted-living facility in Lincoln and is listed as a protected person, according to court documents. Her brother, Patrick Svoboda of Ogallala, is her conservator because she is incompetent, the documents say. …

This clip by regular JMG tipster Arksarbent has gone viral today. Enjoy five minutes of the most bizarre cray-cray you’ll hear this year. “Whitney Houston was found without clothes in a bathtub. Every corpse found without clothes has a partner that did away with them.” Also: Did you know that you’ll die within thirty minutes of rimming somebody? This came …

The city council of Lincoln, Nebraska endured seven hours of testimony yesterday as they considered a new ordinance that would protect LGBT residents from discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations. The usual asshats were on hand. Opponents said the ordinance would impinge upon their religious freedoms by requiring them to accept behavior they consider immoral. “Our faith is something …

By a one vote margin, the Omaha City Council has just approved a city law protecting LGBT people from employment discrimination. The City Council voted 4-3 Tuesday to pass the ordinance. The proposal, put forward by Councilman Ben Gray, would apply to employers, employment agencies, job training programs, labor groups, public accommodations and businesses that contract with the city. It …

JMG tipster and fellow blogger Aksarbent is doing a great job tracking the continuing battle over Omaha’s proposed bill to add sexual orientation to existing protection ordinances. The final vote is expected today.

JMG tipster and fellow blogger Arksarbent took this video at a hearing for a proposed bill to protect LGBT residents of Omaha from discrimination. Get the net! Get a LOT of nets.

Nebraska GOP Rep. Beau McCoy has introduced a bill that would overturn the very few local LGBT rights laws across the state. McCoy’s bill stipulates that only the state has the right to create protected classes of citizens. McCoy’s proposed bill would amend state law to prohibit local governments from creating new classes of residents protected from discrimination. “It just …

Two-term Sen. Ben Nelson (NE) has announced his retirement, spurring renewed fears that the Democrats will lose their Senate majority in 2012. Nelson has consistently been one of the most conservative Democrats in the Senate, and during the very brief period in 2009 in which the caucus held 60 seats, his was usually the toughest vote to secure. Still, no …

And the students LOVED her.(Tipped by JMG reader Victor)

Yesterday the city council of Omaha, Nebraska voted to continue to allow businesses to fire someone for being gay, to deny someone service in restaurants for being gay, and to deny housing to someone for being gay. The measure failed on a 3-3 vote. Councilman Franklin Thompson, who has called for a public vote on the issue, abstained. Councilmen Ben …

A 61 year-old man tried to pepper-spray the members of the Westboro Baptist Church yesterday, but instead doused a nearby cop and counter-protesters. The Phelps clan was picketing the funeral of a soldier killed in Afghanistan. George Vogel was arrested Saturday morning a few blocks away from the First United Methodist Church, the location of Staff Sergeant Michael Bock’s funeral. …

The Nebraska legislature has passed a bill requiring mental illness screenings for women who seek abortion, purportedly to determine if they were pressured into their decision. The bill had the backing of anti-abortion activists seeking to place additional roadblocks and delays into women’s reproductive choices. Republican Gov. Dave Heineman’s office said Monday he will sign the bill Tuesday, along with …