Tag Archives: trans issues

From the Charlotte Observer: New legislation drafted by leadership in the N.C. House of Representatives seeks to walk back portions of a controversial bill passed during a special session this spring restricting the rights of transgender individuals to use the bathroom of their gender identity. Among the draft bill’s biggest changes is the creation of an official document that would …

USA Today reports: The Pentagon plans to announce the repeal of its ban on transgender service members July 1, a controversial decision that would end nearly a year of internal wrangling among the services on how to allow those troops to serve openly, according to Defense officials. Top personnel officials plan to meet as early as Monday to finalize details …

Morning Call reports: The governing body of Philadelphia public schools has adopted a new policy that would allow transgender students to use restrooms and join groups — including athletic teams — that correspond with their gender identity. The Philadelphia School Reform Commission adopted the new policy Thursday night. It also allows students to be referred to by a pronoun of …

From the Desert Sun: Richard Grenell, a Palm Springs resident, Trump delegate and Fox News contributor, is behind a series of ads this week targeting Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s gun-control measure that’s expected to land on the November ballot. The ads were created by a new group calling itself the Coalition for Civil Liberties and are unique in who they …

A three-judge panel from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals just denied the stay motion filed Wednesday by Virginia’s Gloucester County School Board, which seeks to thwart the federal mandate on transgender student rights. That filing two days ago had triggered an automatic stay on the pro-trans April order while the Court considered their demand. The vote today was 2-1. …

Chicago’s WGN-TV reports: A small bomb exploded in the women’s bathroom at a Target store in Evanston on Wednesday, and officials are investigating whether it’s connected to the company’s policy allowing transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice. Commander Joe Dugan says no one was inside the bathroom when the small explosion happened a little after 4 o’clock. …

The White House today issued a lengthy recounting of the many, many advances in LGBT rights seen during the Obama administration. The “fact sheet” – which I’ve posted in its entirety below – serves both as a very well-earned bragging point and as a stark reminder of how tenuous many of these advances remain with the specter of a Republican …

ABC News reports on the ads: New York City launched a new campaign on Monday, affirming every New Yorkers’ right to use the bathroom consistent with their gender identity. “No one deserves to be denied access to bathrooms or discriminated against for being who they are. Every New Yorker has the legal right to use the bathroom consistent with their …

Just as they did at PepsiCo’s shareholders meeting in North Carolina last month and at Walmart’s shareholders meeting in Arkansas last week, anti-LGBT activists from the National Center for Public Policy Research ambushed Target executives at yesterday’s annual shareholders meeting in Costa Mesa, California. A spokesman for the group confronted Target’s board of directors, demanding to know if they had …

From the National Enquirer: After nearly 1,000 days in hiding and a sudden hospitalization, The National ENQUIRER can now reveal the bombshell reason why Richard Simmons is no longer the man his fans used to know: He’s changed into a woman! In an explosive world exclusive, The ENQUIRER can now reveal jaw-dropping never-before-seen photos of Simmons draped in furs and …

NOTE: An important clarification is below. Earlier: That was amazingly fast. Patch.com reports: A stay has been issued in the case of a Virginia school’s transgender bathroom policy, meaning the case will go before the Supreme Court of the United States, according to a report. The Gloucester County School Board passed a policy restricting students to restrooms reflecting their “biological …

Last month the Fourth Circuit Court refused to revisit its ruling, so we knew this was coming. Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed: A case challenging the Obama administration’s interpretation of existing civil rights laws as providing protections from discrimination for transgender people will be headed to the Supreme Court this summer. Because the court is soon recessing for the summer, …

Anti-LGBT activist Janet Porter flopped with ReaganBook, she flopped in her bid for the Ohio Senate, and this weekend she flopped again as it appears that only a handful of Target stores saw protesters for her “nationwide” event on Saturday. At this writing I’m only finding news accounts of protests at three of Target’s 1782 locations. Two of those protests …

From the Winston-Salem Journal: Gov. Pat McCrory said he will continue to fight for a “respect for privacy” in the face of a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit over the state’s controversial “bathroom bill.” McCrory was speaking at North Carolinians for Home Education’s annual conference, being held this week at the Benton Convention Center. McCrory praised the several hundred families …

With a big shout-out to trans rights! The Star reports: The Pride flag flew on Parliament Hill on Wednesday in a historic all-party show of support to mark the start of the month celebrating Canada’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had the honour of raising the distinctive rainbow banner on the Hill for the …

From GLAD: “This is an incredible moment. After years of brave and steadfast work by transgender people, family members, allies, businesses, faith leaders, and community organizations, we are inches from full equality for transgender people in our state. This bill will not only ensure fair and long overdue protections for transgender people, but enshrine in law a recognition of the …

The Massachusetts House is currently hearing debate on the transgender rights bill that passed in the state Senate last month. Watch live here. As noted in the post below this one, GOP Gov. Charlie Baker has promised to sign the bill should it reach his desk.

From the Boston Globe: After months of taking heat for ambiguity on a deeply controversial issue, Governor Charlie Baker said Tuesday he would sign a transgender public accommodations bill should it reach his desk. His declaration marked the beginning of the end of a bitter, years-long legislative battle over the rights of transgender people in Massachusetts. “We’ve certainly listened to …

The Charlotte Observer reports: The Human Rights Campaign is asking the Federal Aviation Administration to consider whether House Bill 2 is causing North Carolina airports to violate grant requirements. If the FAA joined the U.S. Department of Justice’s position that HB2 violates the Civil Rights Act, the move could jeopardize millions of dollars in federal funding that helps operate and …

Big news via the ACLU: The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit will not rehear the case of a Gloucester County transgender high school student suing his school board over discriminatory bathroom policies. The court today denied the Gloucester County School Board’s request for an en banc review of an April decision which held that Title IX …