Tag Archives: trans issues

From the Raleigh News & Observer: Protesters increased the level of noise surrounding the state’s new LGBT law Wednesday evening by setting off dozens of air horns at the governor’s mansion. About 100 opponents of House Bill 2 gathered, many of them wearing black T-shirts that said “Can you hear us now, Pat?” They stood on two sides of Gov. Pat …

CBS News reports: Lawmakers in state after state are passing bills to protect those who cite religious beliefs for refusing to serve or employ gay or transgender people. CBS News wondered why so many of these laws — including some that limit access to public restrooms — are surfacing now … and who’s behind all of this? We went and …

Fortune reports: CEOs from hundreds of companies including Patagonia and Ben & Jerry’s had planned to meet in North Carolina this October to talk about using business for social good. Now, they’re not coming. In response to a controversial new state law aimed at gay and transgender people, a group of firms designated as “Certified B” ethical corporations say they …

The Boston Globe reports: Governor Charlie Baker’s speech to LGBT executives and activists Wednesday night was met with a cascade of boos after he refused to voice support for a bill to prevent bias against transgender people in public spaces. Baker’s reluctance to take a stand on the bill prompted many in the crowd at the Marriott hotel to boo …

Via press release from New York City Pride:  Heritage of Pride announced today three Grand Marshals for the 47th NYC Pride March. – Jazz Jennings is the 15-year-old honorary co-founder of the Transkids Purple Rainbow Foundation and the youngest Grand Marshal in NYC Pride history. Since her first appearance with her family at age 6 on 20/20, Jazz has become …

UPDATE: False alarm. Despite tons of media interest, the announcement has to do with an appointment to a state law enforcement group. From Raleigh’s CBS affiliate: North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory will make a special announcement Wednesday morning, a day after he issued an executive order on House Bill 2. The announcement will take place Wednesday at 9 a.m. at …

The Raleigh News & Observer has produced a great video in which transgender residents speak out against North Carolina’s HB 2. Watch below as these people express shock, confusion, regret, and dismay over being stereotyped as sexual predators. Huge props to the paper for doing this.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory did some damage control today, announcing that he has signed an executive order protecting LGBT state employees from discrimination. In the clip below, McCrory also declares that he will pursue amending House Bill 2 to reinstate the right to sue for discrimination in state courts. Today’s action does NOT, however, reinstate local LGBT protections nor …

You’ll like this. From Durham’s ABC affiliate: A group of North Carolina craft breweries is teaming up to make a special beer that will be sold to raise money to fight the state’s new House Bill 2 law. The News and Observer reports more than 30 breweries are taking part. They’re calling the project the Don’t Be Mean to People: …

The Kansas City Star reports: Businesses from around Missouri announced the formation a coalition Tuesday designed to stop a “religious freedom” amendment to the state’s constitution currently making its way through the Missouri Legislature. Members of the coalition, called Missouri Competes, have agreed to sign a pledge stating that the proposed amendment “does not represent our values as Missourians, and …

Media Matters writes: North Carolina is the first state in the country to pass a law aimed at broadly controlling transgender people’s access to public restrooms. Proponents of the law claim it’s needed to prevent sexual predators from sneaking into women’s bathrooms by dressing up as women and pretending to be transgender. That “bathroom predator” talking point is a myth. …

Reuters reports: Deutsche Bank is freezing plans to create 250 new jobs at its Cary, North Carolina, location after the state passed a controversial law targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens. “We take our commitment to building inclusive work environments seriously,” John Cryan, the chief executive of Germany’s largest lender, said in a statement on Tuesday. North Carolina …

From Winston-Salem’s Fox affiliate: Hundreds of people from all over the state of North Carolina gathered Monday for a rally to show support for House Bill 2. The rally, organized by several groups including the Christian Action League and Return America, featured speakers from religious groups as well as victims of sexual assault. Sheriffs from Davie, Alamance and Rockingham counties …

North Carolina Rep. Bill Richardson was one of the 11 Democrats to vote for his state’s anti-LGBT hate law. In an op-ed published today, Richardson says he is “haunted” by his vote and will now work for the law’s repeal. He writes: By enacting House Bill 2, the legislature did the wrong thing. I made the wrong vote and we …

From the Huffington Post: There’s a new kink in North Carolina’s LGBT controversy: A popular porn website is banning all computers from “The Tar Heel State.” XHamster.com has been refusing to serve anyone from North Carolina since 12:30 p.m. EDT, Monday. Instead, users with a North Carolina IP address are just seeing a black screen on their computer — no …

Tomorrow the Tennessee House Finance Committee is scheduled to hear a bill that bans public schools and universities from allowing trans students to use restrooms that align with their gender identity. As it turns out, one of the bill’s GOP co-sponsors is an ACTUAL real life danger to women according to his own party.  CBS News reports: A Tennessee lawmaker …

This is same group that posted a billboard in Mississippi last week. From Planting Peace: In response to North Carolina passing of HB2, Planting Peace has constructed a message to North Carolina legislators and the anti-LGBT movement. Our billboard is a reminder that laws such as HB2 move us backwards in the movement for equality and fundamental human rights for …

JMG reader David points us to today’s poll on the front page of the Denver Post, which only tells a portion of North Carolina’s sweeping anti-LGBT law. Weigh in at this link. The poll is slightly down in the right-hand column.

Media Matters reports: ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos hosted Kristen Waggoner, senior counsel for the extreme anti-LGBT group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), who hyped the debunked “bathroom predator” myth to defend a discriminatory law recently passed in North Carolina. ADF is an multi-million dollar anti-gay Christian legal organization known for its work defending discriminatory “religious freedom” laws, which allow …

Mediaite recaps: Republican presidential candidate John Kasich said this morning that he probably wouldn’t have signed a bill similar to the anti-trans one recently passed in North Carolina. He dismissively said that “we are not having this issue in our state” about religious liberty and talked at great length about balancing religious liberty with respect. Kasich avoided getting into the …