Category: LGBTQ rights

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Virginia Becomes 1st State In The South To Legalize LGBTQ Protections

While The Equality Act, which would add LGBTQ non-discrimination protections to existing federal laws, languishes in limbo due to the Republican-controlled Senate, lawmakers in Virginia decided to move forward with pro-LGBTQ legislation on their own. On Thursday, the Virginia House of Delegates approved House Bill 1663, also known as the Virginia Values Act, by a vote of 59-35. HB 1663 will add sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s non-discrimination laws. Prior to the vote, openly gay State Del. Mark Sickles (D-Fairfax County), who introduced the Virginia Values Act in the House, told his colleagues the bill does not “interfere with anybody’s religious freedom. What it does is punish discrimination.” Earlier in the day, the state Senate approved its version of the legislation by a vote of 30-9. The Virginia Values Act will require employers with six or more employees to comply with the new law. Additionally, all school board employees and all state government employees will be protected under the new law. Similar legislation had been passed by the state Senate in recent years but was repeatedly blocked by anti-equality lawmakers in the House of Delegates. Upon regaining control of the General Assembly last November, Democrats announced the legislation would be a top priority. The Washington Blade reports Gov. Ralph Northam has indicated he will sign the legislation into law once the Senate and House reconcile their versions of the bill. With his signature, Virginia will become the first state in the South to include sexual orientation and gender identity in statewide non-discrimination laws. The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law reports the new legislation could provide equal treatment for 307,000 LGBTQ Virginians. Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David said in a statement, “Today, history was made in Virginia, and LGBTQ Virginians are one step closer to being protected from discrimination simply because of who they are or whom they love.” (source: Washington Blade)

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Pentagon Ordered To Release Trans Military Ban Documents

A federal judge has ordered the Department of Defense to turn over 35,000 documents the Trump administration used in drafting its transgender military ban. Via Stripes.com:

U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman ruled the Pentagon must turn over drafts, communications and documents used by Defense Department officials in shaping and justifying its 48-page policy released in February 2018 that effectively ended open service for transgender men and women.

That policy, which faces several legal challenges, went into effect in April, barring the military enlistment of nearly any person with a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, the medical condition associated with individuals who do not identify with their birth sex. Lawyers with Lamda Legal, representing transgender plaintiffs in the case of Karnoski v. Trump in U.S. district court in Seattle, sought the documents as evidence in their case, which seeks to overturn the partial ban on transgender military service on the basis that the policy was rooted in illegal discrimination.

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Study Shows Suicide Rates Dropped Significantly After Marriage Equality

Stock photo of two men kissing after being married

Stock photo of two men kissing after being married

A new study shows suicide rates among LGBTQ people in Sweden and Denmark fell significantly after same-sex marriage was legalized in the Scandinavian countries.

From The Guardian:

The joint study by the Danish Research Institute for Suicide Prevention and researchers from Stockholm University compared suicide rates for people in same-sex and heterosexual relationships in the periods 1989-2002 and 2003-16.

Denmark became the first country in the world to allow same-sex civil partnerships in 1989, with neighbouring Sweden following six years later. Same-sex marriage, now authorised in 28 countries, became legal in Sweden in 2009 and Denmark in 2012.

The researchers found that between the two periods, the number of suicides among people in same-sex unions fell by 46%, compared to a decline of about 28% in the number of suicides by people in heterosexual relationships.

Annette Erlangsen, the lead author, suggested that along with other gay rights legislation, same-sex marriage may have reduced feelings of social stigmatisation among some homosexual people. “Being married is protective against suicide,” she told Thomson Reuters Foundation.

While the decline is certainly welcome news, the researchers noted that the suicide rate for people in same-sex relationships is still more than twice that of people in opposite-sex marriages.

A 2018 report that compared data from 35 studies across 10 countries showed LGBTQ people are at least three times more likely to attempt suicide than straight people of the same age.

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Warren Pledges To Reverse Trump Military Trans Ban On Day One

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Democratic White House hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren has released a detailed plan on the rights of service members, veterans, and military families, which includes a pledge to reverse Donald Trump’s ban on transgender service members on day one of her presidency. In a tweet, she wrote, “A Warren administration will protect the rights of LGBTQ+, women, Black, and Latinx service members. I’ll reverse Trump’s shameful ban on trans service members on Day One. My administration will protect veterans and family members of serving military personnel from deportation.”

“I’ll reverse it on the first day of my presidency,” says Warren in her plan, adding that “the only thing that should matter when it comes to allowing military personnel to serve is whether or not they can handle the job.” Her plan states she would make sure trans soldiers would be provided with “all medically necessary care related to the health of transgender people” including transition-related surgery.

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Police Veteran Told ‘Tone Down’ The Gayness If He Wanted Promotion

Sgt. Keith Wildhaber (image via Wildhaber)
In the spring of 2014, St. Louis County police Sgt. Keith Wildhaber says he was told he would need to “tone down his gayness” if he hoped to be promoted to lieutenant. The comment, according to Wildhaber, came from a former member of the St. Louis County Police Board of Commissioners, John Saracino, a short time after Chief Jon Belmar took over the department. “I was sickened by it,” said Wildhaber on the first day of his employment discrimination lawsuit against the department, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I think I said, ‘I can’t believe we are having this conversation in 2014.’ It was devastating to hear,” Wildhaber told the jury. “We had never spoken of my sexuality before, and I thought he was just trying to be helpful to me and looking out for my best interest in the promotional process.” Saracino later denied making the comment. Wildhaber filed the lawsuit in 2017 after being passed over for promotion 23 times. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported at the time Wildhaber ranked third among 26 people who took a promotions test in February 2014. In February 2015, he again placed third in a second round of tests. On the opening day of the lawsuit, lawyers representing Wildhaber characterized Chief Belmar as “having a penchant for promoting masculine men that dominates all promotional decisions and said that he will retaliate against anyone who questions them, as Wildhaber did by filing his lawsuit.” “The police department under Chief Belmar is big on high-testosterone, type A masculine personalities, and my method of policing doesn’t conform with that,” testified Wildhaber, who contends he would have been promoted if he weren’t openly gay. “This chief is very heavy on promoting the SWAT, masculine type of guys, and I wasn’t doing that.” Wildhaber’s attorneys told the jury that, after filing his lawsuit, Wildhaber was transferred to the Jennings precinct which nearly tripled his daily commute to work. And he was moved from afternoon shifts and put on midnights. Wildhaber told the court, “It’s what’s known as a ‘geography lesson’ in the department.” Lawyers for the department told the jury the police chief had reasons not to promote the 22-year-veteran, who is still with the department. The department’s attorney’s pointed to a three-day suspension in 2011 for failing to file 23 out of 6,000 police reports during his tenure as a fraud detective. The lawyer’s also said Wildhaber had been the subject of an FBI investigation and hadn’t told Belmar. They accused him of tipping off a suspect the FBI was investigating. But Wildhaber denied the allegations saying, “I didn’t do that,” adding that he informed his supervisor after being questioned by the FBI. Attorneys for Wildhaber say there have been several officers with larger disciplinary issues in their file than Wildhaber who have been promoted to lieutenant. The trial will continue on Wednesday. Missouri has no laws prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ people in the workplace. A bill to add sexual orientation to the state’s non-discrimination laws was passed by the state Senate on May 17, 2013, but the state House of Representatives adjourned that session without taking up the bill for consideration. (source: Post-Dispatch)

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SCOTUS Hears Arguments On Whether Federal Civil Rights Laws Protect LGBTQs

(Photo: Fred Schilling, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States/Public Domain)
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday for three cases considering whether federal civil rights laws protect LGBTQ people in the workplace. Two of the cases (Zarda v. Altitude Express and Bostock v. Clayton County) involve the firing of gay men and question whether anti-gay discrimination is illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The third case, EEOC v. Harris Funeral Homes, looks for resolution on whether anti-transgender discrimination is illegal under the law. The basic premise of the arguments hinges on whether discrimination based on “sex” – which Title VII prohibits – includes any discrimination involving sexual orientation. In other words, are employers allowed to discriminate against an employee based on the sex of the person they may date or marry? Conservative Justice Samuel Alito seemed to take the position that Congress in 1964 did not foresee covering sexual orientation or gender identity when passing Title VII. “You’re trying to change the meaning of ‘sex,’” said Alito according to the Associated Press. But Justice Elena Kagan suggested ‘sexual orientation’ is clearly a subset of sex discrimination in that a man who loves other men shouldn’t be treated differently by an employer than a woman who loves men. Here are the immediate reactions by some reporters who attended the oral arguments. Chris Johnson, of the Washington Blade, tweets that the ruling could come down, surprisingly, to Justice Neil Gorsuch who asked several questions “if sex is also in play” in cases regarding anti-LGBTQ discrimination. Johnson also notes that Chief Justice John Roberts, who has become something of the ‘moderate/swing vote’ on the court since the retirement of Anthony Kennedy, should not be counted on to rule in our favor.

Legal blogger Amy Howe, formerly of SCOTUS Blog, also came away thinking Gorsuch may be the swing vote.

And from Mark Joseph Stern at Slate:

Only 21 states, the District of Columbia, and two territories, Guam and Puerto Rico, have laws banning bias in the workplace based on both sexual orientation and gender identity.

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Arizona Supreme Court: Anti-LGBTQ Design Firm Can Discriminate Against Same-Sex Couples

The Arizona State Supreme Court has ruled Phoenix-based company Brush & Nib, which designs custom wedding invitations, may turn away same-sex couples looking to engage their services. According to the Phoenix New Times, the owners of the design studio, Breanna Koski and Joanna Duka (pictured above), filed their lawsuit against the city of Phoenix in 2016 saying the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance violated their artistic and religious freedoms. The ordinance, which prohibits businesses from refusing to offer services to protected classes, was expanded in 2013 to include sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. After the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its historic Obergefell ruling on same-sex marriage in June 2015, Koski and Duka said they didn’t want to design wedding invitations – or any custom art for that matter – for a same-sex ceremony because they believed it would be seen as an ‘endorsement’ of marriage equality. It’s important to note that no one had asked Brush & Nib to design any wedding invitations for a same-sex wedding. The duo seems to have preemptively pursued legal action before there was a reason to do so. Today’s ruling reverses multiple previous decisions against the business owners. After losing in the Maricopa County Superior Court, the business owners went to the state Court of Appeals and lost there as well. Writing for the majority in today’s 4-3 decision, Justice Andrew Gould said:

“The rights of free speech and free exercise, so precious to this nation since its founding, are not limited to soft murmurings behind the doors of a person’s home or church, or private conversations with like-minded friends and family. These guarantees protect the right of every American to express their beliefs in public. This includes the right to create and sell words, paintings, and art that express a person’s sincere religious beliefs.“

The women’s lawyer, Jonathan Scruggs with the virulently anti-LGBTQ law firm Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), told reporters his firm hopes to see the issue make it’s way to the U.S. Supreme Court. ADF also represented Colorado baker Jack Phillips in his case where he refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. In 2018, SCOTUS handed down a narrow ruling in Phillips’ favor saying the Colorado Civil Rights Commission had allowed religious bias to come into play in finding the baker discriminated against the couple even though state law clearly bans discrimination based on sexual orientation. Some LGBTQ activists, like Joe Jervis of JoeMyGod, have publicly speculated whether ADF created Brush & Nib as a means to challenge the Phoenix city ordinance. Prior to the filing of the original lawsuit, the company didn’t appear to have a physical address, the artists’ social media accounts had only recently been created, and the company’s YouTube channel only had one introductory video posted and it was marked ‘unlisted.’ Things that make you go hmm… The city of Phoenix issued a statement regarding today’s ruling, pointing out the decision does not strike down the local ordinance:

“The city of Phoenix’s anti-discrimination ordinance is still a legal, valid law and remains in effect. It currently affirms that everyone should be treated fairly and equally regardless of sexual orientation, race, religion, sex, gender or disability. On September 16, 2019, the Arizona Supreme Court made a very narrow ruling that one local business has the right to refuse to make custom wedding invitations for same-sex couples’ weddings that are similar to the designer’s previous products. This ruling does not apply to any other business in Phoenix. The city of Phoenix has had an anti-discrimination ordinance since 1964 to protect all residents and believes that everyone should be treated equally.”

Congressman Greg Stanton, who served as mayor of Phoenix when the city’s ordinance was expanded, issued a statement as well calling the decision “a shameful day for Arizona.” Noting that the ruling will “hurt real people,” Stanton said the message of the decision sends a message “that discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation is still acceptable by some state leaders.”

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Taylor Swift Promotes Equality Act During Acceptance Speech At VMAs

Taylor Swift won big at the MTV Video Music Awards Monday night as she scored the trophy for Video of the Year for her LGBTQ anthem, “You Need To Calm Down.” Taylor opened the night’s festivities performing “YNTCD” as well as her new single “Lover.” The Hollywood Reporter has the details.

Dancers dressed in colorful ensembles moved around the stage before the drag queens featured in the music video appeared next to Swift as she sang the anti-hate anthem. The first number concluded with the words “Equality Act” largely written behind the performers.

Swift has been an advocate for the Equality Act and has urged her followers to sign a petition in its favor on social media. The House of Representatives passed legislation in May that protects those living in states where it’s legal to discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity when it comes to housing, employment and other services.

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California ‘Straight Pride’ Event Fails Big-Time

Members of the so-called ‘Straight Pride Coalition’ in Modesto, California, found themselves outnumbered by counter-protesters when the group staged a demonstration in front of a Planned Parenthood. According to local NBC News affiliate KCRA, the Straight Pride crowd of 20 participants – holding signs in support of Donald Trump and his policies – was soon faced with over 200 counter-protesters. From KCRA:

Don Grundmann, the coalition’s director, said the group believes that “the LGBT community is trying to destroy America by destroying the culture.”

“Straight culture is under attack. I’ll call it normal, natural, healthy, sane is under attack, and we’re going to illustrate that in the election cycle upcoming,” Grundman said. “We’re going to illustrate our point, and we’re going to bring sanity back to the nation.”

In the lead-up to the demonstration, more than 100 members of the LGBTQ community and their supporters joined together at Enslen Park to counter the coalition’s message.

“I want to celebrate each and every ally,” James Varble said into a microphone before those in attendance.

“This is all of Modesto and a big part of the valley coming together for us to say we’re not going to stand for bigotry. We’re not going to stand for hate. We’re going to look after each other, and we’re going to embrace each other,” he said.

The counter-protesters then made their way from Enslen Park to the straight pride demonstration, where they faced down the coalition chanting, “No hate, no fear. Straight pride is not welcome here.”

(images via screen capture/KCRA)

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Appeals Court Rules Kim Davis Can Be Sued By Gay Couples

Bad news for homophobic former Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis (above). Cue the sad trombone sound…womp womp womp An appeals court has ruled that Davis can be sued as an individual for refusing to issue marriage licenses to two same-sex couples after the historic U.S. Supreme Court Obergefell ruling in 2015. Reuters reports:

The Kentucky county clerk who in 2015 gained widespread attention for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples may be sued for damages by two of those couples, a federal appeals court ruled late on Friday.

In a 3-0 decision, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati said Kim Davis can be sued in her individual capacity, though sovereign immunity shielded her from being sued in her former role as Rowan County Clerk.

Davis claimed that Obergefell v Hodges, the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision recognizing a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, did not apply to her because she stopped issuing licenses to everyone regardless of sexual orientation, and the plaintiffs could have obtained licenses elsewhere.

Davis lost her reelection bid last year. She was represented by the virulently anti-LGBTQ Liberty Counsel law firm. Mat Staver, the organization’s founder told the press, “She had no hostility to anyone, given that she stopped issuing all marriage licenses.” Liar. In related news, the 6th Circuit Court also ruled that the state of Kentucky is on the hook for $224,000 in legal fees incurred by the couples who sued Davis when she refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses. According to the Lexington Courier-Journal, Gov. Matt Bevin fought the judgment saying Davis should be responsible for the fees, not the state of Kentucky. He lost. Hate doesn’t pay, kids.