Tag: anti-LGBT

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Things You Should Know About North Carolina’s Extreme Anti-LGBT Law

The Human Rights Campaign shares these facts you should know about North Carolina’s brand new, virulently anti-LGBT law:

• The law eliminates existing municipal non-discrimination protections for LGBT people and prevents such provisions from being passed by cities in the future. This means that only statewide non-discrimination laws are allowed, and the law passed doesn’t include protections for sexual orientation and gender identity.

• The law forces transgender students in public schools to use restrooms and other facilities inconsistent with their gender identity. Additionally, access to facilities in all government agencies must be based on biological sex as well. That includes public universities.

• North Carolina is the first state in the country to enact such a law attacking transgender students, even after several similar proposals were rejected across the country this year.

• Because the law directly contravenes Title IX, North Carolina’s federal funding – at least 4.5 billion dollars- is put at risk.

• The law also prevents cities from regulating in areas like living wage laws, benefits and hour regulations for workers in the city, city contracting, and even child labor regulations.

Learn more here.

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Entertainment Industry Leaders Call on Georgia Governor Nathan Deal to Veto HB 757

The Human Rights Campaign has sent a letter on behalf of dozens of entertainment industry leaders who will abandon production in the state of Georgia should Gov. Nathan Deal sign the anti-LGBT H.B. 757 into law.

HB 757 would undermine local non-discrimination ordinances that protect LGBT people, permit hospitals to refuse to provide medically necessary care, or even allow a taxpayer-funded service provider to discriminate by denying a job because of the applicant’s religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

Here is the text of the letter in full.

“Dear Governor Deal,

As leaders in the entertainment industry, we have deep concerns about H.B. 757, which would sanction discrimination against LGBT people and others in Georgia.

As you know, Atlanta is often referred to as the Hollywood of the South. During the last fiscal year, at least 248 films and television productions were shot in Georgia, adding at least $1.7 billion in direct spending to the state’s economy. Additionally, the entertainment industry helped to bring more than 100 businesses to Georgia through relocation or expansion in the past fiscal year. Only two states — California and New York — have a larger entertainment industry footprint and both have statewide non-discrimination protections on the books. Unfortunately, Georgia not only lacks such protections, but could soon move from a bad situation to worse with H.B. 757.

We pride ourselves on running inclusive companies, and while we have enjoyed a positive partnership on productions in Georgia, we will plan to take our business elsewhere if any legislation sanctioning discrimination is signed into state law.

We urge you to veto H.B. 757 and send a strong message that Georgia will not tolerate discrimination against citizens, employees and visitors to the state.

Thank you in advance for your consideration of this urgent issue.”

Ali Adler, Writer and Producer
Greg Berlanti, Writer and Producer
Matt Bomer, Actor & Simon Halls, Publicist
Dustin Lance Black, Screenwriter and Filmmaker
Bradley Bredeweg, Executive Producer and Showrunner
Kristin Chenoweth, Actress and Singer
Diablo Cody, Writer, Producer and Director
Bruce Cohen, Producer
Lee Daniels, Producer and Director
Dana Fox, Writer and Producer
John Goldwyn, Producer
James Gunn, Writer and Director
Anne Hathaway, Actress
Alan Hergott, Entertainment Attorney
Nina Jacobson, Producer
Dan Jinks, Producer
Kathy Kennedy, Producer
Zoe Kravitz, Actress
Bryan Lourd, Talent Agent
Seth MacFarlane, Producer and Filmmaker
Laurence Mark, Producer
Frank Marshall, Producer and Director
Neil Meron, Producer
Julianne Moore, Actress
Ryan Murphy, Producer
Peter Paige, Executive Producer and Showrunner
Rob Reiner, Actor, Director and Producer
Sarah Schechter, Producer
Adam Shankman, Director and Producer
Aaron Sorkin, Screenwriter and Producer
Marisa Tomei, Actress
Gus Van Sant, Producer and Director
Harvey Weinstein, Producer and Film Studio Executive
Craig Zadan, Producer and Director

(via press release)

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Missouri Democrats Filibuster All Night Against Anti-LGBT Legislation

Democratic state Senators in the Missouri legislature have been up all night in an effort to filibuster SJR39 – legislation that would possible legalize LGBT discrimination in the “Show Me State.”

Many have pointed out the legislation is unnecessary because LGBTs are not protected in the state’s human rights laws. So, it’s already perfectly legal to discriminate against LGBTs in terms of housing, employment, or even wedding cakes.

From the Human Rights Campaign:

Today, HRC praised Missouri Senate Democrats for leading a historic filibuster – now in its 17th hour – to stop Republicans from moving forward with Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 39 – a measure that could enshrine discrimination against LGBT Missourians and their families into the state constitution.

Still going strong since 4:00 PM CT yesterday, these pro-equality state senators have been vigorously fighting an assault on equality that’s similar to so-called “First Amendment Defense Act” legislation introduced in other states. The extreme resolution would lead to a ballot measure that proposes to allow individuals, organizations, and businesses to use religion as a valid excuse to discriminate against LGBT people.

“These Missouri Senate Democrats working throughout the night to stop this outrageous assault on LGBT Missourians and their families are our heroes,” said JoDee Winterhof, HRC Senior Vice President for Policy and Political Affairs. “This resolution has nothing to do with religious liberty and everything to do with enshrining anti-LGBT discrimination into the Missouri Constitution. We are incredibly grateful for these state senators who are standing up against overwhelming odds to proclaim that hate and discrimination are not Missouri values.”

The filibuster against the anti-LGBT resolution is being led by Democratic Senators Jamilah Nasheed, Jill Schupp, Scott Sifton, Jason Holsman, Maria Chappelle-Nadal, Joseph Keaveny and Kiki Curls.

SJR 39 goes far beyond protecting the right of free exercise of one’s religion. While shrouded in language framed as prohibiting the state government from making funding or tax status decisions based on an organization’s views on marriage that are driven by religious belief, in reality it opens the door to discrimination against same-sex couples, their families, and those who love them.

If voted into law, LGBT people and their families could suddenly find themselves at risk of being denied many basic services. Taxpayer funded foster care providers and adoption agencies could refuse to place children in need of loving homes with same-sex couples. Taxpayer funded homeless shelters could turn away LGBT couples and their families. The legislation would have reckless intended and unintended consequences.

The resolution addresses no real problem in the state as no federal or state law requires religious organizations or clergy to sanction or perform same-sex marriages.

UPDATE: As the filibuster has now passed the 24 hour mark, the Washington Blade’s Chris Johnson follows up with a few more details on the bill.

The law has four parts aimed at allowing religious people and organization to deny wedding services to same-sex couples:

* It prohibits the state from imposing a penalty on a religious organization who acts in accordance with a sincere religious belief concerning same-sex marriage, which includes the refusal to perform a same-sex marriage ceremony or allowing a same sex wedding ceremony to be performed on the religious organization’s property. (A religious organization under the resolution is construed broadly to include religious societies, corporations, schools, social service providers and hospitals.)
* It bars the state from penalizing an individual who declines, due to sincere religious beliefs, to provide goods of expressional or artistic creation for a same-sex wedding ceremony.
* It explicitly doesn’t prevent the state from providing lawful marriage licenses or other marital benefits. Under the resolution, hospitals couldn’t refuse to treat a marriage as valid for the purposes of a spouse’s right to visitation or to make health care decisions.
* It allows individuals protected under this resolution to use the law as a claim or defense in a legal proceeding regardless of whether the state is a party in the dispute.

Governor Jay Nixon of Missouri has also weighed in on the issue:

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Kentucky State Senate Committee Advances “License To Discriminate” Bill

Fairness Kentucky reports on another anti-LGBT “License To Discriminate” bill that would seek to nullify all pro-LGBT local ordinances.

A “License to Discriminate” bill that would sanction discrimination against LGBT Kentuckians passed out of the Senate Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection Committee this morning. Senate Bill 180, introduced by Senator Albert Robinson of London, seeks to gut local LGBT Fairness Ordinances passed by eight Kentucky cities. Those cities include Covington, Danville, the State Capital Frankfort, Lexington, Louisville, Midway, Morehead, and the small Appalachian town of Vicco.

“Senate Bill 180 is nothing but a license to discriminate,” shared Fairness Campaign director Chris Hartman. “This legislation seeks to undo the hard work of eight Kentucky cities that chose to protect all their residents from discrimination. These cities, like nearly 200 local employers in the Kentucky Competitive Workforce Coalition, know that discrimination is bad for business. Should the Kentucky General Assembly pass this license to discriminate, it will have untold negative effects on our commonwealth’s tourism, economics, and business development.”

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Rick Santorum: Equal Rights For LGBTs Could Make Kids Want To Be Transgender

Virulently anti-gay GOP White House hopeful Rick Santorum recently called in to The Steve Malzberg Show with the inane idea that LGBT rights bills could lead children to consider “maybe” becoming transgender – as if being trans is something one “becomes” rather than something one is.

“I don’t know why children at that age — why this is even an issue, the idea that we are introducing this type of real dangerous confusion for young people at this early age, do we really care about what we’re doing to millions of children who don’t have gender confusion and basically introducing the subject and saying, ‘maybe you should, maybe this is something you should start thinking about at age seven.’ I mean this is really dangerous and it’s going too far because it is having an impact on not just folks who may be in a difficult situation at an early age but many who would never have been in that situation but now are being confronted with it.”

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Houston: Haters Vote Down LGBT Protections Ordinance HERO

In a heartbreaking loss, Houston voters succumbed to dramatic anti-LGBT ads to vote down the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, known as HERO.

Prop. 1, known as Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance, would have barred discrimination on the basis of race, age, military status, disability and 11 other categories in a variety of areas. (Religious organizations and institutions would be exempt from the requirements.)

It was HERO’s protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, however, that attracted the most attention and made the ballot measure the center of the LGBT community’s efforts this election.

The Houston City Council narrowly approved the equal rights ordinance last year, but after a petition drive by anti-gay activists, the Texas Supreme Court ordered the city in July to either repeal it or put it on the November ballot — giving each side just a few months to make their case.

Conservative activists — who were heavily outspent by LGBT advocates — dubbed Prop. 1 the “bathroom ordinance” and adopted the slogan “No men in women’s bathrooms,” playing up fears that passage could lead to male sexual predators dressing up as women and entering women’s restrooms.

This factually dishonest message proved to be incredibly effective: Many Houston voters seemed to think the measure was solely about access to restrooms and were unaware of the broader nondiscrimination protections in the measure.

Over 200 American cities have similar LGBT protections in place.

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Florida: Pastor Baits Bakery With Anti-Gay Cake Order

Anti-gay Pastor Joshua Feuerstein decided to see if he could get an LGBT-friendly bakery (who advertised that they were LGBT-friendly) to make a cake with an anti-gay message: “We Do Not Support Gay Marriage.”

Feuerstein, recording on video, called Cut The Cake Bakery in Florida and proceeded to order his “hate cake.” The bakery owner who answered the phone denied the request, and hung up.

This is where it gets ugly.

Via Mediaite:

Feuerstein encouraged viewers to call the bakery and and help “expose the hypocrisy” they’re supposedly engaging in. Well, in a parallel of what happened to Memories Pizza in Indiana, Cut the Cake ended up receiving quite a lot of angry messages, including death threats.

Sharon Haller, who Feuerstein spoke to on the phone, said, “We started getting some hundreds of phone calls and making very nasty and negative gestures towards our business, towards us.”

Feuerstein took down the video at their request, but Cut the Cake posted it online so people could see it, along with a GoFundMe page that has raised, as of this posting, over $2000.

First of all, Florida has clear laws about recording phone calls. All parties have to be informed the call is being “intercepted” or recorded. Feuerstein did not inform the woman on the other end of the line. So, Feuerstein gets in some serious trouble here. The recording would be inadmissible in court since it was illegally done.

Second, there is a difference between making a cake for a loving celebration and making a cake with negative hate speech. And we all know it.

Third, the woman on the phone didn’t deny his order based on “religious beliefs.” She said she wouldn’t make it, and hung up. If she denies all “hate speech” cake orders, then she isn’t discriminating.

And now the baker is getting DEATH THREATS for not baking a hate speech cake? Seriously?

This is just a stunt. Plain and simple. Colorado just ruled a bakery there was not guilty of anything by denying a similarly negative messaged cake.

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Anti-Gay Florist Takes Martyr Lap At Religious Broadcasters Convention

Washington state florist Barronelle Stutzman

Taking her martyr lap from one right wing audience to the next, anti-gay Washington state florist (who was found to have violated the state’s anti-discrimination laws) appeared today at the National Religious Broadcasters convention.

Barronelle Stutzman faces fines of up to $2,000 for refusing to serve gay customers seeking flowers for their wedding. She is now the face of martyrdom for the anti-LGBT folks in America.

Stutzman says “I can’t leave my relationship at the door of the Church. Christ is my life.” But, it seems she only refuses to sell flowers to gay folks.

A flower shop is not a church; a florist isn’t a pastor; and customers of a business are not required to conform to the owner’s religious beliefs.