Religious Concerns
He dropped a letter from his name, and job offers flowed in
From Jose to Joe – and after months of applying for dozens of jobs a day, the offers finally started rolling in.
What do you think? Comment below.
(via Buzzfeed)
Maryland state Senate approves ban on transgender discrimination
By a vote of 32-15, the Maryland state Senate has approved a bill that would put in ban discrimination of transgender people in the state.
From the Washington Blade:
“I just hope people realize this is a fairness issue,” said state Sen. Allan Kittleman (R-Howard County).
“It is not our job to discriminate,” added state Sen. Delores Kelly (D-Balitmore County) before the vote. “The bill is carefully crafted. The definitions are clear”
State Sen. Rich Madaleno (D-Montgomery County), who introduced SB 212, applauded its passage.
“Today marks a historic milestone in the continued fight to advance equal rights for all Marylanders,” he said in a statement. “The Senate’s passage of the Fairness for All Marylanders Act sends a reaffirming message throughout our state that regardless of whom you are, prejudice and discrimination will no longer be tolerated or exempted from law. With these new anti-discrimination protections for transgender persons one step closer to full passage.”
The bill now moves to the Maryland House of Delegates which approved similar legislation in 2011.
Oregon Family Council files ballot initiative to legalize discrimination
The Portland Tribune is reporting that anti-gay group Oregon Family Council has filed a ballot initiative to make it legal for those who oppose marriage equality to discriminate based on “religious freedoms:”
The East Portland group filed a state ballot initiative Thursday, Nov. 21, that would guarantee the right of people and businesses to refrain from participating in or supporting ceremonies for same-sex civil unions, domestic partnerships or marriages, if those violate their religious beliefs.
The group calls the measure the Protect Religious Freedom Initiative.
The measure is a response to public penalties and lawsuits brought against bakers, florists and photographers in Oregon, Washington, Colorado and New Mexico who refused to play roles in same-sex ceremonies for civil unions, domestic partnerships or marriages, says Teresa Harke communications director for Oregon Family Council.
Harke says the Council’s focus is moving more towards protecting “religious freedoms” versus opposing marriage equality as recent events show the advances for legalizing same-sex marriage across the country show the direction the country is taking on the issue.
In Oregon, recent polls show 53% support marriage equality.
Texas: Trans student not allowed in yearbook wearing a tuxedo
Why would anyone care what someone wears in their high school yearbook photo?
Officials at the Texas school want to stop Jeydon Loredo, a male student, from being featured in the yearbook wearing his tuxedo like every other boy, simply because he’s transgender.
This kind of discrimination isn’t just wrong – it’s in direct violation of federal law and the school’s very own policies.
The issue has been appealed to the school board with the help of our partners in this effort, the Southern Poverty Law Center. Jeydon’s family has asked equality supporters like you to help ensure that Jeydon can appear in the school’s yearbook wearing his tuxedo.
Send a message to the La Feria School Board that this is wrong by clicking here.
South Carolina: Restaurant denies service to party of 25 African-Americans when white person felt “threatened”
A group of customers at a Wild Wing restaurant in Charleston, SC were forced to wait two hours for their table and then were ultimately denied service on the basis of their race. According to Charleston’s WNEW Channel 5, the group of 25 African-Americans were asked to leave because a white customer felt “threatened.”
Michael Brown and a group composed of family and friends were gathered in July at the North Charleston Wild Wing Café to say farewell to a cousin who was moving away. The party waited for two hours for a table only to be told by a manager that there was “a situation.”
“She said there’s a situation where one of our customers feels threatened by your party, so she asked us not to seat you in our section, which totally alarmed all of us because we’re sitting there peaceably for two hours,” Brown told Channel 5. “Obviously, if we were causing any conflict, we would have been ejected out of the place hours before.”
A member of the party began to film the discussion between Brown and the restaurant manager with a camera phone.
“I asked her I want to be clear with you,” Brown recounted. “I said so you’re telling me I have to leave. She said I have a right to deny you service. I said so you’re asking me to leave because you’re upset because he was recording you, after we’ve waited for two hours, and after you’ve already pretty much discriminated on us, and she answered yes.”
Brown took the issue to Facebook on Friday after several unsuccessful calls to the company’s corporate office.
I will never go to Wild wings cafe in N. Chs again! We (Party of 25 family and friends) waited 2hrs, patiently and were refused service because another customer (White) felt threatened by us. This type of racial discrimination is unacceptable and we have to put a STOP TO IT. The manager looked me dead in the face and said she was refusing us service because she had a right to and simply she felt like it. DO NOT SUPPORT THIS ESTABLISHMENT… PLEASE SHARE THIS POST… We need your help.
That got Wild Wings’ corporate office’s attention.
“We got alerted through social media, so we always encourage our customers to respond to us or to comment on our social media pages,” Debra Stokes, chief marketing officer for Wild Wing Cafe, told Channel 5.
“We had a conversation,” says Stokes. “It was a really good conversation. He and many of his family and friends were there about a month ago, and they are regular customers of ours. So, they were having a going away party, and they just didn’t receive the experience that they have come to know and love.”
(via Raw Story)
Cracking the codes: Joy DeGruy, A Trip to the Grocery Store
A Safeway clerk screws up big time, but two women handle it perfectly. Further proof that one person can have a huge impact.
Yes, kids, this is still very real. Bless the women in the story who raise their voices.
In this story from Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequity, a film from World Trust, author and educator Joy DeGruy shares how her sister-in-law uses her white privilege to stand up to systemic racial inequity.
For more information on this film, go to www.crackingthecodes.org
New Mexico: Gay couple forced to back of a bus for holding hands
The Advocate reports that Ron McCoy and his partner Chris Bowers flew into Albuquerque International Sunport on June 28. They were planning to attend Albuquerque’s Pride festival that weekend, then kick off a road trip of the Southwest, according to Albuquerque’s KQRE.
But when the couple boarded an airport shuttle to pick up their rental car, they say they sat down toward the front of the bus and took one another’s hand.
“I saw him look at us, look down at his hands, and he looked so angry,” McCoy told KQRE. “He just blurted out at me, he goes, OK, if you’re going to do that, you’re going to the back of the bus.”
Flabergasted by the driver’s tone, the couple complied and moved to the back of the bus. But when the shuttle stop, the couple approached the driver to inquire about why he demanded they move.
McCoy told KQRE he said to the bus driver, “I think it was because you didn’t like the fact that I was holding my partner’s hand.” Then McCoy says the driver responded by saying “‘See, now you’re telling on yourself.’ My partner responds, ‘Well, that’s discrimination,’ and the driver responds, ‘You’re telling on yourself again.'”
KQRE spoke with a woman who witnessed the exchange, and said she was appalled by the driver’s behavior.
A spokesman for the airport confirmed that the driver had acted inappropriately, and called the driver’s behavior “absolutely unacceptable.”
A manager for the company that runs the shuttles, Standard Parking, told KQRE the driver “was inappropriate and got carried away,” but that he did not consider the incident discrimination. The manager told KQRE the driver in question was still working for the company.
UPDATE: The shuttle service company has apologized for the actions of its driver.
Standard Parking Inc. has stated that it has a zero tolerance policy toward discrimination and suspended the employee after learning of the June incident, reports the Associated Press. It also stressed its commitment to its customers’ equal rights.
Rep. John Fleming defends his “license to discriminate” amendment in Defense Authorization Act
Congressman John Fleming of Louisiana introduced (and saw passage) of an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill that allows and protects soldiers to scream and belittle gays in the military along the lines of “you will burn in hell” at gay soldiers based on “conscience, moral principles, or religious beliefs.”
It is basically a license to discriminate.
President Obama has threatened to veto the bill if the language is not changed:
“The Administration strongly objects to section 530, which would require the Armed Forces to accommodate, except in cases of military necessity, ‘actions and speech’ reflecting the ‘conscience, moral principles, or religious beliefs of the member,’ the statement read. “By limiting the discretion of commanders to address potentially problematic speech and actions within their units, this provision would have a significant adverse effect on good order, discipline, morale, and mission accomplishment.”
Congressman John Fleming responded to the White House statement:
“President Obama is continuing his war on free speech.
“With the IRS trying to intimidate and silence conservative groups, and the Justice Department digging into the phone records of reporters, it’s no surprise that the president also wants to deny First Amendment rights to our Armed Forces. With its statement, the White House is now endorsing military reprimands of members who keep a Bible on their desk or express a religious belief. That is an outrageous position, but it’s what I’ve come to expect from an administration that is aggressively hostile toward religious beliefs that it deems to be politically incorrect.
“My amendment protects, for our men and women in uniform, a principle enshrined in our Constitution and cherished since our Founding Fathers: the free exercise of one’s religious beliefs, including expressions of one’s belief.
“It has bipartisan support and takes into account the unique context of military service, accommodating the beliefs of our service members, while not jeopardizing military necessity. We need to protect the free speech of the brave warriors who fight to safeguard our liberties, and I hope Congress will reject this blatant White House attack on religious freedom.”
(Via Washington Blade)
NY Times supports passage of Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act
Editorial from the New York Times:
A measure to outlaw discrimination based on gender identity or expression — the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, or GENDA, sponsored by Assemblyman Richard Gottfried and Senator Daniel Squadron — passed the Democratic-led Assembly in April for the sixth time. There is a good chance it would also pass the Senate, with nearly all Democrats and some Republicans voting in favor. The challenge is getting the bill to the floor for an up-or-down vote before the end of the legislative session, scheduled on June 20.
Senator Jeffrey Klein, the Democratic leader in the Senate’s coalition leadership, must insist on a vote. He should tell Senator Dean Skelos, the coalition’s Republican leader, that bottling up bills like this one is not part of their power-sharing deal. It would help if Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a supporter of the bill, would commit political capital to enacting the legislation before the session ends. Sixteen states — including New Jersey and Connecticut — and the District of Columbia have enacted anti-discrimination protections covering transgender people. New York should not lag on this important civil rights issue.