Tag: LGBTQ protections

Posted on

New Mexico Approves LGBTQ Protections + Stormy Daniels + More

(image via Depositphotos)
Some news items you might have missed: • The Hill:  New Mexico lawmakers have passed legislation to update the state’s anti-discrimination law by adding explicit protections for LGBTQ people. Continue reading “New Mexico Approves LGBTQ Protections + Stormy Daniels + More”

Posted on

Out Alaska Lawmakers Propose LGBTQ Discrimination Protections

In response to reports that Alaska’s Attorney General quietly rolled back LGBTQ protections last summer, the state’s first-ever out, queer lawmakers sponsored a bill in the Alaska House to enshrine anti-discrimination protections in law. Continue reading “Out Alaska Lawmakers Propose LGBTQ Discrimination Protections”

Posted on

Alaska Quietly Dropped Most Of Its LGBTQ Protections

Destroyed postcard from Alaska - Alaska dropped LGBTQ protections
(image via Depositphotos)
In 2021, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights (ASCHR) published new guidelines saying Alaska’s LGBTQ protections included employment, finance, government practices and public accommodation. The official ASCHR website was updated to specifically say that it was illegal to discriminate against someone due to sexual orientation or gender identity. In fact, the executive director for the state commission co-authored an essay calling the new policy “a sea change under Alaska law for LGBTQ+ individuals’ right to be free from discrimination.” A year later, the commission quietly u-turned on that decision and deleted the related language from its website. Continue reading “Alaska Quietly Dropped Most Of Its LGBTQ Protections”

Posted on

Chicago Says No 2nd Term For Mayor Lori Lightfoot + News

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot won't return for a second term in office after voters turned on Lightfoot over concerns about crime.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot (via official Facebook)
Some news items you might have missed: • The Advocate: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot won’t return for a second term in office after voters turned on Lightfoot over concerns about crime and the city’s slow recovery from the pandemic. Lightfoot is the city’s first Black woman and first out gay person to serve as mayor. Continue reading “Chicago Says No 2nd Term For Mayor Lori Lightfoot + News”

Posted on

‘In From The Side’ Actor Sets Things Straight + More News

Alexander Lincoln, who hit everyone's radar last year with his knock-out performance in the British gay rugby film In From The Side, clarified on Instagram this week he's not straight.
L-R Alexander Lincoln, Alexander King in ‘In From The Side’ (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • Queerty: Acclaimed actor Alexander Lincoln, who hit everyone’s radar last year with his knock-out performance in the British gay rugby film In From The Side, clarified on Instagram this week he’s not straight. Continue reading “‘In From The Side’ Actor Sets Things Straight + More News”

Posted on

LGBTQ Rights Package Introduced In North Carolina

Screen capture from ABC11 in North Carolina

Screen capture from ABC11 in North Carolina A group of lawmakers in North Carolina has proposed a package of 4 bills that would improve life for LGBTQ people in the state. The first bill would repeal House Bill 2, also known as the state’s ‘bathroom bill.’ The second piece of legislation would put into place statewide non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people. The third bill would outlaw so-called ‘conversion therapy,’ the dangerous pseudo-science that attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. And the fourth bill would prohibit the use of the ‘gay panic’ or ‘trans panic’ defense in legal cases which attempts to justify killing or harming someone because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. “No one should worry that they can’t buy a home because of who they love or be denied a haircut or a hotel room because of their gender identity,” Rep. Vernetta Alston (D-District 29) told the local ABC News affiliate. Kendra Johnson of Equality NC added, “For too long LGBTQ North Carolinians have lived in the shadow of archaic and outdated laws that impact everyone in our community.” Lawmakers say they are ‘hopeful’ the bills have momentum to pass, but I’ll note that the Republican-controlled state legislature hasn’t previously given queer people much to believe in.

Posted on

Fairness For All Act ‘Worse Than Nothing’ Due To Religious Exemptions

The U.S. Capitol building

The U.S. Capitol building

Republican Rep. Chris Stewart of Utah has introduced legislation that he calls a counter proposal to the Equality Act which was passed in the House of Representatives yesterday by a vote of 224-206.

Like the Equality Act, Stewart says his bill, titled the Fairness For All Act (FFAA), would expand existing federal laws regarding anti-LGBTQ discrimination – but with some HUGE differences.

• Under the FFAA, faith-based adoption agencies would continue to receive federal funds but could refuse to place children with potential LGBTQ parents under the guise of ‘religious freedoms.’

• Similarly, religious schools would be allowed to discriminate against LGBTQ people.

• Additionally, while the Equality Act clearly states transgender people would have access to bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity, the FFAA is vague on the issue.

• The FFAA would include an exemption that would allow businesses to refuse to serve LGBTQ people if they have fewer than 15 employees.

• While the Equality Act specifies the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) could not be used as a legal defense in court against cases of anti-LGBTQ discrimination, the FFAA would allow religious beliefs to justify discriminatory actions.

In other words, what’s the point?

“It is hard to really love our neighbors when we are fighting with them over whose rights are more important,” said Rep. Stewart in a statement. “This country can accommodate both civil liberties for LGBT individuals & religious freedom.”

Stewart’s bill has 21 Republican co-sponsors but no Democrats signed on to the legislation even though Stewart initially indicated the bill would have bipartisan support.

Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), the sponsor of the Equality Act, told the Washington Blade that the FFAA would “very clearly be worse than nothing.”

“For the first time in our history, it would actually put in federal statute provisions that permit discrimination against the LGBTQ community,” Cicilline told the Blade. “It would be a tremendous step backward, which is why it’s not supported by any major LGBT organization, all of the major LGBT organizations support the Equality Act.”

“The Stewart bill is a tremendous step backward in our fight for full equality,” added Cicilline.

(source: Washington Blade)