Tag: Wyoming

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Podcast: Troye Sivan, Anti-LGBT Legislation In Wyoming & Texas, Trump Inauguration And LGBTs Scrubbed From White House Website

Take a listen to the latest The Randy Report podcast, including these stories and more:

• Minutes after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, all information regarding LGBTs disappeared from the White House website. Hmm….

• Attendance at Donald Trump’s inaugural was dwarfed by the Women’s March on Washington the next day as hundreds of thousands marched in support for not only women’s rights but LGBT rights, civil rights, voting rights and more. And the Trumpster was not happy.

• The Texas state Supreme Court has agreed to hear an anti-LGBT hate group’s challenge to spousal benefits for same-sex couples.

• New legislation introduced in Wyoming (“The Equality State”) would legalize discrimination against same-sex couples and transgender people, and would make it impossible for any branch or part of the government to enact or enforce local non-discrimination ordinances and federal protections for the LGBT community.

• Out Music: Troye Sivan released his video for “Heaven,” from his Blue Neighbourhood album – a sensual black & white vision featuring intimate shots of Sivan along side clips of important moments in the LGBTQ rights movement.

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Laramie City Council Approves LGBT Protections 17 Years After Matthew Shepard’s Death

Seventeen years after the murder of Matthew Shepard, the Laramie City Council has approved, by a vote of 7-2, an anti-discrimination ordinance that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, employment and access to public facilities such as restaurants.

Local organizers focused their efforts on Laramie after the Legislature repeatedly rejected anti-discrimination bills, most recently early this year. The Laramie Nondiscrimination Task Force presented a draft ordinance to the City Council last summer. Jeran Artery, head of the group Wyoming Equality which has lobbied for the anti-discrimination measures at the state Legislature, said he was thrilled with the council vote.

Judy Shepard, Matt Shepard’s mother, is active in a Denver-based foundation that bears her son’s name and focuses on equality issues. “I’m thrilled that Laramie’s doing it, at the same time sort of saddened that the state of Wyoming can’t see fit to do that as well,” Shepard told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Wednesday before the council vote from Washington, D.C. “Maybe the rest of Wyoming will understand this is about fellow human beings and not something that’s other than what they are.”

The state legislature has repeatedly failed to pass similar state-wide protections for LGBTs.

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Wyoming: House Legislators Vote Down LGBT Anti-Discrimination Bill

Wyoming Welcomes You (or not, depending on how you look at it)

By a vote of 33 to 26, the Wyoming House of Representatives killed a bill which would have made discrimination on the basis of sexual identity or gender identity illegal in the state.

The legislation had already passed in the Wyoming Senate.

Anti-discrimination laws serve dual purposes for many states. One, the laws help discourage discrimination. That’s a good thing.

Second, they send a signal to corporations about the work environment in the state helping corporations attract and recruit talent.

Opponents of the bill expressed concern that folks wouldn’t be able to hire and fire based on sexual orientation. And that folks right to expound on the sins of gays would be curtailed.

(source)

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Wyoming: House Committee Passes LGBT Protections Bill To Full House On 6-2 Vote

A bill that would ban discrimination in Wyoming based on sexual orientation passed out of a state House committee on a vote of 6-2 Friday.

The bill has had a relatively easy journey having been approved by the Senate and now heads to the full House after the House Labor, Health and Social Services Committee approved the legislation on Friday.

Although there was one small bump in the road when GOP state Rep. Harlan Edmonds attempted to insert an “effective date” of “when hell freezes over.”

Harlen was then ejected from the hearing.

The House is expected to take up the legislation this coming week.

(source)

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Wyoming State Senate Approves LGBT Protections 24-6

The Wyoming State Senate voted Tuesday to approve a bill to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Senate voted 24-to-6 on Tuesday to send the bill to the House.

The bill would add prohibitions against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity to a range of state laws that now prohibit discrimination based on other factors including race, age, disability and political affiliation.

The bill has exemptions for religious organizations.

(from The Republic)

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Wyoming Same-Sex Marriages Can Begin Tomorrow At 10AM

Wyoming Attorney General Peter Michael says the state will notify a federal court at 10 .m. Tuesday that it won’t appeal last Friday’s ruling that struck down the state’s ban on gay marriage.

With no waiting period for marriage in Wyoming, same-sex couples should be able to marry immediately following the notification of no appeal.

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Wyoming Governor Will Not Appeal Same-Sex Marriage Ruling

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead has issued a statement saying he will not appeal Friday’s same-sex marriage ruling. Same-sex couples will be able to marry in the state no later than Thursday, October 23, 2014, at 5:00 p.m.

“This result is contrary to my personal beliefs and those of many others. As in all matters, I respect the role of the courts and the ruling of the Court.

“While this is not the result I and others would have hoped, I recognize people have different points of view and I hope all citizens agree, we are bound by the law.”

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Marriage Equality Comes To Wyoming

A federal judge has declared that Wyoming cannot deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Via the National Center for Lesbian Rights:

Today, U.S. District Court Judge Scott W. Skavdahl of the District of Wyoming ruled in favor of the freedom to marry in the challenge to the State of Wyoming’s ban on marriage equality. The court’s order granted a request by four same-sex couples and Wyoming Equality, who had filed a federal lawsuit challenging Wyoming’s marriage ban, for an order requiring the state to allow couples to begin marrying immediately.

Citing two decisions of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit striking down Utah’s and Oklahoma’s bans on marriage for same-sex couples, Judge Skavdahl ruled that Wyoming’s refusal to permit same-sex couples to marry is unconstitutional. Judge Skavdahl ordered the state to begin issuing marriage licenses, but placed that order temporarily on hold to permit Wyoming state officials to appeal his ruling. Marriages will begin in Wyoming at 5:00 pm on Thursday, October 23, or as soon as the state officials defending the challenge inform the court that they do not intend to appeal, whichever is sooner.

The ruling is on hold until Oct. 23 or until government officials say they are not appealing the decision.

Read the ruling below:

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Wyoming Judge Says He Will Rule On Same-Sex Marriage Ban By Monday

After hearing oral arguments today in a lawsuit filed by NCLR and Wyoming Equality, U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl stated he will issue a ruling on same-sex marriage by 5 pm Monday, the Casper Star-Tribune reports.

The plaintiff’s lawsuit requests that the state comply with the 10th Circuit ruling handed out earlier this year following the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear its appeal.

From the NCLR, via press release:

The case was brought by Wyoming Equality and four same-sex couples who requested an immediate order directing state officials to comply with two decisions of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit establishing that a state’s refusal to allow same-sex couples to marry violates the U.S. Constitution.

The U.S. Supreme Court on October 6th let those appeals court decisions stand, meaning that all states within the Tenth Circuit, including Wyoming, must comply with those decisions.