WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear appeals from two states that were sued to prevent them from cutting Planned Parenthood from their budgets. Louisiana and Kansas were wanting to cut their payments through Medicaid, Reuters reported. Even recent SCOTUS appointee Brett Kavanaugh voted to refuse the appeal. From Reuters: The…
WASHINGTON — The Hill reported that a federal judge last week denied a request to limit or hold a ruling that stops the Trump administration from enforcing its ban on transgender people in the military. U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said in a decision that the court is not convinced the government will suffer…
WASHINGTON — A LGBTQ Victory Fund report last week stated that from 432 out LGBTQ candidates, 244 won their races. The Victory Fund, a group dedicated to getting LGBTQ people into elected office, was active in the midterm elections and 162 of the candidates they endorsed won office. The high points from the data: 5 percent…
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the administration’s ban on transgender people in the military. Challenges to the ban are still working through the lower courts. The Washington Post reported that Solicitor General Noel J. Francisco has asked the court to consolidate the challenges and make a ruling during…
WASHINGTON — A new report released yesterday by the Human Rights Campaign details the violence against the U.S. transgender community. The report, A National Epidemic: Fatal Anti-Transgender Violence in America in 2018, stated that 22 transgender people have been killed in the U.S. in 2018. More than 80% of those killed were people of color, two-thirds…
WASHINGTON — Far-right members of Congress are objecting to LGBTQ protections that are part of the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The agreement, which replaces NAFTA, requires that workers be protected against discrimination, including orientation and gender identity. From Politico: “A trade agreement is no place for the adoption of social policy,” reads the letter, which carries the…
WASHINGTON — A proposal could prevent American diplomats from using phrases like “sexual and reproductive health” and “comprehensive sexuality education.” Politico reported this week that conservative appointees to the U.S. State Department and other agencies are pushing the proposal. The publication said it was clear what direct policy changes there would be to banning those phrases,…
WASHINGTON — The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will receive a donation of papers and personal objects from the parents of Matthew Shepard, a young, gay college student who died of severe injuries following a vicious attack in October 1998 when he was a student at the University of Wyoming, Laramie. Judy and Dennis…
WASHINGTON — Bloomberg Law reported Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Justice had told the U.S. Supreme Court that businesses can discriminate against workers based on their gender identity without violating federal law. From Bloomberg Law: Solicitor General Noel Francisco told the high court that a civil rights law banning sex discrimination on the job doesn’t…
WASHINGTON — Advocacy groups promised Monday to fight a proposed policy that would erase transgender people from federal policy protections. James Esseks, director of the ACLU LGBT & HIV Project, issued this statement on the ACLU website: “This is an attack on the very lives and existence of transgender people. It is painful, it is…
