The Trump administration is moving to scrap an Obama-era policy that protected LGBTQ patients from discrimination, alarming health experts who warn that the regulatory rollback could harm vulnerable people during a pandemic.
The health department is close to finalizing its long-developing rewrite of Obamacare’s Section 1557 provision, which barred health care discrimination based on sex and gender identity. The administration’s final rule on Thursday was circulated at the Justice Department, a step toward publicly releasing the regulation in the coming days, said two people with knowledge of the pending rule.
The White House on Friday morning also updated a regulatory dashboard to indicate that the rule was under review. Advocates fear that it would allow hospitals and health workers to more easily discriminate against patients based on their gender or sexual orientation.
The Justice for Victims of Lynching Act cleared the US Senate on December 20 in a rare unanimous vote. Now Mat Staver the head of the anti-LGBT Liberty Counsel hate group is pressing Republican lawmakers to strip protections for LGBT people from the bill
Staver told the extremist Christian website OneNewsNow that he is lobbying lawmakers in the House of Representatives to have the LGBT language removed from the law.
Staver claimed: “The old saying is once that camel gets the nose in the tent, you can’t stop them from coming the rest of the way in. And this would be the first time that you would have in federal law mentioning gender identity and sexual orientation, as part of this anti-lynching bill.”
Staver goes on to say the law is part of a slippery slope that could lead to further LGBT anti-discrimination laws, which have long been blocked by the GOP in Congress.
“They’ve been unsuccessful over the many years in the past… but this is a way to slip it in under a so-called anti-lynching bill, and to then to sort of circle the wagon and then go for the juggler [sic] at some time in the future.”
Staver and his Liberty Counsel has a history of spreading lies and anti-LGBT propaganda and is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center
Democratic lawmakers Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, are the sponsors of the anti-lynching legislation.
Queen Elizabeth II promised that the United Kingdom will continue to fight against anti-gay discrimination during the Queen’s Speech today in front of Parliament.
“My government will make further progress to tackle the gender pay gap and discrimination against people on the basis of their race, faith, gender, disability or sexual orientation,” the Queen said. It is the first time that any mention of LGBTQ rights has been included in the Queen’s Speech.
While the inclusion may seem relatively minuscule and expected in the grand scheme of things, it comes at a time where it’s absolutely essential for the LGBT community of Britain. According to a new survey, nearly half of LGBTQ people that reside in London say that they are victims of a hate crime, while over 68% say that they worry about becoming victims in the future.
When also considering the political turmoil in the UK, including the threat of LGBT rights from more conservative political parties, the acknowledgement from an actual Queen and influential monarch that her government will fight for LGBT rights and anti-discrimination policies is all the more reassuring, and something that we should demand from other certain world leaders.
In a vote was 10-0. Charlotte’s City Council has voted to repeal its controversial non-discrimination ordinance, unfortunately known as the ‘bathroom’ ordinance” despite the fact that encompassed LGBT protections for housing and employment discrimination along with public accommodations. The ordinance was pushed through the council in early 2016, just months into Mayor Jennifer Roberts’ tenure, and as a part of it required businesses to allow people to use the bathroom corresponding to their gender identity which quickly became the main issue on both sides.
Following a surprise move by the Charlotte City Council, Gov.-elect Roy Cooper said Monday that Legislative leaders have promised him to call a special session Tuesday to repeal House Bill 2.
“Senate Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore assured me that as a result of Charlotte’s vote, a special session will be called for Tuesday to repeal HB 2 in full,” Cooper said in a statement. “I hope they will keep their word to me and with the help of Democrats in the legislature, HB2 will be repealed in full.
“Full repeal will help to bring jobs, sports and entertainment events back and will provide the opportunity for strong LGBT protections in our state.” Cooper’s announcement followed the Charlotte City Council’s vote to rescind the LGBT ordinance that prompted House Bill 2. The council was meeting at a breakfast meeting called to discuss its legislative agenda.
Mayor Jennifer Roberts called it the first concrete opportunity to repeal HB2. The law, which limits LGBT rights, has been cited as the reason for millions in lost economic development and boycotts by the NCAA and others.
LGBT activists nationwide along with the the ACLU and Lambda Legal are outraged by the city of Charlotte’s move:
“H.B. 2 was an unprecedented attack on the LGBT community, in particular against transgender people, and we are encouraged that its days are numbered,” said Sarah Gillooly, Policy Director for the ACLU of North Carolina. “It is imperative that the General Assembly hold up their end of the deal and repeal H.B. 2 in full without delay. This will be an important step for North Carolinians to move forward, but it never should have come at the cost of protections for LGBT people living in Charlotte.”
“LGBT rights aren’t a bargaining chip. Charlotte shouldn’t have had to repeal its ordinance in exchange for H.B. 2 to be repealed,” said Simone Bell, the Southern Regional Director for Lambda Legal. “LGBT people in North Carolina still need protection from discrimination.”
The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of North Carolina, Lambda Legal and the law firm of Jenner & Block are challenging H.B. 2 in federal court on behalf of four LGBT North Carolinians and members of the ACLU of North Carolina.
The ACLU and Lambda Legal lawsuit, Carcaño v. McCrory, was filed days after H.B. 2 was passed by the North Carolina General Assembly and signed by Governor Pat McCrory. In the lawsuit, the groups argue that through the law, North Carolina sends a purposeful message that LGBT people are second-class citizens who are undeserving of the privacy, respect, and protections afforded others in the state and that transgender individuals, in particular, are expelled from public life through H.B. 2’s mandate that they be forced out of restrooms and changing facilities that accord with who they are.
The complaint argues that H.B. 2 violates Title IX and Title VII by discriminating against students and school employees on the basis of sex. It also argues the law is unconstitutional because it violates the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment by discriminating on the basis of sex and sexual orientation and violates the privacy and medical decision making rights of transgender people.”
Unsurprisingly the Human Rights Campaign does not seem all that upset about it:
“Governor-elect Cooper has briefed us on a deal he brokered with state lawmakers to reach a complete and total repeal of HB2,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “HB2 is precisely why North Carolinians went to the polls and ousted Governor McCrory last month. It’s time to chart a new course guided by the state’s values of dignity and respect, not discrimination and hate — and to ensure non-discrimination protections exist in cities, towns and across the state of North Carolina. It’s been 271 days since the shameful and archaic HB2 was first passed, and the entire country has witnessed its devastating impact. It’s time for state lawmakers to repeal HB2 and begin repairing the harm this bill has done to people and the damage it has done to North Carolina’s reputation and economy.”
Gov. John Bel Edwards is suing Attorney General Jeff Landry for blocking state legal contracts over language meant to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination in the workplace.
Edwards filed the lawsuit in a Baton Rouge state court Friday (Sept. 30), following a meeting with Landry in which the two officials were unable to reach agreement on whether state contracts should include language that protects LGBT workers.
“He basically told me that if I wanted him to approve those contracts that I would have to sue him,” Edwards said at a Friday press conference. “So I’m obliging him on that.”
Landry has rejected at least three dozen legal contracts for a variety of state government agencies because they include language preventing discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. “I believe he is on the wrong side of the law and the wrong side of history,” Edwards said.
The contracts affect legal issues surrounding the state’s ports, potential medical malpractice awards for patients and oversight of state bonds, among others. “It’s becoming a real problem because we have to move forward,” Edwards said.
The governor issued an executive order last spring requiring language be included in all state contracts to protect LGBT people from firing and harrassment. Similar language preventing discrimination based on race, religious creed and political affiliation is also included in all contracts.
Edwards believes he has the authority to require such nondiscrimination language in state contracts as the chief executive officer of the state. Two previous governors, Kathleen Blanco and Edwin Edwards, had issued similar executive orders protecting gay people.
Landry said he was rejecting the contracts because the state Legislature had declined several times to pass laws extending those protections to lesbian and gay people. The attorney general said he is protecting the will of the Legislature in rejecting contracts with LGBT protections.
When Landry was a member of the US House from 2007 – 2012 he joined the Tea Party caucus and backed every wingnut policy imaginable.
And this is why it’s important to elect Democrats because there obviously IS a difference.
For the past few days we hate talked about openly gay US House Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney who finally succeeded in pushing through an amendment that would put President Obama’s executive order on federal contractors into law. Last night Democrats in the House overwhelming voted against the bill helping to defeat it
Most Democrats voted against the bill due to its spending levels and policy riders. Taken together with Republicans who opposed the LGBT measure, the legislation didn’t have enough votes to pass Thursday.
It failed 112-305, with 130 Republicans — more than half of the House GOP caucus — joining all but six Democrats to sink the Energy Department spending bill.
House GOP leaders could still try to bring spending bills to the floor. But they may start considering them under a more limited process that prevents lawmakers in either party from offering unlimited amendments.
Asked whether the House can pass more spending bills this year, Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) said, “I think so, yeah,” adding that ending the open amendment process would “be considered.” “We’ll adapt to the circumstances and move on,” he said.
The bill’s failure Thursday marks the second time in two weeks lawmakers have waged a very public fight on the House floor over protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
There you go. Dysfunctional politics in action at its best.
Despite fierce opposition by GOP lawmakers and the religious right, Frankfort, KY City Commission voted 3 to 2 on Thursday morning in favor of including sexual orientation in the local non-discrimination ordinance. It outlaws discrimination against anyone in employment, housing, and public accommodations based on their real or perceived sexual orientation.
Frankfort, Kentucky’s capital will become the 5th Kentucky city to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation.
In addition measure will also create a local Human Rights Commission in the capital city which will further educate the public on the issue, take in complaints about violations of the new law, and help enforce it.
This one totally flew under the radar but its pretty awesome so I thought I’d post it now.
Back on August 13th of 2012 The Reverend Doctor Phil Schneider of Springfield, MO stood up before the Springfield City Council to comment of the impending passage of the expansion of granting protections to Springfield’s LGBT residents.
Snider of the Brentwood Christian Church gave a fire and brimstone speech with a twist at the end that leaves many in awe who watch it. (The money quote is in the last forty or so seconds. Listen all the way through its not very long.)
Scott Lively, the anti-gay activist behind the Abiding Truth Ministries hate group who has been engaged in a decades-long, international campaign to demonize the LGBT community and lobbied on behalf of a law in Uganda to make homosexuality punishable by death traveled to Springfield to spearhead the fight against the proposed expansion of the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance which he called a “Gay Fascism bill.”
The decision of the City Council is still pending.
