Tag Archives: civil rights

The Equality Act Gets Reintroduced to Congress. Again.

Michigan LGBT Rights Ballot Initiative Falls Short Of Signatures Needed

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The Michigan elections bureau has determined that Fair and Equal Michigan gathered nearly 299,000 signatures, short of the roughly 340,000 needed for a ballot drive to prohibit discrimination against LGBT Michiganders according to a report released Thursday. 

Election staffers ruled many ineligible because the signers were not registered voters or there were address, date or others errors. The bipartisan Board of State Canvassers will meet Tuesday to consider a recommendation to not certify the initiative.

“The Bureau of Elections threw out thousands of signatures that are valid and we will fight for every valid signature so no voters are disenfranchised,” said Josh Hovey, spokesman for Fair and Equal Michigan.

Michigan is one of 27 states without LGBT housing, employment. and accommodation protections.

In 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a landmark federal civil rights law protects gay, lesbian and transgender people from employment discrimination but did not cover the other main tenets in the LGBT discrimination issues facing American’s

For the 40 years the Equality Act or some version of it has been introduced into Congress and it still has not passed that would add LGBT protections to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Our community needs to focus on getting the Equality Act passed once and for all because once that happens many of the other minor issues we keep getting hung up on will dissipate also.

The Equality Act Gets Reintroduced to Congress. Again.

Democrats Reintroduce The LGBT Equality Act…… AGAIN.

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A screenshot of a press release introducing the Equality Act from Rep. Cicilline and Sen. Merkley. The introduction says: U.S. Congressman David N. Cicilline (RI-01) and U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (OR) today announced the introduction of the Equality Act, comprehensive civil rights legislation that prohibits discrimination against members of the LGBTQ community in the areas of employment, education, credit, jury service, federal funding, housing, and public accommodations.

Via Lambda Legal:

Today, U.S. Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) and U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) announced the introduction of the Equality Act, bipartisan federal legislation that will update existing federal nondiscrimination laws, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act, to confirm that discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is unlawful discrimination based on sex. The Equality Act clarifies sex discrimination laws to prohibit LGBTQ discrimination in employment, housing, credit, education, and other areas, and explicitly extends sex discrimination protections to public accommodations and federally funded programs.

Lambda Legal applauds the re-introduction of the Equality Act, long past-due federal legislation which provides clear, comprehensive, and explicit protections for LGBTQ people in federal law. Coupled with President Biden’s early action applying the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County to all federal laws currently prohibiting sex discrimination, we can see true equality on the horizon. And it can’t happen soon enough: the LGBTQ community has been asking Congress for protections since Reps. Bella Abzug and Ed Koch first introduced the Equality Act of 1974, 47 years ago, and nearly fifty years of waiting is long enough. (Click the highlighted link to read the history of The Equality Act.)

Unfortunately the Republican Party’s evil puppet masters – the evangelicals – will not allow the Equality Act to pass the Senate. It’ll be filibustered there.

Eliminate the filibuster and this has a chance of finally after almost 5 decades becoming law.

Nancy Pelosi Calls Passage Of LGBT Equality Act A 'Priority'

Nancy Pelosi Calls Passage Of LGBT Equality Act A ‘Priority’ Despite Biden Team’s Backpedaling

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A few weeks ago we reported that the Biden administration backpaddled on the LGBT Equality Act and the promise Joe Biden made during his election campaign that the Equality Act would be one of the first bills that would be passed and signed into law during his first 100 days because now they fear that they don’t have enough votes in the Senate to pass the bill with the razor thin new Democratic majority.

Regardless of the worry about Senate passage this week House Majority leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called passage of the Equality Act a “priority.” and that the House could vote on the legislation as early as March.

“I’m optimistic about it because I do think we will get strong bipartisan support in the House and in the Senate. We passed it in the last Congress. No success in the Senate. It went to Mitch McConnell’s graveyard, the ‘grim reaper,’” ” Pelosi said

Pelosi called the Equality Act “an early priority for us.” “And again, it’s about ending discrimination,” she added.

The Equality Act has faced a long and hard road since it was introduced it’s first time in Congress in 1973 by Bella Abzuz. Since then it has gone through, different incarnations: Notably as The Civil Rights Amendment of 1975 and since 1994 The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). ENDA was introduced in every Congress from the 110th. to the 115th. without passing.

Now almost 50 years later the Equality Act will be introduced once again in the hopes of it becoming law. Will this finally be the time that it passes both the House and the Senate and makes it to Joe Biden’s desk to sign?

Only (more) time will tell.

Arizona Supreme Court Rules Business Can Refuse to Make Invitations for Same-Sex Couples

Arizona Supreme Court Rules Business Can Refuse to Make Invitations for Same-Sex Couples

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In a 4-3 vote the Arizona Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Phoenix-based Brush & Nib Studio, a small business that refused to produce wedding invitations for a lesbian couple.

Justice Andrew Gould for the majority wrote:

“The rights of free speech and free exercise, so precious to this nation since its founding, are not limited to soft murmurings behind the doors of a person’s home or church, or private conversations with like-minded friends and family. These guarantees protect the right of every American to express their beliefs in public. This includes the right to create and sell words, paintings, and art that express a person’s sincere religious beliefs. With these fundamental principles in mind, today we hold that the City of Phoenix … cannot apply its Human Relations Ordinance … to force Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski, owners of Brush & Nib Studio, LC (“Brush & Nib”), to create custom wedding invitations celebrating same-sex wedding ceremonies in violation of their sincerely held religious beliefs.

Adopted in 2013, City Code 18-4(B)(1)-(3) prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or disability. It applies to businesses offering services to the general public. But the state of Arizona itself has no such protections on it’s books as law.  And as we all know there are currently no federal protections against LGBT discrimination.

Alliance Defending Freedom which is designated as hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center represented the printers.

Koski and Duka spoke at Alliance Defending Freedom’s Scottsdale office in a press conference with lawyer Jonathan Scruggs.

“This is a win not just for Breanna Koski and me; it is a win for everyone,” calligrapher Joanna Duka said at a press conference in the Scottsdale office of Alliance Defending Freedom. “Everyone should be free to live and work according to their beliefs.”

The city of Arizona issued the following statement:  “The city of Phoenix’s anti-discrimination ordinance is still a legal, valid law and remains in effect,” the city said in a statement after the ruling. “It currently affirms that everyone should be treated fairly and equally regardless of sexual orientation, race, religion, sex, gender or disability.  The Arizona Supreme Court made a very narrow ruling that one local business has the right to refuse to make custom wedding invitations for same-sex couples’ weddings that are similar to the designer’s previous products. This ruling does not apply to any other business in Phoenix. The city of Phoenix has had an anti-discrimination ordinance since 1964 to protect all residents and believes that everyone should be treated equally

The Mormon Church Releases Statement Opposing The LGBT Equality Act

The Mormon Church Releases Statement Opposing The LGBT Equality Act

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The leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka The Mormons) released a statement Monday morning opposing the Equality Act which would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to protect LGBT Americans over concerns regarding their “religious liberty”

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is deeply concerned that the ongoing conflicts between religious liberty and LGBT rights is poisoning our civil discourse, eroding the free exercise of religion and preventing diverse Americans of good will from living together in respect and peace. Lawmakers across the nation, including members of Congress, are working to enact or strengthen laws that ensure LGBT persons fair access to important rights, such as nondiscrimination in areas like housing, employment and appropriate public accommodations. The Church is on record favoring reasonable measures that secure such rights.

At the same time, we urgently need laws that protect the rights of individuals and faith communities to freely gather, speak out publicly, serve faithfully and live openly according to their religious beliefs without discrimination or retaliation, even when those beliefs may be unpopular. This includes the right of religious organizations and religious schools to establish faith-based employment and admissions standards and to preserve the religious nature of their activities and properties.

This does not represent a change or shift in Church doctrine regarding marriage or chastity. It does represent a desire to bring people together, to protect the rights of all, and to encourage mutually respectful dialogue and outcomes in this highly polarized national debate.

Conflicts between rights are common and nothing new. When conflicts arise between religious freedom and LGBT rights, the Church advocates a balanced “fairness for all” approach that protects the most important rights for everyone while seeking reasonable, respectful compromises in areas of conflict. The Church affirms this as the best way to overcome sharp divisions over these issues. The Church supported the 2015 “fairness for all” legislation in the Utah Legislature that successfully protected both religious freedom and LGBT rights in employment and housing and that has helped facilitate greater understanding and respect.

The Equality Act now before Congress is not balanced and does not meet the standard of fairness for all. While providing extremely broad protections for LGBT rights, the Equality Act provides no protections for religious freedom. It would instead repeal long-standing religious rights under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, threaten religious employment standards, devastate religious education, defund numerous religious charities and impose secular standards on religious activities and properties. The Church joins other religious organizations that also strongly oppose the Equality Act as unbalanced, fundamentally unfair and a path to further conflict.

The Church calls upon members of Congress to pass legislation that vigorously protects religious freedom while also protecting basic civil rights for LGBT persons. It is time for wise policymakers to end this destructive conflict and protect the rights of all Americans.

What the LDS Church fails to or “forgets” to mention is that religious discrimination is already protected under the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals because of their religion (or lack of religious belief) in hiring, firing, or any other terms and conditions of employment. The law also prohibits job segregation based on religion, such as assigning an employee to a non-customer contact position because of actual or feared customer preference. But they have no problem by wanting religious organizations and religious schools to discriminate by establishing faith-based employment and admissions standards.

Hypocrites.

The Equality Act Gets Reintroduced to Congress. Again.

House Judiciary Committee Passes LGBT ‘Equality Act’ in 22-10 Vote. All GOP Members Vote ‘No’

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The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved legislation that would prohibit discrimination against LGBT people in employment, housing, and public accommodation.

The Equality Act was approved in a 22-10 party-line vote, setting the bill up for a potential floor vote.

The bill, introduced by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), has more than 230 Democratic co-sponsors, along with only two GOP Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) and John Katko (N.Y.).

The measure prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in areas including public accommodations and facilities, education, federal funding, employment, housing, credit and the jury system.

It also defines and includes sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity among the prohibited categories of discrimination or segregation.

The anti-LGBT Heritage Foundation, has argued that the Equality Act would force employers and workers to conform to new sexual norms and force hospitals and insurers to provide and pay for therapy against any moral or medical objections and also said it would harm families by normalizing hormonal and surgical interventions for gender dysphoric children, leading to the erasure of women by dismantling sex-specific facilities and sports and affect faith-based charities.

The LGBT community has been fighting for full federal civil rights since 1974.

Trans and Gender Identity Issues Overshadow LGB At Equality Act House Judiciary Committee Meeting

Trans and Gender Identity Issues Overshadow LGB At Equality Act House Judiciary Committee Meeting

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Republican House members on Tuesday were on attack mode during the first House Judiciary Committee meeting of the Equality Act that would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to extend housing, employment, and public accommodation protections to LGBT Americans.

Basically ignoring gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals: 90% of the GOP’s questions, concerns, and comments were targeted at the transgender community and gender identity issues categorizing the nondiscrimination legislation as advancing a “radical gender ideology.”

Georgia GOP Rep. Doug Collins claimed that “women, lesbians, and families become the collateral damage of identity politics.” He argued that the bill would codify “stereotypes and sexism,” adding, “To move this legislation forward, we must recognize that it prioritizes the rights of biological men over the rights of biological women.”

Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) complained that nondiscrimination protections for gender identity would only help men who wished to lie about their gender

Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ) said during the hearing, “I believe that all people should be treated equally, but I am concerned that HR 5, with the weight of federal law, forces schools, prisons, shelters, etc. to prioritize the rights of biological males over that of biological women.”

Notoriously anti LGBT Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), said although men competing in women’s sports may not be widespread now, “there is no question that problem will continue to arise.”

“I think when we consider laws to say something is equal like testosterone, the testimonies already indicate it’s clear in the medical literature, it does make a difference,” Gohmert said.

Asserting the Equality Act would amount to telling women “it’s just too bad” men should be allowed in their safe spaces, Gohmert concluded the Equality Act amounts to a “war on women that should not be allowed.”

With Republicans focusing on the “T” and their claims that the bill would compromise women’s rights, the stories of gay and lesbian discrimination were easy to miss.

in 2016, from the Williams Institute, estimated that only 0.6% of U.S. adults identify as transgender, and as many up to 6.2% of Americans identify as LGB.

Indiana Tax Business Denies Service To Lesbian Couple Cites Religious Beliefs

Indiana Tax Business Denies Service To Lesbian Couple, Cites Religious Beliefs

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Carver Tax Service in Russiaville, Indiana had done Bailey Brazzel’s taxes for the past 4 years, but that ended this year when Brazzel showed up with her wife, Samantha.. The two were married in Peru in July and were filing their taxes jointly for the first time.  

This year though Nancy Fivecoate, who runs Carver Tax refused to do their taxes citing her religious beliefs, and recommended another tax service business which would work with them.

“At first we thought she was kidding, But when she started talking about the Bible, we knew she was serious – and I was completely shocked.” Brazzel said. “You hear about it all the time, but nothing like this has happened to us before. She had done my taxes with no issues before, but now that we were married and she didn’t agree with my life choices, she wouldn’t.”

Fivecoate has said she is simply sticking to her religious convictions.

“This year, [Brazzel] came with her wife and I declined to prepare the taxes because of my religious beliefs,” Fivecoate said in a released statement. “I am a Christian and I believe marriage is between one man and one woman. I was very respectful to them. I told them where I thought she might be able to get her taxes prepared.”

Fivecoate (of course) said she has other gay clients, and has no issues preparing their taxes. She said it becomes an issue when the couple is married.

Denying a gay couple service is perfectly legal in parts of Indiana that haven’t passed ordinances specifically protecting people who are LGBT. That includes Russiaville and Howard County where Carver Tax Service is located.

Indiana law makes it illegal to deny services to people based on their race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, sex, familial status (having children under 18) and disability – but not sexual orientation.

Fifty years after the Stonewall riots and fifty-five years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, there is still no explicit federal protections against discrimination for LGBT Americans.

Florida Man Evicted From Apartment For Being Gay (And He Records It) - VIDEO

Florida Man Evicted From Apartment For Being Gay (And He Records It) – VIDEO

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A Jacksonville man Randal Coffman had a rude surprise this Christmas when he found out that his landlady Jackie Cooper was kicking him out of the apartment he rented from her because he is gay.

Coffman had only moved into the apartment on December 1st. Two weeks after that, Cooper told Coffman he wasn’t allowed to have girls over late at night. Coffman responded that this wouldn’t be a problem as he’s gay.

“After that, the harassment for being gay started,” says Coffman.

“My friends have only come maybe 3 times,” said Coffman. “I actually made a guest list of who would come and visit me. I put my mom and dad and actually printed out pictures of everyone’s cars and put them next to their name.

Cooper later came back to Coffman and insisted that he move out. Once he’d heard that, Coffman picked up his phone and started to record the argument.

While  Jacksonville, Florida, does have a Human Rights Ordinance that protects tenants from being evicted due to their sexual orientation it does not extend into Clay County where Coffman’s apartment was located.

There is however hope for Randal Coffman to get some restitution for Cooper’s bigotry. There is a law stating that homeowners can only deny housing to renters working under a month to month agreement, like Coffman, if the landlord gives 15 days notice before the removal date. Cooper notified Coffman short of the 15-day rule.

It must be noted that Randal Coffman’s problem like many others who face bigotry and hate of this kind would never have happened if LGBT protections would finally be added to the 1964 Civil Rights Act.  A fight for inclusion that has been going on since 1974