On Monday, Charlotte, North Carolina’s city council unanimously voted to pass an ordinance that extends nondiscrimination protections to LGBT people. The new ordinance protects several new classes from discrimination in employment, public accommodations, and passenger vehicles for hire and procurement. It prohibits discrimination against individuals on the basis of familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity, […]
Thousands of People Celebrate Pride in Hungary Despite Anti-LGBTQ Legislation
On Saturday, 300,000 people marched in Budapest for the annual Pride parade to both celebrate Pride and protest the Hungarian government’s recent homophobic legislation. The Hungarian Parliament passed a law in June that restricts media seen to promote homosexuality or gender nonconformity. Content that is considered to do so must be labeled as “not recommended […]
Supreme Court Rules to Uphold Affordable Care Act, Decides Catholic Adoption Agency has Right to Prevent LGBTQ+ Couples from Fostering Children
In a 7-2 decision Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled to leave Affordable Care Act intact, dismissing a challenge made against the ACA by several states led by Texas. The challenge claimed that the ACA’s individual mandate was unconstitutional. The plaintiffs had hoped that a ruling of the individual mandate as unconstitutional would declare every other provision of the ACA, and the entire law itself, unconstitutional as well. This is the third challenge to have been made against the ACA since the […]
Texas Legislature Debates Anti-Trans Youth Bill
On Wednesday, the Texas House heard testimony debating HB 1399, a bill which would ban gender-affirming care for transgender young people. The bill would prohibit doctors from providing evidence-based, best practice medical care for transgender young people under 18. Many parents of transgender children spoke on Wednesday about the danger of this bill. One parent […]
Kansas Senate Passes Bill Targeting Trans Student-Athletes
On Wednesday, the Kansas Senate passed a bill banning transgender students from girls’ and women’s school sports. The measure passed 24-10, sending it to Kansas’ conservative House. Governor Laura Kelly referred to the bill as “regressive,” and said that the controversial policy could repel businesses from the state, which supporters dismissed. One legislator, Representative Stephanie […]
Court Rules that Trans Students Must Have Access to Bathrooms that Match Their Gender
On Friday, a federal court in Florida ruled that it is unconstitutional for public schools to ban transgender students from using the bathroom that best matches their gender identity. In a 2-1 decision, the Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit issued the ruling on the basis that “a public school […]
Polish Election Results Cause Fear for LGBTQ Community
After Polish President Andrzej Duda narrowly won a second term last weekend, the country’s LGBTQ community fears increased homophobic legislation and exclusion from society. Duda, who had said LGBTQ “ideology” was worse than communism, had also promised to ban same-sex marriage and adoption rights for LGBTQ couples. He won against liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski […]
Colorado Bans LGBTQ+ Panic Defense in Courtrooms
Colorado has become the 11th state to ban the LGBTQ+ “panic defense.” On Monday, Governor Jared Polis signed the bill into law, prohibiting defendants from using the gender identity or sexual orientation of a victim to excuse their behavior in the courtroom. “This bill is going to help us ensure that there aren’t biased arguments […]
Supreme Court Rules Federal Civil Rights Law Protects LGBTQ+ Workers
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that existing federal civil rights protections forbids job discrimination against LGBTQ+ workers. The decision said that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it illegal for employers to discriminate based on a person’s sex, also covers sexual orientation. Twenty-two states plus the District of Columbia […]
Inclusion of Transgender Student Athletes Found to Violate Title IX
The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights has found that a Connecticut high school athletics policy that allows transgender students to participate in sports teams that match their gender identity violates federal law and could cost the state federal education funding. A 45-page letter, dated May 15, explained that the decision was based on the […]
U.S. Navy Grants Waiver to Transgender Service Member Despite Trump Ban
The U.S. Navy granted a waiver for a transgender service member to serve according to her gender identity last Friday, the first of its kind since the military enacted a ban on transgender troops. The waiver comes after the officer, publicly known only as Jane Doe, sued President Donald Trump over his ban on transgender […]
South Korean LGBTQ Community Faces Increased Homophobia After COVID-19 Outbreak
The LGBTQ community in South Korea is facing increased homophobia after a recent outbreak of COVID-19 was linked to gay nightclubs in Seoul. In early May, the government announced that a man who had visited multiple night clubs on May 2 tested positive for the coronavirus. More than 100 cases of the virus has since […]
Historic Transgender Rights Supreme Court Case Plaintiff Aimee Stephens Has Died
Aimee Stephens died yesterday at age 59. She was unsure whether the Supreme Court will decide her case as planned on Thursday and if she would live to hear the decision. In 2013, Stephens told her employer that she was going to transition to female and was subsequently fired two weeks later from her job […]
Masterpiece Cakeshop Owner Faces Second Lawsuit for LGBTQ Discrimination
Autumn Scardina is the plaintiff in the second lawsuit against Masterpiece Cakeshop Owner Jack Phillips for LGBTQ discrimination. The lawsuit argues that the business unlawfully refused service to Scardina, a transgender woman, who requested a trans-themed birthday cake. Scardina had previously filed a complaint against Phillips when the refusal happened in 2018, but Phillips sued […]
ACLU Files Lawsuit Over Idaho Transgender Athlete Ban
The ACLU has filed a complaint in Boise federal court on Wednesday, April 14 following Idaho Governor Brad Little’s signing of a bill banning the participation of transgender women and girls from women’s public and university sports into law on March 30. The lawsuit challenges the new law, set to go into effect on July […]
Lawyers Working Nonstop During COVID-19 Pandemic to Protect LGBTQ+ Rights
Despite courts being closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, lawyers at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have been writing lawsuits challenging new anti-LGBTQ+ legislation across the country. In Idaho, there has been two pieces of legislation passed into law that ban transgender women and girls from playing on high school and college teams and prevents […]
Senators, LGBTQ Advocates Demand Lift on Federal Blood Donation Ban to Address COVID-19 Shortages
Senators and LGBTQ rights groups are urging the federal Food and Drug Administration to allow gay and bisexual men to donate blood and plasma to address supply shortages during the coronavirus pandemic. Current FDA guidelines prohibit men who have had sex with men in the last 12 months from donating blood. Activists argue that this […]
Young Transgender Activist Shot and Killed in North Carolina
Monika Diamond, a 34-year-old transgender LGBT+ activist and businesswoman, was shot and killed on Wednesday, March 18 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Multiple shots had been fired before police and ambulance were dispatched in response to a disturbance call. After attempting to revive her, Diamond was pronounced dead at the scene. According to Maya Oppenheim, Women’s […]
Trans Community Uniquely Affected by COVID-19 Pandemic
The spread of the COVID-19 virus will affect everyone in the country in a number of tangible ways, such work closures, shelter in place mandates, and empty toilet paper aisles in grocery stores. Marginalized communities are particularly affected by this pandemic, and the trans community is no different. Closures and strained health care systems make […]
Transgender Navy Officer Sues Pentagon Challenging Trump Transgender Military Ban
This week, a transgender Navy officer referred to as Jane Doe filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon regarding the Trump administration’s transgender military ban. Doe is seeking emergency relief to continue to serve in the military on the same terms as her cisgender peers, faced with involuntary discharge on the basis of her gender identity. […]
