As Anti-LGBTQ Bills Target Youth, Important Progress is Made on Pro-Equality Bills

This article first appeared in HRC’s Equality magazine. View the latest issue at hrc.org/magazine.

Anti-LGBTQ extremists are harming young people, all so they can push their discriminatory agenda. Fortunately, progress has been made in protecting vulnerable LGBTQ youth, too. In 2018, legislation from both anti-equality and pro-equality politicians has focused on youth, with harmful bills pushing discrimination in child welfare services and positive legislation aimed at protecting minors from  the harmful practice of so-called “conversion therapy.”

In 2018, the only anti-LGBTQ state bills to be signed into law were youth-focused. In Oklahoma and Kansas, Gov. Mary Fallin and Gov. Jeff Colyer signed into law “license to discriminate” bills that allow child welfare organizations — including adoption and foster care agencies — to turn away qualified prospective parents seeking to care for a child in need, including LGBTQ couples, interfaith couples, single parents and married couples in which one parent has previously been divorced, or other parents to whom the agency has a religious objection.

This type of legislation shrinks the pool of prospective parents, which can lead to children staying in the child welfare system even longer. Politicians should be focusing on expanding the pool of parents, not shrinking it.

While anti-LGBTQ extremists are willing to harm youth to push a radical agenda, pro-equality advocates have ramped up our efforts to protect some of the most vulnerable youth among us.

This year, several states enacted new legislation to protect against the dangerous, debunked practice of so-called “conversion therapy.” In 2018, Delaware, Washington, Maryland, Hawaii and New Hampshire all signed into law legislation that prevents state-licensed health care providers from engaging in this harmful practice with minors.

There is no credible evidence that conversion therapy can change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. To the contrary, research has clearly shown that these practices pose devastating health risks for LGBTQ young people such as depression, decreased self-esteem, substance abuse, homelessness and even suicidal behavior. The harmful practice is condemned by every major medical and mental health organization, including the American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association and American Medical Association.

Anti-equality politicians and extremists have shown that they have no problem punishing youth to pursue discriminatory legislation. We must stand strong against this type of legislation and continue pushing for legislation that protects our kids.

Lawmakers will only continue to take steps toward equality if we continue to hold their feet to the fire. As legislation targeting LGBTQ people continues to pop up across the country, it is more important than ever to elect pro-equality politicians — up and down the ballot — who will fight anti-equality legislation and fight to protect their LGBTQ constituents.

Visit HRC’s Voting Center to ensure you’re registered to vote and find your polling place: hrc.org/vote. 

www.hrc.org/blog/as-anti-lgbtq-bills-target-youth-important-progress-is-made-on-pro-equality?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

How you can honor Intersex Awareness Day and fight back against the Trump Administration

To all intersex allies: we need your help now more than ever.

Intersex Awareness Day (IAD) is October 26, a day on which intersex people and allies from around the world come together to celebrate and uplift the intersex community. IAD has its roots in radical action against institutional forces that sought to normalize our bodies by forcing us into narrowly defined categories of “male” or “female.” To celebrate being intersex is a triumph over these institutional pressures. This year, it comes just a week after the news broke that the Trump administration aims to enact a federal definition of sex, basing it on sex assigned at birth.

Much of the press around this memo describes it as an act of violence against the transgender community: an attempt to write trans people out of existence by erasing the complexity of sex and gender. However, many of these criticisms have failed to include the fact that the effects of this memo are themselves are even further reaching. Defining sex so narrowly doesn’t just erase trans people—it erases nonbinary, gender non-conforming, and especially intersex people, who are often left out of the conversation around LGBTQ rights. As intersex people, our lives exist outside of binary gender.

InterACT Advocates for Intersex Youth defines intersex as an umbrella term that refers to people who have one or more of a range of variations in sex characteristics that fall outside of traditional conceptions of male or female bodies. What the memo’s initiative asks—that we identify as male or female according to our birth genitalia—is literally impossible.

Intersex identities are often misunderstood and underrepresented. Let’s debunk 10 myths about intersex people: t.co/VYwWWaIssP pic.twitter.com/cmhGE4RFRz

— GLAAD (@glaad) April 3, 2018

We cannot allow this hateful initiative to move forward. This is the moment that our communities need to come together, but to do that we must acknowledge all of the communities that are affected by this memo. As an intersex nonbinary trans person, I feel outraged, scared, empowered, strong, and a calling to show up and show out not only for myself but my ancestors, my communities, and the future youth.

Intersex and trans history has been intertwined for centuries. Even though these identities are distinct, there are some experiences that do overlap. Both of our communities are deeply affected by binary and heteronormative values that seek to regulate our bodies and conform them to performative mainstream expectations. Where trans folks are systematically barred from accessing affirming healthcare, intersex people are frequently subjected to gendered procedures often kept from our trans siblings. We cannot keep teaching our youth fundamentally wrong things based in biological essentialism.

Intersex people exist, illustrating that the sex dichotomy that our society tries so hard to keep alive is wrong. I am a living embodiment that this idea is factually untrue: I am intersex, I was born with ambiguous genitalia, and my body does not fit into the two sex categories. So where does this leave me and so many people like me?

Right now, Malta is still the only country that has legislation banning intersex surgery on infants and children before the age they can consent to surgeries if they choose to pursue them. Intersex individuals in the USA and many other countries around the world are still fighting for their right to bodily autonomy. Without solidarity and action from our allies in the LGBTQ community and in medical institutions, especially doctors and surgeons, intersex lives and bodies will continue to be erased.

Legislation that seeks to codify a rigid definition of sex can and will harm countless numbers of people. Will this now lead to the further medicalization and pathologizing of my body and future generation’s intersex kids? Does this lead to pushing forward the eugenics movement to eradicate future intersex babies by in-utero genetic testing? We cannot allow this to happen. Discriminatory actions like the ones undertaken by the Trump administration places intersex people at risk in ways that are immediately tangible.

The desire to force-fit people into societally conditioned boxes has led to sterilizing children and enacting medically unnecessary surgeries on them. Now the Trump administration wants to make this the official preference of the state, writes @xoxy_alicia t.co/KbOV7M1MEM

— NYT Opinion (@nytopinion) October 23, 2018

I urge you, if you are in New York City, to come out to protest against nonconsensual intersex surgeries and in support of intersex human rights on Saturday, October 27th at the corner of York Ave and E 61st St. from 2pm-4pm. Follow intersex advocacy groups on social media, and if you can, please donate to intersex-led organizations like Intersex Justice Project and InterACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth. You can also find more information at 4intersex.org to learn about some of the actions you can take to show up for intersex human rights.

Additional reading:

• InterACT’s statement on what the memo means for the intersex community.
• Federal recognition of Intersex Awareness Day.

Jonathan Leggette is a GLAAD Campus Ambassador and senior at The Evergreen State College. Jonathan works as a New Student Mentor and a Peer Advisor at the Trans and Queer Center at Evergreen State. Off-campus, Jonathan serves as an interAct youth advocate and speaker, bringing intersex awareness education to schools across the country.

www.glaad.org/amp/how-to-honor-intersex-awareness-day-and-fight-back-against-trump

1,500 Parents of Trans Kids Send Letter To Trump-Pence Denouncing Attempt to Erase Trans People

Today, HRC released a letter to Donald Trump and Mike Pence denouncing their administration’s proposed regulations narrowly defining “sex” to exclude transgender people and to eliminate federal civil rights protections for LGBTQ people in the process. The letter, signed by more than 1,500 parents from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., was organized by HRC’s Parents for Transgender Equality Council, a coalition of the nation’s leading parent-advocates working for equality and fairness for transgender people.

“As the parent of a beautiful and bold transgender child, our families deserve the full and equal protection of the federal government and our nation’s civil rights laws” said Jodie Patterson, a member of HRC’s Board of Directors and HRC’s Parents for Transgender Equality Council. “Our government has an obligation to assist and protect young people, not to erase them. I’m proud to join with other parents across our nation in condemning this Administration’s proposal, and our families need all fair-minded voters to turn out between now and November 6 to make sure we elect leaders who will defend the rights of our children.”

“The Trump-Pence administration’s latest anti-LGBTQ proposal is a direct attack on the fundamental equality of transgender people, and it is constitutes an unconscionable betrayal of young people by their nation’s leadership,” said HRC National Press Secretary Sarah McBride, a transgender advocate. “This Administration has heartlessly targeted the rights and wellbeing of transgender young people since their first days in office, but Trump and Pence should know that families and friends and allies of all ages will not stand by or be silent. This November, they’ll be hearing from all of us on Election Day.”

The parents, speaking for the thousands of families of transgender children across the country, write, “As parents, all we want is for our children to be safe, healthy, and fulfilled. Our children have our unconditional love, and many have the support of a loving community of friends, peers, teachers, coaches, and other allies. Sadly, however, our children also face ostracization and discrimination in far too many places. We fear every day that our children will encounter bullies — but we never imagined that the most threatening bullies would be in the White House.”

HRC’s Welcoming Families Program released a resource this week for educators who may have questions about what this proposal means for their students.

 A recent survey by HRC and the University of Connecticut of more than 12,000 LGBTQ youth found that 50 percent of transgender, non-binary or otherwise non-cisgender youth never use the restroom in school because they are prevented from using facilities that align with their gender identity. Only 18 percent report that they are always referred to with the correct pronouns at school, and only 30 percent are able to completely dress and express themselves in a way that matches their gender identity.

In 2017, when the Trump-Pence Administration rescinded lifesaving guidance promoting the protection of transgender students, HRC’s Parents for Transgender Equality council sent a letter to the administration from more than a thousand parents demanding that the Obama-era guidance be preserved. And earlier in 2018, the Parents council sent a letter to Secretary of Education Betsy Devos condemning her failure to protect transgender students and calling on her to recognize the basic human and civil rights of transgender young people in our nation’s schools.

To read the full letter, click here.

www.hrc.org/blog/1500-parents-of-trans-kids-send-letter-to-trump-pence-denouncing-attempt-to?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Celebrating Intersex Awareness Day with HRC Foundation Youth Ambassador Jonathan Leggette

Post submitted by Sula Malina, Children, Youth & Families Program Coordinator

HRC sat down with Jonathan Leggette, an HRC Foundation Youth Ambassador from Olympia, Washington, to learn about his work raising awareness of intersex people ahead of our celebration of Intersex Awareness Day on Friday.

Leggette, who uses both he/him/his and they/them/theirs pronouns, is a passionate advocate for other LGBTQ, intersex youth of color. They work with interACT Youth to advocate for intersex youth and fight against medically unnecessary surgeries performed on babies and children. Leggette is studying marine biology and anthropology and also travels across the U.S. raising intersex awareness on college campuses and at conferences.

In August, Leggette shared his story in powerful in testimony supporting California resolution 110, saying that, at just six years old, “I had never had the chance to be told the truth, to be given the chance to decide for myself how my body feels to me. My body was owned by the surgeons before I had a chance to lay claim to it.”

Most recently, Leggette declared that the transgender, gender non-conforming, and intersex communities wouldn’t be erased following the Trump-Pence administration’s latest efforts to redefine “sex” to intentionally exclude LGBTQ people and their families from federal non-discrimination protections.

TO MY INTERSEX, TRANS, GNC FAMILY. We will not be erased. We have always been here, our ancestors know this and will continue to watch over us as we will continue to exist. #WontBeErased

— Johnny Leggette �������� (@Johnny_boy24) October 22, 2018

As we celebrate Intersex Awareness Day, why is it important for you to be out and visible as an intersex person and advocate?

It is important for me to be out and visible to fight against what so many doctors tell us about our bodies. We need to have people we can relate to and foster a community together. By sharing my story and echoing many similar stories, we can fight for intersex human rights and end the surgeries performed on so many intersex children.

Tell us about your experience as an HRC Youth Ambassador.

When I learned of the ambassador program, I wanted to apply because I know the importance of representation. I wanted to be able to share my story, and I hope others — especially youth — can find aspects of it relatable and see that young people like us can grow and prosper. As an HRC Youth Ambassador, I have been able to reach audiences that I haven’t been able to before. Speaking on a panel at HRC Foundation’s Time to THRIVE conference allowed me to see firsthand how influential and educational my story was for so many attendees — especially for the youth-serving professionals there.

What’s your message to youth-serving professionals who want to support young intersex folks but might not know where to start?

Please do your research and visit websites like 4intersex and interACT. Connect the intersex youth you work with to intersex organizations such as interACT Youth and AIS-DSD Support Group. Another piece of advice is to listen to the full story — listen to intersex people and never make assumptions for us.

What’s your message to other young intersex folks in the LGBTQ community?

Don’t let anyone tell you that you are not normal. There are so many of us out there. Reach out to us because we would love to help you. You are human; you are whole. You are normal. Intersex is normal. Just know that so many intersex advocates — including myself and organizations like interACT — are out there and want to be there for you. We love you, and you are not alone.

To learn more about interACT and to access resources on the intersex community, visit interACT’s website. For more information about HRC Foundation’s Youth Ambassadors, click here.

www.hrc.org/blog/celebrating-intersex-awareness-day-with-hrc-foundation-youth-ambassador-jon?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Andrew Gillum, Mrs. Maisel, Whale Rescue, Omarosa, Frank Bruni, Bachelorette Parties, Rupert Everett: HOT LINKS

PAUL MART. Co-founder of Gay Games dies at 100: ‘Mr. Mart, a gay man, died of natural causes in his sleep Thursday, October 18, in his Palm Springs home at the age of 100. Mr. Mart was a Hollywood stuntman, rode in rodeos, and was an undercover agent during World War II. During his involvement with the Gay Games, he would pepper his conversations with fellow volunteers with war and travel stories. Gay and lesbian sports leaders reacted with sadness at Mr. Mart’s passing.’

FLORIDA. Andrew Gillum blasts racist Ron DeSantis in gubernatorial debate: : “As my grandmother used to say — a hit dog will holler.”

NATALIE PORTMAN. Channeling Lady Gaga?

OMAROSA. Trump lying about not using iPhone.

Clearly #45 memory is fading fast… He ALWAYS used his personal iPhone in WH for calls even after being told over and over again about the security risk. He disliked his secure gov issued cell- he said it was slow and “buggy” pic.twitter.com/k3ZruFWGzS

— OMAROSA (@OMAROSA) October 25, 2018

KHASHOGGI. Saudis admit killing of journalist was premeditated: ‘The latest change is likely to cast further doubt on the kingdom’s explanation of what happened to Mr. Khashoggi. Saudi Arabia’s narrative has already been met with widespread skepticism, not least by President Trump, who called it “one of the worst in the history of cover-ups.”’

MIGRANT CARAVAN. Homeland Security puts in official call for Troops at border.

SWEETENER. Ariana Grande announces worldtour.

FRANK BRUNI. Donald Trump’s gay amnesia: “As your president,” Trump thundered, “I will do everything in my power to protect our L.G.B.T.Q. citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology.” He enunciated that consonant cluster with extra crispness, as if especially proud of himself. You can listen here. The audience applauded, prompting him to add: “I have to say, as a Republican, it is so nice to hear you cheering for what I just said.”

NYC. Police seek man who used gay slurs, threw liquid on man in Chelsea: ‘The homophobe approached a 19-year-old man in an Eighth Avenue Duane Reade near W. 17th Street on July 18 at 7:15 p.m. and called him a “faggot,” a police spokesman said. When the victim fled the store the man followed him and continued to yell gay slurs at the teen. The rattled victim turned and peppered sprayed the man, who splashed the teenager’s face with an unknown before running east on W. 17th Street, authorities said.’

DRAG QUEEN STORY HOUR. Judge rejects conservative request to halt the Houston event: ‘Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal put it simply in her four sentence order, issued just days after the lawsuit — blasting gay marriage and transgender public events— was filed against Mayor Sylvester Turner and Rhea Lawson, the head of the city’s library system. The judge explained the four litigants applied for injunction to halt the story hour on the grounds that it violated the freedom or religion clause in the Constitution and said, “There is no basis to support the requested relief. The application is denied.”’

TO BACHELORETTE PARTIES WHO CHOOSE GAY BARS. An open letter: ‘Put down your vodka crans, take off those penis hats and listen up. I have a simple request for you: “Can you please leave?”’

JARED POLIS. Will he be the first openly gay person elected governor in the U.S.? “The Colorado Democrat is consistently 7points ahead in the polls and has thus far spent more than $20 million of his own fortune to boost his campaign. The Republican nominee, State Treasurer Walker Stapleton, has spent just $13 million in total. And of course, Polis has plenty more to spend — he’s the third-richest member of Congress, according to Forbes, and his fortune clocks in at over $300 million.”

RUPERT EVERETT. On playing Oscar Wilde: “Oscar Wilde, for me is a kind of patron saint figure, almost actually a Christ of the gay liberation movement,” Everett said in an appearance on “Popcorn with Peter Travers.” “And since I’m a part of that, and it’s been a part of my career and I’ve been a gay man negotiating a career in a largely heterosexual boys club, he’s been for me a kind of Christ figure. And I felt that’s what I could really put everything in myself into when I made a film, this kind of passion of Oscar Wilde really, which is what my film is.”

PHILADELPHIA. Gay immigrant freed after ICE arrest: ‘Jose “Ivan” Noe Nuñez Martinez, a gay Mexican man taken into custody in January as he met with federal immigration authorities in West Philadelphia to try to resolve his status, was poised to walk out of a detention center on Wednesday after winning the opportunity to post bail. The $10,000 bail was in the process of being paid, and Nuñez Martinez would probably be leaving the York center Wednesday night or Thursday morning, according to his lawyer, Audrey Allen.’

LIFE THREATENING RESCUE OF THE DAY. A man tries to cut ropes off a whale while his friend yells.

TRAILER OF THE DAY. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 2.

GHOSTLY APPARITION OF THE DEEP. “This rarely-seen Grimpoteuthis sp., commonly known as an umbrella octopus, was approximately 60cm (almost two feet) long!

THIRSTY THURSDAY. Albert Belmonte.

The post Andrew Gillum, Mrs. Maisel, Whale Rescue, Omarosa, Frank Bruni, Bachelorette Parties, Rupert Everett: HOT LINKS appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Andrew Gillum, Mrs. Maisel, Whale Rescue, Omarosa, Frank Bruni, Bachelorette Parties, Rupert Everett: HOT LINKS

AG Candidate Brad Schimel’s Anti-LGBTQ Agenda is Wrong for Wisconsin

HRC is exposing the anti-LGBTQ record of Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel who is seeking a second term. 

“As the Trump administration ramps up its attacks against the LGBTQ community, particularly transgender people, Wisconsinites need an attorney general who will stand up to their discriminatory agenda, not rubber stamp every reckless policy proposal,” said HRC Wisconsin State Director Wendy Strout. “We deserve better than Brad Schimel. From urging the Supreme Court of the United States to grant a potentially sweeping license to discriminate against LGBTQ people, to opposing protections for LGBTQ youth facing discrimination and bullying in our school, to working to block millions of Wisconsities from accessing care through the Affordable Care Act, Schimel has never put his constituents first. That’s why HRC is on the ground working hard to elect candidates like Josh Kaul who will protect our community, our families and our health care, and ensure that Schimel’s first term as AG is his last.” 

A former Assistant U.S. Attorney and current litigator specializing in voting rights, Kaul has fought for the equal rights of every American, while his opponent Brad Schimel has repeatedly used the Office of the Attorney General to roll back progress and undermine the rights of LGBTQ people. In 2016, Schimel joined the suit against the Obama administration’s life-saving guidance protecting LGBTQ students from bullying and discrimination at school. Earlier this year, Schimel joined an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court of the United States to grant a potentially sweeping license to discriminate against LGBTQ people, in a decision that would threaten to gut many of our nation’s most sacred civil rights laws — not just for LGBTQ people, but also for women, people of color, religious minorities, and Americans of all backgrounds. He has also accepted thousands of dollars from the notoriously anti-LGBTQ Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) to speak at the group’s recent conference in California.

In Wisconsin, HRC has identified more than 560,000 thousand “Equality Voters” — voters who support LGBTQ-inclusive policies. HRC has prioritized investments and organizing in Wisconsin in the 2018 cycle, and has staff and resources on the ground in the state as part of the largest grassroots expansion in the organization’s 38-year history.

www.hrc.org/blog/ag-candidate-brad-schimels-anti-lgbtq-agenda-is-wrong-for-WI?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

This Holiday Is Rated the Best For Singles, Can You Guess What it Is?

Christmas? New Years? Halloween? What holiday could it be… If you guessed the latter, you my friend, are correct. At Plenty of Fish, we were curious to see whether or not Halloween was a fan favorite holiday for singles and it turns out, it is! Plenty of Fish surveyed over 1,500 users of the app, […]

The post This Holiday Is Rated the Best For Singles, Can You Guess What it Is? appeared first on PlentyOfFish Blog.

This Holiday Is Rated the Best For Singles, Can You Guess What it Is?

GLAAD’s ‘Where We Are on TV’ report shows television telling more LGBTQ stories than ever

www.glaad.org/blog/glaads-where-we-are-tv-report-shows-television-telling-more-lgbtq-stories-ever

#AM_Equality Tipsheet: October 25, 2018

TRUMP SOLICITOR GENERAL DOUBLES DOWN ON BIGOTRY AT SCOTUS IN ATTEMPT TO ERASE TRANS PEOPLE: Noel Francisco argued to the U.S. Supreme Court that civil rights protections banning sex discrimination in the workplace do not cover transgender employees. Said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow: “Time and time again, federal circuit courts have ruled that discriminating against an individual based on their gender identity is form of sex discrimination — which is prohibited under a wide range of federal laws including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” More from HRC and Bloomberg Law.

#TurnOUT — JUST 12 DAYS UNTIL ELECTION DAY:

• HRC President Chad Griffin (@ChadHGriffin) on Georgia gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp’s unconscionable comments supporting voter suppression: “These remarks from any candidate for office would be appalling, but for them to come from a Secretary of State who oversees voting is especially disturbing. [Kemp] has no place serving as Secretary of State, Governor, or in any public office.” More from Common Dreams.
• The Trump-Pence administration is using trans people as political pawns just days before the midterms: More from Liam Stack (@liamstack) at The New York Times.
• Equality Act will be a priority if Democrats win back the U.S. House. More from Tim Fitzsimons (@tfitzsimons) at NBC.
• EXPOSED — Anti-LGBTQ candidates in Arizona: More from HRC.
• ICYMI — Pence campaigned in Pennsylvania yesterday for anti-equality U.S. House candidates John Chrin (PA-8) and Scott Perry (PA-10). See their dismal records exposed from HRC.
• Trans equality is on the ballot in Massachusetts: Trans trailblazer Laverne Cox (@LaverneCox) and Griffin yesterday joined Yes on 3 and local parents and educators working to preserve critical non-discrimination protections for trans Bay Staters. Watch here. More from Boston Public Radio.

Today, @HRC, @LaverneCox and @Freedom_Mass joined trans students, parents & advocates in Boston to urge residents to vote #YesOn3. pic.twitter.com/xCLMbGRHZ4

— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) October 24, 2018

HRC RELEASES FAQ ON SUPPORTING TRANS AND NON-BINARY K-12 STUDENTS:  The guide is for educators looking to support students in the wake of an explosive report from the New York Times that the Trump-Pence administration is planning to adopt an anti-transgender legal definition of “sex” under Title IX that could gut enforcement of existing civil rights protections for LGBTQ people. The bottom line: the Trump-Pence proposal does nothing to change the responsibility of educators to proactively support transgender and non-binary students. More from HRC.

• What does this discriminatory plan mean for the intersex community? Alicia Roth Weigel writes for The New York Times.

MOTHER OF TRANS DAUGHTER CALLS TO VOTE YES ON 3 IN MASSACHUSETTS TO RETAIN TRANS NONDISCRIM PROTECTIONS: Parent-advocate Vanessa Ford writes, “Transgender protections ensure Ellie can go to her favorite comic book store, see a movie, or play at the park without being told she isn’t welcome… We want her light to continue to shine, and in Massachusetts that means voting YES on Question 3.” More from ABC.

• The #Yeson3 campaign has out-raised opponents of trans equality. More from Mass Live.

THANKFUL THURSDAY — APPLE CEO TIM COOK CAME OUT AS GAY AFTER SEEING OTHERS BULLIED ONLINE: More from CNN.

HRC ANNOUNCES NEW HIRES FOR PROJECT ONE AMERICA: Meghan Kissell will serve as as the new director of Project One America and Denise Donnell as the state director for the Human Rights Campaign’s office in Arkansas. Through Project One America, HRC has worked to pass several non-discrimination ordinances in Mississippi and Alabama, to improve health care conditions for LGBTQ Southerners and to elect pro-equality candidates up and down the ballot. More from HRC.

TODAY — PARENTS OF MATTHEW SHEPARD DONATE HISTORIC COLLECTION TO SMITHSONIAN: The National Museum of American History will receive papers and personal objects of Matthew Shepard, a young, gay college student who died of severe injuries following a vicious attack in October 1998. Tomorrow, Shepard’s body will be interred at the Washington National Cathedral. More from The New York Times and The National Museum of American History.

ILLINOIS ATTORNEY GENERAL FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST B&B THAT REFUSED SERVICE TO SAME-SEX COUPLE: More from The News-Gazette.

EXPOSED — U.S. HOUSE CANDIDATE DIANE HARKEY (CA-49)’S ANTI-LGBTQ VOTING RECORD: HRC is proud to endorse Mike Levin to represent California’s 49th district. More from the Los Angeles Blade.

ANTI-LGBTQ KIM DAVIS DEFENDS DECISION TO DISCRIMINATE: She’s running for re-election as county clerk in Rowan County, Kentucky. More from The Associated Press.

FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM APOLOGIZES FOR RACIST, TRANSPHOBIC EDITORIAL CARTOON: More from Dallas Magazine.

GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS

HORRIFYING — MALAYSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER CLAIMS NATURAL DISASTER IS “PUNISHMENT” FOR LGBTQ PEOPLE: More from Asian One.

READING RAINBOW – Bookmark now to read on your lunch break!

The New York Times interviews transgender authors; HuffPost shares experiences of anti-LGBTQ workplace discrimination; Ithaca Voice interviews a 16 year old working to end the dangerous practice of “conversion therapy”; The Associated Press delves into the history of LGBTQ representation in video games; People reports on Ellen Pompeo’s recent appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she shared a story of a gay teen who came out to his parents

Paid for by Human Rights Campaign PAC (www.hrc.org) and not authorized by any candidate or committee.

Have news? Send us your news and tips at [email protected]. Click here to subscribe to #AM_Equality and follow @HRC for all the latest news. Thanks for reading!

www.hrc.org/blog/am-equality-tipsheet-october-25-2018?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

HRC: Trump Solicitor General Doubles Down on Bigotry at SCOTUS in Attempt to Erase Trans People

HRC responded to news that Trump’s Solicitor General, Noel Francisco, argued to the Supreme Court that civil rights protections banning sex discrimination in the workplace do not cover transgender employees, just days after the New York Times revealed the Trump-Pence White House is attempting to redefine “sex” across the federal government in order to justify their decision to refuse to protect transgender people under federal civil rights law.

“Time and time again, federal circuit courts have ruled that discriminating against an individual based on their gender identity is form of sex discrimination — which is prohibited under a wide range of federal laws including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow. “The Trump-Pence Administration is continuing down a destructive path that will put transgender people at further risk of discrimination and violence. For the Department of Justice to conveniently ignore significant legal precedent is deeply disturbing.”

The case before the Court involves a transgender woman who was fired by a funeral home when she informed her supervisor that she is transgender. Francisco’s filing with the Supreme Court is at odds with numerous circuit court decisions and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s interpretation of federal law.

On Sunday, the New York Times reported the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is planning to release regulations narrowly defining “sex” in an anti-transgender way that guts enforcement of existing civil rights protections for LGBTQ people. The Administration’s plans are in direct conflict with a growing trend in federal court decisions affirming that sexual orientation and gender identity are covered under our nation’s civil rights laws which prohibit discrimination based on “sex.” This is the latest effort in a consistent, multi-pronged campaign by the Trump-Pence White House over the past two years to undermine the rights and welfare of LGBTQ people.

The Human Rights Campaign is calling on the American people to send a clear message to the Trump-Pence White House in November by voting for candidates that fully support LGBTQ rights and will work to pass the Equality Act.

The Equality Act would finally add clear, comprehensive non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people to our nation’s civil rights laws. In addition to having bipartisan support in Congress with 246 cosponsors, 117 major corporations have also joined HRC’s Business Coalition for the Equality Act. Discrimination is a real and persistent problem for far too many LGBTQ Americans. HRC polling has found that nearly two-thirds of self-identified LGBTQ Americans report experiencing discrimination.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-trump-solicitor-general-doubles-down-on-bigotry-at-scotus?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed