BREAKING: US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ASKS FEDERAL JUDGE TO STOP NC FROM ENFORCING DISCRIMINATORY HB2: The U.S. DOJ late yesterday filed a legal brief seeking to stop North Carolina from enforcing its anti-LGBTQ HB2 law, asserting that the measure amounts to “state-sanctioned discrimination that is inflicting immediate and significant harm on transgender individuals.” The brief further asserts that “excluding transgender men and women from bathroom and changing facilities consistent with their gender identity causes significant and irreparable physical, psychological, economic, social, and stigmatic harm to transgender people.” The 70-page brief was filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, and lists as defendants NC Gov. Pat McCrory, who signed the discriminatory bill into law; the state’s Department of Public Safety; the University of North Carolina; and the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina. Earlier this year, the DOJ sued the state in federal court alleging that HB2 violates federal non-discrimination laws. Read more here.
MEANWHILE, THE TRUMPSTER RENEWS SUPPORT FOR THE VILE HB2: During a campaign appearance by Donald Trump in Charlotte, The News & Observer’s Colin Campbell asked the presumptive GOP presidential nominee about the state’s discriminatory HB2 law. Trump responded with a full-throated endorsement of the anti-LGBTQ measure: “I’m going with the state. The state, they know what what’s going on, they see what’s happening and generally speaking I’m with the state on things like this. I’ve spoken with your governor, I’ve spoken with a lot of people and I’m going with the state.” His comments contribute to Trump’s litany of anti-LGBTQ statements, and his embrace of politicians and laws that roll back equality. More from The News & Observer.
- Donald’s Duck: Phil Robertson, the virulently anti-LGBTQ patriarch of the “Duck Dynasty” clan, continued his ‘Bible-based’ hatred at the Western Conservative Summit last weekend. Robertson attacked transgender bathroom protections and mocked the SCOTUS marriage equality.
- Meanwhile, the standoff over HB2 is costing NC millions, as CNBC details in this report.
- Transgender teen Lucas Segal writes personally about “nightmare” caused by anti-trans school policies, including health issues including dehydration to kidney infections.
THE TRUTH ABOUT TRANS NON-DISCRIMINATION PROTECTIONS: Guess what? They’re nothing new: HRC has found that more than 135 million Americans are already covered by laws protecting transgender people. That’s 42 percent of all Americans — not to mention visitors who also benefit from such protections. In fact, 18 states, the District of Columbia, and more than 100 major American cities, including Atlanta, Dallas, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh, already have transgender-inclusive protections. The first-ever policy to fully protect transgender citizens was passed in Minneapolis in 1975. (You read that correctly.) Non-discrimination protections are also common at the nation’s top healthcare providers and major U.S. companies including Chevron, Apple and CVS. At least 2.4 million employees at major U.S. healthcare facilities are covered under fully-inclusive LGBTQ workplace protections, and at least 28 million employees are covered at major U.S. companies. More from HRC.
FLA. DOES RIGHT BY LGBTQ FOSTER KIDS: Yesterday, the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) reinstated a policy banning bullying and discrimination against LGBTQ youth in the foster care system. The change will not go into effect immediately, and will likely be subject to public hearings in coming months. More from The Tampa Bay Times.
GLSEN FINDS SCHOOL RULES TARGET LGBTQ STUDENTS: LGBTQ students are often the target of anti-LGBTQ school rules that punish them for holding hands with same-sex partners or wearing clothing that does not match their gender assigned at birth, according to a new report from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). Nearly 36 percent of all LGBTQ students report receiving detention under such discriminatory rules. More from TakePart.
RISE IN ANTI-LGBTQ VIOLENCE IN BRAZIL: With the Summer Olympics in Brazil just around the corner, many activists are highlighting the recent rise in anti-LGBTQ violence plaguing the host nation. According to a local human rights organization tracking such violence, a gay or transgender individual is killed almost every day in Brazil. This estimate does not include the many LGBTQ people whose identities are often omitted by police when compiling homicide reports. More from The New York Times.
ONE BILLION PEOPLE LIVE WITH MARRIAGE EQUALITY: New research reveals that, across the globe, more than 1 billion people, or 14 percent of the world’s population, live in countries or individual states with marriage equality laws. The most populous countries with marriage equality are the United States, Brazil and France. More from Frontiers Media.
- And that number is growing: Taiwan, home to the continent’s largest Pride celebrations, is expected to become the first country in Asia to achieve full marriage equality. More from Northeast Today.
READING RAINBOW
Judith McDaniel writes for The Advocate that LGBTQ equality includes freedom from gun violence; KJZZ shares the story of a LGBTQ group home for foster youth in Arizona; The Guardian tells the story of an intersex child growing up in a binary world; The Wall Street Journal covers the California ruling requiring ChristianMingle to allow same-sex matches; The Star shares Ontario’s plans to introduce gender-neutral driver’s licences and health cards next year; The Advocate examines the skyrocketing rates of STDs in gay and bisexual men; CBS Indy breaks down how the Bloomington Police Department is working to better serve LGBTQ residents and visitors; LGBTQ Nation discusses a report that found one-third of LGBTQ women don’t feel welcome at Pride events; Gay Star News streams Hallmark’s heartwarming short about a son coming out to his father on prom night;
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