Many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people (206+ million) and their families live in a state that still needs to update or clarify its laws to include protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Yesterday, Equality Federation, alongside 30 statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) groups from Georgia Equality to…
The California Supreme Court has barred judges from non-profit youth organizations like the Boy Scouts of America that discriminate against LGBT people. The change to judicial ethics rules will effectively prevent judges in California from participating in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), which bans gay and lesbian adults from serving as leaders in the…
HOUSTON, TX — In two major victories for transgender civil rights, today Saks Fifth Avenue withdrew a motion to dismiss a lawsuit in which Saks had argued that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect transgender workers, and the U.S. Department of Justice filed a historic statement of interest in the…
OKLAHOMA CITY – Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), and Freedom Oklahoma strongly condemned eight shocking anti-equality bills filed in the Oklahoma legislature. Submitted moments before the filing deadline, these appalling bills viciously target LGBT families and young people across the state. The harmful bills include: 1. an…
A number of cities in Texas have taken the historic step of passing non-discrimination laws protecting LGBT people, only to see those laws challenged by the extreme right-wing U.S. Pastor Council — a group that has called Houston Mayor Annise Parker a “sodomite” and labeled gay people “forces of spiritual darkness,” reports Media Matters for America. Jan. 20, opponents…
WASHINGTON — The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) in partnership with the Equality Federation, has released its first national report assessing the status of state legislation affecting LGBT equality across America, including in California. The inaugural State Equality Index (SEI) reveals that, even with progress on marriage equality, there are extraordinary state-to-state disparities in LGBT non-discrimination protections, including…
U.S. District Judge Callie V.S. Granade has ruled in favor of equality, striking down Alabama’s discriminatory constitutional amendment banning same-sex couples from marrying. Granade, appointed by President George W. Bush, stated in her ruling yesterday: There is no law prohibiting infertile couples, elderly couples, or couples who do not wish to procreate from marrying. Nor does…
DENVER, Colo. — The State Department of Regulatory Agencies has notified a bakery owner that a discrimination complaint has been filed against the business because the owner refused to write an anti-gay message on a cake. Marjorie Silva, owner of the award-winning Peruvian Bakery Azucar at 1186 S. Broadway said that last March a man…
President Obama has expressed his hope that the U.S. Supreme Court make the “right decision” on the issue of same-sex marriage. Justin Snow reported in MetroWeekly that Obama said these remarks during an interview on Thursday with one of three YouTube creators at the White House. “My hope is that they go ahead and recognize…
NEW YORK – Yesterday, in his State of the State address, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo called for an amendment to New York’s civil rights law to protect transgender New Yorkers from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) praised Governor Cuomo’s call to action and called on the…
