Today, the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the United States Department of Justice issued guidance on Title IX and the right of transgender students to attend school free from discrimination based on sex. The guidance affirms that schools, colleges, and universities must provide transgender students with a safe and…
WASHINGTON– Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) released the following statement after Donald Trump declined this morning to support the Obama Administration’s important announcement that school districts should ensure that transgender students are treated with dignity and allowed equal access to facilities, such as restrooms, consistent with their gender identity. “Trump’s reckless anti-LGBT suggestion is to turn the…
WASHINGTON – The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights has implemented a regulation that provides explicit protections from discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sex stereotyping, including for lesbian, gay, and bisexual people, in healthcare and insurance under the provisions of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)….
The Massachusetts State Senate has voted to extend commonsense non-discrimination protections to the state’s transgender residents and visitors. While Massachusetts state law already prohibits anti-transgender discrimination in housing and employment, the new legislation will extend the same crucial protections to public accommodations. Following expected approval by the Massachusetts House of Representatives, the bill will head…
Sebastian Jobin, 47, pleaded guilty May 5 to wire fraud in an elaborate embezzlement of $818,000 from SeaWorld where he worked as a manager. Jobin is also known as the producer of two gay comedic movies. He made 29th & Gay, a comedy about a gay man turning 29 in 2005, and Ready OK, another…
The North Carolina Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Lew Ebert spoke out Wednesday about the state’s controversial new anti-discrimination law, House Bill 2. In an interview with local TWC News, Ebert said that the Chamber doesn’t think that House Bill 2 will be repealed and that the chamber is suggesting ideas to bring HB2 in line…
North Carolina Representatives Chris Sgro, Pricey Harrison, Susan Fisher, and Kelly Alexander have introduced a comprehensive LGBT non-discrimination bill in the North Carolina General Assembly. This bill would be a companion to HB 946, sponsored by Representatives Jackson, Meyer, Hamilton and G. Martin, and SB 784, sponsored by Senators Van Duyn, J. Jackson, and Woodard. “Rather than…
WASHINGTON, D.C. – This Thursday, members of Congress will join cannabis industry leaders from across the country for a press conference to kick off National Cannabis Industry Association‘s sixth annual Lobby Days. More than 100 cannabis business professionals will travel to Washington, D.C., to take part in policy discussions and citizen lobby meetings to advocate for fair…
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Tennessee became the latest state to sign into law discriminatory “religious freedom” legislation targeting the counseling profession and LGBTQ community, permitting counselors to deny services and refer clients based on the provider’s “strongly held principles” a clear violation of the American Counseling Association’s Code of Ethics. In light of the passage of SB1556/HB1840,…
WASHINGTON – Bullying is a serious public health problem, with significant short- and long-term psychological consequences for both the targets and perpetrators of such behavior, and requires a commitment to developing preventive and interventional policies and practices that could make a tangible difference in the lives of many children, says a new report from the…
