The Leadership Conference opposes the confirmation of Amy C. Barrett to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights sent a letter to the Senate urging opposition to the confirmation of Amy C. Barrett to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. According to The Leadership Conference’s letter, Professor Barrett’s statements and writings reveal a strong bias against reproductive freedom…

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Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN file federal lawsuit challenging Trump’s ban on military service by transgender individuals

Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN Monday filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Trump administration’s ban on military service by transgender individuals. The lawsuit—brought in response to President Trump’s formal issuance of directions to military authorities late Friday—was filed on behalf of two individuals who seek to join the military; one current service member…

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Gay rights activist and award-winning LGBTQ filmmaker, JD Disalvatore has died at 51

JD Disalvatore, a prolific LGBT film and television producer and director and gay rights activist, died Thursday, Aug. 24 after a long battle with cancer. She was 51. A proud marching band trumpet player in Miami Palmetto Senior High, JD went on to study communications at Boston University, absorbing as much as she could from her creative…

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HNBA on Arpaio pardon: ‘President Trump failed to demonstrate the restraint that the circumstances warranted’

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the National President of the Hispanic National Bar Association, Pedro J. Torres-Díaz, issued the following statement in response to President Trump’s pardon of former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted in late July of criminal contempt for failing to comply with a United States District Court Judge’s order to stop…

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ACLU files lawsuit challenging Trump’s transgender service member ban

MARYLAND — The American Civil Liberties Union and Covington & Burling LLP today filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration challenging the president’s directive banning transgender service members from continuing to serve in the military or receiving medically necessary health care, and banning men and women who are transgender from enlisting. The lawsuit was filed…

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National Nurses opposes Trump threat to end DACA program

OAKLAND, Calif. — National Nurses United is calling on the Trump Administration to withdraw its threat to terminate the highly successful Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that has enabled young people who came to the U.S. undocumented as children to remain in the U.S. The young people who have been protected from being…

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Condemnation mounts on presidential guidance re transgender service members

LGBT advocacy groups have spoken out against the White House’s directive  to carry out President Trump’s transgender military ban. The unprecedented policy indefinitely extends the ban on qualified transgender recruits from entering the military and rips away at least some medically necessary, transition-related health care from currently serving transgender troops. “This horrifying, vicious assault on thousands of…

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OutServe-SLDN condemns White House purge of trans service members

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Breaking faith with top generals and admirals, President Trump’s White House has issued guidance to the Department of Defense, which would effectively purge anyone found to be transgender from the armed services. This policy would purge thousands of currently serving transgender troops over the coming months and years by denying them re-enlistment; threatening to cut…

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Trump pardons former Sheriff Joe Arpaio

WASHINGTON, D.C. ― President Donald Trump on Friday pardoned Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt last month for violating a 2011 order that barred Arpaio and his office from detaining individuals solely based on suspicions about their legal status. Arpaio, 85, was scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 5. “Throughout…

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India’s Supreme Court declares freedom of sexual orientation a fundamental right

INDIA — In a historic decision Thursday, India’s Supreme Court declared that an individual’s sexual orientation is protected under the country’s Right to Privacy law. “Sexual orientation is an essential attribute of privacy. Discrimination against an individual on the basis of sexual orientation is deeply offensive to the dignity and self-worth of the individual,” the Supreme…

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