Advocacy groups condemn South Dakota’s anti-transgender legislation

Today, the South Dakota Senate passed legislation that attacks the rights of transgender children in public schools, and prevents them from using restrooms and other facilities consistent with their gender identity. After repeatedly calling on lawmakers to stop the legislation, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the ACLU of South Dakota, condemned the vote and called on…

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South Dakota state senator says transgender people are ‘twisted’ and suggests they be subjected to psychological abuse (VIDEO)

Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the ACLU of South Dakota strongly denounced comments made by South Dakota Republican State Sen. David Omdahl this weekend. In an attempt to justify why he will vote in favor of an extreme bill attacking transgender students in public schools, HB 1008, the vehemently anti-equality lawmaker said transgender…

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Law School Center for Gender & Sexuality Studies supports transgender high school student

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Leading experts in transgender legal concerns, Professors Erin E. Buzuvis and Jennifer L. Levi of Western New England University School of Law Center for Gender & Sexuality Studies filed briefs in support of  Virginia high school student Gavin Grimm  who sued his school for excluding him from using the boys’ restroom facility…

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Ban on marriage equality struck down in Pennsylvania

Today U.S. District Judge John E. Jones, III ruled that Pennsylvania’s law banning marriage equality is unconstitutional.  Pennsylvania becomes the tenth state where a federal judge has struck down a marriage ban since the U.S. Supreme Court issued their two marriage-related rulings last year. Just yesterday a federal judge in Oregon struck down that state’s…

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Federal judge strikes down Oregon marriage ban

U.S. District Judge Michael McShane has ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in two consolidated marriage cases challenging Oregon’s ban on marriage equality, known as Measure 36. Judge McShane’s is the latest in a string of rulings striking down state laws or constitutional amendments that ban marriage for same-sex couples. The cases were both filed…

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Bay Area education leaders support the School Success and Opportunity Act

Local school boards and communities this week continued their progress towards implementing the School Success and Opportunity Act, which Governor Brown signed earlier this year.  The new law, AB1266, restates existing anti-discrimination law to ensure that all students, including transgender students, have the opportunity to fully participate and succeed in schools. Kane Tajnai, a student…

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Lambda Legal and ACLU file federal class action seeking to end Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Today Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia are filing a federal class action lawsuit seeking the freedom to marry for all same-sex couples in Virginia as well as an end to Virginia’s refusal to recognize marriages same-sex couples have legally entered elsewhere….

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ACLU moves to challenge N.C.’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples

RALEIGH, N.C. – Today the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of North Carolina Legal Foundation (ACLU-NCLF) announced plans to challenge North Carolina’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples by amending a federal lawsuit filed against the state last year on behalf of six same-sex couples and their children that challenges North Carolina’s…

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Student will be allowed to wear anti-gay T-shirt, school says

WOLCOTT, Conn. (CTNow/CNN) — A high school student who was threatened with suspension or expulsion for wearing an anti-gay T-shirt last year will be allowed, in the future, to wear shirts expressing his views on homosexuality. School officials said Tuesday that they recognized 17-year-old Seth Groody’s right to free speech, in response to a draft…

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