WASHINGTON, D.C. — United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued guidance today, which invites taxpayer funded federal agencies, government employees, and government contractors to legally discriminate as long as they cite a religious belief as the reason for doing it. This guidance follows the anti-LGBTQ executive order signed by President Trump – which could ultimately…
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has once again refused to affirm that schools that receive funding from the federal government would be held accountable for discriminating against LGBTQ students. DeVos’s statement was an answer to Sen. Jeff Merkley’s question on the issue and came before a subcommittee within the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations. Her statement immediately follows…
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said during a U.S. House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Wednesday that states should have the option to decide whether schools that receive federal dollars can intentionally discriminate against LGBTQ students. Responding to SeVos’ testimonySarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD said, “By turning a blind eye to LGBTQ students who…
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California Gov. Jerry Brown Friday signed Senate Bill (SB) 1146, authored by Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) and sponsored by Equality California. The bill requires private universities receiving public funds to publicly disclose if they discriminate against students with respect to gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation. Senate Bill 1146 requires…
WASHINGTON –The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has released the results of new polling it commissioned showing that an overwhelming majority of Americans do not support allowing government officials or public employees to discriminate against LGBT couples on religious grounds. The survey showed that more than two-thirds opposed allowing government employees being able to deny service…
MONTGOMERY— Today, lawmakers in Alabama introduced two bills, S.B. 261 and H.B. 296, which empower adoption agencies to discriminate against eligible parents and guardians—legislation which, if passed, will deny countless children from accessing loving, caring homes. Though written in the guise of allowing private agencies to cite religious reasons for turning down applications, the bills have a host of…
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…
SAN FRANCISCO, WASHINGTON and NEW YORK — Twenty years after its introduction, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is still being debated in Congress and across the United States. While most Americans continue to give the bill strong support, a new national survey shows that most Americans simply don’t believe that employer exemptions are justified when it…
Today Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed a recently-passed bill that would have allowed businesses to refuse services to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community on the basis of religious freedom. This morning, HRC delivered 65,000 petition signatures to Gov. Brewer calling on her to veto the bill. The so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Act…
From Media Matters For America comes their latest post on PolitiFact giving a “false” rating to the conservative media myth that ENDA discriminates against Christian businesses: Conservative media outlets have repeatedly asserted that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) – federal legislation that would ban employment discrimination against LGBT workers – discriminates against Christian businesses, but…
