India’s Supreme Court ruled Thursday that people have a fundamental right to privacy, curtailing the Indian government’s efforts to implement the world’s biggest biometric database. But the court also recognized, for the first time, that sexual orientation is an essential part of privacy and dignity, paving the way for LGBT equality in India and beyond.
This summer, Frank van Dalen celebrated Pride in Kiev, Ukraine. He did so alongside several thousand police officers in combat gear, marching down side-streets between water cannons positioned to protect drag queens from violent right-wing nationalists. “The level of protection is something that most Americans would wonder about,” recalled van Dalen, vice president of operations at the international Pride organization Interpride. “Police are marching along with Pride participants, forming a line on both sides of the parade. It’s as if you’re cocooned.”
Stephanie Martinez is no longer proud to be a Texan. In July, shortly after state lawmakers reconvened for their special session, the local activist was kidnapped, beaten, and robbed. After several weeks of talking to a man who contacted her online to learn more about trans issues, the two had decided to meet and discuss the topic over lunch. Martinez said she frequently meets with people to help educate them about the community; this time felt no different.
A month after he announced a ban on transgender people serving in the military via Twitter, Donald Trump has issued a memo on how the decision is to be implemented. The two-and-a-half-page note says Defense Secretary Jim Mattis must consider a service member’s ‘deployability’ when deciding whether to eject them from the military. That means that if they are unable to serve in a war zone, take part in training or serve on a ship for months, they must go, the Wall Street Journal reported. It has not been spelled out exactly how the criteria will be assessed, however the Trump administration seems to be implying that it does not believe transgender service people are deployable. The policy gives the Pentagon six months to […]
At a time when federal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Americans are being rolled back at the federal level, a bill to encourage public service by LGBTQ Illinoisans has been signed by Gov. Bruce Rauner. The LGBTQ Public Service Bill is an initiative of Equality Illinois, the state’s civil rights organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer lllinoisans. “Equality Illinois believes that when LGBTQ people are visible, we are powerful.
Recently, in a dramatic shift, the Department of Justice broke ranks with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and filed an amicus brief in the Second Circuit in Zarda v. Altitude Express, Inc., No 15-3775, Dkt. #417 (S.D.N.Y. July 26, 2017). In that brief, the Department argued that, contrary to its prior position (and that of the E.E.O.C.), discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation was not prohibited under Title VII as harassment on the basis of gender. The E.E.O.C.’s longstanding position is that such discrimination is prohibited, a position that recently found support in the Seventh Circuit in Hively v. Ivy Tech, No. 15-720 (7th Cir. Apr. 4, 2017) (en banc).
Before an audience of LGBTQ activists, Democratic Sen. Joel Ford Monday night defended his 2015 vote for a bill that gave magistrates the right to recuse themselves from performing same-sex marriages. “In my mind that was striking a balance,” Ford told a forum organized by MeckPac and other groups. The forum, which drew four of the five Democratic candidates for mayor, was part of Charlotte’s annual Pride Week.
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