Gov. Christie Vetoes Same-Sex Marriage Bill

NJ Gov. Chris Christie, courtesy of NYTimes.com

While marriage equality supporters have had recent victories in California and Washington, recent news from New Jersey is not as optimistic. On Monday the New Jersey state senate approved a bill which would legalize same-sex marriage in the state, and on Thursday this bill was approved by the state assembly. Today, however, Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the bill as promised, saying that "an issue of this magnitude and importance, which requires a constitutional amendment, should be left to the people of New Jersey to decide." New Jersey lawmakers have until January 2014 to override the veto.

Trans People Suffer Abuses at the Hands of the NYPD

Image courtesy of thetakeaway.org

 

A recent article from Jezebel.com details the harsh, humiliating way trans persons are treated by the New York Police Department while in custody. In one particularly egregious example, a trans woman named Temmie Breslauer was painfully chained to a fence for 28 hours by police officers who referred to her as a "faggot" and "he-she" (among other epithets). As the article notes, this treatment is not unheard of, and transgender advocates have been working for years in an attempt to end this abuse.

Thanks to OUTlaw President Erika Scibelli for the link.

HIV Positive Man Faces Workplace Discrimination

James White was diagnosed with HIV six months before he began his job as an office worker at Great Expressions Dental Center in Eastside Detroit. When the office manager inquired as to the nature of his doctors appointments, White told her in confidence that he tested positive for HIV. However, everyone at the office soon heard the news, including the company's regional director who told White he heard he had AIDS. The problems did not end there. White was prohibited from touching doorknobs and staffers began following him around with Lysol to spray anything he touched. Finally, after being briefly hospitalized in large part due to the overwhelming stress from work, the clinic chose to fire him. Now, the Detroit office of the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission has ruled that the dental company had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Full story compliments of Queerty.

America's LGBT Homeless Problem

Photo courtesy of Margot Adler/NPR

NPR provides an excellent piece on homeless LGBT youth in America entitled "Young, Gay And Homeless: Fighting For Resources." What is revealing is that somewhere between 30 and 40 percent of homeless youths identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, with much of this problem stemming from them being kicked out of their homes by their own families.

MA Transgender Rights Bill

Advocates report that the House is set to debate a transgender rights bill. Read more from Masslive.

American Bar Association Supports Repeal of DOMA

The American Bar Association (ABA) has now officially gone on record in support of the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Thomas Susman, the director of  the ABA’s Governmental Affairs Office, sent a letter to the senate judiciary committee in which he voiced the ABA's support for repealing the law on the grounds that it is "discriminatory" and causes "legal confusion and complications."

Special thanks to OUTlaw President Erika Scibelli for finding the article.

Legal Challenge to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Dismissed

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has dismissed a seven-year-old suit challenging the constitutionality of the anti-gay "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on the grounds that, since the policy has officially been repealed, the legal controversy has now ended and rendered the case moot. Over a year ago a federal judge ruled in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was a violation of gay, lesbian and bisexual soldiers' First and Fifth Amendment rights. Now, if a future Congress decided to reinstate the policy, opponents would have to start a new lawsuit from scratch in order to challenge it. Jon Davidson of Lambda Legal, a prominent LGBT civil rights organization, issued a statement saying that the 9th Circuit's decision to dismiss the suit effectively ignores the 14,000 servicemen and women who lost their jobs and benefits since DADT was enacted in 1993.

LGBT Americans Still Targeted by State Sodomy Laws

Photo courtesy of Equality Matters

In the 2003 case of Lawrence v. Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court held that sodomy laws which criminalized "private homosexual conduct between consenting adults" were unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. While this was, indeed, a landmark ruling and a positive step for LGBT rights in America, sodomy laws are still being used to persecute LGBT Americans eight years later. In 2011 eighteen states still have sodomy laws on the books and, as an article from Equality Matters explains, they are far from having fallen out of use. For example, in Michigan LGBT persons are still being charged and convicted under the state's "Abominable and Detestable Crime Against Nature” or“Gross Indecency” laws. Those convicted face a prison sentence of up to fifteen years and must register as sex offenders. Furthermore, LGBT persons face arrest and humiliation due to sodomy laws even when no sexual intercourse takes place. In 2009, a gay couple was kicked out of a restaurant by El Paso police for kissing in public. The officers told the couple that it was illegal for two men to kiss publicly and that they could be cited for "homosexual conduct." Although Texas' sodomy law was explicitly struck down in the aforementioned Supreme Court case, so long as it (and all other sodomy laws) remains on the books, it will be used to target, harass, intimidate and punish LGBT persons simply for being who they are.

Leisha Hailey Escorted Off of Southwest Airlines for Kissing Girlfriend

Actress and musician Leisha Hailey (of The L Word, The Murmurs and Uh Huh Her fame) was reportedly escorted off a Southwest Airlines flight for the act of kissing her girlfriend Camila Grey. Following the incident Hailey sent out a series of angry Tweets:

According to a joint statement issued by Hailey and Grey, they shared a modest kiss before being asked to leave the plane and were told by the flight attendant that they "needed to be aware that Southwest Airlines was a family oriented airline." In response to this statement, Southwest Airlines issued one of their own, claiming that customers complained of an "excessive public display of affection" and that the couple was removed for their "aggressive reaction" to Southwest's treatment. That being said, The Daily Beast has compiled a list of similar incidents  in which Southwest customers may have faced discrimination, including forcing Kevin Smith off of one flight due to his weight.

Proposed Bill Would Ban Anti-LGBT Discrimination in Housing and Credit Markets

Senator John Kerry (D-MA) has introduced legislation which would prohibit discrimination against LGBT Americans in both the housing and credit markets. The bill, known as the Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) Act, would amend the Fair Housing Act and Equal Opportunity Credit Act to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or source of income. The legislation has received endorsements from multiple organizations including the ACLU, NAACP, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund.

Title IX Blog: Student Non-Discrimination Act introduced

WNEC Law's very own Professor Erin Buzuvis, contributor to the Title IX Blog, posted today about the Student Non-Discrimination Act that was introduced in the House of Representatives yesterday. The post explains:

"Yesterday, Representative Jared Polis (D-Co.) introduced in the House of Representative a bill that would provide Title IX-like protection to LGBT students. If passed, the Student Nondiscrimination Act would offer remedies for discrimination that targets students because of their "actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity."

Link to the full post at Title IX Blog HERE.

eHarmony agrees to settle LGBTQ discrimination suit

Below is the article from the AP as seen on Yahoo News:

Wed Jan 27, 8:56 am ET


LOS ANGELES – The online dating service eHarmony has agreed to settle a California lawsuit that claimed it discriminated against homosexuals.

Under a proposed settlement filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, eHarmony will link its straight and gay Web sites and allow people to use both without paying double fees.
Plaintiff's attorney Todd Schneider says the company also agreed to pay about $500,000 to an estimated 150 Californians to settle the class-action suit, plus around $1.5 million in court and attorney's fees.
The company didn't admit any wrongdoing.
A judge must approve the settlement. A court date is scheduled for Feb. 3.