Florida Lawmakers To Consider Whether To Ban Or Enact LGBTQ Protections

Florida lawmakers will consider two bills this session with major implications for LGBTQs

As this year’s session of the Florida state legislature gets underway today, state lawmakers will consider two bills that could have serious impact on the LGBTQ community in the Sunshine state.

The Florida Competitive Workforce Act (CWA) would amend the 1992 Florida Civil Rights Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes from discrimination.

The CWA has been introduced for ten years with an ever-increasing number of sponsors.

This year, the legislation has almost 60 sponsors - including 10 Republicans. In fact, the primary sponsor for the bill in the state House is Republican Jackie Toledo of Orlando.

A coalition of 450 businesses in the state including Disney, Darden and AT&T, support the passage of CWA.

“If the Florida Legislature is looking to recruit businesses like Amazon — at no cost to the taxpayer — all they have to do is pass a law that says LGBTQ people will be treated fairly and equally in our state in employment, housing and public accommodations,” Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando) told the Orlando Sentinel. “Other states already have this. It’s not a social experiment.”

Currently, 20 states have comprehensive LGBTQ civil rights protections.

Joe Saunders, senior political director for Equality Florida, says “It’s our belief that if the Florida Competitive Workforce Act were sent to the floor today, it would pass both chambers.”

⚠️ UPDATE ⚠️ @TransEquality, @QLatinx, @TransActionFL, and Florida Trans Proud have joined @HRC, @TheTaskForce, @NCLRights, @ACLUFL, and @equalityfl to reaffirm their support for the Florida Competitive Workforce Act (FCWA)!

Click here to join us ➡️https://t.co/sZOkZolgFU pic.twitter.com/Xj2wAi43TO

— Equality Florida (@equalityfl) January 25, 2019

However, Rep. Michael Grant (R-Port Charlotte) has sponsored another bill - House Bill 3 - which would preempt local governments from imposing new regulations on businesses and sunset all local ordinances that currently impose such regulations, including those that ban discrimination.

In other words, HB 3 would wipe out all local ordinances that protect LGBTQs from discrimination. In the absence of a statewide law, local ordinances currently protect gays in only 60% of the state.

Grant insists his legislation comes as a result of a recently enacted Key West ordinance which bans the sale of sunscreens that contain ingredients known to harm coral reefs.

It's the coral reefs he's protecting. Riiiiiiight.

“What is absolutely clear to us is that, if this bill passes, it will be devastating to the protections provided by local government to the LGBTQ community,” says Saunders.

In this context, its clear why the CWA is so important. It would finally create statewide protections for LGBTQs.

In past years, the CWA hasn’t even made it out of committee. The Sentinel notes that most years, it wasn’t even assigned to a committee which demonstrates how key power players in the state legislature opposed the bill.

It will come as no surprise that the anti-LGBT Florida Family Policy Council strenuously opposes passage of the CWA.

President and general counsel for FFPC, John Stemberger, claims the CWA will create “a new lawsuit which can be used as a weapon by disgruntled employees to sue employers, claiming they were fired because of the very fluid and subjective notions of gender identity or sexual orientation.”

He also says the statewide protections would allow for lawsuits that “punish creative professionals who decline to design or create a custom product which communicates a message which they disagree with or which conflicts with their religious convictions.”

That’s not exactly true, though.

The CWA already contains language that makes exceptions for “constitutionally protected free exercise of religion.”

If you want an example of how a positive or negative civil rights environment attracts or repels business, take a look at North Carolina.

When the Tar Heel state passed its 2016 law that allowed for LGBTQ discrimination, the NCAA and the NBA All-Star Game canceled on the state, as did corporations looking to bring new businesses to the area.

Experts estimate the economic impact to North Carolina was $3.76 billion according to the Associate Press.

(h/t Orlando Sentinel)

Trump Signs New Canada/Mexico Trade Agreement With Pro-LGBT Language

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, Donald Trump & Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Donald Trump has signed the newly-updated trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The agreement, much to the chagrin of 38 House Republicans, includes aspirational language encouraging member states to adopt policies against LGBT discrimination in the workforce.

Trump signed the agreement in Buenos Aires alongside Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

From The Washington Blade:

Section 23 of the USMCA contains a provision against sex discrimination in the workplace, calling on members in the deal to adopt policies against sex-based discrimination, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The section also calls for cooperation among the member states “in promotion of equality and elimination of employment discrimination” with regard to numerous characteristics, including sexual orientation and gender identity.

The inclusion of the LGBT language in the update to NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, is a win for Trudeau, whose government inserted the provisions. The language, however, is aspirational and won’t require a change in law for any member states.

Although the United States has federal laws barring discrimination on the basis of sex and courts are increasingly interpreting them to bar anti-LGBT discrimination, no explicit federal law is in place against workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Trump signed the agreement with the LGBT provisions intact even though a group of 38 House Republicans led by Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) urged him to seek removal of that language, insisting the agreement “is no place for the adoption of social policy.”

The USMCA must be ratified by Congress with implementing language for the agreement to take effect. It remains to be seen whether House Republicans will now vote against the agreement with the LGBT language, or if the USMCA has enough support for approval in the next Congress when Democrats will have a majority in the U.S. House.

According to Politico, the LGBT provisions were a Canadian priority championed by Trudeau.

Moments ago at the signing of the new USMCA deal, Trudeau tells Trump that GM closing plants in both countries is another reason why the president should remove steel and aluminum tariffs #USMCA #NAFTA #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/4V92HGzS8C

— Michel Boyer (@BoyerMichel) November 30, 2018

Pennsylvania Adds LGBTQs To Anti-Discrimination Laws But Not Hate Crime Statute

Earlier this month, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission added sexual orientation and gender identity to its list of protected groups.

That action now allows people to file complaints to the State of Pennsylvania regarding incidents of LGBTQ discrimination. The commission investigates complaints of discrimination in areas of education, housing, employment and public accommodations.

Before the addition of sexual orientation and gender identity, if LGBTQ folks felt they had been discriminated against, their own recourse was to file a complaint with their local municipality IF the area they lived in barred such discrimination. According to Equality Pennsylvania, only 51 of the Keystone State’s 2,562 municipalities have laws that protect LGBTQ citizens.

What the change does not do, however, is add sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s hate crime statute.

So, if LGBTQ folks face discrimination in a restaurant or hotel, you can file a complaint. But if you are assaulted for being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, the perpetrator can be arrested but there will be no hate crime attached unless you are in one of the cities or local municipalities that have added sexual orientation or gender identity to their hate crime statute.
Now, there wasn’t always the case.

Back in 2002, the Pennsylvania state legislature added LGBTQ folks to the hate crimes law. In doing so, Pennsylvania became the 5th state to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender folks.

But two years later, when anti-gay protesters were arrested at a gay-rights event for preaching via bullhorn, concerns were raised about misuse of the statute.

Eventually, in 2007, a Commonwealth court struck down the addition to the hate crimes law saying the legislature had surreptitiously used an unrelated agriculture bill to make the change. In 2008, the state Supreme Court upheld that ruling and LGBTQ folks were once again left without hate crime protections statewide.

Since then, lawmakers have tried to update the hate crime statute but to no avail.

Some cities enacted their own hate crime legislation like Philadelphia in the aftermath of a vicious attack on a gay couple in the Center City area of Philly in 2014 which left one of the victims with a shattered jaw.

Currently, Pennsylvania’s hate crime laws protect folks from discrimination due to color, religion, race, and national origin.

(h/t Philly.com)

States Ranked Best (And Worst) For LGBTQs

Move.org, a great resource website for all things moving, has done a deep dive into several important factors LGBTQ folks should consider when moving to a new state to start a family and they’ve ranked all 50 states from best to worst.

Issues like hate crime legislation, same-sex adoption laws, anti-discrimination laws, LGBTQ population density and more were all taken into account

Move.org utilized data from HRC Foundation, the Movement and Advancement Project, and the Williams Institute at UCLA.

“We decided to consider the safety of LGBTQ individuals first and foremost, so we ranked whether the state had hate crime laws in place, whether or not conversion therapy was allowed for minors, and whether anti-discrimination laws were set,” wrote the researchers.

So, which state is best for starting a family?

California came out on top thanks to the Golden State’s comprehensive hate crime laws that cover both sexual orientation and gender identity, broad anti-discrimination laws, plus so-called ‘conversion therapy’ is banned for minors.

Additionally, the LGBTQ population density is pretty high at 4.9% meaning almost 1.5 million gays live there.

The rest of the top five are:
2. Illinois
3. Hawaii
4. Connecticut
5. Maryland

Jumping to the other end of the spectrum, West Virginia ranked last in terms of LGBTQ criteria.

The Mountain State offers no protections in terms of anti-discrimination or hate crime laws. There’s no law protecting minors from conversion therapy. Although, the state does allow same-sex couple to adopt.

The remaining bottom five are:
49. Virginia
48. Wisconsin
47. South Dakota
46. North Dakota

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t move to these states. It’s important to note that every state has a few cities that are good landing spots for LGBTQ+ families.

Click over to Move.org for a complete list of all 50 states.

New Campaign Raises Awareness Of Discrimination Against LGBT Americans

Hubby Michael and I getting married in Palm Springs, CA

On June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled marriage equality to be the law of the land.

But while the rights and privileges of marriage were made available to LGBTs across the nation on that day, the sad fact remains that in 31 states it’s legal to marry the person you love on Saturday and be fired for being gay on Monday.

In an America where most folks support equal treatment, many people erroneously believe LGBT people are protected by federal law against such practices.

At this writing, only 19 states in the U.S. and D.C. fully protect against discrimination in housing, employment, and public places like stores or restaurants based on a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity.

Michael and I are fortunate to live in Nevada which is one of the 19 states in that select group of states. As a married couple, we do have full protections regarding public accommodations and employment. But others are not so lucky.

The LGBT Acceptance campaign raises awareness about discrimination against LGBT Americans.

Head over to BeyondIDo.org where you'll find a state by state examination of protects or lack thereof for LGBT families; personal accounts of discrimination; and social media outreach campaign.

In the video below, Jami and Krista encountered LGBT discrimination head-on when a doctor refused to treat their new baby because the child had two moms.

(h/t TheOUTfront)

"Funeral Home" - Civil Rights Groups Highlights How Public Accommodation Laws Affect LGBTs

As the U.S. Supreme Court considers its ruling in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, the Movement Advancement Project shares this message asking folks to consider how public accommodation laws affect LGBT Americans on a day-to-day basis.

Via press release:

Inspired by a real legal case, Funeral Home, produced by MAP as part of the Open to All campaign, depicts a grieving widow who has just lost her spouse, and she and her family are turned away from a funeral home and refused burial services for her wife.

The ad is meant to show how a loss in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case would open the door to much wider ranging forms of discrimination—including what the grieving widow in the ad faced.

Open to All is the nationwide public engagement campaign designed to raise awareness about how our nation’s nondiscrimination laws are under attack—and to defend the bedrock principle that when businesses open their doors to the public, they should be Open to All. Learn more and find out how you can get involved.

Watch the spot below, and don't think for a moment this isn't already a reality in some towns.

Trump Administration Is Methodically Dismantling LGBT Protections

During the 2016 election cycle, Donald Trump promised he would be "better for the gays" than Hillary Clinton.

Instead, his health department is slowly but surely rolling back efforts to protect LGBT patients.

From Politico:

The nation's health department is taking steps to dismantle LGBT health initiatives, as political appointees have halted or rolled back regulations intended to protect LGBT workers and patients, removed LGBT-friendly language from documents and reassigned the senior adviser dedicated to LGBT health.

The sharp reversal from Obama-era policies carries implications for a population that's been historically vulnerable to discrimination in health care settings, say LGBT health advocates. A Health Affairs study last year found that many LGBT individuals have less access to care than heterosexuals; in a Harvard-Robert Wood Johnson-NPR survey one in six LGBT individuals reported experiencing discrimination from doctors or at a clinic.

The Trump administration soon after taking office also moved to change the agency's LGBT-related health data collection, a window into health status and discrimination. Last month it established a new religious liberty division to defend health workers who have religious objections to treating LGBT patients.

The changes at the Department of Health and Human Services represent "rapid destruction of so much of the progress on LGBT health," said Kellan Baker, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health who worked with HHS on LGBT issues for nearly a decade. “It’s only a matter of time before all the gains made under the Obama administration are reversed under the Trump administration, for purposes that have nothing to do with public health and have everything to do with politics.”

Politico breaks down all the various steps the Trump administration is against LGBTs.

Definitely head over there and read the full article.

News Round-Up: February 13, 2018

Some news items you might have missed:

• It's a "light and shadow" kind of day here in Las Vegas. And so, I give you the handsome Ignacio Pérez Rey photographed by the incomparable Joan Crisol.

• A recently unearthed quote from Academy Award winner Marlon Brando confirms he had homosexual experiences.

• Underwear designer Andrew Christian has found a way to deal with all those pics of beleagured porn boy Topher DiMaggio on his website after "suspending" Topher as a "trophy boy." The answer? They simply cut off his head.

• The 30-year-old man who set off a bomb in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan ( a popular gay neighborhood)  in September of 2016 has been sentenced to two life sentences plus 30 years for his actions.

• This popular Miami first grade teacher was fired for marrying her wife. The Catholic school she taught for had a "moral turpitude" clause in her contract they say she broke. Florida, as you may know, has no protections for LGBTs in the workplace.

• Pop diva Toni Braxton has a brand new single “Long As I Live” out now, and is one of several tracks Toni co-wrote and produced for her upcoming new album, Sex and Cigarettes, due out March 23. Check out the new single below.

How Does Your State Rate In Terms Of Statewide Laws For LGBTQ People?

I'm happy to see the three states (New York, California, Nevada) I've lived in during my adult life are all three in the top category.

From the Human Rights Campaign:

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation and the Equality Federation Institute released their annual State Equality Index (SEI), a comprehensive state-by-state report detailing statewide laws and policies that affect LGBTQ people and their families and placing states in one of four categories based on their pro- and anti-LGBTQ state laws.

The SEI assesses statewide LGBTQ-related legislation and policies in the areas of parenting laws and policies, relationship recognition and religious refusal laws, non-discrimination laws and policies, hate crime laws, youth-related laws and policies and health and safety laws and policies. Based on that review, the SEI assigns states to one of four distinct categories:

• Thirteen states and the District of Columbia are in the highest-rated category, “Working Toward Innovative Equality”: California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington

• Five states are in the category “Solidifying Equality”: Delaware, Iowa, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico

• Five states are in the category “Building Equality”: Hawaii, Indiana, New Hampshire, Utah, Wisconsin

• Twenty-Seven states are in the lowest-rated category “High Priority to Achieve Basic Equality”: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming

Additionally, HRC polling data collected by Hart Research Associates shows:

• 58% support laws that would prevent discrimination against LGBTQ people in the workplace

• 58% support laws that would prevent discrimination against LGBTQ people in housing

• 38% of voters incorrectly believe there are federal laws that protect LGBTQ people regarding employment, housing and access to government benefits.

U.S. Supreme Court Refuses Appeal Of LGBT Lambda Legal Employment Discrimination Case

From Lambda Legal:

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it will not review the Lambda Legal case on behalf of Jameka Evans, a Savannah security guard who was harassed at work and forced from her job because she is a lesbian.

"By declining to hear this case, the Supreme Court is delaying the inevitable and leaving a split in the circuits that will cause confusion across the country,” said Greg Nevins, Employment Fairness Project Director for Lambda Legal.

Several federal courts have affirmed the argument that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, when properly understood, protects LGBT employees. Most notably, the full Seventh Circuit overruled four of its precedents and ruled in April that Lambda Legal client Kimberly Hively could proceed under the Civil Rights Act with her claim that Indiana-based Ivy Tech Community College discriminated against her because she is a lesbian.

In April of 2015, Evans filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia against her former employer, Georgia Regional Hospital, arguing that the hospital violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by discriminating against her because of her sexual orientation and her nonconformity with gender norms of appearance and demeanor.

The district court dismissed the case. In January of last year, Lambda Legal filed an appeal on Evans’ behalf, arguing that she must have her day in court, citing rulings by several federal district courts and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) finding that sexual orientation discrimination is a form of sex discrimination and thereby a prohibited employment practice.

On March 10, 2017, a three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit held that it was compelled by a 1979 ruling to reject Evans’ sexual orientation discrimination claim.

Lambda Legal asked the whole court to rehear the case so that it could reexamine the 1979 precedent, but unlike the Seventh Circuit and Second Circuit, the full Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals declined to rehear the case on July 6. Citing a clear conflict among the circuits, Lambda Legal filed a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case. Today, the Supreme Court denied review.

Evans is part of Lambda Legal’s efforts to establish and enforce employment discrimination protection for all LGBT people and everyone living with HIV. 

Louisiana Appeals Court Strikes Down LGBT Protections

Louisiana's First Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled Gov. John Bel Edwards' attempts to protect LGBTs who work for the state government are unconstitutional.

The Democratic governor's positions were challenged by GOP Attorney General Jeff Landry.

From The Times-Picayune:

"We do not live under a King in Louisiana; we have a Governor, an independent Attorney General, an elected Legislature, and a Court system who are all involved in the governing of our State," Landry said in a written statement. "I applaud the professionalism and attention of the Court of Appeal in these matters."

The decision comes after a three-judge panel reviewed Edwards' executive order protecting LGBT state workers and contractors to determine whether it is constitutional.

"The Governor's Executive Order in this case goes beyond a mere policy statement or directive to fulfill law, because there is no current state or federal law specifically outlining anti-discrimination laws concerning and/or defining sexual orientation or gender identity," reads the decision written by Judge Toni Higginbotham on behalf of the court.

"The current laws simply prohibit discrimination based on a person's biological sex," she wrote.

Edwards wanted the LGBT nondiscrimination policy to apply to all of state government. His order prohibited harassment and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, similar to bans on racial or religious discrimination.

North Carolina Governor Issues Executive Order Prohibiting LGBT Discrimination By State Agencies

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has signed an executive order that prohibits any state agency, or contractors who do business with the state, to discriminate against LGBTs.

The executive order adds sexual orientation and gender identity to the state's list of protected classes at least in terms of state agencies or those who do business with the state.

Cooper told the media, "By requiring companies that contract with the state to have non-discrimination policies, the state can promote protections for more North Carolinians outside of state government."

Cooper is also proposing a settlement in the lawsuit challenging House Bill 2 and House Bill 142, the so-called bathroom bill and it's repeal legislation.

The proposal would allow transgender citizens use of public restrooms and other facilities that match their gender identity.

A federal judge still has to sign off on that settlement.

Major Companies Urge SCOTUS To Take Up LGBT Workplace Discrimination Case

Major American corporations have signed on to an amicus brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court urging the high court to rule that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bars discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace.

The Trump administration has taken the opposite opinion.

From the AP:

The 76 businesses and organizations - including American Airlines, Apple, eBay, Facebook, Google, Starbucks and Microsoft - filed a brief Wednesday encouraging the high court to take up the issue. They want the court to take a case out of Georgia in which a gay woman who worked as a hospital security officer says she was harassed and punished for dressing in a male uniform and wearing her hair short. Jameka Evans, who worked at Georgia Regional Hospital at Savannah from 2012 to 2013, ultimately left her job and sued.

The question in her case is whether a federal law barring workplace discrimination "because of...sex" covers discrimination against someone because of their sexual orientation. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under President Barack Obama took the view that it does. But President Donald Trump's administration has argued that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bars discrimination based on gender but doesn't cover sexual orientation.

The businesses' court filing says they and their employees would benefit if the court agreed to take the case and rule that Title VII covers sexual orientation discrimination.

Attorney General Issues "Religious Freedoms" Guidance Which Undermines LGBT Protections

Attorney General Jeff Session

Donald Trump promised his evangelical/religious supporters he would work to undercut LGBT protections and today his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, issued new guidance to agencies that will allow a simple claim of a violation of religious freedom to justify LGBT discrimination.

From the AP:

The guidance, an attempt to deliver on President Donald Trump’s pledge to his evangelical and other religious supporters, effectively lifts a burden from religious objectors to prove that their beliefs about marriage or other topics are sincerely held.

Under the new policy, a claim of a violation of religious freedom would be enough to override concerns for the civil rights of LGBT people and anti-discrimination protections for women and others. The guidelines are so sweeping that experts on religious liberty are calling them a legal powder-keg that could prompt wide-ranging lawsuits against the government.

This new guidance comes a day after Sessions rescinded an Obama-era policy protecting transgender people from discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

More from the Washington Blade:

Key portions of the memos should be troubling to proponents of LGBT rights. The memo to agencies allows individuals to act or abstain from action according to their religious beliefs and prohibits the government from targeting religious individuals and organizations for acting on those beliefs.

Although the memo asserts the change won’t enable anti-LGBT discrimination under the law, that language is found nowhere as a limiting principle in the memos themselves. That assurance is left out in important passages asserting the primacy of religious freedom that could be construed to allow anti-LGBT discrimination.

Under the principles of the guidance, for example, a Social Security administrator charged with processing benefits applications could see an application for same-sex spousal benefits and refuse to process that application for religious reasons.

From the Human Rights Campaign:

“Today the Trump-Pence administration launched an all-out assault on LGBTQ people, women, and other minority communities by unleashing a sweeping license to discriminate,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “This blatant attempt to further Donald Trump’s cynical and hateful agenda will enable systematic, government-wide discrimination that will have a devastating impact on LGBTQ people and their families. Donald Trump and Mike Pence have proven they will stop at nothing to target the LGBTQ community and drag our nation backwards. We will fight them every step of the way.”

Justice Department: Anti-LGBT Discrimination Is Legal Under Federal Law

On the same day that Donald Trump unexpectedly announced a ban on transgender soldiers in the U.S. military, his Justice Department filed a friend-of-the-court brief declaring anti-LGBT discrimination is lawful in a current employment discrimination case

From Chris Johnson at the Washington Blade:

In a 23-page brief, the Justice Department under U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions rejects the notion that sexual-orientation discrimination is a form of sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“The essential element of sex discrimination under Title VII is that employees of one sex must be treated worse than similarly situated employees of the other sex, and sexual orientation discrimination simply does not have that effect,” the brief says. “Moreover, whatever this Court would say about the question were it writing on a blank slate, Congress has made clear through its actions and inactions in this area that Title VII’s prohibition of sex discrimination does not encompass sexual orientation discrimination. Other statutes and rules may prohibit such discrimination, but Title VII does not do so as a matter of law, and whether it should do so as a matter of policy remains a question for Congress to decide.”

Although the Justice Department under the Obama administration never took an official view on whether sexual orientation discrimination is prohibited under Title VII, the brief effectively turns a Justice Department that once argued for protections for LGBT people into an institution that seeks to undermine them.

The reasoning in the brief contrasts with the determination of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the independent agency charged with enforcing federal workplace civil rights laws. In 2015, the EEOC found in the case of Baldwin v. Foxx anti-gay discrimination constitutes sex discrimination under Title VII.

Sarah Warbelow, legal director for the Human Rights Campaign, issued this statement, “In one fell swoop, Trump’s DOJ has provided a roadmap for dismantling years of federal protections and declared that lesbian, gay, and bisexual people may no longer be protected by landmark civil rights laws such as the Fair Housing Act, Title IX, or Title VII.”

Here's a recap of actions the Trump administration has taken against LGBT folks since Trump was inaugurated.

But remember, Donald Trump promised during the 2016 campaign how much "better" for the gays he would be than Hillary Clinton.

Queen Elizabeth II Vows To Protect LGBTs From Discrimination

During Queen Elizabeth II's address to Parliament today, her Majesty specifically promised to protect LGBTs from discrimination.

From the speech:

“My ministers will seek to enhance rights and protections in the modern workplace. My  government will make further progress to tackle the gender pay gap and discrimination against people on the basis of their race, faith, gender, disability or sexual orientation.”

Additionally, there was conspicuously no mention of President Trump visiting the UK this fall causing some to wonder if the trip has now been cancelled.

The speech is cued up below for the mention of LGBT protections.

North Carolina: Gov. Roy Cooper Plans Executive Order Addressing LGBT Protections

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who received much criticism for supporting the fake "repeal" of his state's anti-LGBT law HB2, announced yesterday that he plans to issue an executive order addressing protections for the LGBT community.

The Democratic governor made the remark to a sympathetic audience in Washington, D.C., where he said he would also continue to fight against discrimination and push for voting rights and education funding.

In a question-and-answer segment with the organization’s executive vice president for policy, Carmel Martin, Cooper explained his decision to accept a compromise repeal of HB2 even though it left him at odds with some activists and members of his own party.

“My goal is statewide LGBT protections in North Carolina, and I’m going to keep fighting every day until I get to that point,” he said, to applause. “… It would have been politically and probably emotionally easier for me to keep pounding the table and not accept a compromise but I knew it wasn’t right.”

Cooper did not elaborate on the executive order on LGBT protections, which would only apply to the departments that the governor controls. Asked about it in a later phone interview, Cooper said he had promised to do more.

“I said when we repealed HB2 and initiated the compromise, we needed to take additional steps to make sure we protect LGBT residents,” he said. “We’re working on an executive order that will help further those goals.”

Congressional Democrats To Re-Introduce The Equality Act Tomorrow

Via press release:

Tomorrow, Tuesday, May 2 at 11AM ET, members of the U.S. Congress will gather in the Capitol’s Rayburn Room with advocacy leaders and LGBT Americans who have suffered discrimination to announce the re-introduction of historic legislation to ban discrimination against LGBT individuals in federal law.

The Equality Act would outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, and other areas of law where discrimination is already prohibited for other protected classes.

In most states, this discrimination – including being fired, refused an apartment or mortgage, or refused service at a restaurant based on LGBT status – is not explicitly outlawed. The Equality Act would make clear that LGBT Americans are fully protected from discrimination under federal law.

WHO:
Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley
Rep. David Cicilline
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi
Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer
Senate Assistant Democratic Leader Patty Murray
Sen. Tammy Baldwin
Sen. Cory Booker
Chad Griffin, President, Human Rights Campaign
Winnie Stachelberg, Executive Vice President, Center for American Progress
Mara Keisling, Executive Director, National Center for Transgender Equality
Emily Martin, General Counsel and Vice President, National Women’s Law Center

Podcast: Chechnya's Human Rights Violations Against Gays, Survivor Contestant Outed As Trans, Study Shows Marriage Improves Health For Aging LGBTs

In this week’s LGBT headlines on The Randy Report podcast:

• Gay and bisexual men are being rounded up, tortured and killed in Chechnya. Click here to sign Amnesty International's petition denouncing the horrific human rights violations.

• A transgender contestant was dramatically outed on the CBS reality show, "Survivor."

• Virginia's Supreme Court slaps down anti-LGBT activists who attempted to remove protections for LGBT students.

• A University Of Washington study on LGBT aging shows, unsurprisingly, that marriage improves health and happiness among LGBTs.

• Indie actor/director Gerald McCullouch ("CSI," "Bear City," "Daddy") releases his new documentary, All Male, All Nude, which goes behind the scenes at the country's only all nude, all male, gay strip club located in the heart of The Bible Belt.

Hit play below to catch up on these LGBT stories and more.

Subscribe to my podcast page on iTunes to get new episodes covering politics, pop culture and entertainment news of interest to the LGBT community automatically - and it's free!

7th Circuit Court Of Appeals Rules Civil Rights Act Of 1964 Protects LGBTs From Workplace Discrimination

The Associated Press is reporting that the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects LGBTs from workplace discrimination.

Normally, a case would be heard by three judges on the court, but this was heard by the full 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. The judges ruled 8-3 that Title VII protects LGBTs in the workplace.

This is WAY huge.

The decision by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes after it threw out a July finding by three of its own judges that the law doesn’t cover sexual-orientation bias and ordered a rare rehearing by the full court, a rare session known as an en banc hearing.

It also comes as President Donald Trump’s administration has begun setting its own policies on LGBT rights. Late in January, the White House declared Trump would enforce an Obama administration order barring companies that do federal work from workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual identity. But in February, it revoked guidance on transgender students’ use of public school bathrooms, deferring to states.

The Hively case stems from a lawsuit by Indiana teacher Kimberly Hively alleging that the Ivy Tech Community College in South Bend didn’t hire her full time because she is a lesbian. The entire court reheard oral arguments in November and directed the toughest questions at a lawyer for the college who argued only Congress could extend the protections. The aggressive questions suggested the court might be willing to expand the 53-year-old landmark law.

Judge Diane Wood called it a "common-sense reality that it is actually impossible to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation without discriminating on the basis of sex."

The 7th Circuit covers federal lawsuits out of Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin.

BREAKING: Federal court rules employers can't fire people for being gay! This is a HUGE victory! #LGBTQ https://t.co/2WKlwza48a

— Lambda Legal (@LambdaLegal) April 4, 2017

More context: The #7thCircuit ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects employees from sexual orientation discrimination! #LGBTQ

— Lambda Legal (@LambdaLegal) April 4, 2017

This case was heard en banc, which means it was heard by the *whole* #7thCircuit. Most cases are heard by a panel of only 3 judges. #LGBTQ

— Lambda Legal (@LambdaLegal) April 4, 2017