Daily Archives: July 13, 2015
Ford Worker Fired For Anti-Gay Comment Sues For Religious Discrimination
Ford Worker Fired For Anti-Gay Comment Sues For Religious Discrimination
A former Ford Motor Co. engineer says in a lawsuit that the automaker violated his religious freedom when it fired him for posting an anti-gay comment on the company website.
Thomas Banks, of Michigan, describes himself in a federal lawsuit filed Friday as a Christian who worked for Ford on assignment to Rapid Global Business Solutions for three years. A year ago, Banks commented on a Ford intranet article celebrating the 20th anniversary of GLOBE, a group fostering an inclusive workplace for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, saying Ford has no place promoting sodomy or “immoral sexual conduct” and should be “thoroughly ashamed.” Banks claimed the article was an assault on his religious beliefs.
“And yes — this is historic — but not in a good way,” Banks wrote. “Never in the history of mankind has a culture survived that promotes sodomy. Heterosexual behavior creates life — homosexual behavior leads to death.” The article — which does not address sodomy or other sex acts — is still online, though no comments are visible to the public.
Nearly two weeks later, supervisors from both companies told Banks his comments violated Ford’s anti-harassment policy and fired him. The companies “acted intentionally out of malice or reckless disregard of Banks’ federally protected rights,” the lawsuit alleges.
Ford and Rapid Global Business Solutions weren’t immediately available for comment. The companies haven’t yet answered the lawsuit in court.
Banks earlier filed a claim with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which declined to pursue it. At the time, Ford said in a statement that the matter is “ultimately between the individual and their agency employer,” Rapid Global Business Solutions. The lawsuit says Banks was legally an employee of both companies.
In testimony before the EEOC, included in the federal complaint, Rapid Global Business Solutions supervisor Kelsey Rossey acknowledged that Banks’ comment was an expression of his religious convictions, but “the tone of the comment … was discrimination in and of itself and that’s not something that we can protect.”
According to the lawsuit, Banks supports a diverse and inclusive workplace.
“Banks respects others, even those who disagree with him, as he has throughout his career, and merely hopes for the same respect in turn,” the complaint says.
Banks seeks damages for religious discrimination and retaliation under federal civil rights law as well as Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employers from firing or otherwise discriminating against individuals because of “religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, or marital status.”
Sexual orientation and gender expression are not protected classes under the state law, despite frequent attempts to amend it. An individual in Michigan who is fired for being gay would have no legal recourse, unlike Banks.
Also on The Huffington Post:
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Federal judge hears testimony in lawsuit against Kentucky county clerk who won’t issue marriage licenses to gays
Federal judge hears testimony in lawsuit against Kentucky county clerk who won’t issue marriage licenses to gays
No decision was made Monday (13 July) in a federal lawsuit filed against a county clerk in Kentucky who refuses to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
US District Court Judge David Bunning heard testimony in the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky’s lawsuit against Rowan County and its Clerk Kim Davis. But the case was continued to an undetermined future date because Davis must sign paperwork acknowledging she has received the complaint.
‘We look forward to completing these proceedings at a time and date Judge Bunning sets, so that our clients may receive the relief they are entitled to.’ William Sharp, legal director of the ACLU of Kentucky said in a statement.
Rowan County is one of three counties in Kentucky that is attempting to keep same-gender couples from obtaining licenses. The US Supreme Court ruled last month that same-sex marriage is now legal nationwide.
The ACLU filed a class action lawsuit against Davis on behalf of four couples who her office denied licenses – two heterosexual couples and two same-sex couples.
The federal lawsuit, which alleges Davis’ refusal is unconstitutional, seeks an injunction ordering Davis to begin issuing licenses.
Kentucky couple David Vincent Moore and his fiancé wanted to get married last week Davis stood in their way.
The couple’s encounter with Davis, who is opposed to same-sex marriage, was captured on video and quickly went viral with more than 1.7 million views.
The post Federal judge hears testimony in lawsuit against Kentucky county clerk who won’t issue marriage licenses to gays appeared first on Gay Star News.
Greg Hernandez
Magnetic Ian 3
Houston Man Sues City Over Law Allowing Trans Citizens to Use Correct Bathrooms
Houston Man Sues City Over Law Allowing Trans Citizens to Use Correct Bathrooms
Longtime anti-LGBT activist Dave Wilson is angry the city won’t heed his petition, which also demands businesses define ‘gender’ as one’s birth-assigned sex.
Mitch Kellaway
A County In Missouri Will Lower Its Flags To 'Mourn' Marriage Equality
A County In Missouri Will Lower Its Flags To 'Mourn' Marriage Equality
Flags in Dent County, Missouri, will be lowered to “below half-staff” for a one-year period of “mourning” the Supreme Court’s June 26 decision to legalize gay marriage nationwide.
In a unanimous vote on Monday, the Dent County Commission decided to lower the American flags at the county courthouse and judicial building on the 26th day of each month from now until June of next year.
All three commissioners are Republican. According to the county’s main newspaper, The Salem News, the commission took up the issue after Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles wrote a letter in protest of the Supreme Court decision.
“All who see these flags at this lowered position [will] be reminded of this despicable Supreme Court travesty,” Skiles wrote in the letter. He called the Supreme Court decision “the U.S. high court’s stamp of approval of what God speaks of as an abomination” and accused the court of “blatant judicial overreach.”
Neither Skiles nor the commission’s office could be reached for comment.
Despite Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) directing the state to abide by the court’s ruling, some Missouri residents, especially those in the more politically conservative portions of the state, have chosen to protest the decision — some by lowering their flags.
A man in Springfield, Missouri, who flies a flag in his front yard also lowered his flag in opposition to the gay marriage decision. His neighbor complained and brought the story to the Springfield News-Leader, which found that the man violated flag protocol. Local veteran Glenn Hastings told the newspaper that according to protocol, flags can only be lowered to half-staff to mourn certain government leaders or when directed by the governor or the president. The flag should also be flown at half-staff to honor veterans.
“You don’t respond to what one person or one group of people has done. You should fly the flag proudly,” Hastings said.
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US military finalizing plan to end ban on transgender members
US military finalizing plan to end ban on transgender members
Transgender people will, for the first time, be allowed to serve openly in the US military under a plan currently being finalized by the Pentagon.
US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced Monday (13 July) that under the plan, transgender military personnel could begin serving openly early next year. It also acknowledges there are already thousands of trans people essentially serving silence.
Carter said in a statement that over the next six months, a working group will study ‘the policy and readiness implications of welcoming transgender persons to serve openly.’
‘At my direction, the working group will start with the presumption that transgender persons can serve openly without adverse impact on military effectiveness and readiness, unless and except where objective, practical impediments are identified,’ he stated.
Carter added: ‘I am directing that decision authority in all administrative discharges for those diagnosed with gender dysphoria or who identify themselves as transgender be elevated to Under Secretary (Brad) Carson, who will make determinations on all potential separations.’
The American Military Partner Association (AMPA), which has been among those pushing for an end to the ban, cheered the turn of events which comes nearly three years since the military officially ended its ban on gays, lesbians and bisexuals serving openly.
‘We are thrilled with Secretary Carter’s announcement that the Department of Defense is finally taking steps to lift the ban on transgender military service,’ said AMPA President Ashley Broadway-Mack. ‘All qualified Americans should be able to serve our great nation, regardless of their gender identity. Lifting the ban will dramatically improve the lives of our transgender service members and their families by allowing them to serve authentically.’
In March , AMPA launched a joint report with the Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA) highlighting the harm the regulations have inflicted on military families.
The report had noted that ‘no one should be forced to choose between defending the country they love and being true to their authentic self. ‘
The post US military finalizing plan to end ban on transgender members appeared first on Gay Star News.
Greg Hernandez
www.gaystarnews.com/article/us-military-finalizing-plan-to-end-ban-on-transgender-members/
Anti-Marriage Equality Resolution Introduced in House of Representatives
Anti-Marriage Equality Resolution Introduced in House of Representatives
Some anti-LGBT Members of Congress just can’t accept that the country has embraced marriage equality.
HRC.org
Boy Scouts Vote Unanimously To Cool It With All That Homophobia
Boy Scouts Vote Unanimously To Cool It With All That Homophobia
The boys are finally taking a hint from the girls and letting more people up into their clubhouse.
The Boys Scouts of America’s 17-member executive committee voted unanimously last week to end the ban on gay adults acting as troop leaders. Now the motion will go before a meeting of the full 80-member executive board on July 27th, effective immediately if passed.
“This change allows Scouting’s members and parents to select local units, chartered to organizations with similar beliefs, that best meet the needs of their families,” a BSA statement said.
Two months ago, former US defense secretary and current president of BSA Robert Gates called for an end to the ban, warning Scout executives that “we must deal with the world as it is, not as we might wish it to be,” and that “any other alternative will be the end of us as a national movement.”
A month before Gates’ comments, the Scouts’ New York chapter openly defied the ban by hiring 18-year-old Pascal Tessier as a camp counselor.
David Boies, a prominent lawyer in touch with Tessier at the time, said, “We hope that is the beginning of the end, if you will, of the policy nationwide.”
And while these are all wonderful overdue developments, chapters sponsored by churches — 70 percent of all troops — will remain able to continue with discriminatory hiring practices under Americas’s newly reclaimed favorite buzzwords: religious freedom.
“This change would also respect the right of religious chartered organizations to continue to choose adult leaders whose beliefs are consistent with their own,” the BSA statement continued.
The Girl Scouts, on the other hand, continue to kick major ass.
Dan Tracer
What To Watch This Week On TV: ‘Tig’ Hits Netflix; Meet ‘Jazz’
What To Watch This Week On TV: ‘Tig’ Hits Netflix; Meet ‘Jazz’
Check out our weekly guide to make sure you’re catching the big premieres, crucial episodes and the stuff you won’t admit you watch when no one’s looking.
—The brilliant Tig Notaro is the focus of a new Netflix documentary. The out comedian gained notoriety for a legendary stand-up set that beautifully blended Notaro’s humor with stories about her mother’s death and her battle with breast cancer. Get to know her better when Tig drops Friday.
—If news from San Diego Comic Con has got you pumped for Ryan Murphy’s Scream Queens and the next installment of American Horror Story, sate your thirst for blood with MTV’s Scream, the TV series. It’s a slick, silly production, with a few jump-scares that echo the original series of films. Catch the next episode Tuesday at 10 p.m. Eastern.
—Young trans advocate Jazz Jennings gets her own docuseries Wednesday at 10 p.m. Eastern on TLC. The series, I Am Jazz, follows Jennings and her family as she gets ready for high school and life as a teenager.
—It’s beginning to look a lot like the ‘90s on A&E, where aging former heartthrobs are back. First, it’s Wahlburgers, where Mark Wahlberg and brothers Paul and Donnie run a burger joint. Then, spend some more time with Donnie Wahberg on Donnie Loves Jenny. More ‘90s hunks become small business owners in Lachey’s Bar starring brothers Drew and Nick Lachey. It all starts Wednesday at 9:30 p.m.
—The second season of True Detective continues to gain acceleration, with the visceral ending of last night’s episode leaving viewers reeling. We’re also intrigued by the closeted gay detective played by Taylor Kitsch (especially if we get more shots of him waking up in his briefs). Catch the next episode Sunday at 9 p.m. on HBO.
What are you watching this week on TV?
The post What To Watch This Week On TV: ‘Tig’ Hits Netflix; Meet ‘Jazz’ appeared first on Towleroad.
Bobby Hankinson
What To Watch This Week On TV: ‘Tig’ Hits Netflix; Meet ‘Jazz’
