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Daily Archives: April 5, 2016
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Authorities and Family Seek Answers in Hit-and-Run on Transgender Teen
Authorities and Family Seek Answers in Hit-and-Run on Transgender Teen
Authorities in Monterey Park, California, are seeking the public’s help finding a suspect who, according to news reports, struck a 16-year-old transgender girl with a car Saturday morning and fled the scene. The teenager is in critical condition in a local hospital.
“I don’t understand how somebody could just leave a human being on the side of the road and drive off,” the teen’s uncle appealed to the public for help in a news conference Monday. “If anyone has information, I beg you, please come forward.”
Although some news outlets have reported that the hit-and-run was intentional, it is unknown at this point whether this was a bias-motivated attack.
Transgender people, and transgender women of color in particular, face disproportionate levels of fatal violence. At least 21 transgender people were victims of fatal violence in 2015, and there have been at least six victims thus far in 2016.
For more information on addressing anti-transgender violence, visit hrc.org/trans-violence.
California Father Allegedly Kills Son for Being Gay; Charged With Premeditated Murder
California Father Allegedly Kills Son for Being Gay; Charged With Premeditated Murder
On Friday, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office filed charges against a man for allegedly killing his son because he was gay.
“Shehada Khalil Issa faces a charge of premeditated murder in the death of Amir Issa outside the family home in the North Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles on Tuesday,” USA Today reported. “Prosecutors allege that Shehada Issa had previously threatened to kill his son (Amir Issa) because he was gay.”
Khalil Issa’s wife was also found dead on the scene. The case is being considered a hate crime.
“Shehada Khalil Issa faces one count of willful, deliberate and premeditated murder,” the District Attorney’s office said in a release. “It is also alleged that the murder was committed because of the victim’s sexual orientation and because of the defendant’s perception of that status and the victim’s association with a person and a group of that status.”
While the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009 was a turning point in prosecuting hate crimes based on the sexual orientation or gender identity of a victim of violent crime under federal law, state hate crime laws vary. Fortunately, California’s hate crime law addresses bias-motivated crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
LGBT people suffer disproportionate levels of harassment and physical violence. The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs tracked 1359 incidents of hate violence against LGBTQ and HIV-affected survivors in 2014, almost half of which were against gay men. Gay male survivors were more than twice as likely as other survivors to experience physical violence, 1.5 times as likely to be attacked in public and 1.8 times as likely to be injured. Just last month, HRC reported on a vicious hate crime in Georgia against two men.
Norse Pride 9
Norse Pride 9
Kentuckians For The Commonwealth posted a photo:
The march begins! Over 100 people came out in support of LGBTQ rights. Photo taken by organizer. Please credit Kentuckians For The Commonwealth.
Mississippi Law Now Includes A Catalog Of Legal Anti-LGBT Discrimination
Mississippi Law Now Includes A Catalog Of Legal Anti-LGBT Discrimination
If you want to know how to discriminate against LGBT people, Mississippi law now provides a thorough guide.
The post Mississippi Law Now Includes A Catalog Of Legal Anti-LGBT Discrimination appeared first on ThinkProgress.
thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/04/05/3766471/mississippi-governor-signs-anti-lgbt-bill/
Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant Signs Law Attacking LGBT People and Families
Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant Signs Law Attacking LGBT People and Families
Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, lambasted Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant for signing into law H.B. 1523, “The Religious Liberty Accommodations Act.” National corporations and businesses have spoken out against the horrific measure, that would allow individuals, religious organizations and private associations to use religion to discriminate against LGBT Mississippians in some of the most important aspects of their lives, including at work, at schools, and in their communities. Following Kansas and North Carolina, Mississippi becomes the third state this legislative session to sign into law an explicitly anti-LGBT bill.
Some of the state’s largest employers, including Nissan Group of North America, Tyson Food Inc, MGM Resorts International, and Toyota publicly voiced their opposition to the appalling legislation, joining national corporations such as AT&T, IBM, Levi Strauss & Co, MassMutual, General Electric, and Hyatt Hotel Corporations. In a statement yesterday, Jay C. Moon, President and CEO of the Mississippi Manufacturers Association (MMA) called for Governor Bryant to veto the measure saying: “It is clear that many of our members find that HB 1523 would violate their corporate policies expressly providing for an inclusive workplace environment that supports diversity. This is not a bill that the MMA supports and we hope that it will not find its way into law.”And last week, the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi released a strongly worded statement condemning the bill as well.
“Gov Phil Bryant adds his name to a list of disgraced Southern governors by signing this hateful and discriminatory bill into law,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “Governor Bryant refused to meet with LGBT people and even turned us away at the door of his office. He refused to listen to business leaders. He refused to listen to Mississippians. And now his state will suffer because of his ignorance and failure of leadership. Just as we’re doing elsewhere, we will continue to rally fair-minded voters, businesses, and civil rights advocates to repeal.”
At a rally yesterday evening outside the governor’s mansion, HRC President Chad Griffin joined HRC Mississippi, the ACLU of Mississippi, Southern Poverty Law Center, Planned Parenthood Southeast, Gulf Coast Equality and hundreds of advocates from across Mississippi urging Governor Bryant to veto HB 1523. Earlier, HRC requested that the governor meet with LGBT Mississippians, but that call has gone unanswered — and advocates were turned away from his office. Speaker Philip Gunn also refused an HRC request that he meet with the LGBT community before yesterday’s final vote on the discriminatory bill.
Under this new law, religion could be used by most any individual or organization to justify discrimination against LGBT people, single mothers, unwed couples and others. Tax-payer funded faith-based organizations could: refuse to recognize the marriages of same-sex couples for provision of critical services including emergency shelter; deny children in need of loving homes placement with LGBT families including the child’s own family member; and refuse to sell or rent a for-profit home to an LGBT person — even if the organization receives government funding. It would also give foster families the freedom to subject an LGBTQ child to the dangerous practice of “conversion therapy,” and subject a pregnant unwed girl to abuse, without fear of government intervention or license suspension. It would even allow individuals to refuse to carry out the terms of a state contract for the provision of counseling services to all eligible individuals, including veterans, based on the counselor’s beliefs about LGBT people or single mothers.
Furthermore, schools, employers, and service providers could refuse transgender people access to appropriate sex-segregated facilities consistent with their gender identity — all in direct conflict with the U.S. Department of Justice’s enforcement of federal law. HB 1523 even legalizes Kim Davis-style discrimination by allowing government employees to abdicate their duties and refuse to license or solemnize marriages for LGBT people.
Mississippi’s HB 1523 is the third stand-alone anti-LGBT bill signed in law in 2016. The attack on fairness and equality are part of an onslaught of anti-LGBT bills being pushed in 2016 by anti-equality activists around the country, including nearly 200 anti-LGBT bills in 34 states. As of today, at least half of these bills have been beaten back around the country.
BREAKING: Mississippi's anti-LGBT HB 1523 becomes law, signed by governor
BREAKING: Mississippi's anti-LGBT HB 1523 becomes law, signed by governor
Brandiilyne Dear
Today, Governor Phil Bryant signed into law HB 1523, a “license to discriminate bill” also known as the Religious Accommodations Act. In late March, the bill passed with overwhelming support in the state House and Senate, despite being widely opposed by vocal advocates at home and across the country.
I have signed House Bill 1523. Full statement: pic.twitter.com/00DbgQADFt
— Phil Bryant (@PhilBryantMS) April 5, 2016
Sarah Kate Ellis, President & CEO of GLAAD, responded in a statement:
“Governor Bryant has put the people and the economy of Mississippi at risk and damaged his state’s reputation by signing this regressive anti-LGBT bill into law. If Gov. Bryant listened to the stories of Mississippians fired from jobs, refused service, and shunned from their families, then perhaps he might have a sense of why bills like HB 1523 devastate LGBT people and their families. But Gov. Bryant’s attack on fairness will not deter us; the LGBT community will not stop demanding equality and full acceptance until everyone in Mississippi can live the life they love.”
As part of an earlier petition urging Governor Bryant to veto the bill, the ACLU stated:
If this becomes law, single mothers, same-sex couples and their families, transgender people, and vulnerable youth will face hateful discrimination. They could be turned away from social services like homeless shelters, denied medical care, or be fired from their jobs.
This bill allows individuals, businesses and religiously-affiliated organizations (including hospitals, schools, emergency services, and more) to discriminate on the basis of religious beliefs or moral convictions. This means discrimination regarding marriage for same-sex couples, sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage, and the very existence of transgender people.
While other state legislatures have advanced attacks on LGBT people this session, no state in the country has passed a law like this.
In a recent article, Mother Jones said of the bill:
The Mississippi bill is so sweeping that it may be more discriminatory than even the North Carolina statute. The Mississippi bill would essentially make it impossible to sue for gender or sexuality discrimination if the motivation for the discrimination was religion.
Here are some of the bill’s provisions:
- Any organization can decline “to provide services, accommodations, facilities, goods or privileges for a purpose related to the solemnization, formation, celebration or recognition of any marriage.”
- Employers can make a “decision whether or not to hire, terminate or discipline an individual whose conduct or religious beliefs are inconsistent with those of the religious organization.”
- Mississippians can deny housing based on religious beliefs.
- Foster care organizations and adoption agencies can “decline to provide any adoption or foster care service” without fear of retribution.
- The state can’t prosecute any person who “declines to participate in the provision of treatments, counseling, or surgeries related to sex reassignment or gender identity transitioning or declines to participate in the provision of psychological, counseling or fertility services” or any wedding- or marriage-related services.
- Schools and business owners can establish “sex-specific standards or policies concerning employee or student dress or grooming, or concerning access to restrooms, spas, baths, showers, dressing rooms, locker rooms, or other intimate facilities or settings.”
Despite outcry from LGBT Mississippians and their allies, on-the-ground and national advocates, big and small businesses, and more, Governor Bryant previously said of the bill “I don’t think it’s discriminatory. I think it gives some people as I appreciate it, the right to be able to say, ‘that’s against my religious beliefs and I don’t need to carry out that particular task.'”
Though Governor Bryant says he believes the bill isn’t discriminatory, the many LGBT people and their families living the Magnolia state are now at risk of pervasive harm in their daily lives, from work, to their family lives, to housing, healthcare, and more.
The Southern Poverty Law Center helps breaks down the pervasive impact of discrimination within the bill:
Mississippi Lawmakers on Brink of Passing Georgia-Style Anti-LGBT ‘Religious Freedom’ Bill t.co/Ie7K5yCsjF pic.twitter.com/lUx5d55lH0
— SPLC (@splcenter) March 30, 2016
GLAAD has been speaking out against discriminatory laws in several states, including most recently Georgia, North Carolina, and South Dakota. GLAAD’s resource, “Debunking the ‘Bathroom Bills Myth‘” is a valuable resource for journalists and everyday people to understand the importance and impact of nondiscrimination bills, and ways to debunk falsehoods that often are raised in opposition to such bills. GLAAD is calling on media, both in Mississippi and nationally, to ask media to hold promoters of such discriminatory bills as HB 1523 accountable for false claims they have made.
LGBT advocates and media figures can also find background information about the LGBT community in Mississippi through GLAAD’s guidebook on the state. GLAAD developed the resource with the ACLU of Mississippi and The PRISM Center.
Amplify your opposition to Mississippi’s “license to discriminate” law using the hashtag #NoHB1523, and follow GLAAD on social media for regular updates.
April 6, 2016
Issues:
www.glaad.org/blog/breaking-mississippis-anti-lgbt-hb-1523-becomes-law-signed-governor
North Carolina Just Lost 400 Jobs Because Of Its Anti-LGBT Law
North Carolina Just Lost 400 Jobs Because Of Its Anti-LGBT Law
“As a company that is committed to the principle that everyone deserves to live without fear of discrimination simply for being who they are, becoming an employer in North Carolina, where members of our teams will not have equal rights under the law, is simply untenable. “
The post North Carolina Just Lost 400 Jobs Because Of Its Anti-LGBT Law appeared first on ThinkProgress.
thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/04/05/3766501/paypal-north-carolina/
The Nation Eyes Tennessee as Anti-LGBT Bills Face Additional Hearings
The Nation Eyes Tennessee as Anti-LGBT Bills Face Additional Hearings
This could be a crucial week for the economic future of Tennessee as we watch several critical hearings in the state. Two anti-LGBT bills face votes in Tennessee, while major economic and political fallout continues to grow in North Carolina for passing just one anti-equality measure.
House Bill 2414 and its Senate companion, SB 2387, would deny transgender students in Tennessee access to bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. These disturbing and unnecessary bills apply to all public schools, both K-12 and public universities in Tennessee.
On Tuesday, April 5, the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to consider the fiscal impact that SB 2387 would have to the state budget if they become law. Tennessee stands to lose at least 3 billion dollars in federal funding if this law passes, including at least $1 billion in education funding since it would put Tennessee schools in direct violation of Title IX.
On Wednesday, April 6, the House Education Administration & Planning committee could consider a motion to reconsider their actions from a previous hearing where legislators decided to send HB 2414 to study the issue over the summer before making a decision. If the committee reconsiders their action, the bill could move forward again, putting this dangerous piece of anti-transgender legislation back on track toward passing the House.
Also this week, the House is expected to consider HB 1840 which would allow licensed counselors in private practice to use their own religious beliefs as an excuse for terminating care or referring away clients because of moral objections to how they identify. This bill has already passed the Senate despite testimony at hearings opposing this bill and is dangerously close to becoming law.
These anti-LGBT laws continue to gain traction in Tennessee despite the continued fallout in the neighboring southern state of North Carolina. Already, over 120 business leaders have signed a letter demanding the repeal of North Carolina’s HB2. Conference planners have begun rescheduling their meetings in other states, the state’s federal funding could be at risk and the NCAA and NFL has stated that North Carolina could lose future sporting events if the bill is not repealed.
If you live in Tennessee, contact legislators now opposing anti-LGBT legislation in your state.
For more information about how to get involved in Tennessee, contact HRC’s Senior Regional Field Organizer Ryan Wilson at [email protected].
