#AM_Equality Tipsheet: April 22, 2019
BREAKING — SCOTUS TO HEAR THREE MAJOR LGBTQ CIVIL RIGHTS CASES: Today, the court announced it will take up the cases of R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC and Aimee Stephens and Bostock v. Clayton County, consolidated with Altitude Express, Inc. v. Zarda. More from HRC.
“No one should be denied a job or fired simply because of who they are or who they love, including LGBTQ people,” said Sarah Warbelow, HRC Legal Director (@SarahWarbelow). “The growing legal consensus is that our nation’s civil rights laws do protect LGBTQ people against discrimination under sex nondiscrimination laws. The Supreme Court has an opportunity to clarify this area of law to ensure protections for LGBTQ people in many important areas of life. The impact of this decision will have very real consequences for millions of LGBTQ people across the country. Regardless of the eventual outcome, it’s critical that Congress pass the Equality Act to address the significant gaps in federal civil rights laws and improve protections for everyone.”
HRC WELCOMES INTERNATIONAL LGBTQ ADVOCATES FOR FOURTH ANNUAL GLOBAL INNOVATIVE ADVOCACY SUMMIT: The Summit brings together international LGBTQ advocates from around the world this week in Washington, D.C. Said HRC Director of Global Leadership Jay Gilliam: “We are thrilled to welcome these advocates whose commitment to advancing LGBTQ equality in some of the world’s most challenging places is truly remarkable.” Read more from HRC.
- During the Summit, HRC will screen the critically-acclaimed film Rafiki, which follows a romance between the daughters of rival politicians in Kenya, and host a discussion with the film’s director Wanuri Kahiu (@wanuri). Read more at the Daily Beast.
TENNESSEE PASTOR CALLS ON STATE LEGISLATURE TO REJECT ANTI-LGBTQ “SLATE OF HATE” BILLS: “I was honored to join more than 115 of my fellow clergy who felt compelled to speak out against a slate of harmful and dehumanizing legislation introduced in Tennessee this year,” writes Pamela Hawkins (@Pamelahawk). Read the op-ed in the Tennessean.
MONDAY MUST READ — “OUR TIME TO SEEK JUSTICE IS NOW,” SAYS MUHLAYSIA BOOKER, TRANSGENDER WOMAN VICIOUSLY ATTACKED IN DALLAS: During a press conference Saturday, a tearful Booker thanked those who had supported her and called for justice, saying: ‘This time it was me. The next time could be someone else close to you.” See the full report at NBC 5.
- The attack highlights frustrations of a state lawmaker who for more than a decade has worked to pass a hate crimes law to protect transgender people, reports LaVendrick Smith (@LaVendrickS) at the Dallas News.
Transgender woman speaks publicly for first time since brutal beating –> t.co/p4cAmBDvng pic.twitter.com/tGd1ajkTAW
— NBC DFW (@NBCDFW) April 21, 2019
J.L. CARTER SR. (@JLCS06) OF HBCU DIGEST ON HOW HBCUs ARE CHANGING TO BETTER REFLECT LGBTQ DIVERSITY: The efforts at many of the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities include partnerships with LGBTQ organizations including HRC and the National Black Justice Coalition, Carter writes in the Florida Courier.
- “There is certainly a change happening,” Leslie Hall, director of HRC Foundation’s HBCU program, tells Khushbu Shah (@KhushbuOShea) of The Guardian. “Students are demanding to be seen and to be heard and I think folks are a bit more educated on topics as it relates to gender and sexual orientation.” Read more at The Guardian.
HORRIBLE — MAN IN MISSISSIPPI ATTACKED BECAUSE OF PERCEIVED SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Read more from the Clarion Ledger.
- Read HRC’s report on court-created loopholes that undermine employment non-discrimination protections when discrimination is based on an employer’s misperceptions about the employee.
NEW MEXICO OFFICIALS SAY ROXSANA HERNÁNDEZ DIED IN ICE CUSTODY FROM ILLNESS RELATED TO AIDS: The autopsy also found that Hernández “was not physically abused before her death,” which differs significantly from an earlier autopsy released last year. Michael Lavers (@mklavers81) reports that The Transgender Law Center, which plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of Hernández’s family, “sharply criticized the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator over its handling of the autopsy, accusing it of allowing ICE to read the report before Hernández’s legal representatives.” Read more from the Washington Blade.
HRC MARKS PASSOVER WITH REFLECTION ON THE INTERSECTIONS IN THE STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY: Read Rabbi Barry H. Block’s reflection here.
TO MARK GOOD FRIDAY, HRC PARTNERED WITH GAY CHRISTIAN ROCKER TREY PEARSON FOR A TWITTER TAKEOVER: “To have hope & faith in something more than ourselves starts with the act of loving your neighbor & truly loving others changes you,” Pearson (@treypearson) wrote. Read more here.
9/ As an LGBTQ person, I had to choose for myself to go to an affirming space that would marry me and would allow me to be an equal part of the church. —@TreyPearson #HRCTwitterTakeover t.co/E0VUxuMyTK
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) April 19, 2019
GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS
GAY SOLDIER IN SOUTH KOREA OPENS UP ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCE IN THE MILITARY: More from Agence France-Presse.
FIRST OPENLY LESBIAN PASTOR IN KENYA SPEAKS OUT ABOUT LGBTQ RIGHTS: More from PinkNews.
READING RAINBOW – Bookmark now to read on your lunch break!
Bloomberg reports on a new art exhibition, Art After Stonewall: 1969-1989, opening in New York City; Religion News Service interviews Gregory Prince, author of a new book on LGBTQ history in the Mormon Church; HRC responds to Charlize Theron’s (@CharlizeAfrica) announcement that her 7-year-old child is transgender
“My job as a parent is to celebrate them and to love them and to make sure that they have everything they need in order to be what they want to be.”
Thank you @CharlizeAfrica for this declaration of love. You are setting an example for parents everywhere. t.co/G5NxhD3LhS
— Chad Griffin (@ChadHGriffin) April 19, 2019
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