Sessions Goes After LGBT Rights

Well… Jefferson Davis Sessions just went after LGBT people. Likely as part of an overall attempt to eliminate Title IV and Civil Rights Law.

The New Jim Crow for LGBT people.

Why Trump’s Justice Department Just Increased the Stakes In the Fight for LGBT Workplace Rights

The Trump administration’s Department of Justice on Wednesday undercut the stance of the Obama administration’s DOJ and another autonomous federal agency, by arguing that an existing law, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, does not bar an employer from firing a gay employee because he or she is gay.

The filing came the same day as President Trump’s announcement that he would bar transgender troops from serving in the military. Together, the two actions fueled outrage from lawmakers, activists and other leaders who argue that the administration is seeking to roll back the rights and protections won by the LGBT community in recent years.

As a candidate, Trump largely avoided talking about issues related to sexual orientation, but often implied that he wouldn’t interfere with recent progress, even going so far as to promise gays and lesbians, “I will fight for you.”

Since his inauguration, however, Trump has been largely silent on the issue. Social conservatives were key to his election victory, and, notably, his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, has been a longtime opponent of extending job protections based on sexual orientation.

Sexual orientation is not explicitly listed in Title VII, which protects individuals against employment discrimination on the basis of race and color, as well as national origin, sex, and religion. But the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled in July 2015 that discrimination based on sexual orientation is, in essence, discrimination based on sex. Because sexual orientation can’t be defined or understood without reference to sex, the commission held, discrimination based on it is “premised on sex-based preferences, assumptions, expectations, stereotypes, or norms” and therefore barred by the law. The EEOC’s ruling was hailed as a victory for the LGBT community at the time, and under President Obama, it became the interpretation that the DOJ abided by.

Trump’s DOJ on Wednesday challenged that stance, arguing just the opposite: that Title VII does not protect against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The DOJ’s opinion, filed in a brief in an ongoing legal case between a worker and his boss being heard by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, says “the sole question here is whether, as a matter of law, Title VII reaches sexual orientation discrimination. It does not, as has been settled for decades. Any efforts to amend Title VII’s scope should be directed to Congress rather than the courts.”

The EEOC filed a motion in the same Second Circuit case just last month, reiterating its 2015 finding that Title VII bans bias based on sexual orientation.

In its filing, the DOJ acknowledged, rather frankly, that its stance on the matter contradicts that of its fellow government agency. “The EEOC is not speaking for the United States and its position about the scope of Title VII is entitled to no deference beyond its power to persuade,” the ruling says.

It’s true that courts are not bound by EEOC positions; they’re only required to honor legislation and the rulings of courts to which their cases can be appealed, including the Supreme Court. (It should be noted that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit made the same determination as the EEOC in a case in April.) But the EEOC’s decisions matter because the commission enforces Title VII, has the authority to bring lawsuits based on its rulings against private employers, and adjudicates cases brought by federal workers against federal agencies.

The DOJ meanwhile, is the defense attorney for the United States, so, in many ways, it’s just like any big employer that files an amicus brief in a case. But enforcing discrimination law in contexts outside of employment—housing, voting rights, disability—is part of the department’s mandate, meaning its stance on such issues carries more weight than other employers’, says Marcia McCormick, an employment law professor at St. Louis University School of Law.

Its filing in the Second Circuit case this week extends what has been a years-long debate over the scope of Title VII. The EEOC’s ruling on that matter in 2015 recognized that federal courts had concluded the opposite, but it said that those decisions were “dated.”

The EEOC’s stance on Title VII’s reach—spelled out in 2015—was considered a landmark decision because it gave gay workers extra cover in states that hadn’t passed their own laws barring discrimination based on sexual orientation. As of this April, 20 states have passed laws banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; another two have passed legislation against bias based on sexual orientation only, according to the Human Rights Campaign, meaning there are 28 states where gay employees can be fired for being gay.

The DOJ’s new stance on the matter says that determining such workplace protections should be done through Congress, not through the courts. Lawmakers have pursued that route before. The federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would have outlawed discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation (and, in more recent versions, gender identity) nationwide, was first introduced in 1994. Congress considered it at least 10 times in the following decade and a half, but it never became law. The current Congress, whose GOP leadership includes many social conservatives, seems highly unlikely to act on a similar bill.

 

UNC Folds on “Bathroom Law”

Facing losing over $1 billion in Federal Research Grants…UNC President reverses course.

University Of North Carolina Won’t Enforce Anti-Trans Bathroom Bill

The UNC system president wrote in a court filing that she had “no intent” to enforce the new law.

The University of North Carolina system will not enforce a state law that mandates people use the bathroom that corresponds to the sex on their birth certificate, UNC System President Margaret Spellings told a federal court Friday.

“I have no intent to exercise my authority to promulgate any guidelines or regulations that require transgender students to use the restrooms consistent with their biological sex,” Spellings wrote in an affidavit filed as part of a motion to halt civil legal proceedings against the university system, The Associated Press reported.

Spellings has avoided giving her personal opinion on House Bill 2, also known as the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, which passed in March.

And though she sent out a memo in April advising campuses to follow the law, her memo hinted that she had no clue how to actually enforce it. UNC lawyers suggested the same thing in a court filing, writing that the system has not “changed any of its policies or practices regarding transgender students or employees” and that HB2 doesn’t provide any guidance on enforcement.

Multiple plaintiffs are taking the UNC system to court in response to HB2, saying it’s discriminatory. The law states that when it comes to multiple-occupancy bathrooms in government buildings or public schools and colleges, everyone must use the restroom corresponding with the sex indicated on their birth certificate. In other words, a person who was assigned female at birth and now identifies as a man would still have to use the women’s bathroom.

The law also removed legal anti-discrimination protection for LGBTQ people.

The UNC system is asking the court to postpone the civil case, pending the outcome of a separate case in Virginia involving a teen suing a county school board over a policy barring him from using the boys’ bathroom.

 

Maybe if Alabama Spent More Time on the Real Threats to Children…

Alabama is another one of those stare which wants to pass laws regulating bathrooms, Voter ID’s, and other activities. Supposedly they are protecting children with the back to the stone age religious extremism. All the while ignoring the real threats…

Gun-Dealing Ninth-Grade Teacher Traded Sex for A’s

An Alabama teacher who allegedly preyed on female students was also a convicted felon who took a leave of absence from the school to serve his prison sentence.

An Alabama history teacher who allegedly offered A’s in exchange for sex also moonlighted as a black-market gun dealer, records show.

Phillip Smith III, of Birmingham, was indicted on federal gun charges while teaching social studies in 2004. Yet the school district never knew, even as the high school instructor took a seven-month leave to serve his prison sentence.

Now the 43-year-old is facing a lawsuit from the family of a female student, who claims Smith cornered her in class and solicited sex.

The complaint also alleges Smith operated a “sex for grades” scheme that targeted children who struggled in school. Birmingham City Schools and the city’s board of education, accused of negligence, are also defendants in the lawsuit.

“He kind of liked to dance around the classroom,” the unidentified student told AL.com, which first revealed the creepy teach’s tactics.

“My friends told me to have my boyfriend walk me to his class,” the girl added.

Smith allegedly put the moves on the student in December 2013, when he was administering a history exam at Huffman High School.

The convict teacher—who was also a women’s volleyball coach at the school—was later fired and criminally charged as a result of the girl coming forward, her attorney, Julian Hendrix told The Daily Beast.

While Hendrix’s client wasn’t sexually assaulted by Smith, authorities allegedly found a 14-year-old girl who was, according to a 2014 AL.com report.

 

DOJ Says NC Religious Freedom (Bathroom Law) Is Unconstiutional

DOJ has rejected the North Carolina anti-LGBT Law, and given the State 2 days to comply.

If the State does not comply, the Federal Government may immediately begin cutting off Federal funding, the first stage of which would be to cut off the $4.5 billion North Carolina gets in Educational money from the Federal Government. Besides that, the state would lose billions in Transportation funding, as well as funding from  Labor, Housing and Urban Development, and Health and Human Services.

Lastly Military spending:

1. Nearly 110,000 active duty military personnel were assigned to units in North Carolina as of March 31, 2013
2. Department of Defense contracting in FY 2012 totaled $3.4 billion
3. The military supports 540,000 jobs in North Carolina, $30 billion in state personal income, and $48 billion in gross state product.
4. 340,000 of military-supported jobs occur in the private sector.

This shidt is getting ready to hurt!

North Carolina Republican Gov. Pat McCrory

North Carolina LGBT law violates the Civil Rights Act, feds say

North Carolina’s controversial House Bill 2 breaks civil rights laws banning workplace discrimination based on sex, U.S. Justice Department officials said Wednesday.

The feds alerted Gov. Pat McCrory he has until Monday to address the violation of the U.S. Civil Rights Act “by confirming that the State will not comply with or implement HB2,” according to a letter obtained by The Charlotte Observer. DOJ officials said HB 2 is illegal under both the law’s workplace discrimination statutes and Title IX, which forbids discrimination in education based on gender.

The state law voided a Charlotte municipal ordinance allowing transgender people to use the restroom of the gender they identify with and prohibited other cities and counties from passing their own anti-discrimination statutes. HB 2 also restricts transgender people to the public bathrooms of the gender on their birth certificates. Protests by activists and businesses followed passage of the bill in March.

“The State is engaging in a pattern or practice of discrimination against transgender state employees and both you, in your official capacity, and the State are engaging in a pattern or practice of resistance,” toward their civil rights, said the letter from DOJ Civil Rights Division principal deputy attorney general Vanita Gupta. The finding places hundreds of millions of dollars in federal education funds in jeopardy.

 

 

Hitting the NC Bigots Where it Hurts, NCAA May Pull Basketball Tournament

Non conversation about College Basketball is complete without the mention of two of the sports powerhouses, University of North Carolina, and Duke University. One of the reasons I am an ACC Fan, besides being an Alumni of a ACC School, is their go anywhere, beat you like a dime store guitar attitude, risking early season losses by playing against schools from the other majors like the Big East and the Big Ten – and one or more teams making the trek to Rupp Arena to take on SEC Powerhouse Kentucky. Something perennial sports writer favorites in the Big 12, and some pother leagues don’t do, usually resulting in being overrated and an early exit at the season ending tournament.

Tobacco Row is about Basketball. And, in recognition of the huge fan interest in North Carolina, the NCAA regularly schedules one of their regional competitions there, garnering several hundred million dollars for businesses in the State.

The effect of the NCAA effectively pulling their tournament out of the state could, in conjunction with private corporations pulling out operations, or events in the state, push the damages done to the state economy by the sanctimonious NC Republican bigot brigade over $1 billion and counting…This is hurting the state, which has a thriving high tech industry based around the Universities, as well as having become a major banking and insurance company haven – and those companies ability to attract highly qualified LGBT or straight people, who don’t want to live and work in a right wing theocracy where bigotry is legalized.

Did an article earlier abut the CBC. Why exactly aren’t they proposing a bill to cut off federal funding in states which pass this type of laws?

NCAA Joins The Fight Against North Carolina’s ‘Bathroom Law’

Now, we can only hope that “lawmakers are listening.”

Citing the need to maintain a “safe, healthy” atmosphere for both the players and the public, the NCAA doubled down on its anti-discrimination stance on Wednesday, approving a new decree mandating that all sites that hope to host NCAA events “demonstrate how they will provide an environment … free of discrimination.”

“The higher education community is a diverse mix of people from different racial, ethnic, religious and sexual orientation backgrounds,” chair of the NCAA Board of Governors Kirk Schulz stated. “So it is important that we assure that community— including our student-athletes and fans — will always enjoy the experience of competing and watching at NCAA championships without concerns of discrimination.”

The decision comes in the aftermath of the highly controversial Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act (HB2), which, among other discriminatory measures, forces transgender people to use the bathroom that accords with the “biological sex” on their birth certificate, not the restroom that matches the gender with which they identify.

The law directly affects public schools, thus ensnarling the NCAA in the debate.

Home to two perennial hoops powerhouses, the state of North Carolina is a common host for the annual men’s NCAA tournament. And while Greensboro was slated to hold opening round games next year, the site will now have to indicate how exactly its arena plans to “protect[] against discrimination” and ensure that all present will be “treated with fairness and respect” before the NCAA sets up shop come March 2017.

“The NCAA has sent a very clear message that unfair and unjust discrimination against LGBT people will not be tolerated by the association, and we hope lawmakers are listening,” Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin stated Thursday in response to the association’s decision. “We commend the NCAA Board of Governors for taking this critically important stand in favor of fairness and equality.”

This latest mandate falls in line with other, similar anti-discrimination postures the NCAA has taken in the past. For example, schools cannot host championship events if their “nicknames use Native American imagery that is considered abusive and offensive,” while predetermined neutral sites cannot host championship eventsif their respective state governments “display the Confederate battle flag.”

North Carolina prides itself on its long legacy of dominance on the hardwood. Let’s hope that the Association’s stand helps the state and its elected officials realize the importance of reversing HB2.

 

Alabama Preacher Says Sex Will Make You Stupid

Damn…And here I thought I gained at least 3 IQ points breaking up with my last lady friend not fretting over whether to make reservations at the choice of that lovely seaside B&B, or mountain chalet with winery…And there is definitely scientific evidence the sight of a well apportioned woman will cause temporary tongue tied stupidity in straight men. But…

This guy is from one of those “Bathroom” states.

He obviously hasn’t had sex (at least with a fellow human)  in quite a while. These guys have gotten so twisted, God wouldn’t recognize them anymore.

Alabama preacher says sex is the biggest reason for homelessness, abuse and lowers your IQ

A Preacher in Alabama wants you to know that sex will kill your brain cells, make you homeless and was brought by God as a means of punishing people, so you really shouldn’t be enjoying it as much as you do. Many right-wing religious have deep and profound problems with sex. They want to regulate when you can have it, how you can have it and who you can have it with. But, this guy has taken the anti-sex philosophy to a whole new level of hostility.

“Sex has never been ordained by God,” he says sitting behind two phallic lighthouses. “In fact, it was the first sin, Adam and Eve and the serpent. And you see what happened to the serpent on that. But, like I say, sex is the problem. If you don’t mention sex, two men or two women can live together, share a place, have a place, and one can leave whatever she got, and they can have a ‘merge partner,’ they call it.”

“I say this to the young people: Sex is a very dangerous thing. As dangerous as can be. As dangerous as cocaine or anything else. If you start, say as a young person, and get hooked on that, and it’ll paralyze your mind where you won’t learn very well like you ought to, most time. And it’s gonna create all kinda problems.”

He seems obsessed with the idea that people are talking about sex. He quite simply doesn’t want to hear about it. “Sex is between two consenting people of age, and that’s where it’s supposed to stay right there. You’re not supposed to go and talk about it. It’s all behind closed doors.”

“Sex, I think, well, sex is the biggest, the most reason, well, all the homeless, abused children in the world is because of sex. And 99.9 percent, I guess there’s been a few [intelligable] that was because of money then. But money and sex is the two worst things out there and sex is a mighty big one.”

“Sex is — was here for the world to multiply, and that was kind of a punishment,” he has concluded. “It’s never been ordained by God. It’s not sanctified by God.”

Erotophobia is a recognized fear of sex by the American Psychological Association. As for his erroneous statistics on homelessness and sexuality, 47,000 members of the homeless community are veterans, many of whom are suffering not from sex, but from post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, and mental illness. Thirteen percentof homeless people are fleeing domestic violence.

There is no evidence from the American Psychological Association that sex causes homelessness or low intelligence. In fact, actual science shows quite the opposite. According to a piece in the Atlantic, in experiments with mice and rats, sexual activity shows an improvement in mental performance. Sex increases neurogenesis, which is the production of neurons in the middle of the brain (the hippocampus), which is where long-term memories are formed.

 

Businesses Fighting North Carolina Republican Anti-LGBT Law

Earlier this week, NC Governor signed into Law a bill which prohibits local cities and municipalities from either enacting or enforcing existing laws protecting LGBT people from discrimination. The law is un-constitutional, however it will likely be 4-5 years before that decision is made by the Supreme Court. So, unless a State Judge stays the Law – it will be in effect.

In the mean time, NC Tea Baggers are going to find out just how expensive their cretinism and bigotry is.

After passing the same type of legislation in Georgia, a number of companies have threatened to pull out of the state.

In North Carolina so far, the NBA has threatened to cancel it’s All Star Game in the State, and the NCAA has threatened to pull all 20 games of March Madness out of the state in 2017. A number of corporations have expressed disapproval, but whether such will translate into any action is yet to be seen.

The North Carolina Law is different from the Georgia Law in that it specifically targets LGBT people, and forces cities to remove ordinances passed at the local level to protect their rights. The Georgia law legalizes discrimination against anyone, whether LBGT or a minority based on “religious” grounds.

Businesses Are Joining The Fight Against North Carolina’s Anti-LGBT Law

Dow Chemical, PayPal and the NCAA have all spoken out against the new law.

Companies are taking a stand against North Carolina’s new anti-LGBT law, which Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signed on Wednesday.

House Bill 2, approved by the state’s General Assembly in a special session, prevents cities from passing anti-discrimination ordinances protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people. The law came in response to an anti-discrimination ordinance recently passed in Charlotte, which allowed transgender people to use the bathroom designated for the gender with which they identify. Conservatives, including McCrory, vowed to take down the so-called bathroom bill, arguing the law would give predators license to enter women’s bathrooms. (As HuffPost’s Amanda Terkel reports, this rhetoric has doomed many equal rights initiatives.)

The resulting legislation is a wide-ranging measure that blocks local governments from passing laws protecting LGBT people, requires schools to designate single-sex bathrooms based on “biological sex” and preempts city policies involving wages, benefits and other workplace regulations.

Corporate leaders in the state have been swift to condemn the law, echoing the backlash that helped take down Indiana’s “religious freedom“ law last year.

The law also drew opposition from the NCAA, which had planned to host at least 20high-profile games in the state in 2017 and 2018, including the immensely popular Division I men’s tournament. The association hinted that HB 2 could change its mind.

“We’ll continue to monitor current events, which include issues surrounding diversity, in all cities bidding on NCAA championships and events, as well as cities that have already been named as future host sites,” the organization said in a statement. “Our commitment to the fair treatment of all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, has not changed and is at the core of our NCAA values. It is our expectation that all people will be welcomed and treated with respect in cities that host our NCAA championships and events.”

American Airlines, which has a major hub in Charlotte, also condemned HB 2.

“We believe no individual should be discriminated against because of gender identity or sexual orientation,” American Airlines spokeswoman Katie Cody said. “Laws that allow such discrimination go against our fundamental belief of equality and are bad for the economies of the state in which they are enacted.”

The NBA, which has scheduled the league’s 2017 All-Star Game in Charlotte, said its leaders “do not know” how the law will affect plans for the game: