LGBT+ News and Discussions

weatheriscool
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Youngkin administration overhauls Virginia transgender student policies

BY: NATHANIEL CLINE AND SARAH VOGELSONG - SEPTEMBER 16, 2022 6:54 PM

Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration quietly released a document]Friday overhauling Virginia’s policy on the treatment of transgender students, citing “parental rights.” ... The “Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for all Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools” published by the Virginia Department of Education will direct local school boards to adopt a slate of new policies for the treatment of transgender students that represent a sharp reversal from the stance the state took under former Gov. Ralph Northam and a Democrat-dominated legislature.

While Friday’s guidance notes that “schools should attempt to accommodate students with distinctive needs, including any student with a persistent and sincere belief that his or her gender differs from his or her sex,” it also emphasizes what it describes as parents’ “fundamental rights.” ... The new policies require parental approval for any changes to students’ “names, nicknames, and/or pronouns,” direct schools to keep parents “informed about their children’s well-being,” specify that student participation in activities and athletics shall be based on sex and state that “students shall use bathrooms that correspond to his or her sex, except to the extent that federal law otherwise requires.”

“The First Amendment forbids government actors to require individuals to adhere to or adopt any particular ideological beliefs,” the new guidance reads. “Practices such as compelling others to use preferred pronouns is premised on the ideological belief that gender is a matter of personal choice or subjective experience, not sex. Many Virginians reject this belief.” ... Furthermore, the policy continues, “the First Amendment guarantees religious freedom and prohibits compelling others to affirm ideas that may be contrary to their personal religious beliefs.”

A 30-day public comment period on the policies is expected to open Sept. 26, after which they will go into effect. ... The new policies overturn guidance laid out by a Democrat-backed 2020 law that required school districts to uphold student privacy about their transgender status, use pronouns and names requested by students and allow students to use restrooms and locker rooms that aligned with their gender identity. ... The model policies developed as a result of the 2020 law got a mixed reception from school districts, many of which refused to formally adopt them.
Read more: https://www.virginiamercury.com/2022/09 ... -policies/
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caltrek
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100 Clergy Who are Samford Grads Urge President to Reverse Exclusionary Policy
by Mark Wingfield
September 16, 2022

Introduction:
(Baptist News Global) More than 100 clergy who are alumni of Samford University have signed an open letter to university President Beck Taylor asking for a reversal of the school’s new policy to exclude from campus ministries churches that affirm same-sex marriage.

“We are clergy members of the Samford University family, trained, educated and prepared for ministry on the very campus where we may no longer be welcome,” the group wrote. “We ordained alumni now serve as pastors, chaplains, counselors, therapists and leaders of religious communities and organizations whose ministries would be banned from campus by the new interpretation of Samford’s policies for partnering organizations. Our belief in the far-reaching love of God is now perceived as a threat to the ideology of a select number of Samford administrators and staff.”

News of the university’s new policy came to light Sept. 12 when published by a Birmingham newspaper, although those affected learned about the change Aug. 31, when they were denied participation in a campus Church and Ministry Expo. Specifically excluded were Presbyterian Church (USA) and Episcopal Church ministries, who were told they would not be approved for participation because their denominations allow same-sex marriage. Both groups historically had been welcome on campus.

The implication was that any church or ministry group connected in any way to LGBTQ inclusion would meet the same fate, although exactly how far the action will reach is not known since the university has been silent on the matter. No formal statement, policy or trustee action has been put forward.

Enough is known, however, for the clergy alumni group to believe they, too, would not be welcome in ministry roles on the campus because of their personal beliefs or their congregations’ stances on LGBTQ inclusion.
Read more here: https://baptistnews.com/article/100-cl ... y-policy/
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weatheriscool
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Cuba approves same-sex marriage in unusual referndum
Source: AP

By CRISTIANA MESQUITA

HAVANA (AP) — Cubans have approved a sweeping “family law” code that would allow same-sex couples to marry and adopt as well as redefining rights for children and grandparents, officials said Monday, though opposition in the national referendum was unusually strong on the Communist Party-governed island.

The measure — which contains more than 400 articles — was approved by 66.9% to 33.1%, the president of the National Electoral Council, Alina Balseiro Gutiérrez, told official news media, though returns from a few places remained to be counted.

The reforms had met unusually strong open resistance from the growing evangelical movement in Cuba — and many other Cubans — despite an extensive government campaign in favor of the measure, including thousands of informative meetings across the country and extensive media coverage backing it.

Cuban elections — in which no party other than the Communist is allowed — routinely produce victory margins of more than 90% — as did a referendum on a major constitutional reform in 2019.



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/religion-cub ... 2964d152bb
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caltrek
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Pakistan Launches Anti-harassment Hotline for Trans People
September 30, 2022

Introduction:
ISLAMABAD (AP via Courthouse News) — Pakistan on Friday launched a hotline for transgender people in an effort to protect them from discrimination and harassment, a senior government official said.

Trans people in Pakistan are considered outcasts by many, especially in conservative areas in the country, where they are often sexually abused, assaulted and even murdered. They also hesitate to enroll in regular schools to avoid discrimination.

Salman Sufi, an adviser to Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, said in a tweet that the much-awaited hotline for the protection of trans people from discrimination and harassment had been set up and was live.

The hotline is connected to top police officers and the Ministry of Human Rights, he said.

“We are glad that this so-called hotline has been set up for us," Almas Bobby, a spokesperson for transgender people in Pakistan, told The Associated Press by phone. Bobby said in most cases of harassment, trans people are either beaten, arrested or publicly harassed by police across the country.
Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/pakista ... s-people/
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caltrek
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Ron DeSantis’ Relentless War on Trans Kids Hits a New Low
by Madison Pauly
October 4, 2022

Introduction:
(Mother Jones) When Emile Fox learned that the Florida Board of Medicine, the rule-making body for doctors in his state, was considering banning transgender medical care for youth, he thought about his own transition. Fox, a 27-year-old barista in Orlando, says he had suffered serious mental health problems throughout his teen years and into young adulthood. But once he came out as trans in his mid-20s, he experienced what he calls “that click.” Soon, under the supervision of a physician, he began a course of testosterone; when he heard his voice drop, he remembers thinking, “I didn’t realize I was missing.”

He often wondered how much anguish he might have saved had if he had transitioned at a younger age. But the proposed medical board rule would wipe out that option for Florida’s trans youth—and any doctors who helped them would risk losing their licenses. So in August, Fox traveled to Fort Lauderdale to plead with the board to preserve gender-affirming care for Florida’s teens. “I don’t think it’s the state of being transgender that causes mental illness—I believe it’s the general lack of support, social acceptance, and medical treatment,” Fox told the board, his voice tight with nerves, in a crowded conference room evenly divided between supporters and opponents. “Transgender people thrive and live healthier lives when they receive gender-affirming care. I’m proof of this.”
Further extract:
“It’s shocking that a state board of medicine would propose banning care for youth that is medically necessary and age appropriate, and is supported by every major medical association in the United States,” says Sarah Warbelow, legal director for Human Rights Campaign.
Read more here: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2 ... alt-care/

caltrek’s comment: Interesting. I did not realize that the “major medical” associations had come out so forcefully on this issue. Yet another example of the (usually) Republican hostility to science and basic human rights.
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weatheriscool
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Federal judge rules Texas employers can discriminate against LGBT-'related conduct'
Source: Houston Chronicle

An LGBT Texan can be fired from a job because of the way they dress, their pronouns or the bathroom they use, a federal judge ruled.

The ruling stemmed from a suit Texas brought in September of last year, just months after the Biden administration issued guidance showing states how to comply with federal anti-discrimination protections. A federal judge in Tennessee had already stayed the directives in 20 other states as part of a separate court case.

In a 33-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk said the Biden guidance incorrectly interpreted the 2020 Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, which held that workplace discrimination based on sexuality or gender identity is unconstitutional.....

Kacsmaryk also disagreed that gender dysphoria could qualify as a disability under federal anti-discrimination law.

That guidance issued over the summer by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission came out after Paxton issued an opinion this February finding that the care could constitute child abuse. Gov. Greg Abbott then directed the state’s child welfare agency to begin investigating parents of transgender children who received the care.


Read more: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politi ... 491622.php
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caltrek
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Don't mourn, organize.

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caltrek
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Human Rights Watch Condemns Qatar Over Arrests, Abuse of LGBTQ+ People Ahead of World Cup
by Jenna McGuire
October 25, 2022

Introduction:
(Common Dreams) As Qatar prepares to host the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup, Human Rights Watch reported on Monday that Qatar Preventive Security Department forces have arrested LGBTQ+ people without cause and subjected them to deplorable treatment in detention.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) revealed that "security forces arrested people in public places based solely on their gender expression," and documented multiple cases between 2019 and 2022—six that involved severe and repeated physical violence and five that involved sexual harassment.

"While Qatar prepares to host the World Cup, security forces are detaining and abusing LGBT people simply for who they are, apparently confident that the security force abuses will go unreported and unchecked," said Rasha Younes, LGBT rights researcher at HRW. "Qatari authorities need to end impunity for violence against LGBT people. The world is watching."

Six LGBTQ+ Qataris, including four transgender women, one bisexual woman, and one gay man, all told HRW they were detained in an underground prison, verbally harrassed, physically abused, forced to give confessions, and denied access to legal counsel, family, and medical care—and all were made to sign pledges that they would "cease immoral activity."

In all cases, individuals were detained without charge and never received record of their detention, which HRW says most likely constitutes unlawful arbitrary detention under international human rights law.
Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022 ... world-cup
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caltrek
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Judge Tosses Seattle Pacific University Suit Over Washington’s Anti-LGBT Hiring Probe
by Alanna Madden
October 26, 2022

Introduction:
TACOMA, Wash. (Courthouse News) — Attorneys for Seattle Pacific University failed Wednesday to convince a federal judge it has standing to sue Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson for launching an investigation into the Christian school's hiring practices regarding LGBTQ individuals.

U.S. District Judge Robert Bryan dismissed Seattle Pacific’s lawsuit against Ferguson from the bench, citing a lack of redressability.

Seattle Pacific sued Ferguson this past July after Ferguson's office initiated an investigation into the school’s hiring practices after student and staff sit-ins and calls to remove the school's board of trustees, in response to a May 2022 vote to keep a school policy that prohibits staff from engaging in “same-sex sexual activity.”

The vote came after a period of upheaval at the university: A faculty applicant sued the school claiming sexual orientation discrimination, students and faculty called on the school to drop its positions on human sexuality — even taking a vote of no confidence in the board — and a working group of faculty, students and trustees recommended the changes that were ultimately rejected.

According to the university's complaint, all of this led a group of students to ask Ferguson to take legal action against the school and its board. Ferguson then sent a letter demanding "prompt production of voluminous and sensitive internal information on the university’s religious policies and their application to any and all faculty, staff, and administrators," the school said in its complaint.
Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-t ... ng-probe/
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weatheriscool
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US appeals court: Beauty pageant can bar trans contestants
Source: AP

By REBECCA BOONE
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A federal appellate court on Wednesday said a national beauty pageant has a First Amendment right to exclude a transgender woman from competing because including her could interfere with the message the pageant has said it wants to send about “what it means to be a woman.”

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by Anita Green, who said the Miss United States of America pageant violated an Oregon state anti-discrimination law when it barred her from competing in 2019.

Green, who is transgender, has competed in several pageants including Miss Montana USA, Miss Earth and Ms. World Universal. She was living in Clackamas, Oregon and was preparing to compete in the Miss United States of America’s Miss Oregon pageant when she said the organization rejected her application because it did not consider her to be a “natural born female.”

Green sued, contending the organization was violating a state law that makes it illegal to deny public accommodations to people based on their sex or gender identity.


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/entertainmen ... m=HomePage
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