With the Texas Supreme Court's ruling that Houston's non-discrimination ordinance must be put up to a public vote, the Religious Right is so pleased that a law that protects LGBT Americans is in danger that they have resurrected the "pervert" trope especially for the occasion.
August Declared "Traditional Marriage Month" in Longview, Texas
Birth Control Battles Continue
Bloomberg BNA’s Kimberly Robinson covers The Never-Ending Story: More Attacks on Obamacare’s ‘Contraceptive Mandate.’”
After discussing the ongoing legal challenges by nonprofit organizations to an accommodation that already relieves them of any obligation to include contraception in their health plans, Robinson points out that a federal appeals court recently reinstated a legal challenge by a Missouri state legislator who “claims the law forces him to provide his daughters with access to contraceptive methods that violate his religious beliefs, because his employer-provided health plan won’t allow him to opt out of contraceptive coverage.”
Colorado Activists Attack Equality Verdict
Earlier this month, two citizens filed two ballot measures in Colorado to undermine marriage equality. The first ballot measure would defy the Supreme Court's recent marriage equality decision Obergefell v. Hodges, by denying same-sex couples the right to marry and instead allowing them only the right to obtain civil unions. The second would allow wedding related businesses to refuse to serve same sex-couples and instead hire a contractor to serve these couples.
Clergy Know Their Rights. In This Letter, They Prove It
The First Amendment Defense Act was introduced last month by Sen. Lee (R-UT) and Rep. Labrador (R-ID) in response to the Supreme Court decision guaranteeing marriage equality. The bill would create a sweeping religious exemption that would allow government employees, contractors, and grantees to discriminate against same-sex couples, unmarried couples, and single parents. For example, it could allow a homeless shelter or food bank that receives federal grants to refuse to serve a same-sex couple in need.
File Under: Nope
According to the New Civil Rights Movement, the owner of an Oregon bakery that illegally denied service to a same-sex couple seems to think that anti-discrimination laws mark the end of Western civilization.
Texas Marriage Equality Opponents Warn Against "Queering" Of Country
Two days after the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution requires states to license and recognize the marriages of same-sex couples, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a confusing memo suggesting that in some circumstances, county clerks or their employees with religious objections to marriage equality could withhold marriage licenses from same-sex couples.
Kentucky Legislators Prepare To Defy Supreme Court
Just days after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality in Obergefell v. Hodges, Kentucky made national news when its county clerks defied the decision by refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. And less than a month after the decision, Kentucky lawmakers have made the news again by pre-filing legislation (BR 101, BR 102) for the 2016 session that would allow government officials to refuse to issue or record marriage licenses and refuse to solemnize marriages of same-sex couples
One Confusing Detail in Wheaton College's Student Insurance Cancellation Plan
Two weeks ago, we posted about Wheaton College, a Christian liberal arts college in Illinois, cancelling its student health insurance to avoid complying with the new ACA contraception accommodations. One new detail makes us wonder why Wheaton College caused so much fuss in the first place.
Christian Baker Says It Is His "Duty To Serve" All Of His Customers, Including Same-Sex Couples
Tennessee Lawmaker Sends Letter To 95 County Clerks Urging Them To Refuse Marriage Licenses To Same-Sex Couples
Just weeks after posting a rant on his Facebook page calling for the impeachment of Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, Rep. Rick Womick is back in the news again, this time for sending a letter to all 95 Tennessee county clerks urging them to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Forced Parenthood: Religious Right Groups Attack Pro-Choice Org With Aim Of Ending Abortion
Perhaps you’ve seen the headlines about Planned Parenthood.
Viral videos released by the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) purportedly show two PP doctors discussing the organization’s practice of “selling” fetal tissue to biomedical research firms. The Religious Right promptly whipped itself into a frenzy, claiming that the videos are evidence that the pro-choice non-profit is violating federal law. But that’s no surprise to us.
Kentucky Minister Threatens Legal Action After Being Prevented From Preaching Anti-Gay Speech to Jailed LGBT Youths
A Kentucky minister is threatening legal action against the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) after the department revoked his status as a volunteer with LGBTQI youth at the Warren County Regional Juvenile Detention Center. David Wells of the Pleasant View Baptist Church in McQuady, KY, refused to comply with a DJJ policy that requires that those who identify as LGBTQI be treated with respect for their individual identities.
Canned Clerk: Indiana County Employee Fired For Refusing To Process Same-Sex Couples’ Marriage Applications Files Lawsuit
From Americans United's Wall of Separation blog:
An employee at a county clerk’s office in Indiana who was fired because she refused to process marriage licenses for same-sex couples claims her “religious freedom” rights have been violated. So now she’s suing.
Legal Entanglements Ahead in a Post-Obergefell, Post-EEOC Decision America
In the aftermath of the Obergefell v. Hodges decision and last week's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruling, there has been a hopeful feeling in the air for supporters of LGBT rights. Unfortunately, these monumental leaps forward in civil rights will come at the cost of knotty legal entanglements.
Court Reverses Decision in Washington Emergency Contraception Case
For the second time, The U.S Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has rejected a challenge to a Washington state law requiring pharmacies to stock and provide all prescription medicines, including emergency contraception such as the Plan B pill. A trial judge had ruled that the law was an unconstitutional violation of the plaintiffs’ free exercise of religion. The Ninth Circuit reversed, concluding that the Free Exercise Clause does not require exemptions for pharmacies with religious exemptions, because the law is not targeted at religion and advances the state’s interest in promoting patient safety.
Oregon Couple Discriminated Against By Bakery Speaks Out
Oregon couple Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer broke their silence on Tuesday about their legal battle with Sweet Cakes by Melissa and its owners Aaron and Melissa Klein. Their lawsuit was less about the cake the company refused to sell them for their wedding, the couple says, than the intense harassment and bullying they received once their complaints and personal information were made public
Equality Act: Equality The Right Way
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) and U.S. Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) today introduced the Equality Act, which would protect LGBT people from discrimination. It builds on our nation’s tradition of expanding civil-rights protections to ensure that more of our neighbors are protected from discrimination based on who they are.
Federal Appeals Court Correct To Reject Bogus ‘Religious Freedom’ Claims In Washington Birth Control Case, Says Americans United
Pharmacies Should Fill Prescriptions Regardless Of Owners’ Religious Views, Church-State Watchdog Asserts
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals acted correctly today by upholding Washington state regulations that require pharmacies to fill prescriptions that their owners may find objectionable, Americans United for Separation of Church and State says.
Americans United filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the most recent version of the case, arguing that the regulations do not violate the religious freedom rights of pharmacy owners.
“The state of Washington has a clear interest in making sure women can get emergency contraception in a timely and safe manner,” said Alex J. Luchenitser, Americans United’s associate legal director. “A pharmacy owner’s personal religious beliefs shouldn’t be permitted to undermine that access.”
Washington pharmacy commissioners passed regulations in 2007 as a response to a spate of incidents involving pharmacists who refused to dispense birth control, emergency contraception and other medications. The same rules permit individual pharmacists to refuse to fill a prescription as long as a colleague will do so instead.
Pharmacies, however, may not refuse to dispense the drugs entirely. The Stormans family, who owns Ralph’s Thriftway pharmacy in Olympia, claimed that provision violated its religious freedom rights and filed suit the same year. The family prevailed before a federal trial court in 2012, but the state appealed, arguing that it had a rational basis for requiring pharmacies to stock emergency contraception and other birth control pills.
The appeals court held that the regulations are neutral and don’t single out religion. The court also said the rules have a secular rationale of ensuring that state residents are able to get the medication they need.
“[T]he rules were rationally related to Washington’s legitimate interest in ensuring that its citizens have safe and timely access to their lawful and lawfully prescribed medications,” explained the court.
The case is Stormans, Inc. v. Wiesman. The Stormans family is being represented by the Becket Fund and the Alliance Defending Freedom, two Religious Right legal groups.
Americans United’s brief was prepared by Luchenitser and former AU attorney fellow Ben Hazelwood.