Former President Barack Obama has teamed with Jimmy Kimmel, Bono, Coca Cola, and Project Red to fight HIV on World AIDS Day.
In a special video, the ex-president shares good news about the fight against HIV and cracks a few jokes too.
“When it comes to the fight against HIV/AIDs, there’s some genuinely good news to share,” Obama says. “For the first time in history, more than half of all people living with the virus are on life-saving medication.”
“It sounds like a miracle, but it’s not the result of mysterious forces or chance. It happened because countless people working for years chose to make this process,” Obama continues. “You can help us win this fight. You can help us change lives and write a future full of progress and hope, so let’s all get to work.”
But, apparently, no matter how much you help, you won’t be able to pilot Air Force One. You’ll have to settle for changing lives.
More than 50 organizations joined in declaring their support Wednesday for equal dignity under the law for LGBT Americans. The statement of principle comes days before the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.
Signatories are comprised of national, state, and local civil rights champions as well as social justice advocates and religious organizations representing diverse communities. On its digital platform, the coalition called for the high court to affirm all Americans’ rights to live free from discrimination, and that public accommodations remain “Open To All.” Signing organizations called for a recommitment to the promises made in the wake of the civil rights movement of the 1960s that businesses open to the public may not turn anyone away because of who they are.
Standing in solidarity with Masterpiece plaintiffs Charlie Craig and Dave Mullins, the coalition also spoke to the widespread implications of a Supreme Court decision against the couple, saying, “It would say there is a constitutional right to discriminate — which could be used not only against LGBTQ people but also against people of color and religious minorities, unmarried couples, single mothers, young people, people with disabilities, and many, many others.”
Among the coalition members are the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the National Black Justice Coalition, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America, in addition to leading LGBT rights advocates GLAAD, Lambda Legal, the Human Rights Campaign, the National Center for Transgender Equality, and the National LGBTQ Task Force, among others.
“Our clients in the Masterpiece case have already felt the stinging harm of being turned away from a business simply because of who they are, a harm that no one should ever have to endure,” said James Esseks, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBT and HIV Project. “A ruling in this case to give businesses the right to refuse service to customers would shatter longstanding non-discrimination laws and have wide impacts on religious and racial minorities, single mothers, people with disabilities, and others. We are proud to stand with our allies as well as Charlie and Dave, our clients, in this campaign to encourage people to share their support for equality.”
“Nobody should be turned away or denied service just because of who they are,” said Kris Hayashi, executive director of the Transgender Law Center. “Allowing businesses to pick and choose which laws to follow would have devastating consequences for transgender and gender non-conforming people of color, who already face intense discrimination in every aspect of life.”
The full list of statement signatories is below:
Advocates for Youth
Americans United for Separation for Church and State
Anti-Defamation League
Asian Americans Advancing Justice/AAJC
Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Believe Out Loud
Center for American Progress
Center for Black Equity
Center for Reproductive Rights
CenterLink: the Community of LGBT Centers
Constitutional Accountability Center
Council for Global Equality
Diverse and Resilient
Equality California
Equality Federation
Equality Florida
Equality Michigan
Equality North Carolina
Fairness West Virginia
Family Equality Council
Freedom for All Americans
Georgia Equality
GLAAD
GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders
GLSEN
HIV Medicine Association
Human Rights Campaign
Keep Our Birth Control Copay Free Campaign
Lambda Legal
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Los Angeles LGBT Center
Main Street Alliance
NARAL Pro-Choice America
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Center for Transgender Equality
National Council of Jewish Women
National Health Law Program
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
National LGBT Bar Association
National LGBTQ Task Force
National Minority AIDS Council
National Partnership for Women and Families
National Women’s Law Center
Outfront Minnesota
People for the American Way Foundation
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
SAGE: Advocacy and Services for LGBT Elders
Southern Arizona Gender Alliance
The Trevor Project
Transgender Law Center
Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund
Union for Reform Judaism
Whitman-Walker Health
The full statement and more information on Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission can be found at www.opentoall.com.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is opposing the latest Trump-Pence “tax” scheme. The bill was drafted in secret without meaningful public input and is being rushed through the Senate this week. Under the guise of this tax bill, some Republican leaders in Congress continue to play politics with people’s lives, using it as a vehicle to once again attack the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and other vital health care programs.
“With provisions that undermine the Affordable Care Act and threaten programs critical to LGBTQ people, the Trump-Pence tax plan would have devastating consequences for millions of Americans,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “The Senate must reject this reckless and desperate attempt to score a legislative victory at the expense of everyday Americans.”
The Senate version of the bill repeals the ACA’s individual mandate that requires all American’s to have health insurance or pay a penalty. This provision was at the heart of the Trump-McConnell failed effort to repeal the ACA earlier this summer. Repealing the individual mandate could result in 13 million people leaving the insurance market, immediately causing insurance premiums to soar and leave millions more priced out of access to healthcare. Furthermore, the revenue losses triggered by the bill are likely to result in future spending cuts to critical health programs like Medicare, Medicaid, global HIV/AIDS programs, the Ryan White Care Act, and other essential domestic discretionary programs.
Another provision that some Republicans are attempting to sneak into the final bill includes language that would undercut the Johnson amendment, allowing houses of worship to endorse or oppose candidates for public office. Such a change would allow candidates and political parties to pressure houses of worship for endorsements, transforming them into tools for their own political gain. HRC strongly opposes efforts to weaken to the prohibition on political engagement by houses of worship.
When Congress last considered tax reform legislation 31 years ago, they had 30 days of public hearings over six months. Then House members worked together for 10 months to produce a bipartisan package with 26 days of markup in committee. This time around, Republican leadership has allowed for a handful of hearings, limited public input, and barely enough time to review the hundreds of pages of tax code changes.
Lambda Legal and 28 other national, state, and local LGBT organizations sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee ahead of a vote today urging them to oppose the nominations of Leonard Steven Grasz to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and Mark Norris to the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, stressing that their records “demonstrate that their appointments to the bench would cause grave harm to the LGBT community, as well as many other communities who rely on the federal judiciary to administer fair and impartial justice.”
In the letter, sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning, the organizations set forth Steven Grasz’s “long history of targeting LGBT people,” and urge the committee to “heed the warning of the American Bar Association that Mr. Grasz is not qualified for an appointment on the federal bench because he is unable to put the law ahead of his personal beliefs and to administer fair and impartial justice to all litigants who might come before him.”
The letter notes that Grasz has “channeled his biased views into building a career of hollowing out laws designed to protect LGBT people from discrimination.” For example, Steven Grasz serves as the Director of the Board of the Nebraska Family Alliance (NFA) which has repeatedly targeted the LGBT community, including opposing “marriage equality, bans on conversion therapy, and anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people.” In his confirmation hearing on November 1, Grasz was given multiple opportunities by Senator Hirono to clarify and renounce his “‘deeply-held personal views’ and the positions of the NFA,” but repeatedly refused to do so. He also refused to answer Senator Feinstein’s questions about his views on so-called “conversion therapy,” (a practice designed to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity that has been deemed unethical by numerous leading medical associations), and refused to answer another line of questioning over whether or not same-sex parents were entitled to same rights as different-sex parents.
The letter also points out that at a 2013 convention in Omaha, “Grasz introduced a charter amendment to permit discrimination against LGBT people in employment.” He then agreed when asked by another convention attendee that the amendment would “create an exemption for business owners who don’t want to hire gays and lesbians to circumvent or do any end run around the city human rights ordinance.” Due to his deep and longstanding commitment to thwart, restrict and rollback the rights of LGBT people, the signatories to today’s letter believe that Grasz is simply “not fit for the job,” a lifetime appointment to the federal judiciary.
The letter also summarizes Mark Norris’s long record of targeting the LGBT community, noting that his “broader anti-civil rights record is so voluminous that it took the Alliance for Justice nearly 20 pages to summarize.” Among the most notable attacks on LGBT Americans was his support for “preemption legislation” in Tennessee that would prohibit cities in the state from passing non-discrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. When Nashville enacted a nondiscrimination policy protecting LGBT people, Norris took the lead in pushing for the state’s preemption legislation, claiming that his efforts were “intended to balance the right of local governments and businesses to adopt anti-discrimination policies with the proper level of state oversight.” Notwithstanding these statements, Norris’ efforts were easily understood as an unveiled attempt to nullify nondiscrimination protections in one of Tennessee’s largest cities.
The letter also points to Mark Norris’s more recent attacks on the LGBT community, including his support in 2016 for legislation allowing mental health counselors to discriminate against LGBT clients, stating that it was “intended to protect the religious liberty of professional counselors.” He has also notably attacked LGBT youth, supporting legislation that prohibits teachers from discussing homosexuality in schools. Finally, throughout his career, as the letter outlines, Norris has routinely tried to undermine marriage equality and basic rights for transgender Americans.
Two other controversial nominees are on today’s Judiciary Committee agenda, although the Committee is not expected to vote on them today: Don Willett and James Ho are both nominees for the Fifth Circuit. Earlier this month, Lambda Legal brought together 34 other LGBT groups to oppose the nomination of Willett. The letter on Willett’s nomination can be found here: https://www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/legal-docs/dc_20171114_lgbt-groups-oppose-judicial-nominees
The verdict returned by a jury in Florida has been thrown out after they weren’t tested for homophobia.
A verdict was given clearing police of misconduct charges after it was found that the jury could be biased against the plaintiff who is gay.
Raymond Berthiaume had accused police lieutenant David Smith of the Key West Police Department of framing him for battery.
He alleged that the department had forced his friend to make a false statement back in 2013.
The jury cleared Smith of wrongdoing in the case, but the decision was tossed out.
According to the Miami Herald, the district court in the case had “refused” to ask jurors questions about sexual orientation bias.
A second trial will now take place.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals released a decision stating: “The district court here asked the jurors multiple questions about any biases or prejudices they might have against law enforcement.
“But the district court refused to ask any questions at all about prejudice on the basis of sexual orientation. Therefore, we have no way to discern whether the jury was biased against the plaintiff for that reason.”
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The incident on which the accusations were based took place in 2013.
Berthiaume, wearing flip-flops and a loincloth, left Fantasy Fest 2013 with a group of friends.
After a disagreement over whether to stay out later, a friend, Berthiaume’s then partner, had stolen the car keys to stop them from driving home.
Berthiaume had struck a street sign in frustration, and Smith had knocked him to the ground, arresting him for domestic battery.
Despite never being charged, Berthiaume filed a lawsuit against now-retired Smith, saying he had attempted to get one of his friends to lie about the incident.
Berthiaume asked for $15,000 in compensation for surgeries he says were necessary to repair damage done when he was knocked to the ground.
The jury had issued a decision against Berthiaume in 2016, but the verdict has now been revoked.
“Berthiaume noted that homosexuals had only recently begun to gain acceptance in society, and many people still harbor bias or prejudice against homosexuals,” adds the ruling.
“Accordingly, Berthiaume contended that in a case such as his, involving both a gay party and gay witnesses, it is necessary for courts to inquire into prospective jurors’ potential biases against homosexuals to ensure a fair trial.”
Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, winning a post on the Board of Supervisors as a result of changes in the social makeup of San Francisco after three unsuccessful attempts to gain office.
Having finally been elected in 1977, Milk only held his position for 11 months before he and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by Dan White, a former colleague who had lost his position in city administration.
Milk, born in Woodmere, New York, died aged 48.
(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
His legacy continues to live on. Writing recently in The Huffington Post, former US ambassador Nancy Brinker said: “Harvey Milk did something that few people ever do – he started a movement that changed the nation. His legacy lives on through the great work being done by his nephew, Stuart Milk, who accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Harvey’s behalf posthumously in 2009”.
Dan White was subsequently convicted of voluntary manslaughter, rather than of first degree murder. The verdict sparked the “White Night riots” in San Francisco, and led to the state of California abolishing the diminished capacity criminal defence.
White died by suicide in 1985, a little more than a year after his release from prison.
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One of Milk’s core messages was visibility.
He famously said: “You must come out. Come out… to your parents… I know that it is hard and will hurt them but think about how they will hurt you in the voting booth! Come out to your relatives… come out to your friends… if indeed they are your friends. Come out to your neighbours… to your fellow workers… to the people who work where you eat and shop… come out only to the people you know, and who know you. Not to anyone else. But once and for all, break down the myths, destroy the lies and distortions.”
Americans for Truth About Homosexuality’s Peter LaBarbera told Religious Right radio host Janet Mefferd that Religious Right activists need to “think more like” LGBTQ activists and work on reversing marriage equality.
Last week, on Mefferd’s radio program, LaBarbera and Mefferd discussed whether the LGBTQ community’s demands for marriage equality were anything more than “a ruse from the beginning”, citing a Washington Examiner article that questions why there have not been more gay marriages. LaBarbera insisted there were ulterior motives behind marriage equality.
“A lot of times they’ll say they need something in order to get something further and they’ll do it and of course it’s only to win a victory and then they’ll move on to something else,” LaBarbera said. “And that’s what they’ve done here and this has gone on since the beginning of the movement.”
Mefferd brought up that she was baffled that Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy had ever ruled in favor of marriage equality. LaBarbera speculated that Kennedy was “compromised,” perhaps because he had “some relative” was gay, leading him to become “the leading pro-homosexual activist on the high court.”
He went on to advocate for the Religious Right to work to overturn marriage equality.
“I see a lot of conservatives now telling me, ‘Oh, you know we can’t change the law back.’ Why not? When the homosexual side loses, they go say, ‘How are we going to change that?’ and that’s how we have to think. We have to think more like they do in politics,” LaBarbera said.
Danica Roem (Photo by PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)
Republicans have abruptly taken the decision to stop using gendered language in the Virginia House of Delegates – so they don’t have to refer to groundbreaking trans politician Danica Roem as a woman.
Democratic delegate-elect Danica Roem made history earlier this month as the first openly transgender lawmaker to be elected to a state legislature, after unseating GOP incumbent Bob Marshall, who penned anti-transgender ‘bathroom’ legislation.
Roem is set to take up her seat in the Virginia House of Delegates in January.
But ahead of the new session, the Republican-controlled body has opted to make drastic changes to the chamber’s 400-year-old rulebook.
Under the changes, politicians speaking on the floor of the House will no longer have to refer to eachother as ‘Gentleman’ or ‘Gentlewoman’, and will instead use the term ‘Delegate’ as a gender-neutral address.
While the removal of unnecessarily-gendered language might be cheered by liberals in other occasions, the GOP’s actions appear to be preventing lawmakers from having to refer to Ms Roem as a ‘Gentlewoman’.
House Majority Leader M. Kirkland Cox (R-Colonial Heights) confirmed the change.
In a statement to the Washington Post, his spokesperson said: “All members will be afforded the same respect and courtesy that this nearly 400-year-old institution commands.
“Speaker-designee Cox believes the ‘gentlelady’ and ‘gentleman’ terminology is outdated, and that referring to everyone as ‘delegate’ is more timely and appropriate.”
Republicans repeatedly referred to Ms Roem as male during the campaign, with Marshall focussing much of his campaign on attacking his opponent’s gender identity.
Delegate-elect Roem, who focused her campaign on local infrastructure issues, did not rise to her opponent’s jibes.
After the election result, she said: “Bob is my constituent now. I don’t attack my constituents.”
Politics professor Bob Holsworth told the Post that the Republicans are “trying in some way to thread a needle with their own base”.
He added: “They’re willing to change the tradition in this sense before they will explicitly acknowledge Danica Roem as a woman.”
Delegate-elect Roem said: “What matters the most is that I’m there.
“What matters the most to the people of the 13th District is that the woman they elected to serve them will be working on their behalf.
“I will be the delegate from Prince William, and I will conduct myself as the gentlewoman from Prince William while I’m in Richmond and in any other official capacity in which I serve.”
Marshall, who will be unemployed in January, co-authored the state’s now-defunct constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
In her victory speech, Roem said: “This election has to prove nationwide that discrimination is a disqualifier.
“When you champion inclusion, when you champion equality, when you champion equity and you focus on the issues that unite us, like building up our infrastructure…those are the issues that you have to focus on,” she added.
“I believe in building up our infrastructure instead of tearing down each other. That is fundamental.
“When the negative ads started coming out, attacking transgender kids…we stayed on our message while decrying discrimination.”
Roem told everyone watching: “We can’t get lost in discrimination, we can’t get lost in B.S., we can’t get lost tearing each other down.
“No matter what you look like, where you come from, how you worship, who you love, how you identify – and yeah, how you rock – if you have good public policy ideas, if you’re well-qualified for office, bring those ideas to the table, because this is your America too…and we are stronger together,” Roem told the crowd.
She dedicated her win to everyone who’s been discriminated against.
During the campaign, she championed LGBT rights, saying: “We are unabashedly pro-equality & anti-discrimination.
“It’s time we put LGBTQ kids front-and-centre, and I’m standing with them.
“As a trans woman, I know representation matters.”
In contrast, Republican Bob Marshall, who has been in office since 1991, has a long history of introducing hateful anti-LGBT bills to the Virginian legislature.
In May, Roem said: “When the people of the 13th District elect a transgender woman to replace the most anti-LGBT legislator in the South, it will be an act of certainty, and it will be a defining moment that will resonate across the country.”
Late September, the last transgender Central American woman who arrived at the US-Mexico border over the summer seeking asylum as part of a caravan was granted parole and released from the Cibola County Correctional Center in Milan, New Mexico. The women and their attorneys now call on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to exercise similar discretion and release three gay men who also were members of the caravan, and continue to face risk to their health and safety in custody at the Otero Processing Center in Chaparral, New Mexico.
The asylum seekers were part of the Rainbow 17 Caravan, a group of 11 transgender women and 6 gay men from Central America and Mexico who arrived at the border in Nogales, Arizona, on August 10, 2017, and requested asylum after experiencing extreme forms of violence in their home countries.
ICE’s decision to release the women abides by the government’s long-standing parole guidance favoring release for asylum seekers who are not flight risks nor pose threats to the community. But since President Trump took office, ICE has failed to grant parole to the vast majority of individuals who have been locked up after requesting asylum at the border or a port of entry, and decisions on parole requests vary greatly between different regions of the country.
“My experience being locked up in the detention center was awful,” said a translatina caravan member who was released last month. “Never in my wildest thoughts did I imagine the conditions would be that unbearable. I am very happy to be out and grateful for where I am in the process now and for the family I am staying with, who are making me feel welcome.”
The women, along with their advocates and lawyers from the National Immigrant Justice Center, Transgender Law Center, and Instituto Legal, remain extremely concerned about the gay men who still are detained. Those individuals have reported they are being harassed by jail guards and other detainees, have been denied medical treatment, and fear for their safety because of their sexual identity.
“The lack of oversight in this parole process is really unfair,” said Keren Zwick, associate director of litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center. “If you ask for protection at the border, ICE can send you basically wherever it wants, and the decision as to where they send you can mean the difference between release and detention, as we are seeing in these cases. On the court side, when you have an LGBTQ-based claim, where you are detained also can make a difference between winning or losing your asylum case.”
“We are relieved that these brave women, who came to the U.S. seeking safety from persecution, have finally been released from immigration detention centers that we know are horrifically violent and abusive of transgender women,” said Flor Bermudez, legal director at Transgender Law Center. “Unfortunately, there is still a long road ahead for the men still in Otero and for the transgender women who have been released, as they fight deportation back to the countries where their lives have been threatened. They are not facing this journey alone, though, and we are committed to doing everything in our power to ensure they, and all transgender immigrants seeking safety from torture and abuse, remain safe and free.”
“New Mexico has a long history of welcoming asylum seekers,” said Joaquin Sanchez-Leal, director of programs for Instituto Legal, a non-profit legal organization based in Albuquerque. “Placing those who are fleeing violence because of their gender identity or sexual orientation behind bars, even though they are eligible for immediate release, goes against our long-held tradition. We are all watching and will continue working to ensure the remaining caravan members are released from detention.”
The freed caravan members still each have a long road ahead of them as they pursue their asylum cases. In the United States, asylum seekers must wait months or years for permission to work and for access to housing or food support. They also have no right to appointed attorneys, so are left to find legal counsel on their own. Advocates must continue to work to support the women and improve the system in a way that gives bona fide refugees a fighting chance to prevail on their applications for protection. The human rights violations inherent in the ICE detention system have gained increased attention in the past month in Washington, D.C. In early October, U.S. House Representatives Adam Smith (WA-09) and Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) introduced the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, which would hold ICE accountable to protect detained immigrants and ensure access to release for asylum seekers and other immigrants. Also this month, the U.S. Supreme Court heard re-argument in Jennings v. Rodriguez, which challenges ICE’s prolonged detention of immigrants fighting deportation.
“I cannot find the words to express how happy I am to be out of that horrific detention center,” said a translatina caravan member. “When I started my journey, I was very scared. I needed to flee the violence and transphobia in my country of origin, but had heard many stories of trans women who didn’t make it through the journey or were trapped for months in terrible detention centers. I know my release is not typical, and I thank God I have a great team fighting for my rights and safety. I feel like a new woman, secure and ready to take on the world.”
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) aimed a bright spotlight on five federal judicial nominees — Jeff Mateer, Damien Schiff, Leonard Steven Grasz, Mark Norris, and Stephen Schwartz. If confirmed by the Senate, the nominees could seriously threaten the future of LGBTQ equality in America. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on Grasz and Norris on Thursday.
“In their crusade against the LGBTQ community, Donald Trump and Mike Pence are doing everything they can to stack our federal courts and all agencies of the government with anti-LGBTQ nominees and appointments,” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow. “This is a deliberate attempt to undermine the progress we’ve made and weave discrimination into every part of our government. There are scores of under-qualified nominees with terrible anti-equality records, and Jeff Mateer, Damien Schiff, Leonard Steven Grasz, Mark Norris, and Stephen Schwartz are among the worst of the worst. The Senate must reject their nominations to lifetime appointments to the federal bench.”
In less than one year, the Trump-Pence Administration has unleashed a torrent of attacks on the LGBTQ community and undermined the rights of millions of Americans. Through rollbacks, rescissions, and re-interpretations, Donald Trump and Mike Pence have systematically and meticulously eroded years of progress and protections. What’s more, Trump and Pence have appointed and nominated scores of extreme and unqualified anti-LGBTQ officials to crucial agencies and court benches — some of whom will serve lifetime appointments.
Jeff Mateer has been nominated to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. In a 2015 speech titled “The Church and Homosexuality,” Jeff Mateer objected to a transgender student using a restroom consistent with her gender identity, saying “I mean it just really shows you how Satan’s plan is working and the destruction that’s going on.” He defended then-Indiana Governor Mike Pence’s ‘license-to-discriminate’ bill and objected to efforts to alter the legislation. Mateer fought against non-discrimination protections for the LGBTQ community in Plano and San Antonio, Texas, and he even supports the dangerous and debunked practice of so-called “conversion therapy.” Mateer also claimed that marriage equality will lead to bestiality.
Damien Schiff, nominated to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, has been unabashed in his anti-LGBTQ views. He called Anthony Kennedy a “judicial prostitute,” opposed anti-bullying policies, opposed the decriminalization of same-sex relationships, and has been a longtime critic of marriage equality. In his writings, Schiff has encouraged parents to opt out of public schools in response to new curriculum that discouraged LGBTQ bullying and normalized families with same-sex parents; opposed the Supreme Court ruling decriminalizing same-sex relationships; defended supporters of Prop 8, falsely claiming same-sex couples had the same legal benefits as married opposite-sex couples before Prop 8.
Steven Grasz, nominated for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, served on the board of a non-profit that backed the abusive practice of conversion therapyon LGBTQ minors and was unwilling to clarify his own views during his confirmation hearing. Grasz said that language protecting people on the basis of “sexual orientation” opened the door for protections for pedophilesand argued Nebraska should not recognize marriage equality in other states. Grasz also opposed allowing same-sex parents to adopt. The American Bar Association has deemed Grasz unqualified to serve in the position Trump has nominated him for.
Mark S. Norris has been nominated to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. Currently the Senate Majority Leader of the Tennessee General Assembly, Norris has voted to support legislation giving business a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people and supported a state law preventing local municipalities from passing LGBTQ non-discrmination protections. Among a host of other positions supporting discrimination, Norris opposed federal guidance from the Obama administration helping to protect transgender students from discrimination and harassment in public schools.
Stephen Schwartz, nominated to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, has a demonstrable anti-LGBTQ record. HRC joined in an opposition letter with 27 LGBTQ groups, including Lambda Legal and the National Center for Transgender Equality, opposing Schwartz. His work opposing equality includes defending North Carolina’s discriminatory HB2. He also notably served as co-counsel to the Gloucester County School Board in Virginia after it was sued by transgender student Gavin Grimm for discrimination. Grimm challenged the school board in court for denying him use of the boy’s restroom.
