Having technical problems? Visit our support page to report an issue!
This is an open thread.
Equality news round-up: New transgender rights... Supreme Court sets transgender rights case for...
Welcome to Equality on Trial!
Got suggestions? Questions? Notice bugs? Email us here.
Want to submit a guest piece for publication on Equality On Trial? Submit your piece with your byline, title and any appropriate links (and HTML if possible) to: equalityontrial [at] couragecampaign [dot] org.
Get even more LGBT equality courtroom news on Facebook and Twitter!
Sign-up for updates from the Courage Campaign Institute on LGBT courtroom news, including breaking-news alerts.
7 Comments
1.
VIRick | September 26, 2016 at 9:30 pm
Judge to Ohio School: "Treat Jane Doe as the Girl She Is"
On 26 September 2016, in "Board of Education of Highland Local School District v. US Dept. of Education," a federal judge has ruled in favor of a transgender elementary school student seeking to use the restroom consistent with her gender identity, marking the latest such decision in disputes between schools and students on the issue. In a 43-page decision, District Judge Algenon Marbley, a Clinton appointee, found denying the student, identified as Jane Doe, from using the restroom consistent with her gender identity violates Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, a law barring gender discrimination in schools.
Marbley ordered Highland Elementary School to “treat Jane Doe as the girl she is,” which includes referring to her by female pronouns, in addition to allowing her to use the girl’s restroom. The ruling is the result of a lawsuit the school filed in June 2016 seeking to overturn an order from the Obama administration requiring officials to treat Jane Doe consistent with her gender identity. In response to this lawsuit, attorneys representing Jane Doe filed a second lawsuit seeking an order requiring the school to comply with the Obama administration.
Writing that Jane Doe would be “irreparably harmed absent an injunction,” Marbley granted the request made by her attorneys, but denied the request for a preliminary injunction in favor of the school. “The stigma and isolation Jane feels when she is singled out and forced to use a separate bathroom contribute to and exacerbate her mental-health challenges,” Marbley writes. “This is a clear case of irreparable harm to an eleven-year-old girl.” The decision comes on the heels of a ruling last week from a federal judge in Wisconsin ordering Kenosha Unified School District to allow a male transgender student to use the restroom consistent with his gender identity.
Representing Jane Doe in the case is the National Center for Lesbian Rights, as well as the Cleveland-based law firm, Hickman & Lowder, and the New York-based law firm, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. The US Justice Department and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney-General for Civil Rights, Vanita Gupta, are named as defendants. Asaf Orr, who represented Jane Doe as a staff attorney for the National Center for Lesbian Rights’ transgender youth project, said the decision is consistent with ensuring all students are free from discrimination at school.
Representing Highland Elementary School is West Chester, Ohio-based, Langdon Law; the Mansfield, Ohio-based, Renwick, Welsh & Burton LLC; and the anti-LGBT Alliance Defending Freedom. Attorneys representing the schools have already filed notice with the court indicating they intend to appeal the decision to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.
http://www.washingtonblade.com/2016/09/26/judge-s…
And per Equality case Files:
The Order and Opinion are here: http://files.eqcf.org/cases/216-cv-00524-95/
2.
1grod | September 27, 2016 at 6:15 pm
Alabama's Court of the Judiciary begins tomorrow at 9:00 am to adjudicate the six charges against Roy Moore. It has 10 days to render a decision but typically enters its decision from the bench the same day as the trial! http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2016/…
3.
FredDorner | September 27, 2016 at 8:26 pm
I'm so looking forward to this one.
4.
1grod | September 28, 2016 at 5:33 am
Fred and others: You can follow the trial by a live but not continuous blog:
http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2016/…
5.
1grod | September 28, 2016 at 1:28 pm
Court session ended at 2.22 pm. No decision today. Court will likely issue findings on line.
6.
Fortguy | September 28, 2016 at 12:31 am
Progressives who are wary of both Clinton and Trump and may be considering sitting out this election or casting protest votes for Johnson or Stein must read this piece. This election bears some similarities to 1968.
Michael Ansara, Vox: The lousy reason I didn't vote in 1968 — and why Sanders supporters shouldn't fall for it
Make no mistake. This race will be between Clinton and Trump. A vote for a third-party candidate or a vote for sitting on the couch away from the polls is a vote for Trump.
Do not buy into the media-inspired false equivalency that both are equally untrustworthy. The media has a self-interest in keeping the race as close as possible. They have reported for months innuendo about Clinton's emails without showing any evidence of any threat to national security. They have made allegations without substance against the Clinton's charitable foundation while ignoring the very real difference it has made in people's lives worldwide while largely ignoring the joke that is Trump's "charitable" foundation. They allude to Hillary's long list of "scandals" alleged by the right without saying that, no, the Clintons didn't kill Vince Foster nor arrange for the murder of our ambassador in Benghazi.
No, Hillary is not my ideal Dem nominee. The Democrats, after all, are a center-left party with merely a progressive wing. Although I have my doubts about her overall, she nevertheless espouses progressive positions on many important issues, and I believe she is generally sincere on those including her new-found support for LGBT rights and criminal justice reform that stand in contrast to her husband's presidency. I also believe that, rather than rolling back the accomplishments of Obama's administration, she would solidify them further particularly in health and immigration reform. If she gets to cozy to Wall St., as I fear she might, then thank your lucky stars Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are still in the Senate.
I also believe Hillary will appoint decent people to the federal courts including SCOTUS. I fear seeing the judiciary infiltrated by appointees from Trump's binders full of bigots.
Continued below…
7.
Fortguy | September 28, 2016 at 12:31 am
…From above
Obama's relative dovishness on foreign policy has been refreshing. While I'm concerned that Hillary has been more hawkish in the past, she wouldn't be worse than most recent presidents from both parties, and I feel more confident she would provide a more measured, steady response after the 3 am phone call than the results of the Twitter shitstorm Trump would unleash.
Hillary knows how government works. She has witnessed it as First Lady at the state level in Arkansas and in the White House where she held unusual authority in designing the Clinton administration's ultimately unsuccessful health care initiative. She has served New York in the Senate with broad bipartisan accolades for reaching across the aisle to pass legislation. Just four years ago while secretary of state, her approval ratings were through the roof while Romney supporters were trying to disparage Obama as a "bad Democrat" compared to the then-popular Clintons as "good Democrats".
Rarely in the history of the Republic has any candidate for president emerged who is so knowledgeable, experienced, and eminently qualified for the office. At the same time, never has a political party with foresight ever offered someone so unqualified as Trump who promises to be Millard Fillmore bad, James Buchanan bad, Andrew Johnson bad. At no time during his entire campaign has the tiny-handed man shown anything other than a psychopathic lack of empathy for his fellow citizens or any understanding of the challenges Americans face. He also demonstrates a complete failure to even try to learn about and understand the threats and opportunities we face abroad or the value of our alliances in maintaining international security.
So, yes, Sanders' and BLM supporters, you must vote for Hillary and build upward from there. You can make her see the moral imperative of your causes and find common ground to go forward with her. Otherwise, you can let Trump win and do so with a GOP Congress that will roll back all the gains we've seen in recent years and force you to start again from the one-yard line on your own end of the field fighting to get back what you will lose. When that happens, don't expect the fellow Democrats you abandoned to openly embrace you. You had your chance and didn't deliver. Be prepared to enjoy your new irrelevancy while the concerns of your communities remain unaddressed.