The City of Phoenix recently took defensive legal action against a law firm that claims the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance should be declared invalid because companies have the right to refuse service to individuals on the basis of sexual orientation. While it remains uncertain how this case will resolve, it has the potential to profoundly influence Read More

A federal judge in Cincinnati, Ohio recently dismissed a lawsuit against a judge who denied a transgender person’s request for a name change. In making this decision, the judge noted that the proper way to challenge a judgment is to appeal rather than to initiate legal proceedings directly against the judge. How the Case was Read More

California’s Governor Jerry Brown recently signed a new bill into law that supports the inclusion of LGBTQ seniors in state-provided programs. This measure marks a significant advancement in the rights of LGBTQ senior citizens in the state. The Number of California Senior Citizens Affected Equality California reports that 10.9 million Californians will be over the Read More

A Massachusetts state law that is designed to protect transgender individuals from discrimination, including in areas like locker rooms and restrooms, has been affirmed. This decision comes after opponents of the anti-discrimination law collected enough signatures for a repeal question to be placed on the ballot. With this vote, Massachusetts has become the first state Read More

  At the beginning of July 2018, President Trump announced his decision to appoint Brett Kavanaugh to fill the spot left by the retirement of Justice Kennedy, and last month, Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in to the Supreme Court. While Justice Kavanaugh previously served on the US Court of Appeals for Read More

While Mississippi is one of 30 states that do not have LGBTQ-inclusive non-discrimination laws, several changes have recently occurred in the state regarding its approach to LGBTQ laws. Most noticeably, local communities in the state, including most recently Clarksdale, have passed LGBTQ-inclusive discrimination ordinances. Efforts by the Human Rights Campaign The creation of local LGBTQ Read More

Recently, a federal judge in Michigan ruled that a lawsuit challenging the power of religious affiliated adoption agencies can proceed. The ACLU is attempting to bar state-contracted child placement agencies from discriminating against same-sex couples. While it remains uncertain how this case will be resolved, it has the potential to significantly affect Michigan’s laws, which Read More

Recently in Indiana, a Catholic high school teacher was placed on administrative leave after it was determined that she had had a same-sex marriage. The school responded that workers are expected to support the Catholic Church’s doctrines including that marriage should be between a man and a woman. Later, the teacher communicated through Facebook that Read More

A directive was recently issued by the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs that allows federal contractors to raise religious freedom as a defense when they are charged with job discrimination. The Federal Contract Compliance Program, which is the government agency tasked with making sure that businesses that contract with the federal Read More

Schools in New Jersey are about to become subject to a variety of protection laws designed to protect the rights of transgender students after the New Jersey Department of Education sent guidelines to schools explaining how to best follow a 2017 law that reinforces protections for its students. The state’s Department of Education is currently Read More