The First Amendment Defense Act is proposed legislation that has encountered several obstacles in the course of the Act’s attempt to become a bill. The First Amendment Defense Act prohibits the federal government from taking any type of action against an individual or corporation that discriminates against LGBTQ individuals. More specifically, the First Amendment Defense Read More

Numerous Congress members recently urged the Trump administration to include statistics about how many LGBTQ individuals live in the United States when the government conducts its next census. In a letter that was sent to the Trump administration, these members of Congress asked that the administration clarify the reasons behind the decision to leave this Read More

A public school district in Florida faces a lawsuit after a teacher banned students from wearing cross necklaces in her classroom and began advocating for LGBTQ rights. This case highlights some interesting issues about the interplay between religious rights and public education. The Activity of the Riverview High School Teacher At the beginning of the Read More

The Governor of Mississippi has requested that a federal appeals court pass a state law allowing merchants and governments employees to deny services to same-sex couples on the basis of religious beliefs. Because Mississippi’s Attorney General has refused to appeal this hearing, the case is being handled by private attorneys include some legal counsel at Read More

  The National Park Service released a study recently on National Coming Out Day that surveys historic sites in the movement for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer rights for potential preservation and protections. This report marks the first step in potentially recognizing significant sites in the history of LGBTQ rights in the National Historic Read More

People have been adopting children in our country since before we were a country. Adoption then was a very different process from adoption today. In large part, prior to 1851, adoption was less focused on child rearing than it was the burden to adults. In the mid 1800’s however, Massachusetts passed the 1851 Adoption of Read More

  Mississippi recently became the third state this year to sign a bill against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights. The bill, set to take effect on July 1, 2016, allows businesses with religious objections to refuse their services to gay couples. This anti-LGBT legislation is potentially far-reaching in terms of discrimination, and allows Read More

What is the difference between civil hate and criminal hate? Other than the obvious types of penalties, these two forms of hatred are more similar than many people want to admit. Sure, a criminal action typically involves physical bodily harm to a person or their property, but are not a person’s mental and emotional well-being Read More