Equality Case Files

Colorado "DENVER (AP) A Colorado baker who won a partial victory at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 for refusing to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple went on trial Monday in yet another lawsuit, this one involving a birthday cake for a transgender woman. Autumn Scardina attempted to order the birthday cake on the same day in 2017 that the high court announced it would hear baker Jack Phillips’ appeal in the wedding cake case. "Scardina, an attorney, requested a cake ...that was blue on the outside and pink on the inside in honor of her gender transition. "Her lawsuit is the latest in a series of cases around the U.S. that pit the rights of LGBTQ people against merchants’ religious objections, an issue that remains unsettled by the nation’s top court.

ACLU attorney Chase Strangio has a twitter thread on the status of anti-trans bills across the country. He includes information on action alerts, letting you know what you can do to help.

This morning, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee held the first hearing on the Equality Act, federal legislation that would update existing civil rights statutes to expressly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, jury service, and other settings. The full video of the hearing is linked below. (skip forward to 00:29:40 for the beginning of the hearing)

Today, GLAAD launched the Biden Equality Accountability Tracker, monitoring the Biden administration's executive orders, legislative support, speeches, and nominations that affect LGBTQ people and rights.

"The Senate voted to confirm Merrick B. Garland on Wednesday to serve as attorney general, giving the former prosecutor and widely respected federal judge the task of leading the Justice Department at a time when the nation faces domestic extremist threats and a reckoning over civil rights. "Mr. Garland was confirmed 70-30 by senators, with 20 Republicans joining all 50 Democrats in supporting him. He is expected to be sworn in at the Justice Department on Thursday."

Video from Lambda Legal "What we're seeing at Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court hearings this week on marriage equality, racial justice, health care challenges, reproductive rights, and more."

Karnoski v. Trump (Challenge to the ban on military service by transgender individuals) UPDATE: If you missed the live stream, you can still see the video here: https://bit.ly/33Y3486 At 1pm Pacific Time, the 9th Circuit will hear oral argument in the federal defendants' challenge to district court orders requiring them to produce certain government documents as part of the discovery process in the lawsuit. ... Panel: Circuit Judges Richard R. Clifton, Consuelo M. Callahan, and Michelle T. Friedland You can watch the live stream at the link below

Amy Coney Barrett "As the U.S. Senate on Monday opened a four-day confirmation hearing, here is a look at Barrett’s record on LGBT+ rights."

From the U.S. Supreme Court "The Court will hear all oral arguments scheduled for the November and December sessions by telephone conference, following the same format used for the October teleconference arguments." "The Court will provide a live audio feed of the November and December oral arguments to a media pool as it did for the October arguments." ... "Additional details regarding media pool distribution will be provided in the coming weeks."

Davis v. Ermold (Former Kentucky clerk seeking review of a lower court decision that she can be sued in her individual capacity for refusing to issue marriage licenses to two same-sex couples) This morning, the Supreme Court denied Kim Davis's petition to hear her appeal. Justice Thomas, joined by Justice Alito, wrote a four-page statement concurring in the denial because the petition "does not cleanly present" the "important questions about the scope" of the Obergefell decis...ion. However, Thomas concludes,"this petition provides a stark reminder of the consequences of Obergefell. By choosing to privilege a novel constitutional right over the religious liberty interests explicitly protected in the First Amendment,and by doing so undemocratically, the Court has created a problem that only it can fix. Until then, Obergefell will continue to have 'ruinous consequences for religious liberty.' The full statement is linked below.

Gavin Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board (Virginia school board appealing final decision in favor of transgender student) The 4th Circuit denies the school board's motion to have the full court reconsider the panel decision in Gavin Grimm's favor. There are concurring statements by Judges Neimeyer and Wynn accompanying the order.... Judge Wynn concurs because the panel decision was correct. Judge Neimeyer, who was in the minority in the panel decision, says it's correct to deny the rehearing but only because it seems futile and it would be more efficient for the school to go the Supreme Court with their appeal. Neimeyer: "There is no reason to conclude that this court, even though en banc, will change its mind now expressed in two opinions. It would, I believe, be the more efficient course for the School Board again to file a petition for certiorari in the Supreme Court with the hope that the Court will again be interested in granting it. The issues in this case certainly merit its doing so. Order is linked below.

"The review shows that the Trump class of appellate judges, much like the president himself, breaks significantly with the norms set by his Democratic and Republican predecessors, Barack Obama and George W. Bush. "The lifetime appointees who make up more than a quarter of the entire appellate bench were more openly engaged in causes important to Republicans, such as opposition to gay marriage and to government funding for abortion. "They more typically held a political po...st in the federal government and donated money to political candidates and causes. Just four had no discernible political activity in their past, and several were confirmed in spite of an unfavorable rating from the American Bar Association the first time that had happened at the appellate level in decades. "Two-thirds are white men, and as a group, they are much younger than the Obama and Bush appointees. "Once on the bench, the Trump appointees have stood out from their fellow judges, according to an analysis by The Times of more than 10,000 published decisions and dissents through December."

"LGBTQ veterans' groups are blasting new instructions from the United States Department of Defense regarding military service by transgender people." "The new instructions effective September 4 are updated from previous Pentagon instructions promulgated March 12, 2019. Those instructions amounted to an effective ban on transgender service in the U.S. armed forces, according to trans advocates." The instructions are here: https://bit.ly/3hRc9TP

"Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the demure firebrand who in her 80s became a legal, cultural and feminist icon, died Friday. The Supreme Court announced her death, saying the cause was complications from metastatic cancer of the pancreas. "The court, in a statement, said Ginsburg died at her home in Washington surrounded by family. She was 87."

Connecticut "WASHINGTON The Education Department is preparing to withhold millions of dollars from Connecticut schools over their refusal to withdraw from an athletic conference that allows transgender students to compete on teams that correspond with their gender identity. "The move to withhold about $18 million intended to help schools desegregate could have national implications for both transgender athletes and students of color.... "The department’s Office for Civil Rights has warned officials at three Connecticut school districts that it will not release desegregation grants as planned on Oct. 1, unless the districts cut ties with the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference over its transgender policies. Negotiations among the parties continued Thursday evening."

10th Circuit has announced November 16 oral arguments in 303 Creative v. Elenis (ADF-represented graphic designer's challenge to Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act) and Tudor v. Southeast Oklahoma State University (Transgender professor unlawfully denied tenure) From the court: "Oral arguments in November 2020 will be heard REMOTELY via video conference." The 10th Circuit has been providing live streaming video of arguments. We expect the court to provide links prior to the No...vember session. See Calendar linked below. The identities of judges that will hear the cases are posted the week before argument.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: "On September 11, 2020, a federal district court ruled that the Social Security Administration may not deny surviving same-sex partners who were barred from marriage of access to Social Security spousal survivor’s benefits. Though these principles should apply to all surviving partners in this position, the court’s ruling directly applies only to those who have applied for survivor’s benefits. To maximize the possibility that you may be protected by this ruling, you may wish to consider applying for benefits immediately and before the district court enters final judgment, which could occur as early as October 9, 2020." More information from Lambda Legal at the linked post.

"The Washington Blade, the nation’s oldest LGBTQ newspaper, today announced it has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its refusal to turn over emails related to a rule change allowing federal contractors to discriminate against LGBTQ workers." "The suit was filed by The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press attorneys, who are representing the Blade in the case." The case has been assigned to Judge Randolph D. Moss. ... Complaint: https://bit.ly/2ZI5hlr See more