THE LGBT SOUTH is a weekly email newsletter from the Campaign for Southern Equality that highlights the voices and experiences of LGBT people living in the South. Send feedback and story tips to felicia@southernequality.org.
“President Obama is poised to declare the first-ever national monument recognizing the struggle for gay rights, singling out a sliver of green space and part of the surrounding Greenwich Village neighborhood as the birthplace of America’s modern gay liberation movement.”
“Although national monument designations are partly symbolic, backers of the move said it could bolster the fight against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, which led to the landmark 2015 Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.”
“The president described Stonewall as a critical event in the nation’s social progress during his second inaugural speech, reflecting the idea “that all of us are created equal,” and alluded to it again when celebrating the 50th anniversary of the march on Selma, Ala.”Justice Department says North Carolina anti-LGBT law violates Civil Rights Act By Matthew Teague, The Guardian
“North Carolina’s law limiting protections to LGBT people violates the US Civil Rights Act and cannot be enforced, the US JusticeDepartment said on Wednesday.”
“Federal officials have recently warned states against discriminating against transgender students in school bathrooms, and a federal appeals court ruled in favor of a transgender high school student suing a school board for access to the boys’ bathroom.”
“But the letter to the state of North Carolina from Vanita Gupta, principal deputy assistant US attorney general, marked the federal government’s first direct intervention in the conflict.”
“’The Department of Justice has determined that, as a result of compliance with and implementation of NC House Bill 2, both you and the state of NC are in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,’ Gupta wrote to the Republican governor, Pat McGrory [sic].”
“’This letter from the Department of Justice confirms what was clear from the start: HB2 is discriminatory and unconstitutional,’ said Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, executive director of advocacy group Campaign for Southern Equality, which is based in Asheville, North Carolina. ‘We continue to call for the immediate repeal of HB2. We also call for the North Carolina general assembly to pass full legal protections for the LGBT North Carolinians.’”
“An overwhelming three-fourths of Americans identify as religious. Listening to some religious conservatives in the U.S., though, one might think believers were a persecuted minority on the verge of extinction. In the name of protecting the sincerely held beliefs of religious Americans, conservative lawmakers and lobbyists have introduced a spate of controversial religious-freedom legislation in recent months. But apparently Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig aren’t the only ones fighting ghosts in 2016. The problems these bills claim to solve don’t actually exist.”
STATE
Mississippi’s Gay Adoption Ban Dead After State Fails To Appeal Ruling By Dominic Holden, Buzzfeed News“A deadline passed at midnightTuesday for Mississippi officials to appeal a federal court ruling that found the state’s law banning adoption by same-sex couples was unconstitutional. By failing to continue defending the law, it is effectively dead.”
“’Mississippi was the last state in the nation that prohibited adoption by gay couples, so in all 50 states, gay couples are allowed to adopt kids, as it should be,’ Roberta Kaplan, lead lawyer in the case, told BuzzFeed News. ‘As far as the state is concerned, gay couples and their kids can’t be treated differently than anyone else.’”
“It is the latest judicial reverberation of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling that struck down state bans on same-sex couples’ marriages.”
“In his decision, [Judge Daniel P.] Jordan cited the high court’s ruling on marriage, writing, ‘The majority of the United States Supreme Court dictates the law of the land, and lower courts are bound to follow it … In this case, that means that [the adoption ban] violates the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution.’”
“Speaking at a pro-HB2 rally this week, state Sen. Buck Newton urged the audience to, ‘Go home, tell your friends and family … how hard we must fight to keep our state straight.’ Unsurprisingly, his remarks sparked a firestorm of criticism from folks worried about the legislator’s coded call to arms against the state’s LGBTQ community.”
“While all of us should be concerned that Newton, a candidate running to be North Carolina’s chief legal adviser, might personally harbor animus toward hundreds of thousands of our residents, that’s only one takeaway from his unexpectedly candid remarks.”
“More significantly, Newton’s words offer us the “straight talk” behind HB2’s true political intentions. Now we know the law isn’t really about public safety. It isn’t about bathrooms. Not really. Thanks to Newton’s candor, we know that HB2 is a sinister effort to remake our state in the image of the law’s own creators – wealthy, white, male and non-LGBTQ – and divide the rest of us during this vitally important election year.”
“Asheville City school board members Monday approved a resolution calling for the “immediate and full” repeal of House Bill 2, the controversial new law that prevents local governments from adopting ordinances that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.”
“The resolution says that the Board of Education ‘is committed to creating, fostering and maintaining a safe and welcoming environment for students, staff, parents and visitors…’ and it urges state lawmakers to repeal the law.”
“’I think the main thing that we’re trying to accomplish is send a message to all of our students and families in the community that we are a welcoming community and that we accept kids and family members and staff wherever they are. And we want them to feel safe in Asheville City schools,’ board chair Peggy Dalman said following the Monday night meeting.”
“It was standing room only in the chambers of the Rockwall City Council on Monday evening.”
“Supporters and opponents showed up to watch the Texas city council deliberate on an ordinance proposed by Mayor Jim Pruitt, one that would force trans people to use the bathroom that matches with the sex they were assigned at birth, not their gender identity. ‘I just think that it’s insanity not to have those protections in place,’ Pruitt told Dallas TV station WFAA last week.”
“Unfortunately for the mayor, he couldn’t find anyone on the town’s city council who agreed with him. The ordinance died in debate, after not a single one of the five council members stood up to support it.”
“The Oxford City Council today voted 3-2 to rescind its controversial public restroom ordinance, a little more than a week after it was passed.”
“Council members Charlotte Hubbard, Phil Gardner and Mike Henderson voted to rescind the ordinance, while Council President Steven Waits and Councilman Chris Spurlin voted to keep it.”
“The council was able to reconsider the ordinance, Hubbard said, because it had not yet been signed by Mayor Leon Smith, who is ill.”
“Last week, Oxford’s city council made it a misdemeanor punishable by a $500 fine or six months in jail to use a bathroom opposite the person’s biological sex at birth. The ordinance came in response to a change in policy by national chain Target.”
“Hubbard, citing the opinion of City Attorney Ron Allen, said the ordinance as written might run afoul of Title IX provisions. Henderson, saying he had already heard from residents who will not vote for council members who vote to rescind the measure, stated the council should consider a stronger ordinance with similar provisions. A different version might better withstand any legal challenges.”
“His voice trembling, he asked residents to be open minded, quoting Jesus: ‘Judge not, that ye be not judged.'”
“In the wake of North Carolina’s HB2 bill, which bars transgender people from entering government-run restrooms that correspond with our self-determined gender, many trans folks have been fighting back against the policing of our basic bodily functions. One method of protest that’s being used to great effect lately: taking selfies. Often posing in public restrooms that correspond with their assigned gender, trans people are attempting to poke holes in the logic that spurred HB2 (and other similar bills across the country). […] The shock factor of seeing a hyper-masculine man being legally compelled to use the women’s restroom has opened many cis people’s eyes to the absurdity of the law.”
“But for all the warranted attention these selfies are bringing to the plight of trans people in North Carolina, is it all the right kind of attention? Many of these posts were met with encouragement and approval from both trans people and cisgender allies, though there were a number of articles that noted how, in particular, images of cis-passing trans men in women’s rooms stoke the fears of cis men who don’t want men sharing restrooms with their wives and daughters — strikingly similar to the paternalistic fear mongering that’s perpetuated the bathroom predator myth to begin with.”
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