Official News Outlet for the Rainbow Round Table of the American Library Association
A South Carolina lawsuit against the Department of Social Services and two hospitals must proceed according to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The case involves a decision made to surgically change an intersex 16-month-old child into a girl by removing the penis and testicle. Now eight, M.C. has been reared as a female but […]
Following a case about a 92-year-old transgender widow, the Social Security Administration has declared that it is changing its policy regarding transgender spouses. The new SSA policy presumes that most marriages are valid regardless of whether a spouse is transgender.
“Live and let live. It is very simple.” That’s the position of former Sen. Alan Simpson, a Republican from Wyoming, and that’s what he says in a television ad supporting marriage equality. The ad started at the same time as the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals began hearing oral arguments about Utah’s same-sex marriage ban. […]
LGBT film advocate Lewis Tice died last week on April 2nd. Via Indiewire: Tice passionately worked in various capacities within the industry throughout his career. He launched and guided many films to success including ‘Latter Days,’ ‘Another Gay Movie’ and ‘Mysterious Skin’ for TLA Releasing, where he worked as Vice President of North American Operations […]
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal from Elaine Huguenin at Elane Photography who claimed that her religious beliefs prevented her from photographing a same-sex couple’s commitment ceremony. The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that Huguenin had violated the state’s anti-discrimination laws “in the same way as if it had refused to […]
Arizona may have backed down on a state law allowing discrimination in the state using the excuse of religious beliefs, but Mississippi’s Gov. Phil Byrant (R) has signed a similar bill for his state. According to the new law, people’s “right to the exercise of religion” will not suffer a burden, which is defined as […]
Former Library of Congress management analyst Peter TerVeer has legal standing under Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 to sue after he was fired in 2012. He has alleged that he lost his job because he is gay. U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly rejected a motion from the U.S. Attorney […]
A parent’s request to withdraw David Levithan’s Two Boys Kissing from the high schools’ libraries in Fauquier County Public Schools (VA) has resulted in a public hearing about the book on April 23. The book will stay in the library until that date; the parents is appealing to the superintendent. The book is about Harry […]
Andraya Williams, a 22-year-old transwoman at Central Piedmont Community College (NC), says that she was suspended from the school for using the women’s restroom until she agrees to use only the school’s gender-neutral restrooms. School spokesman Jeff Lowrance says that technically she hasn’t been suspended. According to Lowrance, much of the campus lacks gender-neutral restrooms. […]
Courts in at least two states dealt with the thorny problem of swiss-cheese laws surrounding marriage equality this past week. In Ohio, a federal judge struck down part of the state’s ban on LGBT marriage by ordering the state to recognize out-of-state marriages. To give time for appeals, Judge Timothy Black said he will issue […]