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North Carolina’s War Against Gender-Nonconforming People
Last month, North Carolina enacted HB2, one of the most viciously anti-civil rights laws in the country. In addition to repealing local minimum wage laws and local protections for LGBTQ people, HB2 stripped women, people of color, and other protected groups of the ability to bring discrimination cases in state courts. HB2 also openly attacked transgender people. HB2’s supporters demonized transgender people as deviants who must be excluded from shared bathrooms and locker rooms to “protect”...Blog
Wedlocked No More! Maryland Victory Sheds Light On An Emerging Issue for Married Same-Sex Couples Across the Country
Every year, more states and countries allow same-sex couples to marry. But in the states that continue to bar same-sex couples from marriage, a new legal question is emerging: will the state permit married same-sex couples to divorce, even though it will not allow them to marry? If not, these couples are stuck in a terrible legal limbo. They are legally married, and their mar- riages are recognized in many places. But they cannot get a divorce where they live, and they cannot file for divorce...Blog
An NAACP Announcement for Equality
Here at NCLR, we know that LGBTQ people of color face some of the greatest injustices our movement strives to address. Racial and economic oppression mean that LGBTQ people of color are often poorer, have worse health outcomes, and are more vulnerable to hate crimes than their white counterparts. LGBTQ youth of color face harsh and unfair discipline in schools. This weekend, the nation’s leading civil rights organization made it clear that they too understand that reality. On Saturday,...Blog
NCLR Analysis: Ninth Circuit Decision Keeps the Focus on California
In a long-awaited decision, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that stripped the right to marry from same-sex couples in California, is unconstitutional. Judge Stephen R. Reinhardt authored the majority decision, which was joined by Judge Michael Daly Hawkins. The third judge, N. Randy Smith, dissented. The majority affirmed the August 2010 ruling by retired United States District Judge Vaughn R. Walker—but on a...Blog
NCLR Analysis: Oral Argument in Proposition 8 Appeal Sets the Stage for Ninth Circuit Ruling
Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard oral arguments on two issues in Perry v. Brown, the federal court challenge to Proposition 8. In that case, two same-sex couples are challenging Prop 8, the 2008 ballot measure that stripped the right to marry from same-sex couples in California. Following a historic trial that took place in January 2010, now-retired Chief District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that Prop 8 is unconstitutional. That ruling has been on hold while the...Blog
NCLR Analysis: Release the Prop. 8 Tapes
On August 29, 2011, U.S. District Court Judge James Ware will hear arguments about whether to unseal the video recordings of the historic trial in Perry v. Brown, the federal court challenge to Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that stripped the freedom to marry from same-sex couples in California. After a three-week trial in January 2010, now-retired Chief District Judge Vaughan Walker issued a decision in August 2010, holding that Prop 8 was based on anti-gay animus and blatantly...Blog
NCLR Legal Analysis: President Obama Defends Justice by Rejecting DOMA
Today brings momentous news from President Barack Obama and the federal Department of Justice about the discriminatory and offensive so-called “Defense of Marriage Act,” or DOMA. This morning, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that, at the urging of the President, as well as based upon Mr. Holder’s own assessment, the Department of Justice will no longer defend Section 3 of DOMA—the section that prohibits the federal government from recognizing legal marriages between same-sex couples....Blog
Analysis of Ninth Circuit Oral Argument in Perry v. Schwarzenegger (Federal Prop 8 Challenge)
Today was the long-awaited oral argument at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the federal court challenge to Proposition 8. The Ninth Circuit is the federal appeals court that covers California. Today’s argument was heard by a panel of three judges, who will decide whether to uphold District Court Judge Vaughn Walker’s August ruling that Prop 8 is unconstitutional. The argument ran for almost two and a half hours, covering two basic questions: Do the proponents of...Blog
