U.S. Magistrate Judge Candy Dale (D. Idaho), has ordered the state of Idaho to allow transgender people born there to obtain birth certificates correctly identifying them according to their gender identity. F.V. & Martin v. Barron, 2018 WL 1152405, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36550. Once Idaho has complied with Judge Dale’s March 5 Order, the only states where transgender people can’t get appropriate new birth certificates will be Ohio, Tennessee, and Kansas. Also, the … <Read More>
2nd Circuit, En Banc, Votes 10-3 That Sexual Orientation Discrimination Violates Federal Employment Discrimination Law
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, with appellate jurisdiction over federal cases from New York, Connecticut and Vermont, ruled on February 26 that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination because of an individual’s sex, also makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate against a person because of his or her sexual orientation.
The ruling in Zarda v. Altitude Express, Inc., 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS … <Read More>
Iowa Appeals Court Affirms Ruling Against Lesbian’s Brother Attempting to Invalidate Bequest to Her Surviving Partner
David Lance Wilson struck out in his attempt to get the Iowa courts to hold that a provision in his late sister’s will leaving her entire estate to her long-time partner, Susan Woodall Fisher, was automatically revoked when the women allegedly split up nine years before the sister’s death. Affirming a summary judgment ruling by Crawford County District Judge Patrick H. Tott, the Iowa Court of Appeals ruled on February 7 in Estate of … <Read More>
Hawaii Appeals Court Says Religious B&B Owner May Not Reject Same-Sex Couples as Customers
Hawaii Appeals Court Says Religious B&B Owner May Not Reject Same-Sex Couples as Customers
The Intermediate Court of Appeals of Hawaii has affirmed a ruling by the state’s 1st Circuit Court that the operator of an owner-occupied Bed & Breakfast violated the state’s public accommodations law by refusing to rent a room to a lesbian couple from California who were seeking vacation accommodations. The opinion for a three-judge panel of the court by Chief … <Read More>
Second N.Y. Appellate Division Court Reaffirms Parental Rights of Married Lesbians
Following a precedent set on January 25 by the Albany-based N.Y. 3rd Department Appellate Division, the Brooklyn-based N.Y. 2nd Department Appellate Division issued a unanimous decision on February 21 ordering the dismissal of a sperm donor’s attempt to establish parentage and get legal visitation with a child born to a married lesbian couple.
As in the earlier case, Christopher YY v. Jessica ZZ & Nichole ZZ, 2018 WL 541768, 2018 N.Y. App. Div. … <Read More>
California Judge Issues Unprecedented Ruling in Favor of Baker Who Declined to Make Wedding Cake for Same-Sex Couple
Breaking a consensus among courts that has developed over the past several years that people with religious or moral objections to same-sex weddings are not entitled to exempt their business from selling goods or services for such events, Kern County (California) Superior Court Judge David Lampe ruled on February 5, 2018, in Department of Fair Employment and Housing v. Miller, BCV-17-102855, that Cathy Miller, owner of Cathy’s Creations, Inc., doing business as Tastries Bakery in … <Read More>
New York Appellate Division Revives Gay Police Officer’s Discrimination & Retaliation Case Against NYPD
While hesitant to accuse the New York City Police Department, New York City Law Department, and a Supreme Court Justice of bizarre thinking, that is the only conclusion we can draw from Harrington v. City of New York, 2018 WL 503144, 2018 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 392 (N.Y. App. Div., 1st Dept., Jan. 23, 2018), where a unanimous five-judge panel of the Manhattan-based Appellate Division, 1st Department, reversed a decision by Justice James E. d’Auguste … <Read More>
Divided Mississippi Supreme Court Refuses to Relieve Closeted Gay Doctor from One-Side Divorce Settlement Agreement
Voting 7-2, the Mississippi Supreme Court refused to relieve a closeted gay doctor, who is also HIV-positive, from the terms of a very one-sided divorce settlement agreement which he had signed with his ex-wife more than two years prior to filing an actionto set the agreement aside or modify it as unconscionable and formed under duress. Under the agreement, which was approved by the Hinds County Chancery Court, all but $5,000 a month of his … <Read More>
1st Circuit Affirms Jury Verdict for Lesbian Firefighter in Title VII “Sex-Plus” Case
A three-judge panel of the Boston-based 1st Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a Title VII jury verdict for Lori Franchina, a lesbian firefighter who won her claim of hostile environment sexual harassment and retaliation against the Providence, Rhode Island, fire department. The January 25 decision harshly condemned the Providence Fire Department for its treatment of Franchina, concluding, “The abuse Lori Franchina suffered at the hands of the Providence Fire Department is nothing short of … <Read More>
Two Lawsuits Challenge State Department’s Refusal to Recognize Same-Sex Marriages
Immigration Equality and cooperating attorneys from Sullivan & Cromwell LLP have filed two lawsuits against the U.S. State Department, challenging the Department’s refusal to recognize the birthright citizenship of two youngsters who are children of dual-nation married same-sex couples. The complicated cases turn on interpretation of a federal statute, Section 301(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (referred to as the INA), which establishes the citizenship status of persons born abroad to married U.S. … <Read More>