Ever Play Wack-A-Mole?

Well we are the mole and the Trump administration is the hammer.

A little bit of history first…

Analysis: Justice Department Files Brief Rejecting LGBTQ Workplace Protections
NBC News
By Julie Moreau
July 27, 2017

On the same day President Donald Trump tweeted that the U.S. military will no longer “accept or allow” transgender people to serve, the LGBTQ community was dealt another blow when the Department of Justice (DOJ) submitted an amicus brief opposing the extension of Title VII discrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation.

The brief was submitted in the Second Circuit case of Zarda v. Altitude Express. The plaintiff in that case, Donald Zarda, alleges he was unlawfully fired for being gay. The Justice Department's brief argues that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin and sex, does not protect Zarda from this form of discrimination.

“The United States submits that the en banc Court should reaffirm its settled precedent holding, consistent with the longstanding position of the Department of Justice, that Title VII does not reach discrimination based on sexual orientation,” the brief reads.

Eight years after he filed his case and four years after his dead in a base jumping accident he won the appeal the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, they ruled that under Title VII sex does also mean sexual orientation.

Now down in Atlanta the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the opposite.

Atlanta appeals court again rules gays, lesbians not a protected class
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Bill Rankin
July 19, 2018
The federal appeals court in Atlanta has once again decided that gays and lesbians are not protected under federal discrimination laws because of their sexual orientation.

In a decision issued Wednesday, the full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against former Clayton County employee Gerald Lynn Bostock, refusing to reconsider a decision that said Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not extend workplace protections to gays and lesbians. Bostock contends he was fired as a child welfare services coordinator because he is gay.

Bostock’s case already has the attention of the U.S. Supreme Court. It is now deciding whether to hear Bostock’s appeal and one from a conflicting decision by the federal appeals court in New York, which said gays and lesbians are protected under Title VII.

Now then if the cases goes to the Supreme Court who is appointing the newest justice? Why no other thran Trump, now you see why I was so worried in 2016 about a Republican winning, he will now have two Supreme Court picks and remember Justice Ginsburg is 85 years old.

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Many of you probably have already seen this…

Trans Women Say the State Department Is Retroactively Revoking Their Passports
“I think there’s an internal policy change to make it as difficult as possible for trans people.”
Them
By Mary Emily O'Hara
July 27, 2018

Since she transitioned in 1998, at the age of 16, all of Danni Askini’s identity documents have read “female.” But last month, when Askini went to renew her passport, her request was denied. Askini says the U.S. Passport Office told her she had “failed to disclose” that she was transgender and needed to provide proof of gender transition — after 20 years of having a passport that says she’s female.

“Make no mistake, this was an intentional action by the State Department to withhold recognizing my gender,” says Askini, who was eventually granted a temporary two-year passport that allowed her to travel from her Seattle home to Sweden. The activist and executive director of Gender Justice League needed to leave Seattle, she says, after a series of death threats posted on the anti-trans website Kiwi Farms, as well as threats from local alt-right groups in the Pacific Northwest. She’d had her most recent passport for 10 years, but it was up for renewal.

Askini’s battle with the U.S. Department of State — which oversees the Passport Office — began last month, and a June 29 tweet she posted about the ordeal went viral.

Just this week, another trans woman encountered the same problem.

New York-based technology researcher Janus Rose says she’s had her passport, with a female gender marker, since November. But recently she finalized a legal name change, and sent in paperwork along with her current passport to renew the document with the new legal name. It seemed like a simple formality, until she received a phone call from a passport processing center in South Carolina.

The NCTE posted this on their Facebook page...

NCTE has investigated recent concerns about passport processing for transgender people. All of the incidents we have seen involved unusual circumstances and bureaucratic mistakes by the passport agency and have caused very unfortunate hardship and anxiety for our community members. Please note, the longstanding passport gender marker policy has not changed. We are closely monitoring the issue and are vigilant for any attack on the rights of our community.
[...]
If you have followed these steps and are still having trouble, please do not hesitate to contact Arli Christian, our State Policy Director, at achristian@transequality.org.

There are also rumors that Medicare is going to be opening up a “public comment” session to revoke our health insurance coverage.