Pat McCrory @PatMcCroryNC & HB 2 (USA)

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North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory issued an executive order clarifying his reasons for signing HB2 and responding to “people’s feedback for the past several weeks on this issue.”  The order seeks to “affirm and improve the state’s commitment to privacy and equality” by with the following mandates:

“First, it maintains common sense gender-specific restroom and locker room facilities in government buildings and in our schools, and when possible, encourages reasonable accommodations for families and those who have unique or special circumstances.

Second, the private sector can make its own policy with regard to restrooms, locker rooms and/or shower facilities. This is not a government decision. This is your decision in the private sector.

Third, I have affirmed the private sector and local government’s right to establish its own non-discrimination employment policies.

And fourth, as governor, I have expanded our state equal employment opportunity policy to clarify that sexual orientation and gender identity are included.

And fifth, I will immediately seek legislation in the upcoming short session to reinstate the right to sue for discrimination in North Carolina state courts.”

Tennessee Attorney General Herbery Slattery III (USA)

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Tennessee Attorney General Herbery Slattery III has issued an opinion regarding HB 2414, a pending bill that seeks to mandate that “Public institutions of higher education shall require that a student use the restroom and locker room facilities that are assigned for use by persons of the same sex as the sex indicated on the student’s original birth certificate.”  Slattery, affirming his position that passing HB 2414 could result in a loss of federal funding due to current interpretations of Title IX, writes:

“In sum, if a transgender student is required by a school district in Tennessee to use a restroom or locker room facility that is consistent with his or her anatomical gender rather than his or her gender expression or gender identity, and if that student files a complaint, DOE, applying its current interpretation of Title IX, will almost certainly require the school district to permit the student access to the facility consistent with his or her gender expression, and refusal to do so could very well result in loss of federal funding — at least until DOE’s interpretation is overruled by authoritative and binding judicial decision.”

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest also “warned Tennessee it could be subject to economic penalties if HB 2414 becomes law.”

Tenn

White House_ Tennessee anti-trans bathroom bill ‘mean-spirited’

Levy v. Wexford Health Sources (USA)

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El Soudani El Wahhabi, a man who identifies as a woman known as Shawnte Anne Levy (“Levy”), has filed a lawsuit against Wexford Health Sources, former Maryland Division of Corrections Commissioner Gregg L Hershberger, and North Branch Correctional Institution (“NBCI”) Warden Frank Bishop.  Levy is incarcerated at NBCI, and alleges that the “Defendants have violated her rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and the Maryland Declaration of Rights by denying her requests” for estrogen and psychotherapy as treatment for the inmate’s Gender Identity Disorder.  Levy is seeking injunctive relief in the form of estrogen medication and “to require NBCI to update her commitment record to reflect that name change.”

Levy w. Wexford

Tennessee (USA)

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The Tennessee General Assembly recently passed a bill known as HB 1840 that “declares that no person providing counseling or therapy services shall be required to counsel or serve a client as to goals, outcomes, or behaviors that conflict with a sincerely held religious belief of the counselor or therapist.”  Under this bill, counselors who refuse services must “coordinate a referral of the client to another counselor or therapist who will provide the service.”  If Governor Bill Haslam adds his signature, Tennessee would become the only state with such a law, according to the American Counseling Association (a group whose code of ethics states that mental health professionals cannot refuse treatment on the basis of “personally held values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors”).

Gender Identity Watch opposes this bill. 

Tennessee Passes Anti-LGBT Counseling Bill

HB1840

Missouri (USA)

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The Missouri General Assembly has issued a proposed amendment to the Missouri Constitution, known as Senate Joint Resolution No. 39, introduced by Senator Bob Onder.  The proposed amendment,  add a new section to the constitution specifying that “the state shall not impose a penalty on a religious organization on the basis that the organization believes or acts in accordance with a sincere religious belief concerning marriage between two persons of the same sex.”  The proposal also stats “Nothing in this section prevents the state from providing a license to marry or providing any other marital entitlement, service, or benefits authorized by state law,” and “Nothing in this section permits a hospital…to refuse to treat a marriage as valid for purposes of a spouse’s right to visitation or to make surrogate health care decisions.”  This amendment will appear on the November election ballot in Missouri, and if approved, will be effective immediately.

SJR0039-5-I

Doe v. Arizona (USA)

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Arizona District Court Judge David G Campbell has denied, in part, Arizona attorneys’ motion to dismiss in Doe v. Arizona.  The Plaintiff, a woman who identifies as a transgender male known for the purposes of this lawsuit as John Doe, is a corrections officer employed by the state. Doe alleges the state of Arizona “violated his rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against him on the basis of his gender identity and retaliating against him based on his filing of a charge of discrimination…” and is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief and an unspecified monetary amount in damages.  The Court denied the Defendant’s motion to dismiss Doe’s claims of gender discrimination, but granted the motion to dismiss claims of retaliation.

Doe v. Arizona

Broussard v. First Tower Loan (USA)

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Judge Carl J Barbier has denied a motion to alter, amend, or reconsider order staying Equal Employment Opportunity Commissions’ (“EEOC”) claims in Broussard v First Tower Loans.  Tristan Broussard, a woman who identifies as a transgender man, asserts that First Tower Loans Vice President David Morgan “gave Broussard a copy of the company’s dress code for female employees and informed Broussard that the company would require him to dress as female.”  Broussard was also allegedly presented with and asked to sign a written statement expressing that “Broussard’s ‘preference to act and dress as male’” was not in compliance with the company’s personnel policies.  After refusing to sign the statement, Broussard’s employment was terminated.  The Court denied EEOC’s motion, and further ordered a modification of the discretionary stay of EEOC’s claims as follows: “The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s claims are stayed pending completion of the arbitration between Tristan Broussard and First Tower Loan, LLC within six months from the date of this order, unless good cause be shown for an extension. The parties shall advise the Court in writing upon completion of the arbitration.”

Broussard v. First Tower Loan, LLC,