Adoption agency's license to discriminate
Religion now grants you a free pass to refuse service to LGBTQ parents.
Is everybody okay out there?
It’s been a whirlwind week for me so far and I haven’t even been monitoring all the Trump stuff that closely. But we now have newspapers outing whistleblowers, a president threatening execution for an intelligence agent doing their job, a secret White House server hiding the president’s recordings, and a director of national intelligence admitting the whistleblower complaint was valid. That was all literally just today.
But that’s not all that’s happening in the world, so let’s see what you may have missed!
Court win for discriminatory adoption agency in Michigan
A federal judge ruled today that St. Vincent Catholic Charities in Lansing, Michigan can continue to receive taxpayer funding from the state while refusing to serve same-sex couples and LGBTQ clients. Citing the Supreme Court’s case in Masterpiece Cakeshop, this Dubya-appointed judge concluded that the state just wasn’t nice enough in addressing the agency’s religiously-motivated discriminatory intent and thus violated their right to free exercise of religion.
This is nothing short of catering to religious bigotry. It’s a bit confusing, but let me quickly walk you through the nonsense to explain just how petty this ruling is.
In 2015, Michigan passed a law granting adoption agencies a big ol’ license to discriminate against prospective LGBTQ parents. The law said that agencies can do whatever they want to according to their religious beliefs, and the state can never punish them for doing so (like by pulling their license or funding).
But then two things happened: the ACLU sued to challenge the law, and a new attorney general, Dana Nessel was elected. Nessel had campaigned against the 2015 law, and when she won, she stopped defending it. On behalf of the state, she ultimately settled with the same-sex couples in the ACLU case, agreeing that the state would not enforce the law in a way that allowed discrimination against the LGBTQ community. This did not satisfy St. Vincent, which had lobbied for that law, so it countered by filing its own suit this spring, resulting in this decision.
Judge Robert J. Jonker concluded that Nessel’s opposition to discrimination constituted animus against St. Vincent’s religious beliefs:
She referred to proponents of the 2015 law as “hate-mongers” and said the only purpose of the 2015 law was “discriminatory animus.” She described the 2015 law as “indefensible” during her campaign. These statements raise a strong inference of a hostility toward a religious viewpoint.
It’s really quite ridiculous. The whole point of the law was to allow anti-LGBTQ discrimination! And it was the law that referred to religious beliefs, not Nessel, who simply opposed allowing any agency (regardless of beliefs) to discriminate using taxpayer-funding.
The telling part of the ruling is that the judge made no note of the harm done to queer people who are told they can’t be served by a particular organization. So long as the agency refers them elsewhere, he thinks it’s fine. In other words, he disagrees that the state has a compelling interest to prevent the refusal of service in the first place, meaning he doesn’t see the act of discrimination as harmful. That’s a big problem.
This was a preliminary injunction ruling, so it isn’t the end of the case, but Jonker has made clear how he’ll rule in the end. And this is what the destruction of civil rights will look like: religious organizations proclaiming that their beliefs entitle them to state funding even though they refuse to serve all clients. Religion becomes a free pass to discriminate, and if you simply point that out, the bad guys automatically win. That’s where these rulings are taking us.
And if an agency wants to engage in racial discrimination motivated by their religious beliefs? Jonker didn’t say.
Human rights groups demand release of LGBTQ and HIV+ immigrant detainees
A coalition of 14 human rights groups are calling on ICE to release the LGBTQ and HIV-positive immigration detainees it is holding because of the poor care they’ve received. This includes denying hormone therapy to transgender detainees and withholding viral suppression treatment for people with HIV. Read more from the Washington Post for multiple examples of people who’ve been denied the care they deserve.
Alaska mayor endorses anti-LGBTQ discrimination
The mayor of Fairbanks, Alaska’s second largest city, told an anti-LGBTQ group that he both opposes nondiscrimination protections and supports legislation that would mandate discrimination against transgender people (like North Carolina’s HB2 did).
Earlier this year, Mayor Jim Matherly (R) also vetoed an LGBTQ nondiscrimination ordinance the city council had passed.
The Human Rights Campaign’s new direction
Earlier this year, HRC announced that its new president would be Alphonso David, who is the first person of color to lead the LGBTQ juggernaut. In a new op-ed in USA Today, he admits the organization has not always served queer people of color effectively, and he plans to change that:
The truth is that LGBTQ people of color have long been marginalized within our community — and by our organization. They have seen their contributions to our collective history diminished or forgotten, and their needs and priorities sidelined. While we have fought and won important battles on issues including marriage equality, we have historically failed to also engage in consistent and meaningful work to address the impact of racial inequality on LGBTQ people across all aspects of their lives — including on issues such as voter suppression, health and economic disparities, and violence. It is our responsibility to make that right and to demonstrate our commitment every day.
I think it’s easy to continue punishing HRC for its sins of the past, but I’m personally looking forward to what this new direction of leadership looks like.
Heritage Foundation defends religious anti-trans discrimination
The Heritage Foundation appears very concerned that a California court has allowed a trans man’s lawsuit against a Catholic hospital to proceed. Though the hospital performs hysterectomies, it refused to perform one on him as part of his gender transition, which he (rightly) asserts is discrimination.
To Heritage, however, this isn’t a case about someone denied a medically necessary procedure because of his identity; it’s about “religious liberty”:
Dignity Health did not deny Minton care on the basis of gender identity; it simply refused to carry out the sterilization procedures it considered harmful, and would never perform on any patient.
It’s the exact same argument as in the adoption agency case above. Opponents of LGBTQ equality believe that religion justifies discrimination, whether it’s denying us access to a family or to proper medical care — regardless of the harmful consequences of that discrimination.
Why does that all sound familiar?
Quick Hits
Julián Castro discusses his support for LGBTQ equality in a new interview with Out.
A new study finds promising results for a long-term implant that can replace daily pill-taking to treat HIV.
The Anti-Defamation League has officially classified the “OK” hand signal, popularized by 4chan to troll the media, as a hate symbol representing white supremacy.
A suspect arrested in the murder of a transgender woman in Dallas admitted to shouting anti-LGBTQ slurs at her.
A same-sex couple in a New York City restaurant was beat up by a group of four to six men while the employees did nothing to protect them.
The New Orleans radio station that called a gay employee a “fag” on its Twitter is now blaming that employee for sending the tweet, which he adamantly denies.
Pose star Indya Moore has opened up about being subjected to conversion therapy when they were younger.
After six months recovering from gender confirmation surgery, Izaak Theo Adu thanked his mom, legendary recording artist Sade, for supporting him through his transition:
Lady Gaga surprised a young gay aspiring cosmetologist and if their meeting doesn’t make you tear up a little then I’d question whether you have a heart!
Until next time, stay platinum!
(St. Vincent Catholic Charities photo credit: St. Vincent Catholic Charities.)