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Despite court ruling, EEOC to continue taking anti-gay bias claims

7th Circuit found ‘no protection from nor redress for discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation’

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EEOC, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, gay news, Washington Blade
EEOC, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, gay news, Washington Blade

The EEOC will continue to accept claims of anti-gay discrimination as gender discrimination. (Image public domain)

Despite a federal appeals court ruling that determined current law provides “no protection from nor redress for discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation,” the U.S. agency charged with enforcing federal workplace civil rights law will continue to accept and investigateĀ charges of anti-gay employment discrimination inĀ the court’s jurisdiction.

Justine Lisser, a spokesperson for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said Friday her agency will “continue to investigate cases despite an adverse decision” from the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals contrary to the commission’s policy of investigating claims of anti-gay discrimination as gender discrimination.

The response, Lisser said, comes from the Office of Field Programs, which oversees all the district offices and sets policy for investigations, and is based on the fact the commissionĀ “enforces laws that apply nationwide.”

“Unless the commission issues policy to the contrary, we will follow current commission policy and continue to accept and investigate charges alleging sex discrimination that is based on sexual orientation or gender identity,” Lisser concluded.

Last week, a three-judge panel on the Seventh Circuit determined Title VII of Civil Rights of Act of 1964 provided no recourse for Kimberly Hively, a lesbian law professor alleging workplace discrimination atĀ Ivy Tech Community College. The school has denied the allegations.

U.S. Circuit Judge Ilana Rovner, the judge writing the decision, admittedĀ ā€œit seems illogical to entertainā€ the idea laws against sex discrimination cover gender non-conformity, but not sexual orientation, but nonetheless refused to change precedent in the jurisdiction to allow the claim of anti-gay discrimination to go forward.

The decision runs contrary to the EEOC’sĀ determination last yearĀ in the case of Baldwin v. Foxx, which started a precedent enabling the agency to take and investigate claims of sexual-orientation workplace bias as gender discrimination.Ā In 2011, the agency found in the case of Macy v. Holder transgender discrimination constitutes gender discrimination under Title VII.

Lambda Legal, which represents Hively, has said it intends to pursue an “en banc” review of the three-judge panel’s decision before the full Seventh Circuit. The judicial circuit consists of Wisconsin and Illinois, which have state laws barring anti-gay discrimination, and Indiana, which doesn’t.

Even though the three-judge panelĀ refused to change precedent within the 7th Circuit, the EEOC can still mediate with companies that engage in anti-gay discrimination to obtain conciliation, or else take thoseĀ companies to federal court for a costly legal battle.

Despite EEOC policy, many LGBT advocates have asserted there’s no recourse for anti-LGBT workplace discrimination under current law because neither sexual orientation nor gender identity is explicitly included under federal civil rights law. These advocates often assertĀ the maxim a gay person can be married on Sunday, then fired on Monday when that union becomes public.

Tico Almeida, president of the LGBT group Freedom to Work, said IndianaĀ workersĀ who feel they’ve faced anti-LGBT employment discrimination should file claims with the EEOC even without explicit protections under federal law.

“If a gay, lesbian or bisexual Hoosier is married on Sunday and fired on Monday, we recommend they contact an attorney and file a Title VII sex discrimination claim with the EEOC’s office in Indianapolis,” Almeida said. “The three judges from the Hively decision are not the final word on this legal question, and in the meantime, hundreds of LGBT workers have recently won recourse by fighting back against discrimination and filing claims at the EEOC.”

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National

Trump refers to Anderson Cooper as ā€˜Allisonā€™

Crude insults continue in effort to attract male voters

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Donald Trump is referring to CNNā€™s Anderson Cooper as ā€˜Allison.ā€™

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump referred repeatedly over the weekend to CNNā€™s Anderson Cooper as ā€œAllison Cooper.ā€

Cooper, one of the nationā€™s most prominent openly gay television anchors, moderated a town hall last week with Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump last Friday called Anderson ā€œAllisonā€ in a social media post, then used the moniker again at a Michigan rally.

ā€œIf you watched her being interviewed by Allison Cooper the other night, heā€™s a nice person. You know Allison Cooper? CNN fake news,ā€ Trump said, before adding, ā€œOh, she said no, his name is Anderson. Oh, no.ā€

Trump repeated the name during another Michigan rally on Saturday, according to the Associated Pres, then followed it up during a reference in Pennsylvania. ā€œThey had a town hall,ā€ Trump said in Michigan. ā€œEven Allison Cooper was embarrassed by it. He was embarrassed by it.ā€

Describing Anderson Cooper as female plays into offensive and stereotypical depictions of gay men as effeminate as Trump continues to pursue the so-called ā€œbro vote,ā€ amping up crude and vulgar displays in an effort to appeal to male voters.

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Pennsylvania

Transgender Honduran woman canvasses for Harris in Pa.

Monserrath Aleman is CASA in Action volunteer

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Monserrath Aleman, a transgender woman in Honduras, has canvassed in Pennsylvania for Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democratic candidates. (Photo by Phil Laubner/CASA in Action)

A transgender woman from Honduras has traveled to Pennsylvania several times in recent weeks to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democratic candidates.

Monserrath Aleman traveled to York on Aug. 31 and Lancaster on Sept. 21 with a group of other volunteers from CASA in Action. 

They door-knocked in areas where large numbers of African Americans, Black, and Latino voters live. Aleman and the other CASA in Action volunteers urged them to support Harris, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and other down ballot Democratic candidates.

Aleman will be in Harrisburg on Nov. 2, and in York on Election Day.

“We achieved the goal that we had in mind and that we wanted to achieve,” she told the Washington Blade on Oct. 22 during a Zoom interview from Baltimore. “We knocked on doors, passed out flyers.”

Aleman cited Project 2025 ā€” which the Congressional Equality Caucus on Thursday sharply criticized ā€” when she spoke with the Blade.

“We know that there is a Project 2025 plan that would affect us: The entire immigrant Latino community, the LGBTI community, everyone,” said Aleman. “So that’s why I’m more motivated to go knocking on doors, to ask for help, for support from everyone who can vote, who can exercise their vote.”

She told the Blade that she and her fellow volunteers “did not have any bad response.”

Aleman grew up in Yoro, a city that is roughly 130 miles north of the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa.

She left Honduras on Nov. 25, 2021.

Aleman entered Mexico in Palenque, a city in the country’s Chiapas state that is close to the border with Guatemala. The Mexican government granted her a humanitarian visa that allowed her to legally travel through the country.

Aleman told the Blade she walked and took buses to Ciudad JuƔrez, a Mexican border city that is across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.

She scheduled her appointment with U.S. Customs and Border Protection while living at a shelter in Ciudad JuĆ”rez.Ā Aleman now lives in Baltimore.

“Discrimination against the LGBTI community exists everywhere, but in Honduras it is more critical,” said Aleman.

Aleman added she feels “more free to express herself, to speak with someone” in the U.S. She also said she remains optimistic that Harris will defeat former President Donald Trump on Election Day.

“There is no other option,” said Aleman.

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National

HRC rallies LGBTQ voters in 12 states ahead of Election Day

10 Days of Action campaign targets pro-equality candidate

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Human Rights Campaign headquarters (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The Human Rights Campaign said it filled 1,426 new volunteer shifts and held 174 events across key swing states between Oct. 10-20 as part of its 10 Days of Action campaign.Ā 

The LGBTQ civil rights advocacy group is working to mobilize and turn out voters in support of pro-equality and LGBTQ candidates, including the Harris-Walz ticket, on Election Day.

HRC reported exceeding its recruitment goals, noting the strong response across the 12 states as a ā€œclear and resounding messageā€ that LGBTQ and allied voters are energized to back the Harris-Walz ticket. 

To kick off the 10 Days of Action, Gwen Walz, the spouse of Minnesota governor and Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, spoke at a Philadelphia event that HRC and the Out for Harris-Walz coalition hosted on Oct. 10.

Walz highlighted her husbandā€™s long-standing support for LGBTQ issues, such as his role in fighting to repeal “Donā€™t Ask, Donā€™t Tell” in Congress and banning so-called conversion therapy as governor, according to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.Ā 

Other events launched canvassing efforts for Senate candidates, such as U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.), along with House candidates, such as Will Rollins and Mondaire Jones in California and New York respectively. 

A virtual organizing call on Oct. 11 that the Out for Harris-Walz coalition hosted featured prominent figures, including actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Andy Cohen, U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), and Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride, who is running for Congress.

To close out the 10 Days of Action, HRC President Kelley Robinson canvassed with LGBTQ organizers in Phoenix on Oct. 20. 

In a statement, Robinson said the campaignā€™s work is ā€œfar from over.ā€

ā€œWe plan to spend every day until the election making sure everyone we know is registered to vote and has a plan to vote because no one is going to give us the future we deserve ā€” we have to fight for it and show America that when we show up, equality wins,ā€ she said. ā€œTogether, we will elect pro-equality leaders like Vice President Harris and Governor Walz who value our communities and are ready to lead us forward with more freedom and opportunity.ā€

A September HRC poll found that LGBTQ voters favor Kamala Harris over Donald Trump in the presidential race by a nearly 67-point margin.

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