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Spicer hammered with questions on reversal of trans protections

White House says move ‘clearly’ shows administration position on Supreme Court case

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White House Sean Spicer was hammered with questions on reversal of the transgender student guidance. (Photo courtesy CSPAN).

White House Sean Spicer was hammered with questions on reversal of the transgender student guidance. (Photo courtesy CSPAN).

The day after the Trump administration reverse Obama-era guidance that had once assured transgender students access to the restroom consistent with their gender identity, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was hammered Thursday with intense questioning on the issue during his routine daily news briefing.

No fewer than seven reporters from six media outlets asked questions on the topic: American Urban Radio, Fox News, Time Magazine, NBC News, FOX 5 DC and the Washington Blade.

Spicer dodged questions on whether transgender bathroom access is a civil rights’ issue, maintaining the issue belongs to the states. Denying the change was a reversal, Spicer pointed to the order from U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Texas enjoining enforcement of the guidance.

On that court decision, Spicer asked rhetorically: “Where were the questions in August about this?” The Blade in fact took up the issue of the impact of the order with then-White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, who at the time was cagey in his responses about continued enforcement of Title IX.

In a response to a question the Blade, Spicer said the revocation of the guidance “clearly does” represent the administration position on the way the Supreme Court should rule in Gavin Grimm case, which contemplates whether Title IX compels schools to allow transgender students to use the bathroom consistent with their gender identity.

Although Spicer didn’t say explicitly what the result should be, the position seems to be against Gavin based on the Trump administration’s rejection of the idea Title IX applies to transgender students.

Here’s a transcript of the trans guidance-related questions during the briefing:

AMERICAN URBAN RADIO: There was a different comment from the president about if people like Caitlyn Jenner wanted to use the bathroom in Trump Tower, she could. What’s happened?

SEAN SPICER: No, I think that’s ā€” So, just to be clear, the president was asked at one point if Caitlyn Jenner was in Trump Tower and he said, “That’s great.” That’s consistent with everything he said. It’s a states’ rights issue. That’s entirely what he believes that if a state wants to pass a law or rule, or an organization wants to do something in compliance with the state rule that’s they’re right, but it shouldn’t be the federal government getting in the way of this.

If you look at this, the law that was passed in 1972 did not contemplate or consider this issue. No. 2, the procedure for this guidance letter that was done through the Obama administration was not properly followed. There was no comment period, there was no input from parents, teachers, students or administrators. None.

If we think about how this was implemented last administration, there was zero input, there was zero comment period offered. Teachers and students never had any say in how this was implemented.

No. 3, there’s a reason that the Texas court had this matter enjoined. It’s because it didn’t follow the law and it had procedural problems. Four, as I mentioned, it’s a states’ right issue.

And then five, is I think that we do have to recognize that children do enjoy rights from anti-bullying statutes that are in almost every state, and that there’s a difference between being compassionate for individuals and children who are struggling with something, and wanting to make sure they’re protected and how it’s being done, and I think that president had a big heart, has talked about it in a lot of other issues, and there’s a big difference.

Personally, he addressed this issue when it came up with respect to one of his properties, but he also believes that that’s not a federal government issue. It’s an issue left to the states. And it’s an issue that, there’s a reason in August of last year that the court enjoined this: Because it hadn’t followed the law and it hadn’t followed the procedures, the comment period and the solicitations of opinions and ideas what wasn’t followed. It was jammed down the process, and so, we’re actually following the law on this one, and I think that’s the way is going to be done.

FOX NEWS: The Human Rights Campaign said in rescinding the guidance last night that this is not a states’ rights issue, it’s a civil rights issue, and therefore is in the purview of the federal government. Do you disagree that this is a civil rights issue?

SPICER: It’s a question of where it’s appropriately addressed, and I think there’s a reason ā€” We got to remember, this guidance was enjoined last August by a court. It hasn’t been enforced. There was no comment period by anyone, by the Human Rights Campaign, by teachers, parents, students. Nobody had any input in this, and it seems to me a little interesting that if this was any other issue, people would be crying foul that the process wasn’t followed.

The reality is that if you look Title IX, it was enacted in 1972. The idea that this was even contemplated in that is preposterous on its face, but that doesn’t mean ā€” the president obviously understands the issue and the challenges that especially young children face. He just believes that this is a state issue that needs to be addressed by states as he does with a lot of issues that we’ve talked about.

And so this is ā€” we are a states’ rights party, the president on a lot of issues believes in these various issues being states’ rights. I don’t see why this would be any different, and again, if you go through it, it’s not just ā€” it’s how the guidance was issued, it’s the legal basis on which it was ordered, it fell short on a lot of stuff. It wasn’t us that did this, it was court that stepped in and said they hadn’t followed the procedure of the law back in August of last year and enjoined the case.

FOX NEWS: Does the White House disagree that this is an issue with civil rights?

SPICER: I think it’s not a question of whether it’s civil rights, it’s a question of whether it’s appropriately addressed. As I noted, it’s appropriately addressed at the state level.

NBC NEWS’ KELLY O’DONNELL: Does the president personally believe a student who is transgender should be able to use the bathroom of their choice? His personal belief?

SPICER: I think the president believes it’s a states rights issue, and he’s not going to get into determining ā€” I understand what you’re asking Kelly ā€” and I think that as April pointed out, when the issue came to one of his own properties he was clear. But again, what he doesn’t want to do is force his issues or beliefs down. He believes that it’s a states’ rights issue.

NBC NEWS’ KELLY O’DONNELL: But…they want to know where the president is on this issue.

SPICER: I understand that, and I think he is very sympathetic to children who deal with that. This is up to states and schools with in a particular district to address how they want to accommodate that, and not sort of be prescriptive from Washington. That’s what the president believes.

TIME MAGAZINE: You mentioned that this order was enjoined by the court and there was criticism about the process. That exact same criticism has been levied on the administration’s first executive order on the travel ban. I mean, can you help square the circle here? Why are you relying on that same enjoined by a federal court criticism of the process for one, but not the other?

SPICER: Well, I think there’s a big difference. There’s no way that you can read Title IX from 1972 ā€” anybody ā€” and say that that was even contemplated back then. There’s nobody that is possibly suggesting that the law that was passed in 1972 did that.

No. 2, there was zero comment period put forward on this guidance, which is in violation of how it was executed, OK?…There is also a strong reading when you read 1182 U.S. Code that it is very clear the president does have the authority, so they are very much apples and oranges issues.

One, it’s very clear that the president is told by Congress in U.S. code that he has the authority to do what’s necessary to protect the American people, and there’s no way that anybody above a fifth grade reading level could interpret that. There is a difference between looking at a statute from 1972 and saying that something was complicated back then. Not only that, again, it’s a multi-faceted, when you look at how the guidance was issued, there was a zero comment period. Nobody was able to weigh in on that situation back then.

And so when you’re talking about forcing schools to make a huge accommodation from the federal level and schools, parents, teachers kids were not able to have any input in that decision from Washington, I think, it’s a very, very clear difference.

NBC NEWS’ KRISTEN WELKER: I want to start off by following on the transgender directive. 82 percent of transgender children report feeling unsafe at school. So, isn’t the president leaving some of these children open and vulnerable to be bulled in school?

SPICER: No, I mean, there are bullying laws and policies in place in almost every one of these schools.

WELKER: But transgender children experience not being able to use the bathroom that they feel comfortable using.

SPICER: But you’re missing the point here, Kristen. The president said literally it should be a state decision. He respects the decision of the states

WELKER: Protecting kids is a states’ right issue?

SPICER: You’re trying to make an issue out of something that doesn’t exist. It was the court who stopped this in August of last year, OK? So, where were the questions last year in August about this? It wasn’t implemented correctly, legally and the procedure wasn’t followed because the court found at the time didn’t have the authority to do that.

So, you’re asking us why we’re following the law that wasn’t followed, and the reality is ā€”

WELKER:…reversing the directive…

SPICER: We’re not reversing it. That is a misinterpretation of the scenario. The court stopped it. It enjoined it in August of last year because it wasn’t properly drafted and it didn’t follow the procedures and there was no legal basis for it in a law that was instituted in 1972.

So for you to use those terms, frankly, doesn’t reflect what the situation actually is and how it happened. To talk about us reversing something that was stopped by the courts.

WELKER: But you’re sending a message.

SPICER: No, we’re not. We’re basically saying it’s a states’ rights issue. If a states chooses to do it, as I mentioned to April, when this circumstance came up at one of the president’s own properties, he was very clear about his position on this, so for you to turn around and say what message is president saying, where was the message when he sent it last year?

I think the message shows that he’s a guy with a heart that understands the trouble that many people go through, but he also believes that the proper legal recourse for this is with the states. He believes in a states’ ability to determine what’s right for their state versus another time.

WELKER: But what you’re saying and what the LGBTQ community was saying yesterday that what were perceiving is those are kids are not…

SPICER: There’s a difference between what people may or not feel and the legal process and the law, and the law right now doesn’t allow for it under Title IX that was passed in 1972, and the procedure wasn’t followed. The court saw this in August of last year for a reason, and all we’re doing is saying that the proper place for this is in the states.

And so, for you to suggest what message this is sending, it’s very simple that it’s a states’ rights issue and the state should enact laws that reflect the values, principles and will of the people in their particular states. That’s it plain and simple.

WASHINGTON BLADE: On the transgender guidance, the administration not only rescinded it, but sent a letter to the Supreme Court informing them about the change as it considers a related case. Does the termination of the guidance represent a position from the administration on the way the Supreme Court should rule?

SPICER: Removing the guidance clearly does. The guidance that was put forward by the Obama administration, which clearly hadn’t been done in a proper way in terms of how they solicited, or rather didn’t solicit comments. The guidance it puts forward obviously sends a signal to the court on where the administration stands on this issue.

FOX 5 DC: Jackie Evancho, she sang the National Anthem, she request a meeting with the president. Her sister is transgender. Is he going to take that meeting or meet with anyone from the transgender community during this conversation?

SPICER: Yeah. I think the president would be welcome to meet with her.

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Honoring the legacy of New Orleansā€™ 1973 UpStairs Lounge fire

Why the arson attack that killed 32 gay men still resonates 50 years later

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Fifty years ago this week, 32 gay men were killed in an arson attack on the UpStairs Lounge in New Orleans. (Photo by G.E. Arnold/Times-Picayune; reprinted with permission)

On June 23 of last year, I held the microphone as a gay man in the New Orleans City Council Chamber and related a lost piece of queer history to the seven council members. I told this story to disabuse all New Orleanians of the notion that silence and accommodation, in the face of institutional and official failures, are a path to healing.  

The story I related to them began on a typical Sunday night at a second-story bar on the fringe of New Orleansā€™ French Quarter in 1973, where working-class men would gather around a white baby grand piano and belt out the lyrics to a song that was the anthem of their hidden community, ā€œUnited We Standā€ by the Brotherhood of Man. 

ā€œUnited we stand,ā€ the men would sing together, ā€œdivided we fallā€ ā€” the words epitomizing the ethos of their beloved UpStairs Lounge bar, an egalitarian free space that served as a forerunner to todayā€™s queer safe havens. 

Around that piano in the 1970s Deep South, gays and lesbians, white and Black queens, Christians and non-Christians, and even early gender minorities could cast aside the racism, sexism, and homophobia of the times to find acceptance and companionship for a moment. 

For regulars, the UpStairs Lounge was a miracle, a small pocket of acceptance in a broader world where their very identities were illegal. 

On the Sunday night of June 24, 1973, their voices were silenced in a murderous act of arson that claimed 32 lives and still stands as the deadliest fire in New Orleans history ā€” and the worst mass killing of gays in 20th century America. 

As 13 fire companies struggled to douse the inferno, police refused to question the chief suspect, even though gay witnesses identified and brought the soot-covered man to officers idly standing by. This suspect, an internally conflicted gay-for-pay sex worker named Rodger Dale Nunez, had been ejected from the UpStairs Lounge screaming the word “burn” minutes before, but New Orleans police rebuffed the testimony of fire survivors on the street and allowed Nunez to disappear.

As the fire raged, police denigrated the deceased to reporters on the street: ā€œSome thieves hung out there, and you know this was a queer bar.ā€ 

For days afterward, the carnage met with official silence. With no local gay political leaders willing to step forward, national Gay Liberation-era figures like Rev. Troy Perry of the Metropolitan Community Church flew in to ā€œhelp our bereaved brothers and sistersā€ ā€” and shatter officialdomā€™s code of silence. 

Perry broke local taboos by holding a press conference as an openly gay man. ā€œItā€™s high time that you people, in New Orleans, Louisiana, got the message and joined the rest of the Union,ā€ Perry said. 

Two days later, on June 26, 1973, as families hesitated to step forward to identify their kin in the morgue, UpStairs Lounge owner Phil Esteve stood in his badly charred bar, the air still foul with death. He rebuffed attempts by Perry to turn the fire into a call for visibility and progress for homosexuals. 

ā€œThis fire had very little to do with the gay movement or with anything gay,ā€ Esteve told a reporter from The Philadelphia Inquirer. ā€œI do not want my bar or this tragedy to be used to further any of their causes.ā€ 

Conspicuously, no photos of Esteve appeared in coverage of the UpStairs Lounge fire or its aftermath ā€” and the bar owner also remained silent as he witnessed police looting the ashes of his business. 

ā€œPhil said the cash register, juke box, cigarette machine and some wallets had money removed,ā€ recounted Esteveā€™s friend Bob McAnear, a former U.S. Customs officer. ā€œPhil wouldnā€™t report it because, if he did, police would never allow him to operate a bar in New Orleans again.ā€ 

The next day, gay bar owners, incensed at declining gay bar traffic amid an atmosphere of anxiety, confronted Perry at a clandestine meeting. ā€œHow dare you hold your damn news conferences!ā€ one business owner shouted. 

Ignoring calls for gay self-censorship, Perry held a 250-person memorial for the fire victims the following Sunday, July 1, culminating in mourners defiantly marching out the front door of a French Quarter church into waiting news cameras. ā€œReverend Troy Perry awoke several sleeping giants, me being one of them,ā€ recalled Charlene Schneider, a lesbian activist who walked out of that front door with Perry.

(Photo by G.E. Arnold/Times-Picayune; reprinted with permission)

Esteve doubted the UpStairs Lounge storyā€™s capacity to rouse gay political fervor. As the coroner buried four of his former patrons anonymously on the edge of town, Esteve quietly collected at least $25,000 in fire insurance proceeds. Less than a year later, he used the money to open another gay bar called the Post Office, where patrons of the UpStairs Lounge ā€” some with visible burn scars ā€” gathered but were discouraged from singing ā€œUnited We Stand.ā€ 

New Orleans cops neglected to question the chief arson suspect and closed the investigation without answers in late August 1973. Gay elites in the cityā€™s power structure began gaslighting the mourners who marched with Perry into the news cameras, casting suspicion on their memories and re-characterizing their moment of liberation as a stunt. 

When a local gay journalist asked in April 1977, ā€œWhere are the gay activists in New Orleans?,ā€ Esteve responded that there were none, because none were needed. ā€œWe donā€™t feel weā€™re discriminated against,ā€ Esteve said. ā€œNew Orleans gays are different from gays anywhere elseā€¦ Perhaps there is some correlation between the amount of gay activism in other cities and the degree of police harassment.ā€ 

(Photo by H.J. Patterson/Times-Picayune; reprinted with permission)

An attitude of nihilism and disavowal descended upon the memory of the UpStairs Lounge victims, goaded by Esteve and fellow gay entrepreneurs who earned their keep via gay patrons drowning their sorrows each night instead of protesting the injustices that kept them drinking. 

Into the 1980s, the story of the UpStairs Lounge all but vanished from conversation ā€” with the exception of a few sanctuaries for gay political debate such as the local lesbian bar Charleneā€™s, run by the activist Charlene Schneider. 

By 1988, the 15th anniversary of the fire, the UpStairs Lounge narrative comprised little more than a call for better fire codes and indoor sprinklers. UpStairs Lounge survivor Stewart Butler summed it up: ā€œA tragedy that, as far as I know, no good came of.ā€ 

Finally, in 1991, at Stewart Butler and Charlene Schneiderā€™s nudging, the UpStairs Lounge story became aligned with the crusade of liberated gays and lesbians seeking equal rights in Louisiana. The halls of power responded with intermittent progress. The New Orleans City Council, horrified by the story but not yet ready to take its look in the mirror, enacted an anti-discrimination ordinance protecting gays and lesbians in housing, employment, and public accommodations that Dec. 12 ā€” more than 18 years after the fire. 

ā€œI believe the fire was the catalyst for the anger to bring us all to the table,ā€ Schneider told The Times-Picayune, a tacit rebuke to Esteveā€™s strategy of silent accommodation. Even Esteve seemed to change his stance with time, granting a full interview with the first UpStairs Lounge scholar Johnny Townsend sometime around 1989. 

Most of the figures in this historic tale are now deceased. Whatā€™s left is an enduring story that refused to go gently. The story now echoes around the world ā€” a musical about the UpStairs Lounge fire recently played in Tokyo, translating the gay underworld of the 1973 French Quarter for Japanese audiences.

When I finished my presentation to the City Council last June, I looked up to see the seven council members in tears. Unanimously, they approved a resolution acknowledging the historic failures of city leaders in the wake of the UpStairs Lounge fire. 

Council members personally apologized to UpStairs Lounge families and survivors seated in the chamber in a symbolic act that, though it could not bring back those who died, still mattered greatly to those whose pain had been denied, leaving them to grieve alone. At long last, official silence and indifference gave way to heartfelt words of healing. 

The way Americans remember the past is an active, ongoing process. Our collective memory is malleable, but it matters because it speaks volumes about our maturity as a people, how we acknowledge the pastā€™s influence in our lives, and how it shapes the examples we set for our youth. Do we grapple with difficult truths, or do we duck accountability by defaulting to nostalgia and bluster? Or worse, do we simply ignore the past until it fades into a black hole of ignorance and indifference? 

I believe that a factual retelling of the UpStairs Lounge tragedy ā€” and how, 50 years onward, it became known internationally ā€” resonates beyond our current divides. It reminds queer and non-queer Americans that ignoring the past holds back the present, and that silence is no cure for what ails a participatory nation. 

Silence isolates. Silence gaslights and shrouds. It preserves the power structures that scapegoat the disempowered. 

Solidarity, on the other hand, unites. Solidarity illuminates a path forward together. Above all, solidarity transforms the downtrodden into a resounding chorus of citizens ā€” in the spirit of voices who once gathered ā€˜round a white baby grand piano and sang, joyfully and loudly, ā€œUnited We Stand.ā€ 

(Photo by Philip Ames/Times-Picayune; reprinted with permission)

Robert W. Fieseler is a New Orleans-based journalist and the author of ā€œTinderbox: the Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation.ā€

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New Supreme Court term includes critical LGBTQ case with ‘terrifying’ consequences

Business owner seeks to decline services for same-sex weddings

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The U.S. Supreme Court is to set consider the case of 303 Creative, which seeks to refuse design services for same-sex weddings. (Blade file photo by Michael Key)

The U.S. Supreme Court, after a decision overturning Roe v. Wade that still leaves many reeling, is starting a new term with justices slated to revisit the issue of LGBTQ rights.

In 303 Creative v. Elenis, the court will return to the issue of whether or not providers of custom-made goods can refuse service to LGBTQ customers on First Amendment grounds. In this case, the business owner is Lorie Smith, a website designer in Colorado who wants to opt out of providing her graphic design services for same-sex weddings despite the civil rights law in her state.

Jennifer Pizer, acting chief legal officer of Lambda Legal, said in an interview with the Blade, “it’s not too much to say an immeasurably huge amount is at stake” for LGBTQ people depending on the outcome of the case.

“This contrived idea that making custom goods, or offering a custom service, somehow tacitly conveys an endorsement of the person ā€” if that were to be accepted, that would be a profound change in the law,” Pizer said. “And the stakes are very high because there are no practical, obvious, principled ways to limit that kind of an exception, and if the law isn’t clear in this regard, then the people who are at risk of experiencing discrimination have no security, no effective protection by having a non-discrimination laws, because at any moment, as one makes their way through the commercial marketplace, you don’t know whether a particular business person is going to refuse to serve you.”

The upcoming arguments and decision in the 303 Creative case mark a return to LGBTQ rights for the Supreme Court, which had no lawsuit to directly address the issue in its previous term, although many argued the Dobbs decision put LGBTQ rights in peril and threatened access to abortion for LGBTQ people.

And yet, the 303 Creative case is similar to other cases the Supreme Court has previously heard on the providers of services seeking the right to deny services based on First Amendment grounds, such as Masterpiece Cakeshop and Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. In both of those cases, however, the court issued narrow rulings on the facts of litigation, declining to issue sweeping rulings either upholding non-discrimination principles or First Amendment exemptions.

Pizer, who signed one of the friend-of-the-court briefs in opposition to 303 Creative, said the case is “similar in the goals” of the Masterpiece Cakeshop litigation on the basis they both seek exemptions to the same non-discrimination law that governs their business, the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, or CADA, and seek “to further the social and political argument that they should be free to refuse same-sex couples or LGBTQ people in particular.”

“So there’s the legal goal, and it connects to the social and political goals and in that sense, it’s the same as Masterpiece,” Pizer said. “And so there are multiple problems with it again, as a legal matter, but also as a social matter, because as with the religion argument, it flows from the idea that having something to do with us is endorsing us.”

One difference: the Masterpiece Cakeshop litigation stemmed from an act of refusal of service after owner, Jack Phillips, declined to make a custom-made wedding cake for a same-sex couple for their upcoming wedding. No act of discrimination in the past, however, is present in the 303 Creative case. The owner seeks to put on her website a disclaimer she won’t provide services for same-sex weddings, signaling an intent to discriminate against same-sex couples rather than having done so.

As such, expect issues of standing ā€” whether or not either party is personally aggrieved and able bring to a lawsuit ā€” to be hashed out in arguments as well as whether the litigation is ripe for review as justices consider the case. It’s not hard to see U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts, who has sought to lead the court to reach less sweeping decisions (sometimes successfully, and sometimes in the Dobbs case not successfully) to push for a decision along these lines.

Another key difference: The 303 Creative case hinges on the argument of freedom of speech as opposed to the two-fold argument of freedom of speech and freedom of religious exercise in the Masterpiece Cakeshop litigation. Although 303 Creative requested in its petition to the Supreme Court review of both issues of speech and religion, justices elected only to take up the issue of free speech in granting a writ of certiorari (or agreement to take up a case). Justices also declined to accept another question in the petition request of review of the 1990 precedent in Smith v. Employment Division, which concluded states can enforce neutral generally applicable laws on citizens with religious objections without violating the First Amendment.

Representing 303 Creative in the lawsuit is Alliance Defending Freedom, a law firm that has sought to undermine civil rights laws for LGBTQ people with litigation seeking exemptions based on the First Amendment, such as the Masterpiece Cakeshop case.

Kristen Waggoner, president of Alliance Defending Freedom, wrote in a Sept. 12 legal brief signed by her and other attorneys that a decision in favor of 303 Creative boils down to a clear-cut violation of the First Amendment.

“Colorado and the United States still contend that CADA only regulates sales transactions,” the brief says. “But their cases do not apply because they involve non-expressive activities: selling BBQ, firing employees, restricting school attendance, limiting club memberships, and providing room access. Coloradoā€™s own cases agree that the government may not use public-accommodation laws to affect a commercial actorā€™s speech.”

Pizer, however, pushed back strongly on the idea a decision in favor of 303 Creative would be as focused as Alliance Defending Freedom purports it would be, arguing it could open the door to widespread discrimination against LGBTQ people.

“One way to put it is art tends to be in the eye of the beholder,” Pizer said. “Is something of a craft, or is it art? I feel like I’m channeling Lily Tomlin. Remember ‘soup and art’? We have had an understanding that whether something is beautiful or not is not the determining factor about whether something is protected as artistic expression. There’s a legal test that recognizes if this is speech, whose speech is it, whose message is it? Would anyone who was hearing the speech or seeing the message understand it to be the message of the customer or of the merchants or craftsmen or business person?”

Despite the implications in the case for LGBTQ rights, 303 Creative may have supporters among LGBTQ people who consider themselves proponents of free speech.

One joint friend-of-the-court brief before the Supreme Court, written by Dale Carpenter, a law professor at Southern Methodist University who’s written in favor of LGBTQ rights, and Eugene Volokh, a First Amendment legal scholar at the University of California, Los Angeles, argues the case is an opportunity to affirm the First Amendment applies to goods and services that are uniquely expressive.

“Distinguishing expressive from non-expressive products in some contexts might be hard, but the Tenth Circuit agreed that Smithā€™s product does not present a hard case,” the brief says. “Yet that court (and Colorado) declined to recognize any exemption for products constituting speech. The Tenth Circuit has effectively recognized a state interest in subjecting the creation of speech itself to antidiscrimination laws.”

Oral arguments in the case aren’t yet set, but may be announced soon. Set to defend the state of Colorado and enforcement of its non-discrimination law in the case is Colorado Solicitor General Eric Reuel Olson. Just this week, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would grant the request to the U.S. solicitor general to present arguments before the justices on behalf of the Biden administration.

With a 6-3 conservative majority on the court that has recently scrapped the super-precedent guaranteeing the right to abortion, supporters of LGBTQ rights may think the outcome of the case is all but lost, especially amid widespread fears same-sex marriage would be next on the chopping block. After the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against 303 Creative in the lawsuit, the simple action by the Supreme Court to grant review in the lawsuit suggests they are primed to issue a reversal and rule in favor of the company.

Pizer, acknowledging the call to action issued by LGBTQ groups in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision, conceded the current Supreme Court issuing the ruling in this case is “a terrifying prospect,” but cautioned the issue isn’t so much the makeup of the court but whether or not justices will continue down the path of abolishing case law.

“I think the question that we’re facing with respect to all of the cases or at least many of the cases that are in front of the court right now, is whether this court is going to continue on this radical sort of wrecking ball to the edifice of settled law and seemingly a goal of setting up whole new structures of what our basic legal principles are going to be. Are we going to have another term of that?” Pizer said. “And if so, that’s terrifying.”

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Kelley Robinson, a Black, queer woman, named president of Human Rights Campaign

Progressive activist a veteran of Planned Parenthood Action Fund

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Kelley Robinson (Screen capture via HRC YouTube)

Kelley Robinson, a Black, queer woman and veteran of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, is to become the next president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s leading LGBTQ group announced on Tuesday.

Robinson is set to become the ninth president of the Human Rights Campaign after having served as executive director of Planned Parenthood Action Fund and more than 12 years of experience as a leader in the progressive movement. She’ll be the first Black, queer woman to serve in that role.

ā€œIā€™m honored and ready to lead HRC ā€” and our more than three million member-advocates ā€” as we continue working to achieve equality and liberation for all Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer people,ā€ Robinson said. ā€œThis is a pivotal moment in our movement for equality for LGBTQ+ people. We, particularly our trans and BIPOC communities, are quite literally in the fight for our lives and facing unprecedented threats that seek to destroy us.”

Kelley Robinson IS NAMED as The next human rights Campaign president

The next Human Rights Campaign president is named as Democrats are performing well in polls in the mid-term elections after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, leaving an opening for the LGBTQ group to play a key role amid fears LGBTQ rights are next on the chopping block.

“The overturning of Roe v. Wade reminds us we are just one Supreme Court decision away from losing fundamental freedoms including the freedom to marry, voting rights, and privacy,” Robinson said. “We are facing a generational opportunity to rise to these challenges and create real, sustainable change. I believe that working together this change is possible right now. This next chapter of the Human Rights Campaign is about getting to freedom and liberation without any exceptions ā€” and today I am making a promise and commitment to carry this work forward.ā€

The Human Rights Campaign announces its next president after a nearly year-long search process after the board of directors terminated its former president Alphonso David when he was ensnared in the sexual misconduct scandal that led former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign. David has denied wrongdoing and filed a lawsuit against the LGBTQ group alleging racial discrimination.

Kelley Robinson, Planned Parenthood, Cathy Chu, SMYAL, Supporting and Mentoring Youth Advocates and Leaders, Amy Nelson, Whitman-Walker Health, Sheroes of the Movement, Mayor's office of GLBT Affairs, gay news, Washington Blade
Kelley Robinson, seen here with Cathy Chu of SMYAL and Amy Nelson of Whitman-Walker Health, is the next Human Rights Campaign president. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
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