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Supreme Court rebuffs Catholic agency seeking to reject LGBT couples

Catholic Social Services threatens to close under Philly policy

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Kirby v. North Carolina State University, Supreme Court, gay news, Washington Blade

The U.S. Supreme Court rebuffed a Catholic agency seeking to deny placement to LGBT homes. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to take action in a case in which a taxpayer-funded Catholic adoption agency is seeking a First Amendment right to deny child placement to LGBT homes for religious reasons.

In an order handed down Thursday in the case of Fulton v. Philadelphia, the court announced it wouldn’t grant injunctive relief to Catholic Social Services, which is contesting a Philadelphia policy barring anti-LGBT discrimination among adoption agencies.

An emergency petition was filed before the U.S. Associate Justice Samuel Alito, who referred the matter to the entire court. Although the vote isn’t recorded, the order notes Alito as well as U.S. Associate Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch would have granted the application for relief. (Notably, U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts isn’t among those justices.)

The Becket Fund — a organization that takes up religious freedom lawsuits, such as the Hobby Lobby and Little Sisters of the Poor cases — had filed the petition before the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing Catholic adoption agencies would have to close under the Philadelphia policy.

“The city has excluded Catholic and its families from foster care because the City disagrees with the Catholic Church’s views about same-sex marriage,” the petition says. “Same-sex unions have been recognized in Philadelphia for two decades, and the city is unaware of a single person who has been hurt by Catholic’s views. But the City is closing Catholic’s program over a hypothetical question: Whether the Catholic Church could endorse same-sex unions in writing, if a same-sex couple approached a Catholic agency seeking its written opinion on their family relationships.”

After the city of Philadelphia learned in March 2018 two of its Catholic foster care providers wouldn’t license same-sex couples as foster parents, the city decided to stop referring children to these agencies.

Upon the learning of that policy, Catholic Social Services and four of its foster parents sought injunctive relief, asserting a freedom of speech and freedom of religion right under the First Amendment to deny placement to LGBT homes.

After the a federal district court denied the request for a preliminary injunction, the legal firm sought injunctive relief from the Supreme Court. The order from the Supreme Court on Thursday was the result of that request.

Sarah Warbelow, legal director for the Human Rights Campaign, hailed the decision by the Supreme Court as a victory.

“No child should ever be denied a safe and happy home because of who their qualified prospective parents or guardians are,” Warbelow said. “In a nation of over 400,000 foster children, it is inexcusable that some would choose to play politics rather than prioritize the security and well-being of children in need of a loving family. In declining to intervene, the Supreme Court allowed the City of Philadelphia to act in the best interest of children in need.

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New York

Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade

One of the victims remains in critical condition

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The Stonewall National Memorial in New York on June 19, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

On Sunday night, following the annual NYC Pride March, two girls were shot in Sheridan Square, feet away from the historic Stonewall Inn.

According to an NYPD report, the two girls, aged 16 and 17, were shot around 10:15 p.m. as Pride festivities began to wind down. The 16-year-old was struck in the head and, according to police sources, is said to be in critical condition, while the 17-year-old was said to be in stable condition.

The Washington Blade confirmed with the NYPD the details from the police reports and learned no arrests had been made as of noon Monday.

The shooting took place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, mere feet away from the most famous gay bar in the city — if not the world — the Stonewall Inn. Earlier that day, hundreds of thousands of people marched down Christopher Street to celebrate 55 years of LGBTQ people standing up for their rights.

In June 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn, members of the LGBTQ community pushed back, sparking what became known as the Stonewall riots. Over the course of two days, LGBTQ New Yorkers protested the discriminatory policing of queer spaces across the city and mobilized to speak out — and throw bottles if need be — at officers attempting to suppress their existence.

The following year, LGBTQ people returned to the Stonewall Inn and marched through the same streets where queer New Yorkers had been arrested, marking the first “Gay Pride March” in history and declaring that LGBTQ people were not going anywhere.

New York State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, whose district includes Greenwich Village, took to social media to comment on the shooting.

“After decades of peaceful Pride celebrations — this year gun fire and two people shot near the Stonewall Inn is a reminder that gun violence is everywhere,” the lesbian lawmaker said on X. “Guns are a problem despite the NRA BS.”

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New York

Zohran Mamdani participates in NYC Pride parade

Mayoral candidate has detailed LGBTQ rights platform

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NYC mayoral candidate and New York State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani (Screen capture: NBC News/YouTube)

Zohran Mamdani, the candidate for mayor of New York City who pulled a surprise victory in the primary contest last week, walked in the city’s Pride parade on Sunday.

The Democratic Socialist and New York State Assembly member published photos on social media with New York Attorney General Letitia James, telling followers it was “a joy to march in NYC Pride with the people’s champ” and to “see so many friends on this gorgeous day.”

“Happy Pride NYC,” he wrote, adding a rainbow emoji.

Mamdani’s platform includes a detailed plan for LGBTQ people who “across the United States are facing an increasingly hostile political environment.”

His campaign website explains: “New York City must be a refuge for LGBTQIA+ people, but private institutions in our own city have already started capitulating to Trump’s assault on trans rights.

“Meanwhile, the cost of living crisis confronting working class people across the city hits the LGBTQIA+ community particularly hard, with higher rates of unemployment and homelessness than the rest of the city.”

“The Mamdani administration will protect LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers by expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide, making NYC an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, and creating the Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.”

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U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court upholds ACA rule that makes PrEP, other preventative care free

Liberal justices joined three conservatives in majority opinion

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The U.S. Supreme Court as composed June 30, 2022, to present. Front row, left to right: Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., and Associate Justice Elena Kagan. Back row, left to right: Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. (Photo Credit: Fred Schilling, the U.S. Supreme Court)

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld a portion of the Affordable Care Act requiring private health insurers to cover the cost of preventative care including PrEP, which significantly reduces the risk of transmitting HIV.

Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh authored the majority opinion in the case, Kennedy v. Braidwood Management. He was joined by two conservatives, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, along with the three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown-Jackson.

The court’s decision rejected the plaintiffs’ challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s reliance on the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force to “unilaterally” determine which types of care and services must be covered by payors without cost-sharing.

An independent all-volunteer panel of nationally recognized experts in prevention and primary care, the 16 task force members are selected by the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to serve four-year terms.

They are responsible for evaluating the efficacy of counseling, screenings for diseases like cancer and diabetes, and preventative medicines — like Truvada for PrEP, drugs to reduce heart disease and strokes, and eye ointment for newborns to prevent infections.

Parties bringing the challenge objected especially to the mandatory coverage of PrEP, with some arguing the drugs would “encourage and facilitate homosexual behavior” against their religious beliefs.

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