News
Harris, Murray urge DOJ to drop anti-trans memo after Supreme Court ruling
Senate Dems say Sessions memo ‘poses an ongoing threat’ to trans workers
Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) are leading a new effort calling on U.S. Attorney General William Barr to rescind a memo against protecting transgender people in the workforce in the wake of the recent landmark Supreme Court decision prohibiting anti-LGBTQ discrimination.
In a joint letter dated June 30, the 27 Senate Democrats who signed the letter write the 2017 memo signed by former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions “misstates the law, poses an ongoing threat to the well-being of transgender workers and invites liability for employers that misguidedly rely upon it.”
“In light of the landmark Bostock decision, there can remain no justification for leaving in place an enforcement policy that flatly contradicts Supreme Court precedent,” the letter says. “Accordingly, we call on you to rescind the Sessions memorandum immediately.”
In 2017, Sessions issued a memo declaring the Justice Department won’t enforce Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in cases of anti-transgender discrimination in the workforce, reversing an Obama-era memo from former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder assuring protections for transgender people.
At the time, Sessions was defying the determination from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that transgender people are protected under Title VII, as well as strong legal precedent from five federal appeals courts. Now that the Supreme Court has confirmed anti-LGBTQ discrimination is prohibited under Title VII in Bostock v. Clayton County, there’s no doubt the law is trans-inclusive.
“The Sessions memorandum is now at odds with controlling Supreme Court precedent,” the letter says. “The department’s current position therefore misstates the law, poses an ongoing threat to the well-being of transgender workers, and invites liability for employers that misguidedly rely upon it. The Supreme Court’s Bostock decision compels DOJ to rescind the Sessions memorandum and we urge you to abandon it immediately.”
The Senate Democrats also draw on the unemployment rate during the coronavirus crisis and challenges transgender people face in the workplace as reason for withdrawal of the Sessions memo.
“Before the widespread unemployment of the past six months, the unemployment rate for transgender people was an estimated 15 percent — a rate three times higher than the rest of the U.S. population, which suggests that many transgender applicants are refused a job because of their gender identity or expression,” the letter says.
Further, the letter raises complaints about a previous request from Harris and Murray to document each of the legal cases of anti-trans discrimination the Justice Department abandoned after the Sessions memo. The Justice Department never responded to that request, the letter says.
Harris is widely considered a top contender for Joe Biden’s running mate.
The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to the Washington Blade’s request to comment on the letter regarding the Title VII memo.
District of Columbia
Mayor Bowser signs bill requiring insurers to cover PrEP
‘This is a win in the fight against HIV/AIDS’
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on March 20 signed a bill approved by the D.C. Council that requires health insurance companies to cover the costs of HIV prevention or PrEP drugs for D.C. residents at risk for HIV infection.
Like all legislation approved by the Council and signed by the mayor, the bill, called the PrEP D.C. Amendment Act, was sent to Capitol Hill for a required 30-day congressional review period before it takes effect as D.C. law.
Gay D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5) last year introduced the bill.
Insurance coverage for PrEP drugs has been provided through coverage standards included in the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. But AIDS advocacy organizations have called on states and D.C. to pass their own legislation requiring insurance coverage of PrEP as a safeguard in case federal policies are weakened or removed by the Trump administration, which has already reduced federal funding for HIV/AIDS-related programs.
Like legislation passed by other states, the PrEP D.C. Amendment Act requires insurers to cover all PrEP drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Studies have shown that PrEP drugs, which can be taken as pills or by injection just twice a year, are highly effective in preventing HIV infection.
“I think this is a win for our community,” Parker said after the D.C. Council voted unanimously to approve the bill on its first vote on the measure in February. “And this is a win in the fight against HIV/AIDS.”
Vice President JD Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, will visit Hungary next week.
An announcement the White House released on Thursday said the Vances will be in Budapest, the Hungarian capital, from April 7-8.
JD Vance “will hold bilateral meetings with” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The announcement further indicates the vice president “will also deliver remarks on the rich partnership between the United States and Hungary.”
The Vances will travel to Hungary less than a week before the country’s parliamentary elections take place on April 12.
Orbán, who has been in office since 2010, and his Fidesz-KDNP coalition government have faced widespread criticism over its anti-LGBTQ crackdown.
The Associated Press notes polls indicate Orbán is trailing Péter Magyar and his center-right Tisza party.
President Donald Trump removed Attorney General Pam Bondi from her post Thursday, following growing criticism over how she and the Department of Justice handled a range of issues, including matters related to sex offender and Trump ally Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump announced Bondi’s removal on Truth Social, where he also said Todd Blanche will serve as acting head of the Justice Department.
“Pam Bondi is a great American patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my attorney general over the past year,” Trump wrote on the platform. “Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown on crime across our country, with murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900.”
Trump was seen as recently as Wednesday with the now-former attorney general at a Supreme Court hearing on citizenship.
The decision contrasts with Trump’s previous public praise of Bondi, the 87th U.S. attorney general and former 37th attorney general of Florida, who served in that role from 2011-2019 before joining the Trump-Vance administration. He has frequently lauded her loyalty and said he speaks with her often. Bondi was also one of president’s defense lawyers during his first impeachment trial.
Privately, however, Trump had grown frustrated that Bondi was not “moving quickly enough” to prosecute critics and political adversaries he wanted to face criminal charges, according to multiple sources. The New York Times reported that her inability to charge former FBI Director James B. Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James with any crimes is a large factor in the president’s choice to fire her from the government’s primary law enforcement agency.
The move comes as Trump has sought to minimize public turmoil within his administration, avoiding the perception of a revolving-door Cabinet that defined his first term.
Lee Zeldin, a former Republican congressman from New York who unsuccessfully ran for governor, has emerged as a leading contender to lead the Justice Department. He has been one of Trump’s most reliable allies.
“He’s our secret weapon,” Trump said of Zeldin in February during a White House event promoting the coal industry, adding, “He’s getting those approvals done in record-setting time.”
Bondi has also growing faced scrutiny from Congress.
The House Oversight Committee recently subpoenaed her to testify about the department’s handling of certain files, where she declined to answer key questions during a contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing in February.
The Tampa native has a long history of opposing LGBTQ rights through her roles in government. As Florida attorney general, she fought against the legalization of same-sex marriage, arguing it would cause “serious public harm,” pushing forward a legal battle that cost taxpayers nearly half a million dollars. She also asked the Florida Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that found the state’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional.
More recently, Bondi established a “Title IX Special Investigations Team” within the Justice Department focused on restricting transgender women and girls from participating in women’s and girls’ sports teams and accessing facilities aligned with their gender identity. She also told Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to turn over the medical records of anyone under 19 who received gender-affirming care.
Her removal follows Trump’s decision last month to oust another controversial female Cabinet figure, Kristi Noem.
Mayor Bowser signs bill requiring insurers to cover PrEP
JD Vance to travel to Hungary next week
Pam Bondi ousted as attorney general
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