An LGBTQ teacher recently initiated a wrongful termination lawsuit against the Mansfield Independent School District on the basis that the school discriminated against her based on her sexual orientation. The teacher was placed on leave after she showed students a photo of her wife. While the teacher’s contract with the district has been renewed, Read More

  In May of 2018, Democratic senators introduced a bill to amend the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which according to the original sponsors of the law has been misappropriated and used to discriminate against numerous individual including those who identify as LGBTQ. This bill is significant because it has the potential to change a twenty-five-year-old Read More

A Michigan state commission recently determined that protections against discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation are included in Michigan’s current ban on sex discrimination. This recent decision came after a 5-0 vote by the Michigan Civil Rights Commission approving this interpretation of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. As a result of this decision, Read More

  New Jersey law requires school children to receive numerous vaccinations when they reach a certain age, but there are exceptions for parents who want to avoid a vaccination for religious reasons. Some physicians have commented that this loophole in current law is too expansive and can seriously harm children. In response to these concerns, Read More

  In 2018, numerous anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced throughout the United States, but recently some of these laws became bills. Most noticeably, the states of Kansas and Oklahoma recently signed laws that allow adoption and foster care agencies to follow their religious beliefs when placing children with new families. The Details of These Laws In Read More

  The Webster Parish School Board in Louisiana announced in April of 2018 that it plans to adopt a new policy concerning religious expression in public schools after a lawsuit was filed claiming the school’s officials promoted religious expression that violated the First Amendment. The policy is focused on preserving and explicating the religious rights Read More

  Washington’s Governor Jay Inslee recently signed into law SB 7522, which protects LGBTQ individuals from conversion therapy. The bill is the result of efforts by the National Center for Lesbian Rights and Equal Rights Washington. These groups have long advocated for the prohibition of conversion therapy throughout the country. In response to this decision, Read More

Lambda Legal, in combination with the American Civil Liberties (ACLU) of Ohio, recently initiated legal action against the state of Ohio for its policy that prohibits people from changing the gender marker on their birth certificates. Ohio, as well as Kansas and Tennessee, are the only states that decline to change gender designations even after Read More

  A Tennessee bill that requires schools in Tennessee to prominently display the motto of “In God We Trust” is currently headed to the governor for his signature. This legislation, which is referred to as the National Motto in the Classroom Act, was passed by 81 of 99 members of the house. Prior to the Read More

At the beginning of March, 2018, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled in the case of EEOC v. R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. that discrimination based on transgender status violates Title VII prohibitions against sex-based discrimination.   How the Case Arose This case was initiated when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Read More