With court decisions knocking down the same-sex marriage bans in Utah and Oklahoma, other states with bans are considering more creative ways of making sure marriage equality isn’t recognized. Both Kansas and South Dakota have proposed bills that would create a blanket “license to discriminate,” inviting anyone in the respective state to use religious beliefs as a legitimate reason to refuse service to same-sex couples. Both bills also protect any would-be discriminators from any legal claim or government retribution.

Kansas is somewhat more selective in their Bill, but in South Dakota, Senate Bill 67 would allow businesses and individuals to ignore any marriage that they simply don’t agree with:

“No person or any personal business may be required to provide services, accommodations, facilities, goods, or privileges for a purpose related to the solemnization, formation, or celebration of any marriage, or treat any marriage as valid for any purpose if such action would cause any such person or personal business to violate the person’s sincerely held religious beliefs.”

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Photo: TheJournalist.ie

BY ZACK FORD
Think Progress

The Supreme Court of India issued a brief ruling Tuesday stating that it will not reconsider the case in which it recently upheld the country’s law criminalizing gay sex.

The ruling is a response to what’s called a review petition, a motion that asks the same judges that originally heard the case to reconsider it. Lawmakers could attempt to repeal the law, but with an election coming up in May and a backlash expected from socially conservative Hindu nationalists, the political climate is not currently very accommodating for that change.

One last option remains, which is called a curative petition. That motion asks senior judges of the full Indian Supreme Court to intervene for the sake of protecting basic rights. Still, the rejection of the review petition does not bode well for a curative petition’s fate.

Read more at ThinkProgress.org

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BY ZACK FORD

A new study from the Network for LGBT Health Equity shows that in a given year LGBT Americans spend 65 times more on cigarettes — an estimated $7.9 billion — than is spent on all LGBT advocacy combined. Nearly a third of all people who identify as LGBT smoke, rates 68 percent higher than the national average (19.5 percent). The Network believes this data proves that “smoking is the LGBT community’s biggest health concern.”

Numerous other studies have similarly found that not only are LGBT people more likely to smoke, but also less likely to quit. Three main factors contribute to these high rates of substance abuse: minority stress, a health care system that doesn’t recognize the unique needs of LGBT people, and targeted marketing by tobacco companies in LGBT publications. In particular, tobacco companies have engaged in predatory marketing particularly when it comes to menthol-flavored cigarettes, the only kind of flavored cigarettes that the Food and Drug Administration did not ban in 2009.

Image: THE NETWORK FOR LGBT HEALTH EQUITY

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BY IAN MILLHISER

The Supreme Court just handed down an order staying a lower court’s decision recognizing that the Constitution forbids marriage discrimination. Though Utah requested that Justice Sotomayor issue the stay on her own, the Court’s very brief order indicates that she referred the decision to the full Court. No justice indicated a dissent, although that does not necessarily mean that all nine justices would have granted the stay.

Though today’s order will come as a disappointment to the many same-sex couples whose marriages are now in limbo until this case is finally resolved, it is not a particularly surprising order. Several justices with largely pro-gay records have indicated that they prefer an incremental approach to the marriage equality question, and leaving the lower court’s decision in effect would have been inconsistent with that approach. Nor does the Court’s order indicate much about how the justices view the merits of this case. Recall that the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit stayed a lower court order suspending California’s Proposition 8, only to declare that anti-gay proposition unconstitutional.

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Defense contractor Lockheed Martin is the latest company to end all of its corporate donations to the Boy Scouts of America, citing the organization’s continued discrimination against gay and lesbian Scout leaders. According to spokesperson Gordon Johndroe, Lockheed’s policies protect against such discrimination, and thus the company is ending its donations to the Boy Scouts, as well as any other organization that refuses full access to the LGBT community.

Spokesman Gordon Johndroe said that the company decided it won’t support nonprofit organizations that don’t align with its corporate policies or commitment to diversity. The company didn’t disclose how much it has given the group.

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German President Joachim Gauck

BY TRAVIS WALDRON
Think Progress

European Union commissioner Viviane Reding said Tuesday that she would not attend the 2014 Winter Olympics, which open in Sochi, Russia in February, because of the country’s treatment of minorities including the LGBT community. It is unclear whether Reding, who chairs the EU’s committee for Justice, Citizenship and Fundamental Rights, was invited to the games as an official EU representative, but regardless, she won’t be present.

“I will certainly not go to Sochi as long as minorities are treated the way they are under the current Russian legislation,” Reding tweeted.

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Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman, a veteran National Football League reporter, reported Wednesday that over the summer, at least one NFL player was close to coming out as gay. The player, according to Freeman’s report, was a free agent, but he was negotiating a contract with a team that knew he was preparing to come out. Another gay player was close to signing at the same time. The second player’s team also knew he was gay and didn’t care. When it asked current players, they said it would be no problem. That deal fell apart too, when the player, who Freeman describes as a “high-profile defensive back,” requested too much money.

More interesting, though, is why the deal with the first player never happened. All of this was happening around the time that the NBA’s Jason Collins came out as gay in April, a major media story in a sports world still looking for its first openly gay player in one of the four major American sports leagues. It turned into a media storm, and that, according to Freeman, scared the NFL team away.

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BY PRESTON MITCHUM

On August 28, 2013, people crowded to the National Mall to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The central purpose of the March on Washington was for economic justice and equality. Though the fight for economic security is hardly over, it is an area of particular concern for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workers of color. Due to race- and LGBT-based discrimination coupled with a lack of explicit workplace protections, unequal job benefits and high rates of unemployment and poverty, LGBT workers of color remain among the most disadvantaged populations in the American workforce.

The dual burden of discrimination related to race/ethnicity and sexual orientation and/or gender identity makes it increasingly difficult for LGBT workers of color to reach the American dream. The report also reveals other challenging areas where LGBT workers of color are disparately impacted. For example, the school-to-prison pipeline results in many LGBT youth of color entering into the juvenile justice system instead of classrooms. And barriers such as unwarranted background checks, inadequate workplace protections and unequal pay continue to make it difficult for LGBT workers of color to financially provide for themselves and their families.

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Hawaii State Representative Jo Jordan

BY ZACK FORD
Think Progress

Hawaii state Rep. Jo Jordan (D) may have made history with her vote on the marriage equality bill. Jordan, who is openly lesbian, voted against the bill on the House floor on Wednesday. According to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, this makes her the first known openly gay lawmaker to vote against marriage equality.

Jordan had reservations about the bill before Hawaii’s special session even began. Last week, she explained that she was undecided, because even though 75 percent of her constituents support marriage equality, she felt she had to represent the entire state. She seemed to be unaware that statewide polling showed a 55 percent majority support marriage equality.

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Wednesday evening, the Hawaii Senate passed marriage equality by a remarkable 20-4 vote as part of a special session convened primarily for that purpose. The House will begin consideration of the bill in committee Thursday morning, and it is expected to pass the full chamber with at least one vote to spare. Hawaii would become the 15th state to recognize same-sex marriage.

Read more at ThinkProgress.org

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