Today in History: July 27

Bradlee Dean Files Suit against Rachel Maddow- July 27, 2011

From TPM:

Controversial anti-gay preacher Bradlee Dean is sick of the "left-wing" media's attacks against him, so he's decided to do something about it. 

Dean and his ministry, You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, are suing Rachel Maddow and MSNBC for slander and false light, seeking damages in excess of $50 million. 

Dean's lawyer, Larry Klayman, founder of Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch, announced the lawsuit at a press conference Wednesday in midtown Manhattan.

Today in History: July 26

Complaint Filed in Bourke v Breshear- July 26, 2013

Bourke v. Breshear would late become joined with Obergefell v Hodges.

Today in History: July 25

Lawsuit Filed Against New York to Block Same-Sex Marriage- July 25, 2011

From NY Daily News:

Twenty four hours after New York's landmark same sex marriage law went into effect, the anti-gay-marriage group New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms today has filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn it.

The group, led by the Rev. Jason J. McGuire, claims that the state Senate, in adopting the legislation, violated the state’s Open Meetings Law by closing off Senate hallways and lobby; and by holding closed door meetings with Mayor Bloomberg and others who backed the law.

The group also claims, among other things, that Gov. Cuomo and the Senate ignored the constitutionally mandated three-day waiting period before a bill can be acted upon and that lawmakers approved the legislation in exchange for campaign contributions from Bloomberg and other high profile "Wall Street financiers."

PA Supreme Court Strikes Hate Crimes Law- July 25, 2008

From 365Gay:

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision striking down  amendments that added sexual orientation, gender identity, ancestry, gender, and mental and physical disability to the state hate crime law.

The law, known as the Ethnic Intimidation and Institutional Vandalism Act, was amended in 2002 to include protections for these groups by a two-thirds majority of the state legislature. Then-governor Mark Schweiker signed it into law.

The lower court ruled last November that the law was invalid because it had been tacked onto another, nonrelated bill. The ruling did not criticize the content of the law, only the way in which it had been passed.

Today in History: July 24

Texas Supreme Court forces HERO Ordinance to Referendum- July 24, 2015

Because voting on civil rights works out well so often.  Spoilers, Houston voters later repealed the non-discrimination ordinances.

From the Houston Chronicle:

The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that Houston City Council must repeal the city's equal rights ordinance or place it on the November ballot. 

The ruling comes three months after a state district judge ruled that opponents of Houston's contentious non-discrimination ordinance passed last year failed to gather enough valid signatures to force a repeal referendum.

"We agree with the Relators that the City Secretary certified their petition and thereby invoked the City Council's ministerial duty to reconsider and repeal the ordinance or submit it to popular vote," the Texas Supreme Court wrote in a per curiam opinion. "The legislative power reserved to the people of Houston is not being honored." Montenegro First Pride March- July 24, 2013

Montenegro First Pride March- July 24, 2013

From Reuters:

Police clashed with anti-gay protesters in Montenegro on Wednesday as they tried to disrupt the first gay pride parade to be held in the staunchly conservative Balkan country that is in talks to join the European Union.

Around 200 demonstrators hurled stones, bottles and flares at policemen in the coastal town of Budva who were keeping them separate from around 40 marchers wearing shirts bearing the colors of the rainbow, the symbol of the gay rights movement.

At least ten demonstrators were arrested and several marchers were slightly injured, according to police.

Protesters chanted "Kill the gays" and carried banners that read "Only healthy Montenegro", a Reuters reporter on the scene said.

Marriage Begins in New York- July 24, 2011

From the New York Times:

Hundreds of gay and lesbian couples, from retirees in Woodstock to college students in Manhattan, rushed to tiny town halls and big city clerks’ offices across New York to wed in the first hours of legal same-sex marriage on Sunday, turning a slumbering summer day into an emotional celebration.

They arrived by subway cars and stretch limousines, with children and with grandparents, in matching sequined ties and pinstriped suits, to utter words that once seemed unimaginable: I do.

Even those who had been together for decades, watching same-sex marriage become legal in surrounding states but suffer rejection in New York, said there was something unexpectedly moving and affirming about having their unions recognized by the state in which they live.

Today in History: July 23

Federal Judge Strikes Down Colorado's Marriage Ban- July 23, 2014

The Order from Burns v. Hickenlooper:

Astronaut Sally Ride Dies- July 23, 2012

From Slate:

Sally Ride was very good at keeping secrets. As the first American woman in space, she protected countless confidences during a lifetime of public appearances. During her post-NASA years, she regularly wrote and reviewed classified government material on high-profile commissions. When she died in 2012 of pancreatic cancer, a diagnosis hidden from all but a tiny handful of family and close friends, I started unraveling the mysteries for her biography. She was a brilliant, mischievous enigma.

But the most surprising revelation was the one that came at the end of her obituary: that for 27 years, she’d been in a loving relationship with another woman, Tam O’Shaughnessy. The collective gasp from an admiring public reverberated for days. A small minority complained that she’d squandered an opportunity to speak out for their rights. A few spouted homophobic hatred. Selfishly, as her pal of more than three decades, I was stunned; hurt, that I did not know Sally fully, that I could not celebrate her happiness with Tam. Then I thought, why does her sexual orientation matter? Finally, I got it.

Complaint Filed in Appling v. Doyle- July 23, 2009

Appling v. Doyle was case from Wisconsin where a petitioner (Appling) filed suit against the  State of Wisconsin trying to bar domestic partnerships, which provided limited legal rights such as hospital visitation rights to same sex couples.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Supporters of Wisconsin's ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions Thursday asked the state Supreme Court to declare a system of recognizing domestic partnerships unconstitutional.

Under a provision that was part of the budget Gov. Jim Doyle signed in June, couples will be able to apply for a declaration of domestic partnership with their county of residence starting next month.

The lawsuit filed against the state says that allowing such domestic partnerships establishes a legal status that resembles marriage - which the suit calls a violation of the state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and any identical or substantially similar legal status. 

Today in History: July 22

Federal Judge Orders Ohio to Recognize Obergefell & Arthur's Marriage- July 22, 2013

From Buzzfeed:

A federal judge in Ohio ordered state officials Monday to recognize the marriage of two men that was performed in Maryland on the death certificate of an Ohio resident in hospice care who the judge says “is certain to die soon.”

“The end result here and now is that the local Ohio Registrar of death certificates is hereby ORDERED not to accept for recording a death certificate for John Arthur that does not record Mr. Arthur’s status at death as ‘married’ and James Obergefell as his ‘surviving spouse,’” Judge Timothy Black wrote in granting the couple a temporary restraining order Monday. The order is in effect until 5 p.m. Aug. 5, unless the court extends the order at a later date.

“By treating lawful same sex marriages differently than it treats lawful opposite sex marriages,” the judge concluded, Ohio’s 2004 constitutional amendment banning recognition of same-sex couples’ marriages and Ohio’s statute addressing the same issue “likely violate[] the United States Constitution.”

Today in History: July 21

Obama Signs Executive Order on LGBT Workplace Discrimination- July 21, 2014

From the Whitehouse's Youtube Account:

GA Grad Student Files Complaint over LGBT Sensitivity Training- July 21, 2010

From ABC News:

Backed by the Alliance Defense Fund, Jennifer Keeton has filed suit against Augusta State University after, she said, school officials threatened to dismiss her from its counseling program when she refused to participate in a "remediation" plan to increase her tolerance of gays and lesbians after she made it known that she believed homosexuality was a personal choice[...]

According to the lawsuit, which included several e-mails between Keeton and faculty, school officials said that they weren't trying to change her views or religious beliefs, but that it was "unethical" for her to apply her own personal viewpoints to other people "and not truly accepting that others can have different beliefs and values that are equally valid as your own."

W. Mark Hamilton, executive director of the American Mental Health Counselors Association, said he couldn't speak to the specific lawsuit against Augusta State University, but that's it's not unreasonable that a student be requested to take additional diversity training.

From the ACLU:

Jennifer Keeton, a student at Augusta State University (ASU), sought a court order requiring ASU to reinstate her in a graduate-level counseling program even though she insisted on a right – rooted in her religious beliefs – to counsel lesbian, gay and bisexual clients that being gay is immoral. ASU's counseling program requires its graduate students to adhere to the American Counseling Association's Code of Ethics, which prohibits counselors from discriminating based on sexual orientation, among other characteristics, and requires them to avoid imposing their values on their clients.