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  Spoilers, Houston voters later repealed the non-discrimination ordinances.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 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.  

Bigotry by Any Other Name

Sorry about not posting much lately. Works been crazy. I thought this would be a fun little project that I thought up this morning.

Enjoy.



Liam '15