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12/18/2012
Using Religion to Discriminate

Businesses Do Not Have a License to Discriminate

By Joshua Block, LGBT Project at 4:24pm

Yesterday, the ACLU and the ACLU of New Mexico filed an amicus brief in Elane Photography, LLC v. Willock, an important antidiscrimination case pending before the New Mexico Supreme Court. Elane Photography is a wedding photography studio that advertises its services to the general public but refuses to take pictures for wedding or commitment ceremonies involving same-sex couples. New Mexico is one of 21 states (plus the District of Columbia) that prohibit businesses who hold themselves out to the general public from discriminating against customers based on their sexual orientation. But Elane Photography argues that the law cannot be applied to its services because – unlike the services provided by a restaurant or retail store – photography is a form of expression and forcing Elane Photography to provide services on an equal basis would therefore unconstitutionally “compel speech.”

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01/31/2013
First Amendment

School Promises In Settlement To Stop Removing Library Books For 'Advocacy Of Homosexuality'

By Joshua Block, LGBT Project at 4:49pm

Last year, Davis School District in Utah removed a children’s book about a family with two moms...

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08/23/2012
Wildflower Inn

Settlement In “No Gay Reception” Case Shows that Public Businesses Do Not Have a License to Discriminate

By Joshua Block, LGBT Project at 2:25pm

Earlier today, the ACLU and the ACLU of Vermont announced a fantastic settlement that we obtained in Baker & Linsley v. Wildflower Inn.   We brought the case on behalf of a same-sex couple who were told they could not have their wedding reception at a Vermont resort called Wildflower Inn because of the owner’s personal religious beliefs about marriage.   As part of the settlement agreement, Wildflower Inn agreed that Vermont’s public accommodations law prohibits unequal treatment of same-sex couples, which includes turning away same-sex couples seeking to have a wedding reception, failing to respond to inquiries from those couples, or discouraging those couples from using the facilities.  The resort also agreed to pay $10,000 to the Vermont Human Rights Commission as a civil penalty and to place $20,000 in a charitable trust to be disbursed by the couple.  The plaintiffs, Kate Linsley (nee Baker) and Ming Linsley, will not be retaining any of the money for themselves.

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10/18/2010

The Best Person for the Job…Fired for Being Gay

By Joshua Block, LGBT Project at 2:46pm

Today, the ACLU and the ACLU of Mississippi filed suit on behalf of Andre Cooley, a correctional officer in the Forrest County Sheriff's Department in Mississippi, who was fired the day after his superiors discovered that he is gay.

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12/20/2011

Court Says No to Using Religion to Discriminate

By Joshua Block, LGBT Project at 12:45pm

Last Friday, a federal court of appeals issued an important decision, setting limits on the right to use religion to discriminate. The case concerned Jennifer Keeton, a student enrolled in a graduate school counseling program who told her faculty that “as a high school counselor confronted by a sophomore student in crisis, questioning his sexual orientation, she would tell the student that it was not okay to be gay.” Augusta State University, where Ms. Keeton was enrolled, ultimately expelled her from the program after she indicated she would be unable to counsel without imposing her religious views on her clients.

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03/29/2011

Gay Corrections Officer Reinstated After ACLU Lawsuit in Mississippi

By Joshua Block, LGBT Project at 12:00pm

In December, we blogged about a lawsuit we filed on behalf of Andre Cooley, a corrections officer with the Forrest County Sheriff's Department in Mississippi who alleged that he was fired after his superiors learned he is gay. Yesterday, we announced a settlement in the case! Andre will be reinstated to his job, and the sheriff's department will update its nondiscrimination policy to make explicit that the department does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. The settlement also includes an undisclosed monetary payment.

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10/27/2011
Camdenton

Camdenton High School Still "Blacklisting" Pro-LGBT Websites

By Joshua Block, LGBT Project at 10:31am

Today, the ACLU will ask a federal judge to stop a Missouri school from censoring LGBT-supportive content on school library computers.

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10/18/2011
DADT

Gay Veterans Will Have Their Day in Court

By Joshua Block, LGBT Project at 5:31pm

Thanks to a court ruling this week, the government will have to explain how cutting gay service members' separation pay in half served important governmental interests.

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10/04/2011
Wildflower Inn

Wildflower Inn "Assaulting" Vermont Law? Human Rights Group Thinks So.

By Joshua Block, LGBT Project at 6:07pm

The Vermont Human Rights Commission filed a brief in our case against the Wildflower Inn defending the constitutionality of that state's non-discrimination law.

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11/13/2012
LGBT News

You Can’t Hide Families Behind The Desk: How Utah School Officials Are Violating The First Amendment In Library Book Case

By Joshua Block, LGBT Project at 1:09pm

The ACLU LGBT Project and the ACLU of Utah filed a lawsuit earlier today challenging a decision by Davis School District in Davis County, Utah, to remove a children’s picture book about a family with two moms from all elementary school libraries in the district.  The book, called In Our Mothers’ House, was written by Patricia Polacco, an acclaimed author of award-winning children’s literature.  The School Library Journal gave In Our Mothers’ House a rave review and recommends the book for children in grades 1 to 4.  The school district decided to remove the book from the library shelves and hide it behind the librarians’ desks in response to complaints from some parents that the book “normalizes a lifestyle that we don’t agree with.”  The school district has claimed that having a book about a family with same-sex parents on the library shelves would also violate Utah’s sex-education laws because it would amount to “advocacy of homosexuality.”

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