Blog of Rights

A Boy Named Issak

By Issak Wolfe at 5:11pm

I am a high school senior at Red Lion Area High School in Pennsylvania.  As a student who happens to be transgender, my life isn’t all that different from other students in my class, except that I came out the summer before my junior year and have been going by my male name ever since.  I try hard to make good grades, work at a part –time job, and have a wonderfully supportive family and an awesome girlfriend.  My high school, like any other, has a senior prom. Our prom always has a king and a queen, and every senior gets a spot on the ballot for royalty. This year was my turn to get a chance at king like every other boy in my class. 

Shut Up or Get Out: PA City Punishes Domestic Violence Victims Who Call the Police

By Sandra Park, ACLU at 3:24pm

Last year in Norristown, Pa., Lakisha Briggs' boyfriend physically assaulted her, and the police arrested him. But in a cruel turn of events...

Three New Marriage States in Two Weeks – All Eyes Are On You, Illinois!

By Selene Kaye, ACLU at 10:34am

Yesterday, Minnesota became the 12th state in the country to approve a law allowing same-sex couples to marry. This comes on the heels of Rhode Island and Delaware approving freedom to marry laws in the last two weeks, and historic victories at the ballot box in Maine, Maryland, and Washington last November. Momentum is building across the country, and Illinois is poised to become the fourth state this month to affirm the dignity of all committed couples.

Bringing Marriage to "Modern Family"

By Alicia Gay, ACLU at 10:34am

You might be asking yourself: What does Modern Family have to do with an upcoming landmark Supreme Court case about the freedom to marry? Well, the ACLU launched a campaign today urging Modern Family's producers to script a wedding episode for popular gay characters Mitchell Pritchett and Cameron Tucker. The campaign comes as Americans await the Supreme Court's decisions on two important LGBT equality cases challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act and California's Prop 8. The ACLU is direct counsel in the DOMA case, United States v. Windsor. Additionally, a stream of states have recently passed marriage equality measures.

The Racial Wealth Accumulation Gap and Why ACLU is Suing Morgan Stanley for Racial Discrimination

By Greger Calhan, Legal Fellow, ACLU, Racial Justice Program at 8:07am

This month, the Urban Institute joined an emerging consensus of researchers and social scientists...

Tale of Two Marriages

By Lorraine Kenny, Center for Liberty at 11:53am

This is the story of two couples; two couples who come out of the same post-war generation, and who built their lives around the same emotional core of love, commitment, and devotion to one another. And yet, their relationships were marked very differently by history and by the laws that governed their lives.

Momentum Continues to Build for Narrowing ENDA's Religious Exemption

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 1:28pm

The momentum behind efforts – strongly supported by the ACLU – to narrow the current sweeping, unprecedented religious exemption...

How Far Has The Women's Movement Moved In The Last 40 Years?

By Lenora M. Lapidus, Women's Rights Project at 3:40pm

Forty years ago, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) board of directors determined that women's rights should be...

Senator Portman, ENDA's Religious Exemption Is Already Too Broad

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 12:18pm

At an event hosted by BuzzFeed on Monday night, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said that he totally supports the concept of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) because, "This is about discrimination in the workplace. And there should be no discrimination and there ought to be a law in place, in my view."

A Proud History: LGBT Athletes in American Pro Sports

By Amanda Goad, LGBT Project at 12:22pm

When NBA player Jason Collins announced this week "I'm gay", praise for his groundbreaking courage poured in from all directions. Collins'...