TAKE ACTION

Call your Senators and tell them: No confirmation before inauguration! At the height of a pandemic, with an election that is already underway--and two huge cases coming before the court that could significantly negatively impact our LGBTQ+ loved ones--is NOT the time to rush through a candidate for the U.S. Supreme Court. Your calls could make the difference.

Take action with a script, phone banking opportunities, and more!

COURT MATTERS

A federal court has ordered the Trump administration to abandon last-minute changes to the 2020 Census schedule and extend the time for counting through Oct. 31st, a month’s extension. The ruling evolves from a federal lawsuit opposing the Administration’s decision to shorten the deadline for Census counting to Sep. 30th; the Administration is expected to appeal.

U.S. Supreme Court agrees to expedite consideration of the Administration's appeal to remove undocumented immigrants from calculations to apportion Congressional seats. The move would allow SCOTUS to hear the case as early as December and could reallocate both federal funds and representatives tallying in the U.S. House.

Two lawsuits initially filed in federal district court challenge Virginia's new LGBTQ+ rights law, one dropped on October 1st. A wedding photographer filed and then dropped his case yet a group of several Christian institutions filed and maintain its lawsuit against Virginia officials over The Virginia Values Act, a law that bans discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community.

U.S. Courts Judicial Committee creates new social media guidelines for jurors. Designed to be given to prospective jurors, the model jury instructions provide tightened social media and telecommunications usage for people selected to serve on a jury.

The Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice violates federal law. On October 1st, Senior U.S. District Judge John D. Bates in Washington ruled that the Commission violated federal law by failing to have a diverse membership and failing to provide public access to its meetings. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit from the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Education Fund. Judge Bates did not issue an injunction but ordered the commission to change its membership and comply with other aspects of the law.

FEDERAL MATTERS

U.S. House passes $2.2B updated HEROES Act on October 1st. Passing a bill that would include a second round of stimulus checks and that includes LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination protections in the included provisions, the stimulus package that passed 214-207 would address the health and economic downturn, strengthen food security and ensure safe elections.

ICE arrests gay man in Virginia after traffic stop. A gay man in Virginia says U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested his Latinx partner last month after they pulled over his car; they continue to dispute the charges.

CDC issues pandemic guidelines for safer activities during COVID-19 for holidays, including Halloween. In an effort to provide lower risk activities and ideas for families and individuals, the CDC’s website was updated to offer alternative approaches to traditional events.

STATE MATTERS

California - Gov. Newsom signs multiple bills in support of California's LGBTQ+ community. Bills include a measure to track the effects of COVID-19 on the community; the establishment of the Transgender and Wellness Equity Fund; another requiring the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to house transgender, gender-nonconforming and intersex individuals in a manner that matches their gender identity while supporting health and safety; and another bill that requires public corporations headquartered in California to appoint leaders from under-represented communities to their boards of directors.

Illinois - Chicago's LGBTQ neighborhood dropping 'Boystown' nickname. Last week, the alliance announced that it would no longer use the nickname in its marketing campaigns when referring to the neighborhood, which sits on the city's North Side. Instead, it will revert to the name Northalsted, to become more inclusive of all in the community.

Maryland - The law that officially repealed its state sodomy law took effect on October 1st. Passed in May, the state’s law now follows The U.S. Supreme Court in its 2003 Lawrence v. Texas ruling that said state laws that criminalized consensual same-sex sexual acts between adults were unconstitutional.

Puerto Rico - Sixth transgender person in PR found murdered this year, at least 30th in the U.S. Michelle Ramos Vargas, 33, was studying nursing and worked as a bartender; authorities are investigating whether this was a hate crime.(t/w: anti-trans violence)

GLOBAL MATTERS

Canada - Conversion therapy ban bill reintroduced. Federal Minister of Justice David Lametti said the new bill will include five amendments to Canada's Criminal Code to include offenses such as causing a minor to undergo conversion therapy, causing any person to undergo the therapy against their will, and profiting from the practice.

Japan - Japan’s first permanent LGBTQ centre opening in Tokyo. Called the Pride House Tokyo Legacy, the centre is a physical extension of the Pride House Tokyo project, a non-profit advocacy organisation set up to promote understanding and provide support for the LGBTQ+ community during the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Mexico - Marriage equality fails to pass by one vote in Sonora. On September 30th, Sonora failed to pass marriage equality by one vote, and on the same day, Baja California’s Secretary General stopped enforcing its constitutional ban (that also previously had a one-vote margin), citing the 2015 federal Supreme Court jurisprudence ruling that banning marriage equality is unconstitutional.

Poland - The country's ruling nationalists turn further right with new Education chief appointment in new Cabinet lineup. Naming ultra-conservative appointees on September 30th signals anticipated friction with the United Nations and a warning about anti-LGBTQ+ actions.

United Kingdom - Non-Binary People Protected By U.K. Equality Act, Says Landmark Ruling Against Jaguar Land Rover. After years of ambiguity, a U.K. employment tribunal ruled that non-binary and genderfluid people are protected under the Equality Act, which protects people from discrimination on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.

MEDIA MATTERS

ALA: Some of the most frequently banned books feature LGBTQ stories. A great deal of the most frequently challenged books of the last decade center around LGBTQ characters and themes, an analysis from the American Library Association revealed. In honor of "Banned Books Week" the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom published lists of the top 10 most challenged books of 2019 and the top 100 most frequently banned books of the decade.

ILGA launches 3rd edition of Trans Legal Mapping report. The global LGBTQ+ organization released this report (available for free in English and Spanish) detailing the impact of laws and policies on trans persons in 143 UN member States across the globe.

DEAR POLICY MATTERS

Dear Policy Matters:

I increasingly read that the ACA is important to more people than I realized, especially in light of COVID-19, and that losing it would have devastating implications for people across the country. Is there information about how many people actually need the ACA, how it’s related to COVID-19 and pre-existing conditions, and what could happen if it is rescinded or revoked?

Sincerely,
Affordable Care Act Fan

Dear ACAF:

PFLAG National’s partners at the Center for American Progress issued The Chaos of Repealing the Affordable Care Act During the Coronavirus Pandemic, a report which outlines how the ACA’s repeal during the coronavirus pandemic would be catastrophic for individual and public health. It also includes a table showing how many people in each state would be noted as having a pre-existing condition based solely on COVID-19 diagnoses.

The key topic areas, filled with statistics to make the case for each, are:

More than 20 million people would lose their health coverage, and more than 135 million people would lose protections for their preexisting conditions, including millions of COVID-19 survivors
People with preexisting conditions and disabilities, including COVID-19 survivors, would be vulnerable to discrimination by insurers
ACA repeal would throw insurance markets into chaos as millions would lose coverage during a pandemic
Struggling small businesses and the self-employed could be priced out of coverage

Young people under the age of 26 could lose access to their parents’ insurance during this period of mass unemployment
Black, Native, and Latinx Americans who have been disproportionately harmed by COVID-19 would lose insurance in startling numbers
Insurers could again discriminate against women
For the tens of millions who would become uninsured, sending children to school becomes not only a health risk but a bankruptcy risk
Drug costs for seniors would soar, and millions more would not be able to afford their prescriptions during a public health crisis
Many hard-hit states would be further devastated by the elimination of Medicaid expansion

Remember that, on November 10th, the Supreme Court--whatever its makeup at that time--will hear a case on the ACA; follow us on social media and keep an eye on future issues of Policy Matters for updates.