Colin Kaepernick To Get Settlement In NFL Collusion Case

Had a feeling when the arbitrator ruled in Kaepernick's favor last August against the NFL's attempt to get summary judgement on this case, this was inevitably going to happen.

The NFL and Kaepernick announced that they have reached a settlement in his lawsuit against the NFL for blackballing him for two season over the NFL anthem protests.

Carolina Panthers safety Eric Reed, who joined Kaepernick in the initial take a knee protests when both were San Francisco 49ers teammates, also settled out of court with the league for an undisclosed amount.

Even though Reed ended up with the Panthers, there was still the issue that cropped up during the 2018 season of him shadily being 'randomly' drug tested nine times.

While the terms of the settlement for both players were not revealed, and they are subject to a confidentiality agreement, it is speculated that Kaepernick is being paid by the NFL owners somewhere in the $60 to $80 million dollar range.

The NFL Players Association also issued a statement in the wake of the announced settlements for both players.

 "We are not privy to the details of the settlement, but support the decision by the players and their counsel," it read. "We continuously supported Colin and Eric from the start of their protests, participated with their lawyers throughout their legal proceedings, and were prepared to participate in the upcoming trial in pursuit of both truth and justice for what we believe the NFL and its clubs did to them. We are glad that Eric has earned a job and a new contract, and we continue to hope that Colin gets his opportunity as well." 

Congratulation to both players.   Justice was served in this case.   Hopefully we'll see Colin on an NFL gridiron soon.

Kansas Trans People Suing State For Right To Change Birth Certificates

Kansas is one of three states  (Ohio and Tennessee are the other two) that obstinately refuse to allow trans people born there  to change their birth certificates under any circumstances. 

It's BS, so four Kansas trans residents filed a federal lawsuit on October 15 to change that unjust policy.   I was happy to discover but not surprised to find out that two of the four people suing are my Kansas based BTAC fam in Luc Bensimon and Nyla Foster

The lawsuit argues that the Kansas policy violates the due process and equal protection clauses of the Constitution.   It's also arguing that the policy violates the plaintiff's free speech rights.

The other plaintiffs in the suit are a transperson person identified as C.K., Jessica Hicklin, and the Kansas Statewide Education project (K-STEP)

The defendants are Jeff Anderson, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment; Elizabeth W. Saadi, the Kansas state registrar; and Kay Haug, director of the state’s vital statistics office, a unit of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Bensimon said the state's unjust policy made it easier for people to discriminate against him, “on top of the discrimination I already confront based on my disability.”

“I’m here to seek justice,” said Nyla Foster, a transgender woman and one of the plaintiffs. “My birth certificate does not reflect the gender I identify as, and I’m here to correct it so I can move forward with my life.”|

At a press conference in front of the federal courthouse in Kansas City, Kansas, Lambda legal attorney Omar Gonzalez-Pagan explained why it was challenging the state's transphobic documentation stance.

"A birth certificate is more than a piece of paper.It's the quintessential identity document that follows a person from birth to death.  It must reflect a person's identity."

Gonzales-Pagan also pointed out that birth certificates can determine access to education, employment, healthcare, travel and impact the ability to obtain other identity documents.

Good luck to you in overturning this unjust policy.  Thanks Lambda Legal for having our backs again.

Chief Justice Lee Rosenthal Dismisses Drag Queen Storytime Lawsuit

Some good news to report for you out of Houston this week. 

As y'all know, the fake faith based hatemongers have their draws in a bunch over the monthly Drag Queen Storytime event held at the Freed-Montrose Public Library.

A group of faith based haters with a long history of filing frivolous suits in Chris Sevier, Tex Christopher, Tracy Shannon and Calvin Miller filed another one in federal court to stop this weekend's edition of Drag Queen Storytime from taking place at the Free-Montrose Library in the historic Montrose gayborhood on Saturday.

Sevier tried to claim that the library hosting Drag Queen Storytime amounted to the establishment of 'the religion of secular humanism".   His frivolous suit history includes one filed against Apple in 2013 for 'making a computer that allowed him to access pornography'.  A few years later he filed lawsuits in several states including Texas seeking the right for him to marry his computer. 

Sevier also filed suits against four Democratic congress members who flew rainbow flags outside their offices claiming that by doing so, they were 'promoting the religion of homosexuality'.

Tracy Shannon's problem with Drag Queen Storytime is that her husband allegedly left her for a trans woman.   And that pertains to Drag Queen Storytime in what way, Miss Thang?

Co plaintiff Tex Christopher claimed the event is 'grooming people to be transgender', and even threw in a comment about the suicide rates of trans children to buttress his weak argument.

"Why would they want to do that?  Transgender children have the highest suicide rate.  Why would we want to groom our children to be transgender?" Christopher said.

Naw Tex, its anti-trans hate and oppression coming from you, other evilgelicals, the TERF's and the Republican party that play a major role in spiking the trans suicide rate, not Drag Queen Storytime.

Another point is that drag queen does not equal to transgender person.   Trans people can and sometimes do work as drag artists.   But drag queens are predominately male performers who sometimes come out as trans people.

The case ended up in Chief Justice Lee H. Rosenthal's court, and she wasted little time in dismissing the suit and by extension, denying their attempt to get an injunction to stop this weekend's edition of Drag Queen Storytime.

On October 19, 2018, Tex Christopher, Tracy Shannon, Calvin Miller, and Mark Sevier sued [library system head] Rhea Lawson and [Houston Mayor] Sylvester Turner, alleging that Drag Queen Storytime at the Freed-Montrose Library violates the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution… On October 23, 2018, the plaintiffs applied for a temporary restraining order to enjoin the event… There is no basis to support the requested relief. The application is denied.

Legal mic drop.  The best part of Judge Rosenthal snatching their legal wigs is that they can't claim she is a 'liberal judge' because she was appointed by George HW Bush.

The fake faith based haters have appealed to ruling, but the end result is Drag Queen Storytime will go on as scheduled this Saturday.   The suburban haters will probably be protesting it.

Houston Evilgelicals File Lawsuit Against Drag Queen Storytime

The same group of professional hatemongers that helped kill the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance are once again trying to force their right wing hatred upon our city.

Yesterday they filed a lawsuit against the Houston Public Library and Mayor Sylvester Turner with the goal of shutting down Drag Queen Storytime

The Drag Queen Storytime has been happening monthly at the Freed- Montrose Neighborhood Library branch  in the historic Montrose gayborhood for two years.   Local drag queens have been on their own time showing up at the library to read to the kids brought there by their parents who obviously don't have a problem with it. 

The goal of Drag Queen Storytime is to not only promote literacy, but give kids in attendance a fun event that promotes healthy self esteem in them.

The faux faith based haters have been protesting the events, with the most recent one happening last month.   Houston city councilman Michael Kubosh has also been on the side of the faith based oppressors, railing against this event back in July. 

The suit in federal court accuses the HPL and Mayor  Turner of being 'recklessly entangled in the LGBT Agenda.'  The lawsuit says the storytelling sessions advertised as appropriate for patrons of all ages at the Freed-Montrose Neighborhood branch should not be funded with taxpayer dollars since the library would not host a “man-woman marriage storytelling hour.”Naw, you clowns don't have that story hour you claim in your lawsuit isn't being hosted because you're too busy working to gleefully oppress TBLGQ people.

The plaintiffs self identify themselves as “Christ followers,” taxpayers and card-carrying library patrons, but have long histories of being opposed to marriage equality.   They also fought the HERO ordinance.  They claim in the suit the Drag Queen Storyline violates their 'freedom of religion'

One of the peeps bringing the anti-storytime lawsuit is Tex Christopher, who claims he homeschooled his children using library books.

Another plaintiff is Chris Sevier, who has filed a number of lawsuits across the country in several states, including one in Houston for the right to marry his laptop.

If men can marry men, Sevier actually has argued, why can’t he marry a computer?  The case was throw out of court in large part because it was designed to get to the SCOTUS so they could have the opportunity to overturn the 2015 Obergefell case.

The plaintiffs also include an evilgelical minister and a woman who claims she got into a custody battle with her husband after he left her for a transgender woman.

What the hell does that alleged divorce proceeding have to do with reading books to kids?
Y'all are just trying to throw anything up on the wall and hope it sticks.

Need to find out what federal judge got assigned the case, but it's probably a safe bet they shopped around for an anti-TBLGQ federal judge to file this lawsuit in.

Stay tuned to see how this case turns out.   

Houston City Council Votes To Join SB 4 Lawsuit

After a contentious city council public session yesterday that featured over 200 impassioned speakers, several state legislators along with weeks of grassroots pressure to do the right thing, they Houston City Council finally got off the sidelines and into the legal game on SB 4.

Houston is home to according to the Pew Research Center the third largest population of undocumented immigrants in the US behind New York and Los Angeles.

On a 10-6 vote with one abstention in CM Jack Christie, Council voted to join the lawsuit filed by Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, El Paso County, several local governments, and nonprofit organizations in a  consolidated suit against the state of Texas over its racist and unjust SB 4 law that gets a hearing on Monday in San Antonio.

Mayor Sylvester Turner said prior to the vote," This it not an issue of our choosing, but when it ends up on your plate, you have to address it

Mayor Turner was one of the ten YES votes in addition to Councilmembers Dwight Boykins, Karla Cisneros, Ellen Cohen, Jerry Davis, Amanda Edwards, Robert Gallegos, Larry Green, Mike Laster and David Robinson.

Voting NO in opposition to joining the lawsuit were Councilmembers Mike Knox, Michael Kubosh, Steve Le, Dave Martin, Greg Travis and Brenda Stardig.

It was also laughable to hear the conservative councilmembers hypocritically whine about taking laws you don't like to court when you lose legislatively because that's exactly what they did to stymie implementation of and eventually kill the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.

The vote came after the majority of the citizens who came to City Hall yesterday to offer five hours of testimony, urged council to join the lawsuit.

SB 4 was recently signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) an allow police if they stop someone to inquire about their immigration status.   It also threatens sheriffs and police chiefs who refuse federal requests to hold immigrants detained for other alleged crimes with jail time and fines for non-compliance with the unjust law.

Unless SB 4 is declared unconstitutional in federal or state court, it will take effect on September 1.

Here's hoping that happens.

Lawsuit Filed Against Unjust NC Anti-Trans Bill

In some good news after a horrible legislative week for trans kind, a lawsuit was filed in federal court today against the unjust HB 2 anti-trans bill.

Lambda Legal, Equality NC,  the ACLU, ACLU-NC  and three individuals filed suit against the unjust bill that nullified local civil rights ordinances and attempts to enact Jim Crow style bathroom restrictions upon trans North Carolinians and trans visitors to the state.

“By singling out LGBT people for disfavored treatment and explicitly writing discrimination against transgender people into state law, H.B. 2 violates the most basic guarantees of equal treatment and the U.S. Constitution,” the lawsuit argues.

The complaint argues the law violates people’s equal protection, privacy, and liberty rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and their civil rights under Title IX of the Education Act of 1972. The lawsuit is asking for a declaratory judgment that the law violates the Constitution and Title IX and an injunction against enforcement of the law.

We'll see how this case plays out as it winds its way through the federal court system.

TransGriot Update:  NC AG Roy Cooper, who is running as the Democratic candidate for North Carolina's governor, announced that he would not be defending the unjust HB 2 law in court.

Anti-Trans Employment Discrimination Lawsuit Filed Against Barnes & Noble

Victoria Ramirez spent six years working at two Barnes & Noble stores in Orange County, California.  When she informed her managers she was going to begin her gender transition from male to female in a company that has a seven year run of perfect scores on the HRC Corporate Equality Index, can you guess what the company's response was? 

The managers responded by prohibiting Ms Ramirez from working as a woman and then firing her when she protested. 

And once again, just as in the recent Saks Fifth Avenue trans discrimination case they settled out of court with Leyth Jamal, the company doing the transphobic discriminating has bragged about having a perfect score on the HRC Corporate Equality Index.

An Equality Index that trans people have pointed out to the Human Rights Campaign has some glaring flaws when it comes to trans people, and here's another example of trans folks falling though the cracks of it..

Ms Ramirez was subjected to harassment regarding her gender identity and expression, berated by her manager about her long hair, makeup, and nail polish, told her appearance was inappropriate for a “family store” and that she should “think of the children.”

When she came out as trans*, managers set impossible conditions for Ms. Ramirez, essentially forbidding her to transition. They told her she was not allowed to wear women’s clothing, discuss her transition with her co-workers, use female pronouns to identify herself, or use the women’s bathroom.

Overwhelmed by the pressure to hide her female gender identity at work, Ms. Ramirez began to experience on-going panic attacks and severe anxiety. When she told her manager she couldn’t hide who she was any longer, she was fired.

“I loved my job at Barnes & Noble,” said Ramirez. “I put myself through college working there. I thought this company shared my values of hard work, integrity, and respect for all people. But when I came out as transgender, they didn’t live up to those values – instead they responded by mocking me and forcing me to hide who I really am. After giving six years of my life to Barnes & Noble, I was devastated when I was fired simply for being myself. I lost my livelihood, my financial stability, and my confidence.”

Yesterday Transgender Law Center, Alexander Krakow + Glick LLP, and the Law Offices of G. Samuel Cleaver filed suit against Barnes & Noble, Inc. for its discriminatory treatment of Ms. Ramirez.

“The law is clear: no one should be targeted for humiliation and harassment at work and ultimately lose their job because of who they are,” said Kris Hayashi, Executive Director of Transgender Law Center. “It’s unacceptable for any employee to go through what Victoria  experienced at Barnes & Noble, and it’s particularly disturbing given the public image the company has cultivated around its support for LGBT people. Unfortunately, this case illustrates the fact that discrimination against transgender employees is still all too common, leading to sky-high rates of unemployment and poverty in our community.”

Guess those Barnes & Noble managers haven't heard (or chose to ignore the fact) that California prohibits discrimination against trans people.   They will also find out the hard way that Title VII, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in employment, has been widely interpreted in recent years by courts and federal agencies to protect transgender employees.   

Just last month the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a landmark decision in Lusardi v. McHugh, a case that was also brought by the Transgender Law Center.

Lusardi v. McHugh held that denying access to restrooms and refusing to use pronouns consistent with the employee’s gender identity constitutes unlawful discrimination.   Ms. Ramirez’s suit is brought under California law, which includes an explicit prohibition of discrimination based on gender identity or gender expression.

And this is also a prime example of why non-discrimination laws with gender identity and expression protections matter.

Sad that once again, another company is going to learn the painful lesson that  discrimination costs you money, and they are going to have the pay the trans lady for the pain and suffering they unnecessarily inflicted on her.