More Corporate Support For Equality Act

From the Human Rights Campaign:

Four new major American companies have become the latest to endorse the Equality Act, federal legislation that would establish full, federal equality for all LGBT Americans. In doing so, these leading companies - IBM, Oracle, Orbitz, and Symantec - made clear that they believe all LGBT Americans should have the protections from discrimination in federal law that they deserve. They join American Airlines, Apple, The Dow Chemical Company, Facebook, General Mills, Google, Levi Strauss & Co., Microsoft, and Nike as part of a national business coalition supporting comprehensive, federal LGBT non-discrimination protections. Additionally, Hewlett-Packard in Fortune recently announced its support for the Equality Act.

STATEMENT BY IBM: “IBM’s workplace culture is built on the principles of non-discrimination and equal opportunity for all. We established a corporate policy on equal opportunity more than a decade before the Civil Rights Act. We championed an industry-leading policy of non-discrimination based on sexual orientation over 30 years ago, and expanded it in 2002 to cover gender identity and expression. IBM is proud to support the Equality Act and maintains our steadfast support for all employees to experience equality in the workplace."

STATEMENT BY ORBITZ: “At Orbitz we’ve been advocates of equality and inclusion since our founding in 2001. Our support for the Equality Act is consistent with our other actions, such as signing the amicus brief calling on the Supreme Court to find gay marriage bans unconstitutional.”

STATEMENT BY SYMANTEC: “At Symantec, we are proud to support full and equal rights for the LGBT community. We believe having a diversity of perspectives ensures we make better business decisions and the products and services we offer meet the needs of the broad spectrum of people we serve worldwide, which is why we couldn’t be more proud to support the expansion of legal protections. We unequivocally support the Equality Act – for the future of our business and society.”

As I've mentioned before, the Equality Act will see little traction in the current GOP-dominated Congress, but this early groundwork is critical to what most consider to be the "heaviest lift" in our movement's history.

John Oliver On DC Statehood

With a lovely song at the end.

More Corporate Support For Equality Act

Via press release from the HRC:

Today, just days after the introduction of the historic Equality Act in Congress, five new major American companies announced their support for comprehensive, federal LGBT non-discrimination protections. Each of these new leading corporations -- American Airlines, Facebook, General Mills, Google and Nike demonstrated their belief that all LGBT Americans should have the protections from discrimination in federal law that they deserve. These companies join Apple, The Dow Chemical Company, and Levi Strauss, & Co. in supporting comprehensive federal LGBT non-discrimination legislation.

STATEMENT BY AMERICAN AIRLINES -- "We at American Airlines are proud of our long history of supporting LGBT equality. Now is the time for full equality for the LGBT community in the United States. Ensuring fairness in our workplaces and communities is both the right thing to do and simply good business."

STATEMENT BY FACEBOOK -- "We are open and vocal supporters of equality. Ensuring fairness in the workplace is a fundamental principle at Facebook and we support legal protections for LGBT Americans as outlined in the Equality Act."

STATEMENT BY GENERAL MILLS -- "At General Mills we have a long history of supporting LGBT equality and the time has come in this country for full, federal equality for the LGBT community. Ensuring fairness in our workplaces and communities is both the right thing to do and simply good business."

STATEMENT BY GOOGLE -- "Diverse perspectives, ideas, and cultures lead to the creation of better products and services and ideas. And it's the right thing to do. That's why we support protections for LGBT individuals as outlined in the Equality Act."

STATEMENT BY NIKE – "At NIKE, we are committed to diversity and inclusion, and we strive to treat our employees equally. We believe that diversity drives innovation and allows us to attract and retain world class talent. We need fair and equitable laws that prevent discrimination, and NIKE supports the Equality Act introduced by Senator Merkley and his colleagues in Congress. This is another important step in the fight for equality."

While few expect the Equality Act to get much traction in the current Congress, this sort of groundwork is critical. It's going to be a very long haul.

Quote Of The Day - Sen. Cory Booker

"Almost 50 years ago, a couple tried to purchase a home in suburban New Jersey in a neighborhood they loved, but found their efforts thwarted when the house they wanted was inexplicably pulled off the market. The couple later learned from fair housing advocates who had investigated on their behalf that the home was made unavailable to them because of their skin color. The couple's names were Cary and Carolyn Booker. They were my parents.

"You'd think this problem is relegated to the history books. But in 2015 — today — a couple can try to purchase a home and in 31 states be told it is not available to them on the basis of their sexual orientation. More than half a century after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the federal government has yet to pass a large-scale law that protects Americans from discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. It's time for that to change." - Sen. Cory Booker, writing in support of the Equality Act.

Major Corporations Back Equality Act

Today the Equality Act, a comprehensive federal LGBT rights bill, will be introduced in Congress. The Human Rights Campaign has already brought three major corporations on board. Via press release:

STATEMENT BY APPLE – “At Apple we believe in equal treatment for everyone, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, how they worship or who they love. We fully support the expansion of legal protections as a matter of basic human dignity.”

STATEMENT BY THE DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY – “Dow applauds the introduction of the Equality Act and continues to support a comprehensive federal framework that ensures fairness and opportunity for everyone. Full inclusion of our LGBT colleagues and citizens is quite simply the right thing to do – for business and for society.”

STATEMENT BY LEVI STRAUSS & CO. – “Levi Strauss & Co. is proud to support the Equality Act. We have a long history of supporting LGBT equality, and the time has come in this country for full, federal equality for the LGBT community. Ensuring fairness in our workplaces and communities is both the right thing to do and simply good business.”

Each of the three major companies scored a perfect 100 on HRC’s annual Corporate Equality Index (CEI), a nationally recognized benchmark of LGBT inclusion in the workplace, and were recognized on HRC’s list of Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality in 2015.

“These remarkable companies have proven once again their tremendous leadership on behalf of LGBT Americans,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “Time and again, these leaders of Corporate America have asked 'what more can we do?,' and each time they’ve stepped up to the plate and delivered. As the fight for full, federal equality enters a new chapter, I am tremendously thankful that we have these champions standing shoulder to shoulder with us.”

Yesterday winning Prop 8 attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies also endorsed the bill. Most believe that the Equality Act will see little traction in either GOP-dominated chamber.

CONGRESS: Comprehensive LGBT Rights Bill Set For Introduction On Thursday

Via Chris Johnson at the Washington Blade:

A highly anticipated bill that would explicitly bar anti-LGBT discrimination in all areas of civil rights law is set for introduction in both chambers of Congress on Thursday, the Washington Blade has learned. Capitol Hill sources said lead sponsors Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) will introduce the legislation on Thursday and hold a news conference at noon on the legislation on the Senate side of the U.S. Capitol. According to a “Dear Colleague” letter dated July 20 and obtained by the Washington Blade, the legislation intends to prohibit anti-LGBT discrimination in seven areas: credit, education, employment, federal funding, housing, jury service and public accommodations. The name of the legislation is the Equality Act, which is the same as legislation introduced more than 40 years ago by the late Rep. Bella Abzug of New York City. The bill, which was the first-ever gay rights measure introduced in Congress, would have amended the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include sexual orientation.

More from Dominic Holden at Buzzfeed:

Provisions of the bill to ban discrimination in places of public accommodations may draw the most scrutiny, and elevate local debates over faith. Religious freedom bills in Indiana and Arkansas became national lightning rods this spring, raising disagreement about whether business owners selling cakes or flowers to same-sex couples who are marrying compromised the moral rights of Christians. But Allison Steinberg, a spokeswoman for the American Civil Liberties Union, which advocates for LGBT rights and religious liberties, argues this should be an open and shut issue. “Open for business means open for all,” Steinberg told BuzzFeed News. “A public serving business owner can’t turn someone away because of their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, nor should they be allowed to deny someone service because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

The bill is expected to see little traction in either GOP-controlled chamber.

Details Emerge On Papal Visit To DC

Via the Wall Street Journal:

Pope Francis’ September address to Congress will be broadcast live on the west side of the U.S. Capitol building, so members of the public can watch in a setup similar to presidential inaugurations, House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) announced Wednesday. The pope is expected to deliver brief remarks to the public assembled outside the Capitol after his Sept. 24 speech, said Mr. Boehner, who invited the pope to speak before lawmakers. The public will be able to watch the pope over giant television screens screens. “The visit of Pope Francis to the U.S. Capitol is a historic moment for the country,” Mr. Boehner said in a statement Wednesday. Mr. Boehner, who is Catholic, invited the pope to address Congress on March 13, 2014. The pope formally accepted the invitation on Feb. 5, 2015.

How much is this Catholic event costing the city?

Lawmakers Seek Live Audio For SCOTUS Rulings On Marriage & Obamacare

A bipartisan coalition of Senate and House lawmakers have sent a letter to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts seeking a live audio feed of the rulings on same-sex marriage and Obamacare. Via Roll Call:

The signatories of a new bicameral letter to Roberts include Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley. The Iowa Republican has long joined the Senate’s leader on the letter, Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., in pushing for televised coverage of Supreme Court proceedings. “Given the historic nature of the Supreme Court’s upcoming rulings on same-sex marriage and the Affordable Care Act, among other cases, we write to urge the Court to provide the American people with access to live audio of its court proceedings for the first time,” the letter said. “Today, every American has access to many of the proceedings of the legislative and the executive branches of our government through C-SPAN and live streaming online. However, even in 2015, one branch of our government remains almost completely closed from the public eye: the U.S. Supreme Court. People may disagree on the outcome of any given case, but we can all agree that the American public is better served when all three branches of our government are transparent and accessible.”

The letter's signatories say they are not giving up their request for televised rulings but will settle for audio for now.

Victim Named In Hastert Abuse Scandal

ABC News reports:

In Steve Reinboldt’s 1970 high school yearbook, wrestling coach Dennis Hastert wrote that Steve was his “great, right hand man” as the student equipment manager of the Yorkville, Illinois wrestling team. But Steve was also a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of Hastert, Steve’s sister said today in an interview with ABC News. It is the first time an alleged Hastert victim has been identified by name since his indictment for lying to the FBI and violating federal banking laws to cover-up past misconduct. Hastert, due in court next week, has not responded to the allegations. In an emotional interview, Steve Reinboldt’s sister Jolene said she first learned of her late brother’s purported years-long sexual abuse at the hands of the future Speaker of the House back in 1979 when her older brother revealed to her that he was gay and had been out of high school for eight years. “I asked him, when was your first same sex experience. He looked at me and said, ‘It was with Dennis Hastert,’” Jolene said. “I was stunned."

Reinboldt died of AIDS in 1995. Still unnamed is the person alleged to have been blackmailing Hastert.

Quote Of The Day - Orin Kerr

"If I understand the history correctly, in the late 1990s, the President was impeached for lying about a sexual affair by a House of Representatives led by a man who was also then hiding a sexual affair, who was supposed to be replaced by another Congressman who stepped down when forced to reveal that he too was having a sexual affair, which led to the election of a new Speaker of the House who now has been indicted for lying about payments covering up his sexual contact with a boy. Yikes." - Orin Kerr, writing for the Washington Post. - (Tipped by JMG reader David)

Think Progress Explains Trade Deal

If you're uninterested in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, at least you get to see Igor model some jeans.

Elton John To Congress: HIV Stigma Is Still The Greatest Threat To Stopping AIDS

Elton John testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee today to argue against so-called sequester caps on federal spending for HIV/AIDS. Via the Washington Times:

Music legend and advocate Elton John said the stigma of persons infected by HIV/AIDS, particularly in the LGBT community, is the greatest threat to fighting — and one day stopping — the disease. Sir John told a Senate Appropriations panel that some African societies marginalize or penalize gay members of their communities, hampering efforts to keep those with HIV/AIDS from gaining much-needed drugs. “They go underground, and the disease is spread even further,” he told the foreign operations subcommittee chaired by Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican. He struck a religious stance, too, saying Jesus “would be appalled at the way people are being stigmatized” and credited Pope Francis with preaching compassion. Sir John appeared before Congress to testify in support of a global-health fund that fights poverty and diseases like AIDS and malaria abroad.

The moment seen above with fellow testifier Pastor Rick Warren came as cameras flashed while the pair took their seats. Warren then joked that if he and Elton were to kiss at that moment, "It would be the kiss heard 'round the world." Elton's opening statement is below. In the second clip, Warren digresses from HIV/AIDS funding to lecture the committee on religious liberty.

Capitol Prayer Service: God Will Punish America For Legalizing Gay Marriage

Dems To Intro Federal LGBT Rights Bill

Via USA Today:

Congressional Democrats said Monday they'll push for federal legislation to prevent discrimination against gays and lesbians in states that lack broad non-discrimination laws. "It's time for Congress to weigh in on what is happening across the country," said Rep. Steve Israel of New York, who heads the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. "The recent examples of legislation in Indiana and Arkansas are not where we are as a country. It's not who we are as Americans. And Congress needs to lead on this." "In the wake of the backlash of Indiana's misguided law, it is clear that the vast majority of Americans oppose this type of discrimination," Democratic Rep. Andre Carson of Indiana said Monday. Carson plans to introduce a nonbinding resolution this week expressing lawmakers' view that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people should be protected from discrimination in the workplace, businesses, schools and elsewhere.

According to Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), this week's resolution is meant to be a prelude to a formal bill that will be introduced later in the session. Cicilline's bill would provide essentially the same protections extended to others under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The passage of any such bill, of course, would require support from a number of Republicans.

DC Hit With Widespread Power Outage

And right when Rand Paul was making his big announcement out in Kentucky.

Ted Cruz Vows To Strip Supreme Court's Power To Rule On Same-Sex Marriage

Via the Dallas Morning News:

“Every one of us is concerned about the Supreme Court’s gay marriage decision likely coming in June,” he said. “The first thing and I think the most important thing every one of us can do, is pray. Lift up in prayer.” He reiterated his vow to press for a constitutional amendment that would clarify the power of state legislatures to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. If the high court does legalize gay marriage nationwide, he added, he would prod Congress to strip federal courts of jurisdiction over the issue, a rarely invoked legislative tool. “If the court tries to do this it will be rampant judicial activism. It will be lawlessness, it will be fundamentally illegitimate,” he said.

Think Progress provides some history on such attempts:

Jurisdiction stripping is a controversial idea that has occasionally been proposed by social conservatives seeking to neuter court decisions that they disapprove of. In 1981, for example, lawmakers introduced a total of 22 bills seeking to remove the Supreme Court’s power to hear cases involving “prayer in the schools, abortion, school busing, a males-only draft and state court rulings.” Reacting to Sen. Jesse Helms’s (R-NC) proposal to eliminate the Court’s authority to hear school prayer cases, Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-AZ) claimed that the bill was akin to “outlawing the Supreme Court.”

Yet, while successful court-stripping proposals are extraordinarily rare, and legal scholars disagree on whether stripping the Supreme Court of its full authority to hear an issue is even constitutional, there is a plausible legal argument supporting such proposals. The Constitution provides that “[t]he judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” Thus, because lower federal courts are creations of Congress, federal lawmakers have the power to define the scope of these courts’ power, and a bill stripping lower federal courts of their authority to decide a question would most likely be constitutional.

Sen. Lindsey Graham: As President I'd Use The Military To Force Congress To Reverse Cuts To Defense Spending

"Here is the first thing I would do if I were President of the United States: I wouldn’t let Congress leave town until we fix this. I would literally use the military to keep them in if I had to. We’re not leaving town until we restore these defense cuts. We’re not leaving town until we restore the intel cuts." - Sen. Lindsey Graham, speaking to a group of South Carolina Republicans.

Hate Group Leader Tony Perkins To Testify Before Congress On Religious Liberty

"One of the benefits of putting conservatives in charge of Congress is that the agendas in most committees change -- and issues that weren't getting as much attention under liberal leaders are now front and center. Tomorrow [today], one of FRC's greatest priorities, religious liberty, will be the subject of a Senate hearing in the Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs. As FRC takes more of a leading role in the debate, I've been asked to testify before the committee at 2:00 p.m. and hopefully highlight the need for greater engagement on what we see as a fundamental human right. With the persecution unfolding before our very eyes in the Middle East and Africa, the United States has an obligation to speak on behalf of religious freedom through every possible diplomatic avenue. After six years of silence, it is up to this Congress to repair the damage done by this administration's indifference to persecuted Christians and other minorities. Our moral voice and supporting actions have been increasingly and noticeably absent with regard to international religious freedom. I'll encourage the Senate to once again find that voice." - Hate group leader Tony Perkins, via press release.

NOM Founder Robert George: Republicans Must Legislatively Challenge Coming SCOTUS Ruling On Same-Sex Marriage

"We face the prospect of yet another Dred Scott-type decision—this time on the question of marriage. I say that, not because same-sex relationships are the moral equivalent of slavery - they are not - but because five justices seem to be signaling that they will once again legislate from the bench by imposing, without constitutional warrant, their own beliefs about the nature and proper definition of marriage on the entire country.

"If that happens, the Republican Party, the Republican Congress, and a future Republican President should regard and treat the decision just as the Republican Party, the Republican Congress, and the Republican President—Abraham Lincoln—regarded and treated the Dred Scott decision. They should, in other words, treat it as an anti-constitutional and illegitimate ruling in which the judiciary has attempted to usurp the authority of the people and their elected representatives.

"They should refuse to treat and regard it as a binding and settled matter. They should challenge it legislatively and give the Supreme Court every opportunity to reverse itself—especially as new justices fill vacancies. And they should work to fill vacancies on federal courts at all levels with jurists who reject judicial usurpation and can be counted on to respect the scope and limits of their own constitutionally specified authority." - NOM co-founder Robert George, writing for First Things.

Protesters Demonstrate Outside Capitol As Netanyahu Addresses Congress