|
|
LGBT advocates commend new VAWA non-discrimination guidance
From a press release
2014-04-24
|
|
This article shared 3652 times since Thu Apr 24, 2014
|
|
As advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT ) people, we applaud the Department of Justice for issuing strong implementing guidelines for the historic non-discrimination provisions in the Violence Against Women Act ( VAWA ), ensuring that LGBT survivors of violence receive equal services and treatment free from unlawful discrimination. The recently released Frequently Asked Questions about the new provisions are precedent-setting and will be a guide for other federal agencies on how to implement LGBT non-discrimination provisions. These provisions mark the first ever explicit protections from discrimination for LGBT people under federal law.
This guidance is a significant step forward because it makes clear that federal tax dollars under VAWA can't be used to discriminate against LGBT people. If a grantee receives any funding under VAWA, all activities of that entity are covered by the non-discrimination mandate ( including employment ), as well as activities that aren't related to or funded by the Department of Justice. This is hugely important because VAWA funding is disbursed to many agencies and programs around the country, including many rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters, legal services, housing programs, education and prevention campaigns, courts, prosecutors, police and sheriff's departments, as well as state agencies that administer VAWA funds.
As part of this guidance, the Office of Violence Against Women in the Department of Justice ( OVW ) announced a framework for analyzing the limited conditions for services that are segregated or specific to gender and prohibited justifications based on overbroad assumptions or past practice. In the limited case where gender-segregated services are proven to be essential, meaningful comparable services must be provided. The policy is also historic because it is the first time a federal agency has clearly stated that non-discrimination on the basis of gender identity means that all transgender people are to be housed and provided with other services according to their self-identified gender. The guidance makes clear that transgender people can't be turned away or treated differently just because another client complains about being around a transgender person, and that staff cannot ask invasive personal questions to get a transgender person to "prove" their gender.
We urge the Department of Justice to formalize this historic guidance in binding regulations, as is standard practice with other major civil rights laws. We look forward to other federal agencies following the lead of the Department of Justice and applying similar interpretations of other laws and regulations prohibiting discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
New York City Anti-Violence Project
National Center for Transgender Equality
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
GLBTQ Domestic Violence Project
Human Rights Campaign
|
|
|
|
This article shared 3652 times since Thu Apr 24, 2014
|
ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE |
---|
|
| | WORLD Leaked messages, Panama action, author dies at 32, Japan court, out athletes 2024-03-15 - Hundreds of messages from an internal chat board for an international group of transgender health professionals were leaked in a report and framed as revealing serious health risks associated with gender-affirming care, including cancer, according to ...
|
| | NATIONAL Missouri measure, HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, judge, Texas schools 2024-03-15 - In Missouri, a newly proposed law could charge teachers and counselors with a felony and require them to register as sex offenders if they're found guilty of supporting transgender students who are socially transitioning, CNN noted. ...
|
| | College athletes sue NCAA over transgender policies 2024-03-15 - Former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines was among a group of college athletes who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on March 14, accusing it of violating their Title IX rights by allowing trans swimmer Lia Thomas ...
|
| | LGBTQ+ people attacked by mobs in Greece 2024-03-14 - Just weeks after a landmark law granted same-sex couples in Greece the right to marry, nearly 200 people dressed in black chased a transgender couple through the town square in Thessaloniki, the country's "second city" and ...
|
| | Florida settles 'Don't Say Gay' lawsuit 2024-03-11 - On March 11, the state of Florida settled a multi-year lawsuit against the so-called "Don't Say Gay" law, which limits how LGBTQ+ topics can be discussed and presented in schools, The Hill reported. The settlement agreement ...
|
| | "X" gender marker now available on Illinois driver's licenses and state ID cards 2024-03-11 - After several years of preparation, the Illinois Secretary of State's office is has been making the X gender designation available for non-binary residents and others not utilizing the M or F designations, since the beginning of ...
|
| | WORLD Israeli reservist, man detained, Ghana bill, medic denied honor 2024-03-08 - Hanania Ben-Shimonthe gay Israel Defense Forces reservist who was wounded as he killed one of the terrorists in the attack at the A-Za'ayem checkpoint near Ma'ale Adumim recentlypublished a post in which he pleaded that his ...
|
| | Court blocks Texas attorney general's demand for PFLAG data 2024-03-01 - From a press release: AUSTIN, Texas—Travis County District Court Judge Maria Cantú Hexel on March 1 blocked the latest effort by the Texas Attorney General's Office to persecute Texas families with transgender youth, temporarily haltin ...
|
| | WORLD Canadian politics, Australian murders, Finnish study, 'Anatomy' 2024-03-01 - Canadian conservatives are divided over an anti-trans policy that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith handed down in her province, The Guardian reported. The policy includes a ban on hormonal treatment, puberty ...
|
| | Appeals court allows Ind. ban on gender-affirming care for minors 2024-03-01 - On Feb. 27, a federal appeals court in Chicago allowed Indiana's ban on gender-affirming care to go into effect, removing a temporary injunction that U.S. District Court Judge James Patrick Hanlon issued last year, ABC News ...
|
| | Ghana parliament passes harsh anti-LGBTQ+ bill 2024-02-29 - On Feb. 28, Ghana's parliament unanimously passed a controversial anti-LGBTQ+ bill that has been condemned globally. The so-called Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Act, which was introduced in the parliament in 2021, not only criminalizes ...
|
| | PASSAGES Trailblazing judge and attorney Patricia M. Logue passes away 2024-02-26 - The Honorable Patricia Logue ("Pat" to her friends, Trish" to her family) was a brilliant lawyer, a trailblazing jurist and a hero to the LGBTQ community. Pat's legacy includes numerous landmark cases she litigated over her ...
|
| | Federal jury finds man guilty of killing trans woman in landmark case 2024-02-24 - In a groundbreaking case, a federal jury in Columbia, South Carolina found Daqua Lameek Ritter guilty of killing transgender woman Dime Doe after deliberating for almost four hours, The State reported. It is the first time ...
|
| | Unprecedented Alabama Supreme Court ruling undermins access to family-building healthcare, GLAD responds 2024-02-23 --From a press release - Feb. 23, 2024 (Boston) — Today, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) issued the following statement from Polly Crozier, GLAD's Director of Family Advocacy, on the Alabama Supreme Court decision ...
|
| | WORLD Caribbean ruling, Pussy Riot, Russian raid, Canadian warning, anti-trans bar 2024-02-23 - The top court in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines dismissed a challenge to colonial-era anti-gay laws, Reuters reported. Javin Johnson and Sean Macleish—two gay men who had pushed to decriminalize ...
| |
|
|