Fired Cathedral teacher appeals dismissal of his lawsuit against archdiocese
Joshua Payne-Elliott, a foreign language and social studies teacher, sued the archdiocese after his contract with Cathedral was terminated in June 2019.
LGBT issues
Articles
Fired Cathedral teacher’s suit against archdiocese over same-sex marriage dismissed
In a one-page order, Marion Superior Special Judge Lance Hamner did what a previous special judge and the Indiana Supreme Court had not done – dismiss the wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a gay teacher against the archdiocese of Indianapolis.
Reversing Trump, US restores transgender health protections
The U.S. will protect gay and transgender people against sex discrimination in health care, the Biden administration announced Monday, reversing a Trump-era policy that sought to narrow the scope of legal rights in sensitive situations involving medical care.
An unusual coalition as Supreme Court rules for immigrant
An unusual coalition of Supreme Court justices joined Thursday to rule in favor of an immigrant fighting deportation in a case that the court said turned on the meaning of the shortest word, “a.”
LGBTQ rights bill ignites debate over religious liberty
A sweeping bill that would extend federal civil rights protections to LGBTQ people is a top priority of President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress. Yet as the Equality Act heads to the Senate after winning House approval, its prospects seem bleak — to a large extent because of opposition from conservative religious leaders.
Indianapolis man arraigned in Detroit dating app slaying
An Indianapolis man has been arraigned in a Detroit slaying in which the victim allegedly was targeted as a member of the LGBTQ community through an online dating app.
House votes to expand legal safeguards for LGBTQ people
The Democratic-led House passed a bill Thursday that would enshrine LGBTQ protections in the nation’s labor and civil rights laws, a top priority of President Joe Biden, though the legislation faces an uphill battle in the Senate.
House poised to vote on legal safeguards for LGBTQ people
The Democratic-led House is poised to pass a bill that would enshrine LGBTQ protections in the nation’s labor and civil rights laws, a top priority of President Joe Biden, though the legislation faces an uphill battle in the Senate.
Parents’ gender-marker change requests for transgender kids splits COA
Two Indiana trial courts must reconsider parents’ requests to change their children’s birth certificate gender markers, a majority of the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday, finding parents have statutory authority to request the changes for their minor transgender children. A dissenting judge, however, opined that Wednesday’s decision was a judicial overreach into legislative powers.
Bill would require listing biological parents on birth certificates
A bill in the Legislature could reignite Indiana’s battle over birth certificates and possibly upend federal court rulings that allow married lesbian couples to have both their names listed as their children’s parents. Some attorneys, however, see numerous unintended consequences if the bill passes.
Senate confirms Pete Buttigieg as transportation secretary
Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg won Senate approval Tuesday as transportation secretary, the first openly gay person to be confirmed to a Cabinet post. He’ll be tasked with advancing President Joe Biden’s ambitious agenda of rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure and fighting climate change.
Mothers in birth certificate case win at US Supreme Court
In an order issued Monday, the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari in an Indiana birth certificate case, ending the state’s long-running fight to prevent non-birth mothers in same-sex marriages from being listed as a parent on their children’s birth certificates.
Justices deny archdiocese’s bid to dismiss fired Cathedral teacher’s case
A four-member Indiana Supreme Court denied a petition Thursday filed by the Archdiocese of Indianapolis to stop the lawsuit brought by a social studies teacher who was fired from Cathedral High School for being in a same-sex marriage.
Supreme Court rejects appeal to limit transgender students
The Supreme Court declined Monday to take up an appeal from parents in Oregon who want to prevent transgender students from using locker rooms and bathrooms of the gender with which they identify, rather than their sex assigned at birth.
Married moms ask SCOTUS to reject birth certificate case
The married lesbian couples who successfully challenged Indiana’s prohibition on listing both women as parents on their children’s birth certificates have filed their brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, telling the justices not to bother with this long-running dispute.
A more conservative court hears same-sex foster parent case
The United States Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed likely to side with a Catholic social services agency in a dispute with Philadelphia over the agency’s refusal to work with same-sex couples as foster parents.
Barrett joins Supreme Court arguments for the first time
Justice Amy Coney Barrett is expected to join her Supreme Court colleagues on Monday to hear arguments for the first time. Participating in oral arguments will be among the first things Barrett, a former University of Notre Dame law professor, will do after being confirmed last week in a 52-48 virtual party-line vote.
Federal court rejects archdiocese’s religious exemption claim in Roncalli case
Ruling the religious exemption in Title VII should be narrowly construed so as to avoid stripping employees of all protections against discrimination, the Southern Indiana District Court denied a motion for judgment on the pleadings by the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in a lawsuit brought by a guidance counselor who was fired from her job at Roncalli High School for being in a same-sex marriage.
Barrett was trustee at private school with anti-gay policies
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett served for nearly three years on the board of private Christian schools that effectively barred admission to children of same-sex parents and made it plain that openly gay and lesbian teachers weren’t welcome in the classroom.
2 justices slam court’s 2015 decision in gay marriage case
The United States Supreme Court, already poised to take a significant turn to the right, opened its new term Monday with a jolt from two conservative justices who raised new criticism of the court’s embrace of same-sex marriage.