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The U.S. Supreme Court ducked the central question in a closely watched case that put religious freedoms and gay rights on trial. But the court's ruling did send a message to governments investigating discrimination cases, an attorney for the Colorado baker in the case said.
In this March 10, 2014, file photo, Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips decorates a cake inside his store in Lakewood, Colo. The Supreme Court is setting aside a Colorado court ruling against a baker who wouldn't make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple.
But the court is not deciding the big issue in the case, whether a business can refuse to serve gay and lesbian people. The justices' limited ruling Monday turns on what the court described as anti-religious bias on the Colorado Civil Rights Commission when it ruled against baker Jack Phillips.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory on narrow grounds to a Colorado Christian baker who refused for religious reasons to make a wedding cake for a gay couple, stopping short of setting a major precedent allowing people to claim exemptions from anti-discrimination laws based on religious beliefs. The justices, in a 7-2 decision, said the Colorado Civil Rights Commission showed an impermissible hostility toward religion when it found that baker Jack Phillips violated the state's anti-discrimination law by rebuffing gay couple David Mullins and Charlie Craig in 2012.
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a Lakewood baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple because of religious beliefs did not violate Colorado's anti-discrimination law. But the court is not deciding the big issue in the case, whether a business can refuse to serve gay and lesbian people.
A decade ago, Colorado entrepreneur and philanthropist Jared Polis made history as the first openly gay man elected as a non-incumbent to Congress. But most voters did not get a glimpse of his longtime partner Marlon Reis until the night Polis won the Democratic primary, when the couple created a sensation by sharing a hug onstage at a victory party.
Military veterans who were discharged for relatively minor offenses say they often can't get jobs, and they hope a recent warning to employers by the state of Connecticut will change that. The state's human rights commission told employers last month they could be breaking the law if they discriminate against veterans with some types of less-than-honorable discharges.
The Supreme Court is heading into the final month of its term, facing decisions on gerrymandering, unions, gay rights, abortion and President Donald Trump's travel ban. This term's best-known case is a culture-war clash that pits equal rights for gay customers against a claim of religious liberty from a Christian store owner.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-California, participates in a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Russia on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 14, 2016. A California congressman has lost the endorsement of a 1.3 million-member realtors group after saying it was acceptable for people to refuse to sell their homes to gay men and lesbians if "they don't agree with their lifestyle."
Orange County Congressman Dana Rohrabacher ignited a firestorm when he said this month Congress shouldn't extend fair housing protections to gays and lesbians. Currently, it's illegal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in Rohrabacher's home state as well as in such states as Colorado, Iowa, New Mexico and Utah, the sites say.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos apparently wasn't around to see it, but a message to her was projected on the Education Department's headquarters in Washington about policy on LGBTQ youth, asking, "How do you sleep at night?" The Human Rights Campaign, with artist Robin Bell, displayed data Wednesday night from a recently released survey revealing experiences of about 12,000 LGBTQ teens, taking aim at Trump administration policies that advocates say have targeted these young people. The survey was conducted by the Human Rights Campaign - the largest civil rights organization working in the United States to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people - and University of Connecticut researchers.
Military veterans who were discharged for relatively minor offenses say they often can't get jobs, and they hope a recent warning to employers by the state of Connecticut will change that. The state's human rights commission told employers last month they could be breaking the law if they discriminate against veterans with some types of less-than-honorable discharges.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher has lost the support of the National Association of Realtors after telling a group of realtors last week that homeowners should be able to refuse to sell their homes to gays or lesbians. "Every homeowner should be able to make a decision not to sell their home to someone they don't agree with their lifestyle," Rohrabacher told an Orange County Association of Realtors delegation at a May 16 meeting in Washington, D.C., according to Wayne Woodyard, a former Orange County Realtor president who was at the event.
In the Democratic primary in Georgia's gubernatorial race, Stacey Abrams has won to become the state's first female nominee for governor from either major party. If Abrams wins the general election in November, she'll become the first black female governor in the U.S. The former state House minority leader, Abrams beat former state Rep. Stacey Evans in Tuesday's race.
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has signed a law that gay rights advocates say will allow religious-based adoption agencies to discriminate against same-sex couples, single people and non-Christians in placing children. The bill signed late Friday gives legal protections to faith-based adoption agencies that won't place children in LGBT homes because of religious or moral convictions or policies.
PULSE NIGHTCLUB . Interim memorial opens to the public : 'In a statement, the onePULSE Foundation said they hope the temporary place will "give families, survivors, first responders and the thousands of people who come each year a space to pay their respects and reflect."
Democrat Delaine Eastin, whose longshot run for governor has failed to catch fire, got a boost Tuesday from an unexpected location: San Francisco, political home of Gavin Newsom, the favorite to win the June 5 primary. Former San Francisco supervisors Tom Ammiano and Harry Britt both announced their backing for Eastin, praising her support for the gay community and for education.
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State lawmakers in Kansas and Oklahoma have approved legislation to grant legal protections to faith-based adoption agencies that cite their religious beliefs for not placing children in LGBT homes. Supporters of such measures argued that the core issue is protecting a group's right to live out its religious faith, while critics saw them as attacks on LGBT rights.
Gov. Charlie Baker's primary opponent, a vocal anti-gay crusader, could actually be a political blessing in disguise, helping the GOP governor solidify his moderate credentials and appeal to Democratic voters. Baker easily won his party's convention endorsement last weekend and is in no danger of losing his primary challenge against ultraconservative activist and Springfield pastor Scott Lively.