Lesbians In The News

[*Anya*]

Thank you Kobi for posting this:

"A Letter About Dying, to My LGBT Communities

by Jeanne Cordova, September 23, 2015"

As someone that came out in the late 70's and also has read all of her books; I feel as though I know her.

This makes me profoundly sad.

The "old timers" are dying out and the younger lesbians will never know the early days of marches, protests and sisterhood in the same way.

I recently found an old picture of my first women's festival in the early 80's. There were so many bare-breasted women surounding a drumming circle- I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

Jeanne was one of many women that preceded me and made it easier for me to come out as a lesbian. I have never regretted doing so.

If you have not read her third book, "When we were Outlaws", you will love it.

Bye to Jeanne,

from another resident of Lesbian Nation.

[Kobi]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday overturned an Alabama judicial ruling that had refused to recognize a gay woman's parental rights over three children she adopted with her lesbian partner and raised from birth.

The court took the relatively unusual step of reversing the Alabama Supreme Court without hearing oral arguments in the case. Cases are decided in that fashion when a lower court ruling is considered to be particularly counter to Supreme Court precedents. None of the eight justices dissented.

The adoptive mother, identified in court papers as V.L, said she was overjoyed with the ruling.

"When the Alabama court said my adoption was invalid and I wasn't their mother, I didn't think I could go on. The Supreme Court has done what's right for my family," she said in a statement.

The court said in an unsigned opinion that the Alabama court was required to recognize the woman's parental rights because they had been legally endorsed by a court in Georgia.

The ruling said the Alabama court's interpretation of the law was "not consistent" with prior Supreme Court decisions. Under the U.S. Constitution, state courts are required to recognize judgments issued by courts in other states.

The Alabama Supreme Court, led by outspoken conservative Chief Justice Roy Moore, has a history of hostility to gay rights. For example, it dragged its feet in implementing the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark ruling last June legalizing gay marriage nationwide.

The Supreme Court had already intervened in the case once before. In December, the court ordered that the Alabama ruling be put on hold while the woman filed a formal appeal of Alabama Supreme Court's September ruling.

Lawyers for the woman say the Alabama ruling had "effectively stripped V.L. of parental rights over the children she had raised since they were born."

V.L. was formerly in a relationship with a woman identified as E.L., who is the birth mother of the three children, a 13-year-old and 11-year-old twins.

In 2007, a court in Georgia granted V.L.'s petition to adopt the children in a move that E.L. agreed to at the time. The couple split in 2011 and disagreed over custody arrangements.

V.L. filed papers in Alabama seeking joint custody. Lower courts ruled in her favor before the state's high court ruled in favor of her former partner.

The state appeals court said it did not have to endorse the Georgia court's adoption order. But the Alabama Supreme Court said that the Georgia court did not have jurisdiction to issue the adoption order.

The two women were not married.

story

[*Anya*]

Lesbians Suing New Jersey Over Law Requiring Heterosexual Sex Before Insurance Covers Medical Procedure

August 12, 2016 By Allen Clifton

A great way to see how utterly ignorant parts of our nation have been (and continue to be) is to look at some older state and local laws – many of which are still, technically, in practice today. Such as a law in New Jersey concerning insurance companies and the legal requirements for covering fertility treatments for couples.

As reported by NJ.com: State law requires large insurance providers to cover costly fertility treatments for patients medically unable to have children. The couples take issue with how the law defines infertility, which includes the inability to become pregnant after one or two years of unprotected sex, depending on a woman’s age.

Basically the law requires any female who wants her health insurance to cover fertility treatments to have sex with a male for one to two years before they will approve paying for the procedure. Which poses a slight problem when you’re a lesbian.

Because for a lesbian to abide by this law means that they would be required to have sex with a gender to which they aren’t sexually attracted. Well, at least if they wanted their health insurance to cover fertility treatments — which is a completely and totally ridiculous requirement.

Well, two lesbian couples are challenging the New Jersey law as unconstitutional for essentially preventing same-sex couples from receiving fertility treatments based on sexual orientation. While the law doesn’t specifically ban health insurance companies from providing fertility treatments to lesbian women, being that lesbians aren’t attracted to men, it sets a “rule” that’s clearly discriminatory toward the LGBT community.

To its credit, Horton Blue Cross Blue Shield released a statement that seemed to be trying to one-up the idiocy of the 2001 New Jersey law: Horizon covers infertility services equally regardless of sexual orientation. We interpret the 2001 New Jersey law defining infertility in a gender and orientation neutral manner and our coverage standard complies with federal non-discrimination requirements.

Members unable to conceive due to medical or biological reasons are covered for the specific infertility benefits included in their policy. Horizon is committed to equality, values our LGBTQ members, and is sensitive to their unique healthcare challenges and needs. We regularly review our standards and procedures to ensure parity and fairness for all of our members. So, the health insurance company is claiming that it is “committed to equality” and “values” its LGBT members — yet doesn’t seem to think that requiring lesbians to have sex with men for one to two years prior to approving fertility treatments is pathetically wrong and a gross violation of their rights.

At what point in any other situation — anywhere — would requiring anyone to have sex with someone they’re not sexually attracted to and/or don’t want to have sex with be an acceptable requirement for approving a medical procedure? What I would like to see is Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield answer is this: If they’re not discriminating against same-sex couples, and they care about equality, then how, exactly, would a lesbian couple be approved for fertility treatments since they don’t have sex with males?

I get that their argument is that they’re simply “interpreting the law,” but by ignoring the reality that lesbians don’t have sex with men, you choose to ignore the fact that this law is highly discriminatory. Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield has the ability to do the right thing here, but they’re simply choosing not to, using this antiquated law as their excuse to discriminate.

This entire situation is simply asinine. In a normal world where reality mattered, New Jersey lawmakers would quickly move to repeal this outdated law which would pave the way for same-sex couples to be treated equally, or Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield would do the right thing by using common sense in these matters. Instead, we’re looking at a state where Governor Chris Christie certainly won’t allow this law to be repealed and the insurance company is hiding behind this law because they simply don’t want to pay for something they don’t have to — even if that means outright discriminating against homosexuals.

This is a great reminder that, even though it’s 2016, we still have a long way to go in the fight for true equality for the LGBT community.



Read more at: http://www.forwardprogressives.com/l...ual-sex-video/

[homoe]

Kristen Stewart, currently promoting her Woody Allen flick Cafe Society and the sci-fi movie Equals opposite Nicholas Hoult, finally spoke about her private life. She is very much in love with her girlfriend and former personal assistant, Alicia Cargile.

[~ocean]

Originally Posted by homoe

Kristen Stewart, currently promoting her Woody Allen flick Cafe Society and the sci-fi movie Equals opposite Nicholas Hoult, finally spoke about her private life. She is very much in love with her girlfriend and former personal assistant, Alicia Cargile.

I wonder if they got married if she would be Kristen Cargile < too sweater'ish lol Alicia Stewart would be better on a mailbox. lol

[homoe]

Originally Posted by ~ocean

I wonder if they got married if she would be Kristen Cargile < too sweater'ish lol Alicia Stewart would be better on a mailbox. lol

Then I would think of Kitty every time I heard that name..lol

[*Anya*]

Federal court rules against Georgia lesbian fired for being gay

By Patrick Saunders

March 10, 2017 6:53 pm Atlanta, Georgia, Today in Gay Atlanta

The U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday afternoon affirmed a lower district court’s ruling dismissing the lawsuit of Jameka Evans, a Savannah security guard who was forced to leave her job because she is a lesbian. Attorneys from Lambda Legal, who are representing Evans in the case, say they will now seek a rehearing by the full panel of 11 judges of the Eleventh Circuit.

The case, Evans v. Georgia Regional Hospital, is the latest Title VII case, in which LGBT and progressive legal groups argue that discrimination based on their client’s sexual orientation should be ruled a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which includes a provision that prohibits discrimination based on the sex of an individual. The Eleventh Circuit agreed with Lambda Legal’s argument in 2011 that the Georgia General Assembly violated Title VII when Vandy Beth Glenn was fired for being transgender.

Evans filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District Court of Georgia in April 2015, arguing that Georgia Regional Hospital violated Title VII by discriminating against her because of her sexual orientation and her nonconformity with gender norms of appearance and demeanor. The district court dismissed Evans’ complaint, arguing that Title VII doesn’t protect employees from such discrimination. Lambda Legal filed an appeal with the Eleventh Circuit last January and then argued their case at a hearing before a three-judge panel last December.

Judge William Pryor, concurring with Friday’s majority opinion and disagreeing with the 2011 opinion he joined in the Glenn case, said, “Because a claim of gender nonconformity is a behavior-based claim, not a status-based claim, a plaintiff still ‘must show that the employer actually relied on her gender in making its decision.’”

Judge Robin S. Rosenbaum argued in the dissent, agreeing with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and several district courts that discrimination against a lesbian by an employer because she fails to meet their view of what a woman should look or act like is sex discrimination, and therefore a Title VII violation.

“I also note that logic is on my side,” Judge Rosenbaum said. “Of course, the concurrence is free to ignore my analysis rather than respond to it, but that doesn’t make it go away.”

Lambda Legal said this case is not over yet.

“This is not the end of the road for us and certainly not for Jameka,” said Greg Nevins, employment fairness project director for Lambda Legal in a statement. “Keeping your job shouldn’t depend on whether or not you pass for straight.

There is no way to draw a line between sexual orientation discrimination and discrimination based on gender nonconformity because not being straight is gender-nonconforming, period. 90 percent of Americans believe that LGBT people should be treated equally in the workplace. The public is on the right side of history, and it’s time for the Eleventh Circuit to join us.”

https://thegavoice.com/federal-court...ian-fired-gay/