President Obama has condemned anti-LGBT laws recently passed in two Southern states in an attempt to reassure British tourists, reports USA Today.
“I want everybody here in the United Kingdom to know that the people of North Carolina and Mississippi are wonderful people,” Obama said during a Friday news conference. “They are beautiful states and you are welcome and you should come and enjoy yourselves. And I think you’ll be treated with extraordinary hospitality.”
But at the same time, the president also went on record as opposing recently passed “religious freedom” laws, which could have a negative effect on LGBT people. Obama called the new laws “wrong” and said they “should be overturned.”
Obama’s comments came in response to the British Foreign Office issuing an advisory warning travelers to North Carolina and Mississippi of those new laws. That guidance, issued earlier this week, noted that the United States is an “extremely diverse society,” and, as such, attitudes toward LGBT people vary from place to place. It also suggested that LGBT travelers refer to the Human Rights Campaign and other sources to see if those laws might adversely impact them.
In North Carolina, lawmakers removed protections against discrimination in public accommodations by repealing local pro-LGBT ordinances and required that transgender people be forced to use only the restroom that corresponds to their biological sex. In Mississippi, Gov. Phil Bryant (R) signed into effect a law that grants individuals and business owners significant leeway to discriminate against LGBT people or others, such as single mothers, of whose lifestyle they disapprove based on “sincerely held” personal beliefs.
Obama also said that the move to pass the laws was motivated not solely by animus, but by political considerations and some lawmakers’ sincerely held convictions.
“Although I respect their different viewpoints, it’s important for us not to send signals that anyone is treated differently,” Obama added.
Cameron defended the Foreign Office’s advice to travelers, noting that the office tries to give advice “dispassionately” and “impartially” about laws that could affect British citizens abroad.
“Our view on any of these kinds of things is that we should use law to end discrimination, rather than embed it or enhance it,” Cameron said. “And that’s something we’re comfortable saying to countries and friends anywhere in the world.”
The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for the Trump administration to enforce a policy mandating that U.S. passports list a traveler’s sex as assigned at birth, based on biological characteristics.
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring that the U.S. government would recognize only two sexes, effectively erasing transgender identity. The order, which pledged to uphold "the biological reality of sex," directed the State Department to revise its passport policies to "accurately reflect the holder's sex."
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that cisgender students may repeatedly and intentionally misgender transgender classmates, invalidating an Ohio school district's policies that sought to stop the practice.
In a 10-7 decision, the court found that Olentangy Local School District's prohibition on using "gendered language they know is contrary to the other student's identity," including pronouns and honorifics, infringes on the rights of students who believe there are only two genders.
The challenged policies include an anti-harassment rule prohibiting "discriminatory harassment" or bullying based on gender identity and other protected traits that "places a student or school employee in reasonable fear of harm," interferes with education or work, or disrupts school operations, according to The Associated Press.
A Florida man has been arrested and charged with the murder of Girlalala, a 21-year-old transgender TikTok influencer, after allegedly shooting her during what appears to have been a dispute between the couple.
Broward County Sheriff's Office deputies say 25-year-old Shanoyd Whyte Jr. shot Girlalala shortly before 7 p.m. on Friday, November 14, while the two were sitting in a car on the side of the road in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida.
According to Miami-based WPLG, video from a nearby Tesla shows a man believed to be Whyte getting out of the driver's side of a sedan as Girlalala tries to exit the passenger side. He appears to grab her by the hair and force her back inside before pacing outside the car with a cellphone in hand.
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