14 September 2017 - NPWJ News Digest on LGBTI rights

Articles

Edie Windsor dead: LGBT rights activist and lead plaintiff in US vs Windsor, dies aged 88
By The Independent , 14 Sep 2017

Edie Windsor, the American gay rights activist whose fight for same-sex marriage led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling, has died aged 88.Her wife Judith Kasen-Windsor confirmed her death to The New York Times. Windsor’s fight for recognition of same-sex married couples began after the death of her first wife, Thea Spyer, who she had been engaged to for more than forty years before they finally married in Canada in 2007.
 

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US Justice Department Looks to Curtail LGBT Protections
By Human Rights Watch, 14 Sep 2017

For the second time in less than two months, the US Justice Department (DOJ) has bent over backward to undermine LGBT rights in pending lawsuits. In July, the DOJ unexpectedly filed an amicus brief in Zarda v. Altitude Express, arguing that LGBT people are not protected from workplace discrimination under federal law. The case is a dispute about whether the prohibition on sex discrimination in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 encompasses discrimination against LGBT people.
 

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Turnbull signs Coalition statement urging marriage equality yes vote
By The Guardian, 13 Sep 2017

Malcolm Turnbull has joined 23 Coalition parliamentarians urging Australians to vote yes in the same-sex marriage postal survey, and highlighting their support for equality, freedom and individual rights. The statement, released on Thursday, is signed by at least 24 Liberal and National MPs and senators including cabinet ministers Simon Birmingham, Christopher Pyne, George Brandis, Kelly O’Dwyer, Darren Chester, Greg Hunt, Josh Frydenberg, Marise Payne, Scott Ryan, Nigel Scullion and Arthur Sinodinos.
 

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Ted Cruz's Pollster Is Flooding Australians With Antigay Robocalls
By The Advocate, 13 Sep 2017

A robocall is telling Australians that legalizing same-sex marriage may lead to "radical gay sex education."  The automated call purports to be a survey, which asks receivers a series of questions related to the nation's upcoming postal vote on marriage equality, including whether and how the respondent plans to vote. 

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