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Supreme Court rules in favor of therapist in case concerning Colorado’s law language that bans so-called “conversion therapy.” The 8-1 ruling, delivered on March 31st, did not rule on the merit or demerits of conversion therapy but rather on the law’s language and held that Colorado’s law discriminated against licensed counselor Kaley Chiles based on views she expresses in talk therapy sessions. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion that the federal appeals court should apply strict scrutiny when rehearing the case to determine if Colorado’s conversion therapy ban was message-neutral or might violate the First Amendment. You can read PFLAG National’s statement about the decision here. Supreme Court hears oral arguments in case surrounding Trump Administration’s executive order aiming to limit birthright citizenship. The justices heard oral arguments on April 1st in Trump v. Barbara, concerning the Administration’s January 2025 executive order which aims to end birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants. Thus far, every federal court has ruled that the order violates the 14th Amendment. Trump Administration sues Minnesota over trans-inclusive athletics policies. On March 30th, the Administration sued the Minnesota Department of Education, alleging the department and the Minnesota State High School League violates Title IX by allowing transgender girls and women to play on sports teams and use facilities aligning with their gender identity. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) upholds restrictions on federal workers’ health insurance coverage for some gender-affirming medical care. The EEOC upheld a 2015 policy that allowed federal employee insurance to cover some gender-affirming care, but not all procedures, including gender confirmation surgeries. The EEOC used last year’s Supreme Court ruling in U.S. v. Skrmetti to hold that denying coverage for some gender-affirming care was not discriminatory. A new policy announced on January 1st goes further than the 2015 policy, banning insurance coverage for all gender-affirming care. Justice Department plans to share voter data with Homeland Security (DHS). The Justice Department acknowledged in court on March 26th that it plans to share voter registration data it receives from states with DHS so that the data can be checked for any non-citizens registered to vote. This admission came during a federal court hearing in a case brought by the Justice Department against over two dozen states that have refused to send sensitive voter data to the federal government. Agriculture Department (USDA) cancels program to assist farmers in buying land. The Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program awarded roughly $300 million to about 50 projects across the country to address land access issues for underserved farmers, especially Black, Indigenous, immigrant, and veteran farmers. The program has been canceled after USDA leadership determined that the program “involved discriminatory preferences based on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stops promotions of Black and female officers. Secretary Hegseth intervened to stop the promotions of four Army officers who were on track to become one-star generals: two Black men and two women. Before becoming the Defense Secretary, Hegseth wrote books disparaging the U.S. military as “woke” and suggesting that diversity in the ranks had weakened the armed forces. Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), who is the Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, announced he was looking into these denials of promotions.
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