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The amicus brief is the new press release

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Amicus curiae briefs from interested outside parties—the Latin words mean “friends of the court”—inform appellate judges about what’s at stake in a case. But they also serve another, more subtle purpose, working as a public relations tool for corporations.

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US: White House Reverses Obama-Era Transgender Bathroom Protections

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by Ali Vitali, Pete Williams and Mary Emily O'Hara

In a complete reversal of the Obama administration's position, President Donald Trump's administration formally rescinded past guidance on transgender bathroom protections in public schools.

Letters from the Justice and Education departments late Wednesday notified the Supreme Court and the nation's public schools that the administration is changing its position on the issue.

Former President Barack Obama instructed public schools that they must allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that align with a child's chosen gender identity. The guidance was issued as an interpretation of Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in education.

Now, the administration is revoking key guidance on which that policy was based. The letter informs the court that the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division will no longer "rely on the views expressed in that guidance, and instead will consider further and more completely the legal issues involved."


The two federal departments advise their belief that "there must be due regard for the primary role of the States and local school districts in establishing educational policy."

In addition, the letter knocks down the past administration's interpretation of transgender rights as an extension of Title IX by saying the Obama administration's guidance did not "contain extensive legal analysis or explain how the position is consistent with the express language of Title IX, nor did they undergo any formal public process." Read more via NBC

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Chile: Friendly Settlement before the IACHR Furthers Progress on Marriage Equality in Chile

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The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) reports that the parties involved in Petition 946-12, Cesar Antonio Peralta Wezel et al. with regard to Chile, signed a friendly settlement agreement on June 11, 2016. 

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Taiwan: An emergent rainbow coalition from the assemblage perspective

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Identifying a cosmopolitan sense of Taiwaneseness owes much to Taiwan’s ‘queer’ existence in terms of geopolitics. However, rather than pursuing absolute openness, the cosmopolitanism within Taiwaneseness is evoked passively as a pragmatic response to its everyday paradox in pursuing or repudiating affairs of self-determination.

US: Eight states censor LGBTQ topics in school. Now, a lawsuit is challenging that

As a 16-year-old junior in high school, Harper McGee had to fight for the ability to say “gay” on campus.

At the time, McGee and a friend were trying to create a Gay-Straight Alliance group at Lone Peak High School in Highland, Utah, in the fall of 2014. McGee wanted to have an organized place where students could talk about LGBTQ issues, but It wasn’t easy. School officials were concerned about the name because, as one of them said, it “include[d] a reference to human sexuality.”

Utah is one of eight states that has laws, sometimes called “no promo homo” laws, that limit how teachers can talk about LGBTQ issues with students, or forbid it altogether. While some teachers say the laws reflect parents’ concerns about discussing sex at school, some LGBTQ activists say they perpetuate a culture of fear among students who need support. And now, for the first time, a lawsuit is aiming to overturn one of them. Read more via PBS