As a brief interlude to coverage of the Court's affirmative action decision, Hannah and Elise sat down with Joshua Block, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU, to discuss the legal battles to stop anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and the implications of the Court's recent decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis. This is a long overdue conversation: LGBTQ+ rights are increasingly under attack across the country, but it is children and students who are most frequently the target of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, including attacks on their right to learn about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools, their right to read diverse books, and their right to gender-affirming health care. And the conversation is especially timely given the Court's ruling in 303 Creative, holding that Colorado’s anti-discrimination law violated a designer’s right to free speech by requiring her to design a website for a same-sex couple (a form of creative expression, the Court said).
Mentioned in this episode:
303 Creative LLC v. Elenis (2023)
Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018)
L.W. v. Skrmetti (Sixth Circuit decision lifting injunction against Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care)
Further reading:
"Advocates plan for battle as DeSantis preps ‘Don’t Say Gay’ expansion" (Brooke Migdon and Lexi Lonas, The Hill)
"The Supreme Court Could Chop Away at Anti-Discrimination Law Based on Literally Nothing" (Matt Ford, The New Republic)
"The Supreme Court’s Disorienting Elevation of Religion" (Kate Shaw, The New York Times)