Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Supreme Court Is Formally Petitioned To Reverse Same-Sex Marriage Ruling
Ten years after the Supreme Court extended marriage rights to same-sex couples nationwide, the justices this fall will consider for the first time whether to take up a case that explicitly asks them to overturn that decision. Kim Davis, the former Kentucky county clerk who was jailed for six days in 2015 after refusing to issue marriage licenses to a gay couple on religious grounds, is appealing a $100,000 jury verdict for emotional damages plus $260,000 for attorneys fees. ... More fundamentally, she claims the high court's decision in Obergefell v Hodges -- extending marriage rights for same-sex couples under the 14th Amendment's due process protections -- was "egregiously wrong." (Dwyer, 8/11)
About 60% of LGBTQ+ adults live in states where access to marriage equality would change if Obergefell were struck down. (Rubin, 7/26)
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office certified petition titles and summaries for two proposed constitutional amendments that were once part of a singular effort to enshrine equal rights in the Ohio Constitution on Friday, moving the initiatives closer to potential ballot placement. The original, singular proposal would have added new equal rights protections to the Ohio Constitution to a wide range of protected classes and would have also extended those equal rights protections to marriage, removing existing language from an unenforceable same-sex marriage ban that was approved by voters in 2004 that remains in the Ohio constitution. (McGowan, 8/8)
On transgender care —
New York City opened the country’s first city-funded shelter for transgender and gender-nonconforming people experiencing homelessness. Ace’s Place, which opened this week in Queens and will offer 150 beds, is a collaboration between the NYC Department of Social Services and Destination Tomorrow, an LGBTQ nonprofit in the Bronx. (Yurcaba, 8/7)
A group of incarcerated transgender women and men have sued Georgia corrections officials, challenging a new law that prevents them from receiving gender-affirming medical care. The lawsuit, filed Friday morning, accuses the state of violating the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. (Norwood, 8/8)
The Phelans ran the only bookstore in Vermillion, South Dakota. They sold it and moved after a new law would’ve required their daughter to use a boy’s bathroom. (Parks, 8/10)
