➤ RELIGIOUS OPT-OUT, from p.20
had no “theological” reason for discharging
the teachers.
Federal anti-discrimination laws
specifi cally allow religious schools
to discriminate based on religion,
but not based on such grounds as
race or color, sex, national origin,
age or disability, except for their
“ministers,” as to whom traditionally
churches would have total
freedom to decide whom to employ.
The Supreme Court long recognized
churches’ freedom from government
interference in employing
“ministers.” Hosanna-Tabor
extended the concept from clergy
to some religious teachers, but
Sotomayor argued that this new
decision takes that concept too
far away from traditional religious
leadership roles, taking protection
against discrimination away from
thousands of teachers.
The court’s ruling may have an
immediate adverse effect in lawsuits
pending around the country
by teachers who have been
systematically fi red by religious
schools — almost entirely Catholic
schools — after marrying their
same-sex partners in the wake of
the Obergefell decision fi ve years
ago. By rejecting Justice Thomas’s
“deference” approach, the court
leaves open the possibility that
some of these discharged teachers
might be able to prove that the
“ministerial exception” does not
apply to them, but, as Justice Sotomayor
suggests, in most cases
courts will have to dismiss their
discrimination claims if their job
had a religious component similar
to the elementary school teachers,
even if that was only a minor part
of their role.
➤ JULY DEATHS, from p.15
wounds at around 2:15 p.m. on
July 1 on Opal Bennett Road near
Amite City, Louisiana, which is approximately
an hour east of Baton
Rouge by car. A person of interest
in that case is being questioned,
according to police, but no arrests
have been made.
The police spokesperson would
not refer to Peters by her fi rst
name, but Dylan Waguestack, who
serves as the president of the board
of Louisiana Trans Advocates, told
Gay City News that Peters identifi
ed as a transgender woman.
There are far fewer details surrounding
McCarty’s death, however.
Waguestack said McCarty died
in Baton Rouge, and news reports
back that up, but multiple phone
calls to police in that area went
unanswered and information remains
scarce.
“We’ve heard McCarty died both
in a motel and an apartment; we’re
not sure what’s accurate,” Waguestack
told Gay City News. “The
thing that seems to be the barrier
to information in Draya’s case
is it does not seem to be ruled a
homicide at this time. I don’t know
that it has been ruled anything at
this time, but it’s our understanding
that the family has very little
luck getting info about the circumstances
about her death from Baton
Rouge Police Department.”
Waguestack also pointed to what
he described as “very severe” history
of deadly violence against transgender
folks in the state throughout
the last 10 years.
“Until about two years ago, Louisiana
accounted for one in 10 of
every murder of trans people we
knew of, and that’s really jarring
because Louisiana only holds one
percent of the US population,”
Waguestack said.
Meanwhile, the Broward County
Sheriff’s Offi ce did not immediately
return requests for information
about Black’s death, but the South
Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that
she was found dead with gunshot
wounds on July 3 at around 10
p.m. at the 200 Block of Northwest
12th Street in Pompano Beach. The
Miami Herald also reported Police
are still searching for suspects in
that case.
Among the cases that emerged
last month, police announced the
arrest of an 18-year-old in connection
to Stone’s death in Sherwood,
an area near Little Rock. Trevone
Miller, 18, was arrested on July 2
and charged with capital murder.
There does not appear to be any
updates in Mack’s case.
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Bill de Blasio
Mayor
Oxiris Barbot, MD
Commissioner
GayCityNews.com | July 16 - July 29, 2020 21
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