➤ TRANSGENDER HEALTH, from p.22 ➤ MARINE KILLER, from p.22
The injunction followed another
preliminary injunction, issued on
August 17, involving a different
case but pertaining to the same
rule. Judge Frederic Block of the
Eastern District of New York in
Brooklyn issued that injunction
just one day before the scheduled
implementation of the Trump rule,
which sought to undercut the
Obama administration’s 2016 rule
stipulating that Section 1557 of the
Affordable Care Act (ACA) would
be interpreted in accordance with
Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights
Act.
HHS under President Barack
Obama administration relied on
federal court rulings that found
that the sex discrimination provisions
of Title VII necessarily banned
discrimination on the basis of gender
identity, a perspective rejected
by the Trump administration. In
June, however, the Supreme Court,
echoing the Obama interpretation,
ruled that Title VII does indeed
cover workplace protections on the
basis of gender identity and sexual
orientation. That ruling set a new
precedent for interpreting the sex
discrimination provisions of other
federal laws — Title VII has long
been the standard by which similar
statutes are interpreted — and
its scope is expected to broaden beyond
employment as future court
cases emerge.
If Democrats maintain their grip
on the US House of Representatives
and regain control of the Senate
and the White House, lawmakers
could also broaden nondiscrimination
protections by passing the
stalled comprehensive measure
known as the Equality Act.
Judge Block, in his ruling last
month, stressed that the Human
Rights Campaign and its volunteer
attorneys from Baker & Hostetle,
representing two New York trans
women, Tanya Asapansa-Johnson
Walker and Cecilia Gentili, would
likely win their case on the merits
of their claim the Trump rule was
inconsistent with Obamacare’s
sex discrimination protections —
as interpreted in light of the June
Supreme Court ruling — and that
HHS was “arbitrary and capricious”
in fi nalizing it just days ahead of
that decision being announced.
population in accordance with a
controversial 1999 Visiting Forces
Agreement (VFA) between the US
and the Philippines that governs
punishment handed down to American
troops stationed there. That
agreement and the special treatment
given to Pemberton sparked
protests in the Philippines.
Duterte’s presidential spokesperson,
Harry Roque, who represented
Laude’s family in court
during Pemberton’s prosecution
and helped them secure $100,000
in a settlement, tore into the court
for the release.
“Laude’s death personifi es the
death of Philippine sovereignty
and the light penalty imposed on
Pemberton proves that despite the
President’s independent foreign
policy, that Americans continue to
have the status of conquering colonials
in our country,” Roque said.
Duterte, who has faced widespread
charges of human rights
abuses in part for his aggressive
approach to the nation’s war on
drugs, has also faced questions
about his approach to LGBTQ
rights. Though he told an LGBTQ
conference in 2017 he would protect
the queer community, he has
denounced marriage equality and
awkwardly told a crowd last year he
“used to be gay” but was “cured.”
Pemberton’s release drew criticism
from a series of LGBTQ
groups in the Philippines.
The Lesbian and Gay Legislative
Advocacy Network is a coalition of
Filipino LGBTQ organizations that
took issue with Pemberton’s housing
placement at the Philippines’
military headquarters.
“The early release of Pemberton
is another injustice to the memory
of Jennifer, her family, and the
country,” the group said in a tweet.
“Jennifer’s life is not worth six
years of solo and comfortable stay
in Camp Aguinaldo.”
Another Filipino queer group,
Bahaghari, said, “The feeble conviction
set a terrible precedent for
the LGBTQ+ community and the
Filipino people: under the VFA, if
a US soldier brutally murders a
transgender woman in Philippine
soil, they would ultimately roam
free after as little as six years of incarceration.
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