Right now, a half dozen cases on everything from insurance coverage for HIV prevention to employment discrimination and same-sex marriage are wending their way through state and federal courts here. Their outcomes could radically alter rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Texas and across the country.
The lawsuits all have one thing in common: former Texas solicitor general Jonathan Mitchell.
Best known as the man behind the state law that allows Texans to file civil lawsuits against people who help pregnant people get abortions, Mitchell opened up a law firm in Austin four years ago with the goal of systematically dismantling decades of court rulings he believes depart from the U.S. Constitution.
Employment Discrimination
Braidwood Management v. EEOC (Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals)
Summary: The case in federal court, filed on behalf of Hotze’s Braidwood Management and the Keller-based Bear Creek Bible Church, argues that religious employers should be able to hire and fire workers based on their sexuality and gender identity.
In 2020, the Supreme Court said Title VII’s prohibition against discrimination in the workplace based on “sex” also barred discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The plaintiffs in these cases argue faith-based organizations and companies should be exempt from these protections. Mitchell represents the plaintiffs.
A federal judge in North Texas agreed with Mitchell. The U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission, the defendant, is fighting that decision at the federal appeals court. Mitchell’s response is due Aug. 1.
Other actors: The America First Legal Foundation is also listed as a lawyer the plaintiffs.
Basic rights, basic freedoms. That's what is at risk. We are under attack and I am thankful for anyone who stands up with us and fights for equality.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Thursday, July 21, 2022. An attack in Kurdistan finally leads to real revulsion over the actions the Turkish government has been carrying out for some time now.
There's not a week that goes by that the Turkish government isn't killing someone in the Kurdistan (northern Iraq). They've set up military bases there, they use War Planes and drones to bomb the area, they've cut down trees in the area -- all of this in violation of Iraq's national sovereignty.
Khaled Sulaiman Tweets:
Except for Jeremy Corbyn, no non-Iraqi politician has seemed very concerned with this behavior. Today, that may finally be changing.
Ghassan Adnan and David S. Cloud (WALL ST JOURNAL) explain, "Iraq accused Turkey of carrying out an artillery attack on a popular tourist destination in the country’s mountainous north, killing eight people in an area where Ankara has conducted a decadeslong military campaign targeting Kurdish militants." Louisa Loveluck and Mustafa Salim (WASHINGTON POST) report:
Videos from the scene of the attack showed a summertime idyll destroyed. Shortly before the strike, families had been gathered by a pool, taking a dip or resting in the dappled shade.
When the shelling began, screams filled the air beneath a canopy of vines. Parents grabbed their children and ran.
Turkey has been conducting military operations against militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in Iraq’s northern mountains for years. The group has fought a decades-long war for autonomy for Turkey’s ethnic Kurdish minority -- but civilian casualties on this scale are believed to be rare.
Rare? Most attacks result in the Turkish government announcing they killed X number of terrorists and when Iraqi media reports that this was a farmer or these were children or whatever, the western media ignores it. Over and over. "Terrorist" is used to describe any Kurd or Yezidi and Turkey is allowed to carry out a genocide not unlike the one they did in the 20th century when they went after the Armenians.
The US State Dept issued the following:
The United States condemns the attack earlier today in the Dohuk province of Iraq, which killed and injured civilians. The killing of civilians is unacceptable, and all states must respect their obligations under international law, including the protection of civilians. We extend our condolences to the families of those killed and our sympathies to those injured. We maintain our strong support for Iraq’s sovereignty and its security, stability, and prosperity, including that of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.
The United Kingdom released a statement as well:
Foreign Office statement on the attack in Duhok
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said:
The UK is seriously concerned by the reports of civilian casualties resulting from an attack in Zakho district of Duhok on 20 July.
We offer our deepest condolences to those affected and express our support for the Iraqi authorities in their investigations.
The UK deplores the loss of life and will continue to support the stability of Iraq including the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Media enquiries
Email newsdesk@fcdo.gov.uk
Telephone 020 7008 3100
Witnesses to the attack who were taken to the hospital roamed its halls frantically, many barefoot, searching for family and friends. They described traumatic scenes at the bombing site.
“It was chaos — tourists’ hands and legs were detached from their bodies,” said Ahmad Tahseen Ali, 30, from Babil Province, who said he was standing about 20 meters from one of the strikes, which wounded his brother and sister, Ban al-Humnrani, 42, who is a U.S. citizen and was visiting from Sacramento, Calif. “We are used to hearing sounds of war, but I have never seen a horrific scene like this,” said Ms. al-Humnrani, who suffered a leg wound.
BBC NEWS notes the death toll is 9 with 23 more left injured.
And the Iraqi government's response? PRESS TV notes that today has been declared "a day of national mourning." IRAQI NEWS adds, "The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, chaired on Wednesday an emergency meeting of the Ministerial Council for National Security, and directed to submit an urgent complaint to the UN Security Council regarding the Turkish bombing of Dohuk governorate, according to the Iraqi News Agency (INA)." THE TIMES HUB notes, "Iraq withdrew its ambassador to Turkey for consultations." And Ahmed Maher (THE NATIONAL) reports:
Iraq has demanded that Turkey withdraw its troops from the country and stopped plans to appoint an ambassador in Ankara, accusing the Turkish army of a deadly artillery attack on a popular tourist destination in the country’s north.
“Turkey has disregarded the Iraqi demands to stop the violations against our sovereignty and the security of our citizens, and to respect the principle of good neighbourliness,” Iraq’s National Security Council said.
"We ask Turkey to offer an official apology and withdraw its military troops from all Iraqi territories."
AFP describes that protests have taken place:
The deaths in a village pleasure garden prompted several dozen angry demonstrators to protest outside the Turkish visa office in Baghdad early Thursday, despite a heavy police presence.
Loudspeakers blared out patriotic songs as protesters chanted slogans demanding the expulsion of the Turkish ambassador, an AFP journalist reported.
"We want to burn down the embassy. The ambassador must be expelled," said demonstrator Ali Yassin, 53. "Our government is doing nothing."
There were similar protests on Wednesday night in the Shiite shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala and in the southern city of Nasiriyah.
Suhad Talabany Tweets:
Sadar Sattar Tweets:
As is always the case when one of the murders its carried out gets some attention from the press, the Turkish government is denying that they launched the attack.
Julian Bechocha (RUDAW) reports:
The continued fighting between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party
(PKK) on the Kurdistan Region’s borders is completely “unacceptable”,
the Region's President Nechirvan Barzani said Wednesday following the
Turkish attack that killed and injured dozens in Zakho.
“The repeated bombings and continued fighting between the Turkish army
and PKK fighters on the borders has been completely rejected and
unacceptable,” the President said, adding that such attacks harm the security and stability of the Kurdistan Region.
President Barzani further urged for an end to the aggressions on the
Kurdistan Region’s borders and called on the Iraqi federal government to
prevent such tragedies from reoccurring.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) also condemned
the Turkish bombardment in Zakho and said that Iraq and the
international community must do their part in ensuring that such attacks
will not be repeated, describing the Turkey-PKK confrontations as “a
source of threat and a permanent danger to the lives of citizens.”
Mustafa al-Kadhimi is the country's caretaker prime minister.
Mustafa has made comments as well. CGTN notes:
"Turkish forces have perpetrated once more a flagrant violation of Iraqi sovereignty," he said on Twitter, condemning the harm caused to "the life and security of Iraqi citizens" and reserving Iraq's right to retaliate.
"Turkish forces have perpetrated once more a flagrant violation of Iraqi sovereignty," Kadhimi said, condemning the harm caused to "the life and security of Iraqi citizens."
"Iraq reserves the right to retaliate against these aggressions and take all necessary measures to protect our people," Kadhimi added.
And KURDISTAN 24 notes the response from Iraq's National Security Council:
“We strongly condemn the Turkish attack that targeted tourists in a resort site in Duhok province, leading to human casualties,” read a statement published by the Iraqi National Security Council. “We call on Turkey to stop the violations and, as a neighbor, respect Iraq’s territorial sovereignty and its people’s safety.”
“Turkey must make an official apology to Iraq and withdraw all its military forces from Iraqi territory,” the statement added.
“The Iraqi Foreign Ministry will urgently submit a lawsuit to the United Nations Security Council against the Turkish attacks on Iraq’s territorial sovereignty.”
The statement also said that the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs will summon Turkey’s ambassador to Iraq.
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