RELIGION HEADLINES 4-26-25

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(SRN NEWS) – A federal court has ruled against a Republican lawmaker from Maine who sued the state’s Democratic House speaker after being censured for a social media post about a transgender athlete.  Representative Laurel Libby posted about a high school boy who won a girls’ track competition.  House Speaker Ryan Fecteau (FECK-toe) accused Libby of violating the state’s legislative ethics code and the Maine House of Representatives censured her in February.  Libby filed a federal lawsuit arguing that the censure violated her right to free speech. 

(  )  A federal judge has partially blocked the Trump administration from enacting a policy that bans the use of the “X” marker used by so-called non-binary people on passports as well as the changing of gender markers.  District Judge Julia Kobick, who was appointed by President Biden, sided with the American Civil Liberties Union’s motion for a preliminary injunction, which stays the action while the lawsuit plays out. It requires the State Department to allow six transgender and nonbinary people who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit to obtain passports with sex designations of their choice.

(  )  The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is reportedly putting all transgender discrimination cases on the back burner.  It’s all part of President Trump’s effort to rid the federal government of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs and end the practice of promoting transgenderism.  The EEOC received more than 3,000 charges alleging discrimination based on sexual orientation or so-called “gender identity” in fiscal year 2024, and another 3,000-plus in 2023.  Agency employees say transgender claims are now being labeled as “without merit”.
 

(  )  The Mississippi Supreme Court has upheld a ruling denying a transgender teen’s name-change petition.  The ruling comes nearly two years after a then 16-year-old girl who was living as a boy filed a petition to change her name to fit her “gender identity”.  A judge denied the petition in 2023, citing the teen’s lack of maturity.  The Mississippi Supreme Court voted 8-to-1 to uphold the ruling.  A growing number of similar cases are cropping up around the country and some analysts predict the U.S. Supreme Court will eventually have to weigh in.