June 8, 2019: The Capital Pride Parade takes place every year on a Saturday in June between Dupont Circle and Logan Circle. Female pastors show their LGBTQ support. “Confirmed Judges, Confirmed Fears” is a blog series documenting the harmful impact of President Trump’s judges on Americans’ rights and liberties. Trump 8 th Circuit judge David Stras wrote a 2-1 August opinion in Telescope Media Group v. Lucero that overruled a district court and ruled that a video company was likely to succeed in its claims that, based on the owners’ religious beliefs, it could violate Minnesota’s anti-discrimination law and refuse to provide services to same-sex couples. As Judge Jane Kelly explained in dissent, Stras’ decision effectively provided “’affirmative constitutional protections’ to private discrimination,” just as if it had allowed a hotel to deny “its services to an individual based on race.” The Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA) prohibits discrimination by companies selling goods and services to the public based on “race, color, creed, religion, disability, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, or sex.” Telescope Media Group (TMG) is a for-profit company that sells video and media production services to the public, and wants to sell wedding videos as well. […]
