Slowing the Backslide: Protecting LGBTQ+ Rights with Joshua Block

As a brief interlude to coverage of the Court's affirmative action decision, Hannah and Elise sat down with Joshua Block, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU, to discuss the legal battles to stop anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and the implications of the Court's recent decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis. This is a long overdue conversation: LGBTQ+ rights are increasingly under attack across the country, but it is children and students who are most frequently the target of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, including attacks on their right to learn about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools, their right to read diverse books, and their right to gender-affirming health care. And the conversation is especially timely given the Court's ruling in 303 Creative, holding that Colorado’s anti-discrimination law violated a designer’s right to free speech by requiring her to design a website for a same-sex couple (a form of creative expression, the Court said).

Mentioned in this episode:

303 Creative LLC v. Elenis (2023)

Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018)

Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)

L.W. v. Skrmetti (Sixth Circuit decision lifting injunction against Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care)

Further reading:

"Advocates plan for battle as DeSantis preps ‘Don’t Say Gay’ expansion" (Brooke Migdon and Lexi Lonas, The Hill)

"The Supreme Court Could Chop Away at Anti-Discrimination Law Based on Literally Nothing" (Matt Ford, The New Republic)

"The Supreme Court’s Disorienting Elevation of Religion" (Kate Shaw, The New York Times)