Author: Elliot Certain
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Tennessee Has a Hate Crime Problem. They Don’t Care.
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Mercedes Williamson, a transgender girl, was murdered in Mississippi in 2015. At just seventeen years old, she became the center of a national case when her murder was classified as a hate crime. Six years after the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 (HCPA)…
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Rights in Retreat: Advocacy, Organizing, and Justice – A Conversation with Kris Hayashi
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This interview has been approved by Kris Hayashi and ACLU Communications. Across continents and institutions, the premise of queer equality is being tested anew. From legislative chambers to military ranks to public squares across the globe, LGBTQ+ people are confronting an unsettling pattern: rights once thought secure are again under…
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Beyond Brain Drain: How Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws Undermine the Federal Workforce
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When lawmakers debate anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, the conversation is often framed as a cultural or moral dispute. House floor speeches and twitter fights are often centered on medicine, children, sports, and freedom of speech. It is effective for grabbing attention, to the point where people have built entire careers around anti-trans…
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Rights in Retreat: Equality, the Military, and Reform with Alex Wagner
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Across continents and institutions, the premise of queer equality is being tested anew. From legislative chambers to military ranks to public squares across the globe, LGBTQ+ people are confronting an unsettling pattern: rights once thought secure are again under siege. What connects these struggles is not only the backlash itself,…
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Rights in Retreat: Colonial Legacy, Law and Local Leadership – A Conversation with Kaushy S. Arachchi
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Across continents and institutions, the premise of queer equality is being tested anew. From legislative chambers to military ranks to public squares across the globe, LGBTQ+ people are confronting an unsettling pattern: rights once thought secure are again under siege. What connects these struggles is not only the backlash itself,…
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How the Supreme Court’s decision on Skrmetti may impact Bostock and the overall future of trans rights in America.
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In June 2025, the Supreme Court quietly let a dangerous precedent take hold. By allowing Tennessee to enforce Senate Bill 1 (SB1), later referred to as Skrmetti, a law banning doctors from providing puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy to transgender minors, the court did more than greenlight discrimination. It…