Free Republic

A school board in Colorado cannot remove sexually explicit, profane, and “transgender” books from school libraries because the school board is conservative, according to a federal judge touted as the first openly lesbian judge west of the Mississippi. The ACLU’s Colorado chapter filed a suit on behalf of two minors, the NAACP Wyoming State Area Conference, and the Authors Guild, claiming that the school district engaged in viewpoint discrimination when removing the books. The judge granted a preliminary injunction in March, forcing the Elizabeth School District (in Elizabeth, a suburb southeast of Denver) to restore the books. Judge Charlotte Sweeney...

Minnesota beaches may never be the same, following a unanimous state Supreme Court ruling this week overturning a woman’s indecent exposure misdemeanor conviction on the grounds that men, transgender individuals and breast cancer survivors are not held to the same standard. “Criminalizing the exposure of female — but not male — breasts does not provide Minnesotans with adequate notice as to the conduct the indecent exposure statute prohibits,” Associate Justice Sarah Hennesy wrote of the court’s decision. “Because a binary approach to breasts fails to recognize the more nuanced physical realities of human bodies, whether they are intersex, transgender, nonbinary,...

A federal judge said the Trump administration must lift their freeze on federal funding to Maine. The ruling reads that the USDA "must immediately unfreeze and release to the state of Maine any federal funding that they have frozen or failed or refused to pay because of the state of Maine's alleged failure to comply with the requirements of Title IX." The administration is also "barred from freezing, terminating, or otherwise interfering with the state of Maine's future federal funding for alleged violations of Title IX without complying with the legally required procedure." The USDA announced the funding freeze and...

In a ruling that should outrage every parent, taxpayer, and conservative voter in Texas, a federal judge has stomped all over the authority of the Texas A&M University Board of Regents—greenlighting a sexually charged, ideologically driven drag show to proceed on campus despite a commonsense ban. Senior U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal, appointed by George H. W. Bush, issued a sweeping preliminary injunction Monday that forces Texas A&M to allow the so-called “Draggieland” event—a campus drag show hosted by the “Queer Empowerment Council” (QEC)—to proceed in the Rudder Theatre. WATCH:

"Nothing in the Draggieland performance offends the executive order the Board cites. No male performer in the drag show is stating an intent to become a woman. Nor does the Board point to evidence in the record establishing that the president’s executive order on “biological truth” specifically refers or applies to drag shows." "The court grants the motion for a preliminary injunction. The Board is enjoined from enforcing the ban. The Draggieland performance scheduled for March 27, 2025, in the Rudder Theatre, may proceed as originally scheduled."

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, a Ronald Reagan appointee, ordered the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) on Wednesday to transfer two transgender inmates—biological men who identify as women—back to federal women’s prisons. This move comes after they were originally relocated to men’s facilities following President Donald Trump’s executive order that limited transgender protections in federal custody. The decision, which conservatives are blasting as a blatant reversal of common-sense protections for female inmates, grants a preliminary injunction for the two individuals—identified as “Rachel” and “Ellen Doe,” ABC News reported. Lamberth’s ruling mandates not only the immediate transfer of the two individuals...

An Ohio appeals court panel has blocked a state law prohibiting the prescription of puberty-blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones for kids with gender dysphoria, overturning a lower trial court decision. A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals of Ohio, Tenth Appellate District unanimously ruled Tuesday in the case of Moe v. Yost that Ohio's House Bill 68 — also known as the Saving Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act — violated the state constitution's Article I, Section 21, which guarantees the freedom to choose one's healthcare. "In enacting H.B. 68, the legislature has categorically prohibited appellants from accessing treatment protocols...

A federal district judge in Indiana has once again ordered the state Department of Correction (IDOC) to arrange a sex reassignment surgery for a transgender inmate convicted of reckless homicide of a baby, marking the latest development in the ongoing legal saga challenging an Indiana law banning the procedure. The case, now in its second year, involves inmate Autumn Cordellioné's request for sex reassignment surgery. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) first filed the lawsuit against the Indiana Department of Corrections in 2023 on behalf of Cordellioné, challenging an Indiana law that prohibits the Department of Corrections from using taxpayer...

A federal judge in Washington state has ordered the Trump administration to immediately disclose any plans to implement its sweeping ban on transgender service members, marking a significant development in Shilling v. Trump, one of the ongoing legal battles challenging the administration’s efforts to kick out trans troops from the military. In a minute order issued Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington directed the federal government to notify both the court and plaintiffs if the Department of Defense—or any of its branches—issues any policy or guidance enforcing the...

John Solomon @jsolomonReports Judge blocks Trump's order to end funding for hospitals providing youth gender-affirming care From justthenews.com 7:57 PM · Mar 4, 2025

On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Lauren King issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration's executive order banning funding for hospitals that provide gender-affirming treatments to transgender youth. The order applies to the states of Washington, Oregon, Minnesota and Colorado. Newsweek contacted the White House press office for comment on Saturday via email outside of regular office hours. Why It Matters Since returning to the White House on January 20, President Donald Trump has signed a slew of executive orders impacting on transgender rights, which his supporters claim muddy the biological difference between males and females and are a...

A judge ruled that Liberty University cannot claim Title VII protection in firing a male worker who came out as trans after being hired.A federal judge in Virginia has ruled that one of the nation’s largest Christian universities cannot claim Title VII protection in its firing of a male worker who only came out as transgender after being hired and completing his 90-day trial period as a new employee.The ruling is seen as setting the stage for an eventual U.S. Supreme Court landmark ruling on transgender rights versus religious beliefs in faith-based workplaces.In his Feb. 21 ruling, U.S. District Judge...

An Ontario man who called a trio of ‘drag queen story hour’ performers “groomers” has been ordered to pay them $380,000 in restitution, in a landmark decision that will shape anti-LGBTQ speech in Canada for years to come. Three years ago, Brian Webster, who ran a Facebook page in Thunder Bay, Ontario, saw an article in the CBC about an upcoming ‘drag queen story hour.’ Commenting on a story, Webster wrote: TAXPAYER FUNDED CBC REPORTER JON THOMPSON HAS AN AGENDA TO PROMOTE. ASK YOURSELF WHY THESE PEOPLE NEED TO PERFORM FOR CHILDREN? GROOMERS. That’s the agenda. Just look at the...

Yet another federal judge had decided to legislate from the bench to stop the Trump Administration. As Politico reported, U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman of Maryland, a Biden appointee, prevented the Education Department and Office of Personnel Management from sharing sensitive information with Elon Musk’s DOGE, claiming it violates federal privacy laws. “The continuing, unauthorized disclosure of plaintiffs’ sensitive personal information to DOGE affiliates is irreparable harm that money damages cannot rectify,” U.S. Boardman wrote Monday in a 33-page ruling that granted a two-week restraining order. “DOGE affiliates have been granted access to systems of record that contain some of...

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on January 20 mandating the housing of transgender women in men’s prisons and halting federal funding for gender-affirming care. A federal judge has since blocked the transfer of transgender inmate “Maria Moe” to a men’s prison and the denial of Moe’s care. The lawsuit challenges Trump’s order and prevents the transfer. The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) reclassified Moe from “female” to “male” and planned to transfer her to a men’s facility, threatening Moe’s access to hormone therapy. U.S. District Judge George O’Toole issued a temporary restraining order on January 26, preventing Moe’s transfer...

Menu ADVERTISEMENT Biden Judge Signals She May Block Trump’s EO on Transgender Troops, Says the Assertion That Only Two Genders Exists is “Not Biologically Correct” by Cristina Laila Feb. 18, 2025 8:00 pm79 Comments TruthTweetShareGettrGab Judge Ana Reyes / Wikimedia Commons A federal judge on Tuesday signaled she would side with a group of transgender soldiers who sued to block President Trump’s executive order on transgender troops. Judge Ana Reyes, a Biden appointee, grilled DOJ lawyers on Tuesday and said that Trump’s executive order asserting there are only two genders is “not biologically correct.” “With the DOD policy expected to...

Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson 🚨BREAKING: Judge Brendan Hurson, appointed by Biden, has blocked President Trump’s ban on transgender surgeries for minors. These people are sick. From Nick Sortor 3:04 PM · Feb 13, 2025

Judge Deborah Boardman, a Biden appointee, ruled that the order is likely unconstitutional. ... Boardman said the civil rights group plaintiffs, five pregnant women whose children would not be granted citizenship under the order, were likely to succeed on the merits. The plaintiffs are represented by the CASA and the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project.

A federal judge has blocked Donald Trump’s administration from forcing three incarcerated transgender women into men’s prisons and taking away their gender-affirming healthcare. The order on Tuesday from Washington, D.C. District Judge Royce Lambert – who was appointed by Ronald Reagan – temporarily strikes down part of Trump’s sweeping executive order on gender as a likely violation of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, landing yet another court-ordered blow to his agenda. A pair of lawsuits filed by incarcerated trans women have accused the president of endangering their lives while stripping them of their healthcare through an...

A federal judge ruled on Monday that sections of an Arkansas law, which sought to impose criminal penalties on librarians and booksellers for distributing “harmful” material to children, were unconstitutional. The law, known as the Arkansas Act 372, was signed into law last year by Republican governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders. It was challenged by a coalition of organizations in the state, leading to a lengthy legal battle that concluded this week. Two sections of Act 372 subjected librarians and booksellers to jail time for distributing material that is deemed “harmful to children”. Proponents of the law, including Sanders, said the...