Early this September, a rainbow crosswalk was installed in a crossing in Port Colborne in Ontario, Canada. Motorists and pedestrians were excited to cross through the vibrant colors of the crosswalk installed with the City of Port Colborne and the Downtown Business Improvement Area. Other local businesses were also eager to help with the installation, with a local credit union giving $1,000 in a donation.
In October 2014, Lonnie Billard announced through social media that he and his longtime partner would be getting married. A couple of weeks after that post, he was told he could no longer teach at Charlotte Catholic High School. An unnamed assistant principal of the school told Billard of his termination.
On Aug. 19, Inoke Tonga — a volleyball coach at Valor Christian High School — was invited to meet before a session with his team. “Our interactions prior to that day were always so refreshing,” Tonga said. He happily complied with Brian Bonn, the Athletic Director, and the campus pastor’s request to meet.
On August 13, 2021, Illinois Second District Appellate Court declared that Meggan Sommerville, a transwoman who was in a legal battle with her former employer — Hobby Lobby — over bathroom access, is no doubt a female and "just like the women who are permitted to use the women's bathroom."
In early August, Prabjot Singh, a 30-year-old Sikh, and his friend Arminder Singh visited the Tir Prince Fun Park in North Wales. The two men were at the funfair together with their families. While queuing for a ride in the funfair, one staff member called Prabjot over, then asked him to step out of the line. Arminder, clarifying things on behalf of Prabjot, who is not fluent in English, asked about the request.
In a letter addressed to Senator Ben Cardin — Chair of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee — dated June 30, 2021, eight Republican US senators expressed their concern over the nomination of Dilawar Syed. The signatories of the letter were Senators James Risch (Idaho), Marco Rubio (Florida), Josh Hawley (Missouri), Tim Scott (South Carolina), John Kennedy (Louisiana), Jim Inhofe (Oklahoma), Roger Marshal (Kansas), and Joni Ernst (Iowa).
On July 26th, the U.S. Court of Appeals held the lower court’s decision to deny a web designer’s petition to discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community in Colorado. There have been many other court rulings in the United States deciding if a business that denies service to LGBTQ+ people is considered prejudice or exercising their right to religious freedom.
On July 29, three Jehovah’s Witnesses were sentenced to six years in prison, on top of the two years they served while waiting for their trial. Two of the Jehova’s Witnesses are father and son, Vilen(68) and Arsen(37) Avanesov. Aleksandr Parkov (53), a companion, was also charged. Arsen and Parkov were sentenced to six and a half years, while Vilen was sentenced to six years. By the end of their time, they would have all spent nearly a decade behind bars.
From the 19th to 20th centuries, Canadian churches operated at least 150 boarding schools for children of aboriginal tribes. Officials have exposed hundreds of unmarked graves on the surrounding properties. Approximately 150,000 native children attended these schools for more than a century. Sadly, the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Canada determined 3,201 native children died due to unsatisfactory conditions, malnourishment, and abuse.
John Kluge, a former orchestra teacher in Brownsburg Community School from 2014 to 2018, sued the school over the transgender name policy. According to Kluge, he was “forced to resign,” citing the steep differences in the school’s policy and his religious beliefs. The Brownsburg Board of School Trustees accepted Kluge’s resignation on June 11, 2018. In the following year, he decided to sue the school.
