Headlines from the Granite State
Soldati prevails
When the social media giant Meta deleted Emmett Soldati’s Instagram and Facebook accounts for his small cafe Teatotaller—a hotspot for the LGBTQ community then in Somersworth, New Hampshire and now with locations in Dover and Concord — Soldati wound up taking them to court.
That was six years ago. Now, the court has finally found in favor of Soldati.
Back in 2018, Soldati used his business’s Facebook and Instagram accounts to promote shows and other events and initiatives at Teatotaller when without warning or explanations his accounts were removed.
“All users could see when they tried to look at the account was a blank screen,” Soldati told Seacoast Online. “And so, you know, anyone might assume we don’t exist anymore or we closed or whatnot and all of the shows and events and specials that we were just sort of planning to engage with our audience, we didn’t have that line of communication.”
He got no response from Instagram. So he filed a small claim case in the Dover District Court. The social media giant fought back, hiring several law firms. But Soldati, representing himself, claimed that Meta/Facebook committed a breach of contract by deleting his account. Ultimately, he prevailed.
Soldati doesn’t believe his accounts were delated because of any anti-LGBTQ bias, he told Seacoast Online. “It’s very possible that Facebook just screwed up,” he said, adding he thinks they just didn’t want to admit it.
Anti-LGBTQ+ legislation
In mid-January, the New Hampshire House of Representatives voted against LGBTQ+ rights in four bills.
Two of the bills (HB 368 and HB 264), which would have streamlined affirmative birth certification and protected LGBTQ+ youth seeking certain health care in New Hampshire, failed.
The other two (HB 396 and HB 619), dangerous attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, passed and are being sent to the New Hampshire Senate. These two bills would undermine the right to equal protection under the law for LGBTQ+ people by giving a license to discriminate against and segregate LGBTQ+ people in schools and other settings, as well as make it more difficult for trans teenagers and their families to access appropriate health services supported by every major medical association.
“All New Hampshire residents deserve to live with dignity and free from discrimination, harassment, and violence—including LGBTQ+ Granite Staters,” said Chris Erchull, an attorney at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD). “Today the House took extreme and unprecedented action to undermine the ability of an already vulnerable group of people to live safely and freely in our state.
More: glad.org
‘Banned Concepts’ law
Also in January, the US District Court in New Hampshire heard arguments challenging the state’s new classroom censorship law, which is now restricting lessons about race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation and disability. Republican lawmakers pushed the new legislation forward during the previous legislative session.
“New Hampshire’s classroom censorship law is an attack on educators who are simply doing their job, and through vagueness and fear it erases the legacy of discrimination and lived experiences of Black and Brown people, women and girls, LGBTQ+ people, and people with disabilities,” said Gilles Bissonnette, legal director of the ACLU of New Hampshire.
A ruling on the case is expected later this year. If appealed by either side, the case would then move to the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston.
New resource center
The Pride Room, previously a social media platform dedicated to LGBTQ free speech, is going from virtual to in-person with their announcement of a new resource center that recently opened in Nashua. The location features a food bank, support groups, health care support (like free home test kits for HIV) and more.
“This is where you can come and feel safe. No one here volunteer-wise, staff member-wise, are going to judge you because you are who you are,” Executive Director Zeb Eaton told WMUR TV-9. “You come in as you are, you leave as you are and we hope that when you come in here you are comfortable.”
The Pride Room is located at 1 Chestnut Street, Suite 334. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
More: theprideroom.org
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