On Friday, November 26, Minnesota Democratic House Representative Ilhan Omar called for house leaders in both aisles to take action against Colorado Republican House Representative Lauren Boebert. Over the holidays, Rep. Boebert made incendiary statements where she likened Rep. Omar to a suicide bomber.
On Monday, November 15, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and several right-wing media shared a seven-second video of what they call “evidence of Thook Jihad.” Hardline right-wing groups in India are using the video and several other similar footages to accuse Muslim minorities of attacking Hindus by spitting on their food.
A Pew Research Center annual study identified 41 independent states that imposed different restrictions on religious groups and organizations. According to the study, government restrictions limit religious expressions by targeting an entire faith, social movements, and political organizations with religious ties.
A lawsuit against a Hindu organization based in New Jersey has been amended with more plaintiffs and more respondents spanning five states. The case against Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), a Hindu organization based in New Jersey, now includes temples in California, Illinois, Texas, and Georgia.
On Friday, November 5, a gathering of right-wing Hindu groups barred entry to a public ground in the Sector 12 area of Gurugram, a place frequented by Muslims for prayers. Guragram, still popularly referred to as Gurgaon by locals, is a satellite city outside New Delhi, India.
On Friday, November 5, hundreds of ultra-orthodox Haredi Jews converged at the Western Wall. The group was protesting a group of women that held monthly prayers within the Western Wall. For decades, the Neshot Hakotel or the Women of the Wall have been campaigning against ultra-orthodox Jews who oppose changes in the holy site and want to maintain separate areas for men and women.
On October 31, US District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth, Texas, ruled that businesses that hold religious beliefs are exempt from LGBTQ discrimination liability. O’Connor held that Braidwood Management Inc. is exempted from the LGBTQ anti-bias protections under the first amendment and Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
On October 13, Wednesday, the Diocese of Brooklyn fired Matthew LaBanca, the music director of the Corpus Christi Church parish in Queens, New York. A statement released by the diocese said that LaBanca did not comply with church teachings as a requirement for being a minister.
On October 13, a lawsuit filed in Washington DC accuses the US federal government of financing organizations that discriminate against LGBTQ+ individuals from becoming foster parents. The complaint stated that Kelly Easter was declined twice from becoming a foster parent for a migrant child by a federal foster care program.
