First in the spotlight as the U.S. Supreme Court begins its new session Monday (October 4) is the seemingly precarious state of the right to abortion, an issue LGBTQ groups have long considered to be of "vital importance" to queer people.
But there are also several LGBTQ-related cases petitioning for review and several other cases that involve LGBTQ issues in some way.
Add to this two important off-the-docket concerns: One is the growing anxiety over when liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, 83, might vacate his seat; and the other is the unusual step by conservative Justice Samuel Alito to defend publicly the court's conservative majority's increasing use of preliminary procedures to shore up conservative positions on highly controversial