news & opinion
Press Release
LGBT DREAMers Join President Obama to Celebrate Pride Month
6.12.13 (WASHINGTON, D.C., June 13, 2013)—Today, four LGBT DREAMers, who were recently granted work permits under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, traveled from across the country to attend a White House reception in honor of Pride month.
Press Release
Bill Supporting Transgender Students Goes to the Senate Floor
6.12.13 SACRAMENTO—Today the California Senate Education Committee passed AB 1266 (Ammiano), the School Success and Opportunity Act, a bill that provides crucial support for transgender students, by a vote of 5-2. The bill will ensure that California public schools understand their responsibility for the success and well-being of all students, including transgender students, and will allow transgender students to fully participate in all school activities, programs, and facilities. AB 1266 is authored by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, and is co-authored by Senator Mark Leno, Senator Ricardo Lara and Assemblymember Toni Atkins.
Press Release
Nation’s Leading LGBT Advocacy Organizations Thank Sen. Leahy for Amendment to Give Same Sex Couples Equal Rights; Oppose Amendments that Will Obstruct Path to Citizenship
6.11.13—Today, the Senate cleared its first major hurdle in its effort to pass comprehensive immigration reform, voting on a procedural measure that will allow the legislation to move forward by a vote of 82-15.
Press Release
Sports Leaders Gather to Tackle Anti-LGBT Bias in Athletics
6.05.13—An alliance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) sports leaders from across the country has announced the second annual Nike LGBT Sports Summit, set for June 12-15 in Portland, Ore. The Sports Summit will bring together college and professional athletes, coaches, athletic administrators, political figures, LGBT advocates and sports organizations to combat anti-LGBT bias in sports.
Press Release
Thirty-Five LGBT and HIV Advocacy Groups Mark Pride Month with Joint Statement on HIV/AIDS
6.03.13— (San Francisco, CA, June 3, 2013)—As the nation marks the opening of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month, executive directors from 35 LGBT and HIV/AIDS organizations from across the United States have released a joint letter committing themselves and their organizations to re-engaging the broader LGBT community in the fight against HIV. While issues like marriage equality and employment protections for LGBT workers have taken center stage, HIV continues to ravage the LGBT community. Despite making up just two percent of the population, gay and bisexual men accounted for more than 63 percent of new HIV infections in 2010. In fact, gay men are the only group in which HIV infections are increasing.
Statement
Nation's Leading LGBT Advocacy Organizations Respond to Senate Judiciary Committee Failure to Consider UAFA
5.21.13—This statement can be attributed to the National Center for Lesbian Rights, GLAAD, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, United We Dream and Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project, Lambda Legal, Equality Federation and the National Center for Transgender Equality.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to passing compassionate, comprehensive immigration reform that will provide a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented men, women and children living in our country, including at least 267,000 LGBT undocumented immigrants.
Statement
NCLR Applauds John Trasviña, Outgoing Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at the Department of Housing and Urban Development
Statement by NCLR Policy Director Maya Rupert, Esq.
5.21.13—(Washington D.C., May 21, 2013)—John Trasviña, Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), will be leaving HUD on May 21, 2013 to become Dean of the University of San Francisco School of Law. Assistant Secretary Trasviña has served in the Obama administration since 2009 when he was unanimously confirmed by the Senate. Under his leadership, FHEO has undertaken perhaps the most significant steps to ensure equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people across the country of any federal agency in history.
Press Release
Maine Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics Joins Other Child Welfare Organizations on Brief Supporting Transgender Girl
5.3.13—Today, the Maine Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and other child welfare organizations filed an amicus curiae ("friend of the court") brief with the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in support of a transgender girl who experienced discrimination and harassment at her Orono school.
Press Release
Nation’s Leading LGBT Advocacy Organizations Stand Firm for Immigration Reform
5.01.13—Following is a statement in response to evangelicals’ threat to withdraw support for comprehensive immigration reform legislation if it includes a provision that recognizes same-sex bi-national couples.
Statement
NCLR Applauds House and Senate Introduction of ENDA
Statement by NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell
4.25.13—(San Francisco, CA, April 25, 2013)—Today, a bi-partisan group of Senators and House members introduced the fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would prohibit most employers across the country from discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender workers. In the Senate, the bill was introduced by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Mark Kirk (R-Ill), and Susan Collins (R-ME). In the House of Representatives, the bill was introduced by Representatives Jared Polis (D-CO) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), and joined by more than 100 co-sponsors.
Press Release
NCLR Applauds Introduction of Bi-Partisan Student Non-Discrimination Act
4.18.13— Today, Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) announced the bi-partisan reintroduction of the Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA). Despite the frequency with which youth are targeted for harassment based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity in schools, there are currently no federal comprehensive anti-bullying protections. This legislation would protect students from bullying, violence, and harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill enjoys significant support and is being introduced with over 100 original co-sponsors.
Press Release
School Success and Opportunity Act Passes Assembly Education Committee
4.17.13—The School Success and Opportunity Act (AB 1266), authored by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, has passed the Assembly Education Committee by a vote of 5-2. The bill, which is co-sponsored by Equality California, Transgender Law Center, ACLU of California, GSA Network and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, addresses the exclusion of transgender students from classes and activities, and clarifies existing anti-discrimination law to provide clear protections to transgender students.
Statement
NCLR Responds to Introduction of Federal Immigration Reform Legislation
Statement by NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell, Esq.
4.17.13—Today, a bipartisan group of Senators who have been working on a plan to fix the current broken U.S. immigration system released their long-awaited proposal for comprehensive immigration reform legislation. The bill, called the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, presents a massive overhaul to many aspects of our current approach to immigration. The plan provides a pathway to citizenship for undocumented people, including an expedited process for DREAMers, creates new types of visas, and requires the government to clear the high backlog for family-sponsored visas.
case updates and program highlights
Victory! (Minnesota)
Doe v. Anoka-Hennepin School District No. 11 and E.R. v. Anoka-Hennepin School District No. 11
NCLR, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Faegre Baker Daniels LLP, and Culberth and Lienemann LLP represent a group of former and current students from the Anoka-Hennepin School District in Minnesota who experienced pervasive verbal and physical harrassment based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender expression.
read more read the press release 03.05.12 read the press release 07.21.11 read the press release 08.09.11
Victory! (California)
Perry v. Brown
On May 22, 2009, two same-sex couples filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, challenging California’s Proposition 8, which amended the California Constitution to prohibit marriage by same-sex couples.
read NCLR's response to the Ninth Circuit decision declaring Prop 8 unconstitutional read NCLR's response to the Ninth Circuit decision blocking release of Prop 8 trial video read Judge Ware's decision to uphold the ruling read more watch the video of the Prop 8 oral argument. read the amicus brief filed with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal by NCLR, the ACLU and Lambda Legal on October 25, 2010 (pdf) read Judge Walker's decision (pdf) read NCLR’s analysis of the CA Supreme Court standing decision read more about NCLR's marriage work read NCLR and EQCA's SB-54 faq (pdf) read NCLR's faq on Marriage for Same-Sex Couples in California (pdf)
Victory! (U.S. Supreme Court)
Christian Legal Society v. Martinez
Like many public schools, the University of California - Hastings College of the Law allows law students to organize student groups that can apply for university funding and other resources for group-related events. To be recognized as an official student group, all student groups must abide by Hastings' policy on nondiscrimination. In 2004, the Christian Legal Society (CLS) filed a lawsuit against Hastings, arguing that the nondiscrimination policy violated the group's First Amendment right to discriminate against LGBT and non-Christian students. NCLR represents Outlaw, the LGBT student group at Hastings, which intervened to defend the University's policy. Hastings is represented by Ethan Schulman of Crowell & Moring LLP.
Victory! (California)
Greene v. County of Sonoma et al.
In a tragic case that touched the hearts of thousands across the country, NCLR clients Clay Greene and the estate of Harold Scull, Greene's deceased partner of 20 years, reached a settlement on July 22 resolving their lawsuit against the County of Sonoma and other defendants.
Legislative Highlight
ENDA
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is a bill to create a federal law which would prohibit discrimination in employment based on sexual orientation or gender identity, defined to include gender expression. It would provide critically-needed protection for people at serious risk of job discrimination. After years of hard work and thousands of conversations with law and policymakers, we are poised to pass an ENDA inclusive of gender identity in this Congress. In order to achieve that, senators and representatives must hear from their constituents that this bill is a high priority for the LGBT community. President Obama has identified passing this bill, inclusive of both sexual orientation and gender identity, as one of his civil rights agenda priorities.
Over the past 30 years the National Center for Lesbian Rights has been at the forefront of nearly every legal gain won for LGBT people and families.
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