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Statement
Lawmakers, Advocates, and Families of Victims of Bullying Urge Action for Safe Schools
A Statement from NCLR Federal Policy Attorney Maya Rupert, Esq.
11.18.10—Today, in an effort to call attention to the serious and pervasive issue of bullying and harassment that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth face in public schools throughout the country, a press conference was held to discuss the dire need for action to make schools safe for all students and the pending legislation designed to address this issue.
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Statement
NCLR Applauds Court Decision Reinstating Major Margaret Witt to the Air Force
A Statement from NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell
09.24.10—Today, a federal district court judge in Tacoma, Washington held that the discharge of Air Force flight nurse Major Margaret Witt under the federal government’s policy barring lesbian, gay, and bisexual people from serving openly in the military violated the United States Constitution.
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Statement
NCLR Responds to Senate Failure on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
A Statement from NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell
09.21.10—Today, the U.S. Senate failed to break a filibuster to start a debate on the National Defense Authorization Act, which contains an amendment that would enable the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the federal government’s policy barring lesbian, gay, and bisexual people from serving openly in the military.
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Statement
NCLR Applauds Court Decision Striking Down Don't Ask, Don't Tell
A Statement from NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell
09.09.10—Today, a federal district court judge in the Central District of California held that the federal government’s policy of barring lesbian, gay, and bisexual people from serving openly in the military violates the United States Constitution.
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Statement
Coalition Urges Congress to Vote on Federal Legislation for Workplace in Honor of First Official Harvey Milk Day
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act Necessary and Overdue for Workers
05.17.10—A coalition of national, state and local lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights groups are calling on Congress to vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009 (ENDA), H.R. 3017 before the end of May. This essential legislation would provide clear federal protection against workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
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Statement
Obama Decision to Deny Benefits to Lesbian Employee Latest in String of Insults to LGBT Community
A Statement from NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell
12.18.09—Today President Obama’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced that it will not provide equal health benefits to the spouse of federal employee Karen Golinski, defying a decision by Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski concluding that the benefits must be provided pursuant to the Court’s nondiscrimination policy.
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Press Release
Senate Committee Considers Federal Legislation for Workplace Protections
NCLR: The Employment Non-Discrimination Act Necessary and Overdue for Workers
11.05.09—The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) commends the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions for convening hearings today on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009 (ENDA), S. 1584. This essential legislation would provide clear federal protection against workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. A similar hearing was held in the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor on September 23, and a full vote is possible before the end of the year.
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Opinion
A New Era of LGBT Civil Rights
NCLR's Blog: Out for Justice
10.28.09—
This is a historic, landmark and emotional victory, yet even as we celebrate it, we acknowledge that it has been wrought from violent loss, from the courage of families who have stood up to tell the stories of their loved ones in courts, in the halls of Congress, and to all those who would listen. Today, I think of the Shepards, the Byrds, the Warrens of West Virginia, the Zapatas of Colorado, the Green family from New York, Sylvia Guerrero, mother of Gwen Araujo from California, and so many more. I remember my friend Tacy Ranta, an activist from Baltimore, Maryland, now gone 10 years. This new law honors them all, for the true purpose of this law is to save lives.
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Press Release
President Obama Signs Hate Crimes Bill
NCLR: “Marks the beginning of a new era of LGBT civil rights"
10.28.09—Today, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) salutes President Barack Obama for signing the hate crimes bill, now known as the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The law gives the Justice Department the authority to fully investigate and prosecute bias-motivated crimes where the victim has been targeted because of actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.
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Press Release
The National Center for Lesbian Rights Applauds Final Passage
of Hate Crimes Bill
10.22.09—Today, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) applauds the United States Senate for final passage of the hate crimes bill, now known as the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The Department of Defense conference report was approved with the hate crimes bill provisions included by a vote of 68-29. Earlier in the day, Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii cast the final affirmative vote on a procedural motion to limit debate that cleared the last hurdle to final passage as an honor to his long service to the Senate. The conference report accompanies H.R.2647, the underlying Department of Defense Authorization bill. The measure now heads to President Obama for his signature.
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Press Release
Grassroots Power Harnessed to Pass Employment Non-Discrimination Act
National Organizations Co-Lead Grassroots Organizing Training at National Equality March
10.09.09—The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, National Center for Transgender Equality, National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians & Gays (PFLAG)-National are hosting a training on grassroots organizing to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) as part of this weekend’s National Equality March in Washington, D.C. ENDA is federal legislation that will ban workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
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Statement
The National Center for Lesbian Rights Hails Congressional Action on Hate Crimes Bill
A Statement from NCLR Legal Director Shannon Price Minter
10.08.09—Today, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) applauds the United States House of Representatives for taking action and voting to expand hate crimes protections. The House voted 281-146 in favor of a joint House-Senate “conference report” on a defense authorization measure that also includes the provisions that would expand the definition of federal hate crimes to cover attacks based on gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and military service.
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Opinion
Congress Must Hear From You: Pass The Employment Non-Discrimination Act!
NCLR's Blog: Out for Justice
09.23.09—Today, we came one step closer to passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). The House Education and Labor Committee held a full committee hearing on this bill, about the importance of protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees from workplace discrimination. We are grateful to the lawmakers who held this hearing and all who testified. This bill is now squarely before our nation’s lawmakers, and we must pressure them to pass it.
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Press Release
U.S. House Committee Holds Hearing on Need for Federal Workplace Protections
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act Is Urgently Needed and Long Overdue
09.23.09—Today, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) commends the House Education and Labor Committee for holding a hearing on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009 (ENDA), H.R. 3017. This vital legislation would provide clear federal protection against workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, which are unrelated to job qualifications or work performance. Since 1994, ENDA has been repeatedly introduced in the House and Senate, with each Congress failing to send it to the President.
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Statement
Statement from NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell on Department of Justice's Motion to Dismiss Federal Challenge to DOMA
09.18.09—Today, the Department of Justice filed a motion to dismiss in Gill v. Office of Personnel Development, a federal lawsuit challenging Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which excludes same-sex couples from all federal benefits and protections given to heterosexual married couples.
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Press Release
NCLR and NBJC Hail Introduction of Congressional DOMA Repeal
09.15.09—The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) applaud lawmakers for introducing legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a law that discriminates against lawfully married same-sex couples. Through DOMA, the federal government selectively denies same-sex couples more than 1,100 federal protections and responsibilities, including Social Security and immigration benefits, that apply to all other married couples.
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Statement
Statement from NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell on Department of Justice Reply Brief in Challenge to the Federal Defense of Marriage Act
08.17.09—The Department of Justice filed its reply brief today in Smelt v. United States, a federal lawsuit challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which excludes same-sex couples from all federal benefits and protections given to heterosexual married couples.
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News Article
House Subcommittee Backs Extension of Benefits To Gay Partners of Government Employees
Washington Post
07.31.09—Reflecting changing national views on gay and lesbian relationships, a House subcommittee voted Thursday to extend employee benefits to the same-sex partners of federal workers.
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Statement
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" To Get Senate Committee Review
CNN
07.27.09—A key U.S. Senate committee will hold a hearing on the military's controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays and lesbians, according to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat. The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold the hearing in the fall, she said in a written announcement.
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Statement
The National Center for Lesbian Rights Hails Senate Action on Hate Crimes Bill
Final Senate vote yet to come
07.17.09—The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) applauds the United States Senate for taking action and voting to expand hate crimes protections. Late Thursday, the Senate voted 63 to 28 in a procedural vote to move to the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act (bill number S.909), which is an amendment to the defense spending bill. The vote blocks a potential filibuster and clears the way for a final Senate vote, which is expected next week.
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Opinion
Open the Military Closet
The Washington Post
06.30.09—by Richard Cohen—Back during the initial fuss about "don't ask, don't tell," I went over to the Pentagon to see the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. We mostly discussed the situation in the Balkans and the pressure on President Bill Clinton to militarily intervene. Then I asked about gays in the military and the chairman, who was opposed, asked me what I thought the reaction would be if two male soldiers took to the dance floor at some military base. No different, I answered, than if a black man danced with a white woman at the same base about 50 years earlier. Colin Powell seemed taken aback and I thought, naively, that "don't ask don't tell" was doomed.
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Press Release
The National Center for Lesbian Rights Hails Introduction of Inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA)
“Workplace protections are urgently needed and long overdue”
06.24.09—The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) applauds lawmakers for introducing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) which would protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employees from workplace discrimination. The bill, which enjoys bi-partisan support in Congress, would add sexual orientation and gender identity to existing federal employment non-discrimination laws.
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read NCLR's Blog: Long Overdue
Statement
NCLR Statement on Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Uniting American Families Act
06.02.09—Currently, Congress is considering a crucial immigration bill that would make it possible for same-sex bi-national couples to have equal rights to sponsor their international partner for immigration purposes in the United States. Tomorrow—for the first time in Senate history—the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hear this immigration reform bill that includes members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community—the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA).
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Opinion
Protect Our Families Now!
Kate's Blog: Out for Justice
06.02.09—I am so proud to announce that NCLR submitted written testimony to Congress in support of UAFA. My thanks go out to Chairman Leahy, Ranking Member Sessions, and members of the Committee for holding this historic hearing on this important legislation. Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony on behalf of the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the tens of thousands of families affected by the serious problem that this bill would correct. UAFA is a relatively modest bill, yet it is of critical importance to those who need it, for at its core the bill does one simple thing: it allows partners who have built families through love and commitment to stay together and care for one another.
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News Article
May Day March Urges Support for UAFA
The Bay Area Reporter
05.07.09—As marchers in San Francisco and other cities called for justice for immigrants Friday, May 1 May Day some continued to push for revising the law so that thousands of binational same-sex couples can stay together.
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Guest Commentary
Hate-Crime Verdict Sends Message
ACS Blog
04.26.09—In July 2008, Angie Zapata, a young transgender woman, was brutally murdered in Greeley, bludgeoned to death with a fire extinguisher by a man she befriended on a social networking site. The motivation of her killer was clear: He hated gay and transgender people.
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Editorial
NCLR's Seaton Says Hate Crime Murders Demonstrate Clear Need For Federal Law
ACS Blog
04.21.09—Angie Zapata, 18, was savagely beaten to death with a fire extinguisher in her home in Greeley, Colo. in July, 2008. Prosecutors have charged her accused killer, Allen Ray Andrade, with murder in the first degree and under the state’s hate crimes statute, which makes it a bias crime to kill someone because of their “transgender status,” among other crimes.
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Editorial
A Test Case on Same-sex Fairness
The San Francisco Chronicle
04.01.09—Shirley Tan is a 43-year old Pacifica homemaker and mother of twin seventh-grade boys. Tan also wears an ankle bracelet assigned by immigration agents after a dawn raid on her home two months ago. the Philippines on Friday. That result would devastate her family and friends. But her case also touches off two flashpoint issues - immigration law and same-sex marriage - that are combining in a way that shows the unfairness of this country's laws.
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Editorial
Optimistic Voices Heard on Capitol Hill
Editorial by Deb Price
— If Hollywood made a movie of the last Congress on gay issues, "The Pragmatist vs. the Idealist" would someday play at a theater near you. The pragmatist was the colorful and brilliant bulldog Rep. Barney Frank, who arrived in Congress in 1981 as a closeted gay man, came out on his own in 1987 and admirably chose to become a voice for gay America in the "people's house."
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Editorial
Separation Anxiety
Gay couples should be allowed to stay together in the United States
Editorial | The Washington Post
03.16.09 — The Uniting American Families Act would allow gay and lesbian Americans and permanent residents to sponsor their foreign-born partners for legal residency in the United States. The bill, introduced last month in the Senate by Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and in the House by Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), would add "permanent partner" and "permanent partnership" after the words "spouse" and "marriage" in relevant sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act. If passed, it would right a gross unfairness.
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News Article
Congress Ready to Move on Gay Rights Bills
Hate crimes measure first on agenda, followed by trans-inclusive ENDAThe Washington Blade
01.23.09 In a recent interview with the Washington Blade, Congressman Barney Frank (D- Mass. 4), acknowledged the fantastic work being done to advance the work of an inclusive ENDA at the grassroots level, noting “the various coalitions” and the fact that “transgender groups are doing what wasn’t done previously, which is lobbying member by member.”
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Press Release
Limited ENDA Passes House of Representatives
A Statement from NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell Esq.
11.07.07 — Today, in a vote of 235-184, the United States House of Representatives passed HR 3685, a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that does not include protections based on gender identity.
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breaking news | in the press center
Statement
Court of Appeals Rules Against Christian Legal Society, Denies Request to Reopen Challenge to University’s Non-discrimination Policy
A statement from NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter, Esq.
11.17.10—Today the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied the Christian Legal Society’s request to present additional evidence in Christian Legal Society v. Wu, a case challenging a California law school’s policy that student groups may not discriminate based on sexual orientation, religion, or other bases.
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