New lawsuit follows the temporary restraining order secured by Attorney General Rob Bonta to keep care in place and protect transgender youth from discriminatory denial of medically necessary care

SAN DIEGO, CA — Today, California families publicly filed a lawsuit against Rady Children’s Health, the nonprofit parent organization overseeing Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego and Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC), to stop the hospital system from unlawfully cutting off medical care for transgender adolescents and young adults. The families are represented by Western Center on Law & Poverty, together with Impact Fund and the National Center for LGBTQ Rights.

The lawsuit challenges the hospital system’s January 20, 2026,... More

Mission-Driven Finance Leader Brings 17 Years of Nonprofit Expertise to National LGBTQ Civil Rights Organization 

SAN FRANCISCO — The National Center for LGBTQ Rights (NCLR), a leading national civil rights organization dedicated to advancing the rights of LGBTQ people and their families, today announced the appointment of Ericka Hobbs-Session as Vice President of Finance and Administration. In this role, Hobbs-Session will oversee all of NCLR’s financial operations and administrative functions as the organization continues to expand its impact in the face of escalating attacks on LGBTQ rights across the country. 

WASHINGTON, DC —Today, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an emergency order in Mirabelli v. Bonta blocking a California policy protecting transgender students from forced outing by teachers.  

National Center for LGBTQ Rights Legal Director Shannon Minter issued the following statement in response:  

"Today’s Supreme Court order in Mirabelli v. Bonta is deeply alarming — not only for what it does, but for how it was done. Without full briefing or oral argument, the Court has effectively greenlit the forced outing of transgender students to parents — even where the ... More

“As the government concedes, these plaintiffs are highly qualified and have met every standard, with deployments before, during, and after transition,” said NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter

WASHINGTON, DC—A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today heard oral arguments in More

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, the Trump administration proposed rules intended to cut off health care for all transgender youth by financially punishing hospitals that provide care.  

One proposed rule would prevent parents on Medicaid from being able to obtain health care for their transgender children. Another proposed rule would punish hospitals who care for transgender youth by denying Medicaid funding for any type of care provided to any person on Medicaid.  

NCLR Legal Director More

TUCSON, AZ – Today, a federal district court in Tucson struck down Arizona’s outdated requirement that transgender people must have surgery to change the gender marker on their birth certificates. The court granted Plaintiffs’ motion for a permanent injunction ruling that the surgery requirement violates the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and must be enjoined. Plaintiffs are a class of transgender individuals born in Arizona who seek to change the sex listed on their birth certificates. The case was filed by the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, Cooley LLP, and Osborn Maledon, PA.   

This ruling is a win for all transgender people born in Arizona. This permanent injunction ensures transgender people born in Arizona will be able to amend the gender marker on their birth certificate.   

National Center for LGBTQ Rights Condemns Decision Allowing Discriminatory Enforcement Tactics 

SAN FRANCISCO – The National Center for LGBTQ Rights condemns the Supreme Court's 6-3 decision to lift restrictions on federal immigration enforcement in Los Angeles, warning that the ruling will place LGBTQ asylum seekers at unprecedented risk of discrimination, violence, and deportation to countries where they face persecution or death. The Court's ruling allows federal agents to resume "roving patrols” and conduct immigration stops based on factors including appearance, language, occupation, and location – tactics that a federal judge had previously found violated the Constitution based on “a mountain of evidence” of discriminatory enforcement.  

"Today's Supreme Cou... More

“President Trump has illegally overstepped his authority by abruptly cutting off necessary medical care for military families." - Shannon Minter, NCLR Legal Director

Three military families are challenging an abrupt reversal of Department of Defense policy which now prohibits military clinics and hospitals from providing continuing medical care for their transgender adolescent and adult children. The new policy also prohibits TRICARE, the military insurance plan, from covering the costs of care for both transgender youth and young adults no matter where it is received.

Servicemembers, including the ... More

WASHINGTON, D.C.- This morning, the Supreme Court issued its ruling in U.S. v. Skrmetti, a challenge brought by three transgender adolescents, their families, and a Memphis-based medical provider against a Tennessee law banning gender-... More

“The Court’s ruling abandons transgender youth and their families to political attacks. It ignored clear discrimination and disregarded its own legal precedent by letting lawmakers target young people for being transgender."

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Supreme Court of the United States today issued its ruling in United States v. Skrmetti, upholding Tennessee’s ban on healthcare for transgender youth. 

Today’s decision has no impact in states where health care for transgender youth is not currently banned.

SAN FRANCISCO—After nearly 50 years as a leading LGBTQ civil rights organization, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) announced today that it is changing its name to the National Center for LGBTQ Rights (NCLR) to better reflect its longtime commitment to advocacy on behalf of the full LGBTQ community.  

NCLR was founded in 1977 by Donna Hitchens, who went on to become the first openly lesbian judge elected to the bench in the United States, and Roberta Achtenberg, the first openly LGBTQ person appointed to a position requiring U.S. Senate confirmation. NCLR’s original name reflected the fact that it was the first national LGBTQ organization to be founded by women. The organization was revolutionary because it recognized that lesbian women faced unique legal challenges that were not being addressed by existing gay rights organizations, which tended to focus on issues more relevant to gay men. By c... More

“There is nothing voluntary about forced separation,” says GLAD Law’s Jennifer Levi

WASHINGTON, DC—Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has instructed transgender servicemembers to self-identify for separation by today, June 6—July 7 for reservists—or face “involuntary separation.” GLAD Law and NCLR report that transgender servicemembers are struggling with an impossible choice. Many say that “voluntary” separation is misleading. Yet they fear the unknown consequences of the involuntary separation process for themselves and their families. More

Late-night letter brief argues the Supreme Court’s explanation-less order in a different case—that did not consider animus—does not impact Talbott, and the preliminary injunction blocking implementation of the ban should remain in effect

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Last night, the plaintiffs in Talbott filed a letter brief with the DC Circuit Court of Appeals responding to yesterday’s Supreme Court order in the related Shilling case and alerting the court to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s open disparagement of transgender troops.

The letter brief notes that the Supreme Court order in the Shilling case yesterday is not binding on the DC Circuit’s pending resolution of the government’s request for a stay in Talbott More

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Supreme Court of the United States today granted the Trump administration’s April 24 motion for an emergency stay in United States v. Shilling. This motion asked the Supreme Court to block a preliminary injunction preventing the ban from being implemented while the case is being heard in the courts,  following the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals’ April 18 decision to reject the Trump administration’s motion to stay and uphold the preliminary injunction.

The lead attorneys in the first two transgender military b... More

Brief calls out harm of “unprecedented” and “unAmerican” plan to target transgender servicemembers for immediate discharge; even Trump’s short-lived 2018 ban never resulted in more than a temporary pause in recruitment

WASHINGTON, D.C. —Today, the plaintiffs, 32 transgender servicemembers and recruits, in Talbott v. USA (formerly Talbott v. Trump) filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court of the United States, urging the Court to leave multiple preliminary injunctions in place preventing implementation of President Trump’s transgender military ban.

The National Center for Lesbian Rights congratulates Helen Carroll on her induction into Sports Equality Foundation’s LGBTQ Sports Hall of Fame. A former NCAA coach, Helen in 2001 launched NCLR’s Sports Project, the first-ever national legal advocacy program for LGBTQ athletes, coaches, and staff, which she led until 2017. As NCLR’s Sports Project Director, Helen helped LGBTQ athletes and coaches obtain pro bono legal representation, conducted educational conferences and panels around the country, and worked alongside NCLR’s attorneys on legal cases involving LGBTQ student-athletes.  

Helen was also instrumental in the founding and development of the Common Ground program, an NCAA/NCLR initiative created to bridge the gap between LGBTQ athletes, faith-based colleges and universities, LGBTQ organizations, and individuals of faith at NCAA me... More

Lead attorneys for the plaintiffs call the ban an “alarming threat to the trust needed to maximize national security” that would “permanently damage the careers of thousands of individuals who have served honorably and sacrificed for our country” 

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, the plaintiffs, 32 transgender servicemembers and recruits, in Talbott v. USA (formerly Talbott v. Trump) filed an opposition to the government’s motion for an emergency stay. The motion for an emergency stay is yet... More

Lead attorneys in earlier case Talbott v. Trump respond to the now second nationwide preliminary injunction—this time in the case of Shilling v. Trump

WASHINGTON, DC—In Shilling v. Trump today, U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Hale Settle issued what will now be a second nationwide preliminary injunction blocking implementation of the transgender military ban resulting from Trump’s January executive order. Earlier this month, U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes in Talbott v. Trump issued a first nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the ban. In a forceful order in which Judge Reyes held that the ban undermines national security and is likely unconstitutional she called it “soaked with animus and dripping with pr... More

Lead attorneys for the plaintiffs say military families face a “crushing amount of pressure” and that the motion to dissolve was “nothing more than a disingenuous, last-ditch tactic to sow confusion and cause delay”

WASHINGTON, DC—U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes today rejected a Trump administration motion to dissolve the nationwide preliminary injunction issued in Talbott v. Trump. Judge Reyes issued the injunction on March 18 in a forceful order in which she held that the ban undermines national security and is likely unconstitutional, calling it “soaked with animus and dripping with pretext.”  Defendants filed the motion to dissolve on March 21.

In her opinion today, Judge Reyes denied Defendants’ moti... More

Despite serving with distinction in the U.S. Air Force for years Staff Sergeant Nicholas Bear Bade and Master Sergeant Logan Ireland have been pulled from key deployments and placed on administrative absence against their will because of the transgender military ban

The New Jersey federal district court today granted a Temporary Restraining Order to keep Staff Sergeant Nicholas Bear Bade and Master Sergeant Logan Ireland from being further impacted by the Trump administration’s transgender military ban while a case challenging it in D.C. federal district court moves forward.

Staff Sergeant Bade and Master Sergeant Ireland have been pulled from key deployments and placed on administrative absence against their will because of the ban. Amid increasingly unpredictable directives from the Department of Defense and the Air Force, both Plaintiffs so... More