Statement on 2026 Midterm Election Results from Shannon Minter, National Center for LGBTQ Rights Legal Director For the past year, anyone paying attention to conversations about the midterm election heard the same prediction: candidates who refused to distance themselves from transgender people would pay for it in November. President Trump and his allies spent nearly $400 million on ads containing anti-transgender attacks, more than they spent on similar ads in 2024 and more than they spent...
An LGBTQ History Month conversation with lawyer and NCLR co-founder Donna Hitchens, the first openly lesbian person to be elected to a judgeship in the U.S. The National Center for LGBTQ Rights started as the Lesbian Rights Project in 1977 by a law student. That law student was Donna Hitchens who would later go on to become the first openly lesbian judge elected to the bench in the United States. This is the story of her early days of activism, why she started NCLR, and the community...
Hogar {Home}, NCLR’s immigration program, was launched in 1994, the same year the U.S. recognized that immigrants facing persecution on the basis of their sexual orientation could seek protection as refugees and asylees in the United States. Since then, Hogar has advanced immigration law and assisted thousands of LGBTQ immigrants facing the risk of abuse, violence, and even death in their home countries for being who they are, in obtaining legal status in the U.S. Clients like...
Today’s narrow ruling leaves the door open for inclusive policies On June 30, 2026, the Supreme Court held in West Virginia v. B.P.J. (decided together with Little v. Hecox) that neither Title IX nor the Equal Protection Clause prevents states from barring transgender girls from girls’ sports. But the majority opinion, written by Justice Kavanaugh, is a narrow one, and its limits are significant. Here are the most important. It permits these bans—it doesn’t require them The Court held that...
This year, President Imani Rupert-Gordon will be honored at San Francisco Pride as one of six community grand marshals. Director of Racial and Economic Justice Initiatives TyrONE Hanley will be representing NCLR as a community grand marshal at San Diego Pride. From Imani: How does it feel to be chosen as a grand marshal? Serving as a grand marshal for SF Pride is the honor of a lifetime. I am grateful for the work I have the opportunity to do in San Francisco every day as President...
Lawmakers most likely to push anti-LGBTQ+ legislation — bans on healthcare, restrictions on transgender students, “Don’t Say Gay” laws, attacks on marriage equality — are often the same lawmakers elected from heavily gerrymandered districts that dilute Black and Hispanic votes Today, in a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court dealt the most serious blow to the Voting Rights Act (VRA) in its 60-year history. In Louisiana v. Callais, the Court ruled that Louisiana’s...
There are advocates who chase the spotlight, and those who simply do the work. Shannon Minter, one of the most consequential civil rights attorneys of our generation, is unambiguously the latter. This past year I watched Shannon, the legal director of the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, argue in Talbott v. USA, representing transgender service members in their battle to continue to serve our country, while working in deep collaboration with partners including GLAD Law’s Jennifer...
On February 19, 2026, the Federal Bureau of Prisons issued a new policy on the “Management of Inmates with Gender Dysphoria.” The title sounds clinical. The reality is brutal: the federal government has now officially placed itself in the business of punishing transgender people for being who they are — by withdrawing their medical care, confiscating their personal belongings, and subjecting them to forced psychological treatment. It is, in every meaningful sense, a blueprint for a...
More than 30 years ago, the National Center for LGBTQ Rights (NCLR) began its fight to end conversion therapy — a dangerous practice that claims to be able to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, causing devastating harm to LGBTQ+ youth and their families. In the decades since, that work has grown into NCLR’s Born Perfect, a national effort that has helped pass protections in 27 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico,...
By Shannon Minter, Legal Director at the National Center for LGBTQ Rights (NCLR) and Jennifer Levi, Senior Director of Transgender and Queer Rights at GLAD Law On February 17, 2026, NCLR joined GLAD Law and COLAGE in filing formal comments opposing a proposed federal rule that would devastate health care access for transgender young people across the country. Here’s what you need to know – and why this matters. What is this proposed rule? In December 2025, the Centers for Medicare...
The Pride Community Center of North Central Florida offers safe spaces, resources, services and events to foster and enhance the well-being and visibility of LGBTQ+ people in North Central Florida. Visibility changes minds. Here in North Central Florida, LGBTQ+ people deserve access to safe spaces where they can not only express themselves, but where they can also be a part of a community. Come join us.
ACLU of Florida
The mission of the ACLU of Florida is to protect, defend, strengthen, and promote the constitutional rights and liberties of all people in Florida. We envision a fair and just Florida, where all people are free, equal under the law, and live with dignity.
QLatinx
QLatinx is a grassroots community-led racial, social, and gender justice organization dedicated to the advancement and empowerment of Orlando’s LGBTQ+ Latinx community. QLatinx is committed to building a supportive infrastructure, addressing inequity, promoting inclusionary QLatinx aims to deepen the political consciousness of LGBTQ+ and Latinx individuals about intersections and complexities of institutional, interpersonal, and internalized forms of oppression. This work includes empowering local LGBTQ+ leadership to become cognizant of gender and racial inequities with the LGBTQ+ community and in relation to cisgender populations.
Community Spring
Community Spring is a grassroots organization dedicated to economic justice. The two pillars of our work are income and power: income to meet people’s needs and power to reshape the systems that keep them down.
Joy Metropolitan Community Church
Joy MCC is the spiritual home to a multi-cultural, inclusive, and diverse community of faith. We are rooted in the life, ministry, and teachings of Jesus. We experience a vibrant spirituality that is positive, practical, and progressive. We’ve always been a totally open and affirming church. We welcome the full participation of people of allraces, cultures, ages, abilities, spiritual backgrounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities. We share a deep sense of community where our diversity is celebrated, not merely tolerated.
Southern Legal Counsel
Southern Legal Counsel, Inc. (SLC) is a Florida statewide not-for-profit public interest law firm that is committed to the ideal of equal justice for all and the attainment of basic human and civil rights. SLC developed its Transgender Rights Initiative to fill a gap in access to justice for Florida’s transgender community, including in areas such as access to legal authenticity, access to safe and affirming school and work environments, access to medically necessary healthcare, and more. SLC’s Trans Rights Initiative protects the rights of Florida’s LGBTQ+ community utilizing federal impact litigation, policy advocacy, and individual representation. SLC has litigated many of the recent federal cases against the state of Florida, and has successfully overturned the Medicaid Ban on gender-affirming care (Dekker v. Weida); permanently enjoined the medical care bans for minors and restrictions for adults created by SB 254 and the Boards of Medicine rules (Doe v. Ladapo); preliminarily enjoined the pronoun ban for transgender teachers in Florida’s public schools; and more.
Orlando Youth Alliance
Since 1990, the Orlando Youth Alliance (OYA) has been providing safe spaces for LGBTQ youth in Central Florida. Their coverage area includes metro Orlando, but also spans out to include the rural counties surrounding Orlando. In 2008, they created a chapter in Lakeland, Florida (Polk County). OYA oversees the highly successful Polk Pride Festival which attracts over 6,000 people annually.
Come Out With Pride
The mission of Come Out With Pride Orlando is to cultivate visibility, authenticity, and acceptance by curating inclusive experiences that celebrate and embody the spirit of queer resilience.
Equality Florida
Equality Florida is the largest civil rights organization dedicated to securing full equality for Florida’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. We’re changing Florida through lobbying, grassroots organizing, education, and coalition building — so that no one suffers harassment or discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.