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Press Releases

Families File Class Action to Block DOJ from Illegally Obtaining Protected Health Records from Hospitals Across the Country 

Represented by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, National Center for LGBTQ Rights, and Brown Goldstein & Levy LLP, families tell court that without class-wide protection, DOJ will continue unlawfully obtaining transgender minors’ protected information hospital by hospital, faster than any individual can go to court to stop them

Eleven families have moved for a class action to block the US Department of Justice (DOJ) from obtaining sweeping access to private, protected health information about transgender youth from hospitals across the country.  

The filing comes in respon... More

Lawsuit Filed Against Trump Administration DOJ for Ignoring Federal Protections Against Sexual Abuse in Prison

Transgender people in prison are sexually abused or assaulted at nearly 10x the rate of the general prison population; federal laws were put in place more than a decade ago to address sexual abuse

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A transgender woman filed a federal lawsuit today against the U.S. Department of Justice, challenging a December 2025 DOJ memorandum that unilaterally suspended longstanding federal regulations protecting incarcerated transgender people from sexual abuse. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asks the court to set aside the memorandum as procedurally invalid under the Administrative Procedure Act ... More

Statement from the National Center for LGBTQ Rights on the DOJ Indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center

SAN FRANCISCO —The National Center for LGBTQ Rights (NCLR) Executive Director Imani Rupert-Gordon responds to the DOJ’s indictment of the more than 50 year-old civil rights organization Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)

“We are deeply troubled by this week’s indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). For more than half a century, SPLC has done essential work documenting and confronting organized hate — work that has protected countless people, including members of the LGBTQ community, from violence and intimidation. The use of confidential informants to gather intelligence on groups like the Klan and neo-Nazi organizat... More

Families File Lawsuit to Stop California’s Rady Children’s Health from Cutting off Health Care for Transgender Youth

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

NCLR Welcomes Ericka Hobbs-Session as Vice President of Finance and Administration 

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. 

... More

Supreme Court Blocks California Law Protecting Transgender Students  

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

NCLR’s Shannon Minter Responds to Trump’s Proposed Attacks on Parents Seeking Health Care for Their Transgender Kids 

 

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

Federal Court Enjoins Enforcement of Arizona’s Surgery Requirement for Birth Certificate Gender Marker Changes  

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.   

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Supreme Court’s Immigration Ruling Puts LGBTQ Asylum Seekers in Grave Danger:

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

Military Families Challenge Abrupt Loss of Healthcare for Transgender Dependents Under Trump Administration Directive

“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

NCLR and GLAD Law Respond to the Skrmetti Supreme Court Ruling  

“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.

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National Center for Lesbian Rights Announces Name Change to National Center for LGBTQ Rights

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

Transgender Servicemembers Told They Must Decide by Today How They Will Be Purged from the Military: ‘Voluntarily’ or Involuntarily

“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

New Filing Says Secretary Hegseth’s Public Statements and the Talbott Case Make Clear the DC Circuit Must Address Whether the Transgender Military Ban is Based on Hostility or ‘Animus’

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

Supreme Court Issues Ruling in Shilling Blocking the Preliminary Injunction Protections and Greenlighting Implementation of Trump’s Transgender Military Ban

Ruling paves the way for a purge of highly qualified transgender service members

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 9th 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...
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