This case is about a married lesbian couple who used a known sperm donor to have a child. The couple raised the child together for more than two years. When the couple divorced, the sperm donor brought a lawsuit alleging that he—not the birth mother’s former spouse—is the child’s second legal parent. Under Oklahoma’s Uniform Parentage Act, there is a strong presumption that both spouses are the legal parents of a child born to a married couple. That presumption can only be challenged...
Our Voices
In 2023, the State of Michigan passed PA 117 and PA 118, banning conversion therapy for minors. Catholic Charities of Jackson, Lenawee and Hillsdale Counties, a nonprofit that “carries out the work of the Roman Catholic Church,” and Emily McJones, a Lansing-based therapist who provides evidence-based treatments that is faithful to the teachings of the Catholic Church, brought suit claiming the ban is too broad and violates the constitutional rights of counselors. The plaintiffs said they have...
The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled on August 12, 2024 that the Ramsey County District Court should have dismissed a paternity action brought against a same-sex married couple by their sperm donor. In its opinion, the appellate court sided with mothers Julianna and Catherine Sheridan, concluding that the lower court wrongly denied their motion to dismiss and that the sperm donor was precluded from bringing a paternity action for their child under Minnesota law. In August 2017, Christopher...
In 2020, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed into law HB 500 – the so-called “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” – making Idaho the first state to pass a law banning transgender athletes from participating in sports. The law would bar women and girls who are transgender, and many who are intersex, from taking part in school sports consistent with their gender identity. It would also institute a “dispute” process, which would require female athletes to verify their biological sex through an...
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was a U.S. Supreme Court case considering whether all prohibitions on elective abortions conducted before viability are unconstitutional. In March of 2018, Mississippi passed the Gestational Age Act banning all abortions after fifteen weeks, except in cases of severe fetal abnormality or other medical emergencies. The sole clinic in the state providing elective abortions sued Mississippi challenging the constitutionality of the bill. The United...
On September 14, 2021, Equality California, NCLR, and Lambda Legal filed an amicus letter on behalf of a coalition of state, local, and national nonprofit groups urging the California Supreme Court to review Taking Offense v. State of California, an appellate decision invalidating a non-discrimination statute requiring equal treatment of LGBTQ residents of long-term care facilities. Taking Offense involves a challenge to a provision of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Long-Term...
In February 2021, NCLR and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) filed amicus briefs urging the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to affirm rulings in favor of surviving same-sex spouses who were denied equal access to Social Security survivor’s benefits. The cases are Ely v. Saul, a nationwide class action, and two individual cases, Driggs v. Saul and Schmoll v. Saul. In November 2021, the Social Security Administration (SSA) dismissed its appeals in these cases as well as its...
Meghan Murphy repeatedly referred to a transgender woman using male pronouns while posting on Twitter. She was informed by Twitter that this activity violated the company’s hateful conduct rules, but Murphy persisted, resulting in Twitter permanently suspending her account. Murphy sued Twitter in February 2019 alleging that the company violated the terms of their user agreement by suspending her account. The trial court dismissed her case, finding that Twitter had the authority to permanently...
On August 21, 2020, NCLR and Lambda Legal led a coalition of LGBTQ advocacy organizations and legal aid groups in submitting a proposed amicus brief urging California’s Fifth Appellate District to reverse a trial court ruling against Maddie Wade, a former employee of Starbucks in Fresno. On August 27, 2020, the court granted leave to file the amicus brief. The case is Wade v. Starbucks Corporation. Maddie Wade, who worked for Starbucks for eight years, sued Starbucks and her former manager,...
In 2017, the City of Boca Raton, Florida, and the County of Palm Beach, Florida, each enacted local ordinances prohibiting state-licensed therapists from trying to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of a patient under 18 years old. Every leading medical and mental health organization in the country has warned that these practices do not work and put young people at risk of serious harm, including depression, substance abuse, and suicide. In 2018, an anti-LGBTQ legal group filed a...
