by Christopher Vasquez | Dec 9, 2022
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...
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by Christopher Vasquez | Dec 1, 2022
On April 8, 2022, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed into law SB 184. The law directly targets transgender adolescents and their families by imposing criminal penalties on any individual, including parents and healthcare providers, who facilitate or provide essential medical care to transgender adolescents for the treatment of gender dysphoria. NCLR, SPLC (Southern Poverty Law Center), Human Rights Campaign Foundation, and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, along with co-counsel Lightfoot,...
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by Christopher Vasquez | Sep 23, 2021
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...
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by Shriya Bhindwale | Sep 14, 2021
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...
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by Christopher Vasquez | Aug 30, 2021
In 2018, the State of Washington passed a law 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 2021, an anti-LGBTQ legal group filed a federal lawsuit challenging the new law on behalf of Brian...
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by Shriya Bhindwale | Nov 4, 2020
Plaintiffs D.T., Jane Doe, and Helen Roe are transgender children who unable to correct the gender markers on their birth certificates because of Arizona’s discriminatory laws. Arizona requires transgender people to undergo surgery to obtain a birth certificate that matches who they are. That surgery requirement is particularly harmful to transgender young people, like D.T., Jane, and Helen, because it is not medically appropriate for them to undergo those surgeries at their...
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by Shriya Bhindwale | Aug 21, 2020
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,...
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