WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Biden signed the bipartisan Respect for Marriage Act, which codifies same-sex and interracial marriage and family equality into Federal law for the first time in history at a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House. NCLR has issued the following statement: This afternoon, President Biden not only ended the discriminatory so-called Defense of Marriage Act, he also enshrined marriage equality into a federal statute for the first time in...
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congress took a historic step toward legislatively protecting marriage equality in federal law for the first time in a bipartisan vote of 61-36, with 12 Republican Senators joining every Democratic Senator in voting aye on the legislation. This summer the House of Representatives passed the Respect for Marriage Act with a strong bipartisan majority of 267 members – including 47 Republicans – reflecting the will of the more than 71% of Americans who support the freedom...
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia that the City of Philadelphia violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment by failing to give Catholic Social Services (CSS) an exemption from the nondiscrimination provision in city contracts, even though the contract authorized exemptions and the City had granted exemptions to other providers. The case arose when CSS sued the City for refusing to give the...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 26, 2018 Contact: Lauren Gray, NCLR lgray@nclrights.org / (215) 983-3099 In Victory for LGBTQ Community, U.S. Supreme Court Allows Decision Ruling Married Same-Sex Parents and Married Different-Sex Parents Must be Treated Equally to Stand U.S. Supreme Court Will Not Review Arizona Supreme Court Decision in McLaughlin NCLR says, “States across the country should take careful...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 7, 2018 Contacts: Lauren Gray, NCLR lgray@nclrights.org / (215) 983-3099 David Colker, ACLU dcolker@aclusocal.org / (213) 977-5242 or 626-755-4129 (cell) California Court Denies Child’s Wrongful Death Claim for Parent Tasered by Police NCLR, ACLU, and LA LGBTQ Center...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts: Lauren Gray, Communications Director lgray@nclrights.org / (215) 983-3099 Missouri Court of Appeals Says Non-Biological Parent Can Seek Custody Based on Significant, Bonded Relationship National Center for Lesbian Rights says, “What matters is the love and care a parent gives to her child, not biology” (St. Louis, MO, October 3, 2017)—Today, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) won an appeal on behalf of...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Lauren Gray Director of Communications National Center for Lesbian Rights Office: 415.365.1324 Mobile: 215.983.3099 LGray@nclrights.org On the two year anniversary of marriage equality decision, Supreme Court reverses Arkansas’ attempt to defy Obergefell Arkansas couples challenged Arkansas’ “blatant refusal” to list same-sex spouses on their children’s birth certificates (San...
(San Francisco, CA, May 2, 2017)—In Kentucky, family court judge W. Mitchell Nance has issued an order recusing himself from adoption cases involving “homosexual parties.” The order was sent last week to all attorneys in Kentucky’s Barren and Metcalfe counties, calling it a “matter of conscience” and stating there is no circumstance in which “the best interest of the child be promoted by the adoption by a practicing homosexual.” National Center for Lesbian Rights Family Law Director Cathy...
(November 16, 2016, San Francisco, CA)—The National Center for Lesbian Rights responds to President-elect Donald Trump’s appointment of Stephen Bannon, whose news agency has been a vehicle for extreme views about racial and religious minorities, women, and LGBTQ people as his chief White House strategist and senior counselor. Statement by NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell, Esq.: “Steve Bannon’s appointment as a senior presidential advisor is a betrayal of the American people and of our...
(San Francisco, Nov. 9, 2016)—The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) responds to the 2016 Presidential election results. Statement by NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell, Esq.: “By a slim margin, this nation has elected a demagogue who trafficked in bigotry, stoked racist hatred and normalized misogyny. The election of Donald Trump as President threatens basic principles of human dignity and justice. Many of our most cherished values—inclusion, honoring difference, embracing equality,...
