(San Francisco, CA, December 3, 2015)–The U.S. Senate will vote today on a budget reconciliation bill that includes a measure to defund Planned Parenthood and prevent low-income patients—including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender—from getting basic preventive health care at Planned Parenthood health centers across the country. It would also repeal essential aspects of the Affordable Care Act. This is only the latest in a series of attacks on Planned Parenthood by radical...
Our Voices
(Washington, DC, December 1, 2015)—Today, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), and the Center for HIV Law and Policy (CHLP) launched a new public education and outreach campaign to raise awareness of the harms associated with HIV criminalization and the disproportionate impact that these laws have on the LGBTQ community and, in particular, LGBTQ people of color. The social and digital media campaign, #EndBadHIVLaws, encourages people to get involved...
The past 10 days have been filled with a lot of religion. Ten days ago, I spoke at the International Affirmation Conference, the LGBTQ Mormon gathering in Provo, Utah. And last week it was 24/7 Pope Francis. Both of these events left me a bit unmoored. The church of my childhood, the Mormon church, and the Catholic church I thought I knew, have transformed in ways more fully embracing of dignity justice and belonging. Yes, as a politically progressive, vaguely agnostic, lesbian feminist, there...
The End Racial Profiling Act of 2015 (ERPA), introduced by Representative John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), is the latest iteration of a federal bill to eliminate racial profiling in law enforcement, including at the state and local levels. The bill defines “racial profiling” to include profiling on the bases of actual or perceived race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, and for the first time, gender identity and sexual orientation. The language of the bill...
I turned 18 in 1978 and voted in my first presidential election in 1980. Jimmy Carter was on his way, sadly, to being a one-term president. It wasn’t until 1992 that the candidate I voted for won the White House. That was the year Bill Clinton won, and I still remember the raucous party held at the home of a friend in my hometown of Ogden, Utah. Going back to all those elections, I felt certain that my vote never really mattered in the national contest for president (and since I was in Utah...
(Washington, DC, August 5, 2015)—Today the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a discriminatory Texas voter ID law violated federal law. The Court ruled that the Texas law had a discriminatory effect and violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which is one of the remaining provisions of the landmark civil rights bill. “We welcome the 5th Circuit’s decision and we are confident the law will ultimately be struck down as unconstitutional. Fifty years after the passage of...
(Jackson, MS, August 4, 2015)—The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) will host the next #RuralPride summit in Jackson, Mississippi, on August 14. The event, co-hosted by the True Colors Fund and Equality Mississippi, will be held at Millsaps College, 1701 N State Street, Jackson, MS 39202, from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM. #RuralPride is a series of summits across the country to elevate the voices of LGBTQ people and families in rural communities,...
(San Francisco, CA, July 31, 2015)–In response to the ongoing attacks on Planned Parenthood by radical anti-abortion operatives and extremist politicians, National Center for Lesbian Rights Executive Director Kate Kendell issued the following statement: “NCLR stands with Planned Parenthood at this time of unrelenting assaults. The specious allegations being leveled against this critical network of health centers are nothing more than a transparent attack on the ability of all people to...
Here we are again. Surreptitiously gained footage targeting the most well-known name in access to reproductive healthcare – yes, Planned Parenthood. I know that many of us are tempted simply to sigh and shake our heads in exasperation, but instead we must remain more vigilant than ever about keeping their clinics—often the only resource for reproductive health care for low-income women and transgender people in many parts of the country–open. First and foremost, we must write or call our...
(Washington, DC, July 23, 2015)—Today the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Enforce the Law for Sanctuary Cities Act, a bill that would withhold federal money from sanctuary cities that promote public safety by making it safe for undocumented persons to report crimes to local police without fear of being deported. Statement from National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) Policy Director Julie Gonen: “We join with the wide array of those opposing this dangerous measure, including law...
