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...
U.S. House of Representatives Approves Respect for Marriage Act WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Respect for Marriage Act (H.R. 8404) by a bipartisan vote of 267-157. The bill repeals the disgraceful Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) – ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012 – and codifies additional federal legal protections for the marriages of same-sex couples, transgender people, and interracial couples. The bill has the strong support of...
(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,...
(San Francisco, Sept. 8, 2016)–Today, Eileen Brewer, represented by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and Chicago attorney Angelika Kuehn, asked the Illinois Supreme Court to rehear its August 18, 2016 Blumenthal v. Brewer decision, which barred former unmarried partners from enforcing property claims against one another when they break up. The case arose when Brewer brought claims against her former partner, Jane Blumenthal, seeking an equitable division of the property and...
(Springfield, IL, August 18, 2016)— Today, in a 5-2 decision with a strong dissent, the Illinois Supreme Court held that unmarried couples are barred from bringing common law claims to divide their property when they break up. The decision affirms the discriminatory policy established in 1979 by the Illinois Supreme Court in Hewitt v. Hewitt, 77 Ill.2d 49, at a time when Illinois still criminalized intimate relationships outside of marriage. Hewitt barred the state’s courthouse doors to...
(San Francisco, August 9, 2016)—Today, the widower of a former KRON4 employee sued Young Broadcasting of San Francisco and the KRON/IBEW Local 45 Pension Plan for refusing to provide him with a spousal pension benefit even though the couple were registered domestic partners. David Reed and Donald Lee Gardner began dating in 1998. They quickly fell in love and committed themselves to caring for and protecting one another, including by becoming domestic partners in 2004. They were together for...
(San Francisco, CA, June 24, 2016)—To commemorate the one-year anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, Ropes & Gray will make a $100,000 donation to the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), Ropes & Gray’s co-counsel in Obergefell. Ropes & Gray’s donation to NCLR has been funded through legal fees awarded to the firm by a federal court in Tennessee as part of the resolution of the case, which also awarded fees to NCLR and other firms...
(San Francisco, January 22, 2016) – Today, the widower of a hotel telecommunications engineer in San Francisco sued the IUOE Stationary Engineers Local 39 Pension Plan and its Board of Trustees for refusing to provide him with a spousal pension benefit required by the terms of the pension plan and federal law, solely because both spouses are men. Robert Pritchard and Thomas Conwell met in San Francisco in 2005, quickly falling in love and becoming inseparable. They were soulmates, Robert says,...
Equality Florida is the largest civil rights organization dedicated to securing full equality for Florida’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. We’re changing Florida through lobbying, grassroots organizing, education, and coalition building — so that no one suffers harassment or discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.
Come Out With Pride
The mission of Come Out With Pride Orlando is to cultivate visibility, authenticity, and acceptance by curating inclusive experiences that celebrate and embody the spirit of queer resilience.
Orlando Youth Alliance
Since 1990, the Orlando Youth Alliance (OYA) has been providing safe spaces for LGBTQ youth in Central Florida. Their coverage area includes metro Orlando, but also spans out to include the rural counties surrounding Orlando. In 2008, they created a chapter in Lakeland, Florida (Polk County). OYA oversees the highly successful Polk Pride Festival which attracts over 6,000 people annually.
Southern Legal Counsel
Southern Legal Counsel, Inc. (SLC) is a Florida statewide not-for-profit public interest law firm that is committed to the ideal of equal justice for all and the attainment of basic human and civil rights. SLC developed its Transgender Rights Initiative to fill a gap in access to justice for Florida’s transgender community, including in areas such as access to legal authenticity, access to safe and affirming school and work environments, access to medically necessary healthcare, and more. SLC’s Trans Rights Initiative protects the rights of Florida’s LGBTQ+ community utilizing federal impact litigation, policy advocacy, and individual representation. SLC has litigated many of the recent federal cases against the state of Florida, and has successfully overturned the Medicaid Ban on gender-affirming care (Dekker v. Weida); permanently enjoined the medical care bans for minors and restrictions for adults created by SB 254 and the Boards of Medicine rules (Doe v. Ladapo); preliminarily enjoined the pronoun ban for transgender teachers in Florida’s public schools; and more.
Joy Metropolitan Community Church
Joy MCC is the spiritual home to a multi-cultural, inclusive, and diverse community of faith. We are rooted in the life, ministry, and teachings of Jesus. We experience a vibrant spirituality that is positive, practical, and progressive. We’ve always been a totally open and affirming church. We welcome the full participation of people of allraces, cultures, ages, abilities, spiritual backgrounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities. We share a deep sense of community where our diversity is celebrated, not merely tolerated.
ACLU of Florida
The mission of the ACLU of Florida is to protect, defend, strengthen, and promote the constitutional rights and liberties of all people in Florida. We envision a fair and just Florida, where all people are free, equal under the law, and live with dignity.
QLatinx
QLatinx is a grassroots community-led racial, social, and gender justice organization dedicated to the advancement and empowerment of Orlando’s LGBTQ+ Latinx community. QLatinx is committed to building a supportive infrastructure, addressing inequity, promoting inclusionary QLatinx aims to deepen the political consciousness of LGBTQ+ and Latinx individuals about intersections and complexities of institutional, interpersonal, and internalized forms of oppression. This work includes empowering local LGBTQ+ leadership to become cognizant of gender and racial inequities with the LGBTQ+ community and in relation to cisgender populations.
Community Spring
Community Spring is a grassroots organization dedicated to economic justice. The two pillars of our work are income and power: income to meet people’s needs and power to reshape the systems that keep them down.
Pride Community Center of North Central Florida
The Pride Community Center of North Central Florida offers safe spaces, resources, services and events to foster and enhance the well-being and visibility of LGBTQ+ people in North Central Florida. Visibility changes minds. Here in North Central Florida, LGBTQ+ people deserve access to safe spaces where they can not only express themselves, but where they can also be a part of a community. Come join us.