In 2023, Kentucky’s legislature passed SB 150, overriding the governor’s veto. The law bans all transgender medical care for minors and puts stiff penalties on medical professionals that provide such care. NCLR, along with the ACLU of Kentucky and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, have brought a case on behalf of trans youth and their parents to block the ban from going into effect. We won a preliminary injunction from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky in June of...
In 2023, Florida passed SB254 which bans all transgender medical care for minors, making the provision of such care a felony crime. NCLR, along with GLAD, HRC Foundation, Southern Legal Counsel, and Lowenstein Sandler, filed a case on behalf of transgender youth and their parents to challenge the ban on the grounds that it violated the Equal Protection Rights of trans youth and the Due Process Right of parents to oversee their child’s medical care. In the Third Amended Complaint, we also added...
September 12, 2023 (TALLAHASSEE) — A Florida federal district court judge today issued an order denying a motion to temporarily block state restrictions on access to healthcare for transgender adults contained in SB 254 while the legal challenge to the law continues. Attorneys for the plaintiffs issued the following statement: “The state’s restrictions on well-established health care in SB 254 serve no purpose other than to intentionally prevent transgender people from receiving the care they...
ATLANTA, GA – Today, a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision reversing a federal district court ruling blocking enforcement of Alabama’s law banning medical care for transgender adolescents. The district court opinion, which was issued last spring, held that Alabama’s law likely violated the federal Equal Protection Clause and parents’ fundamental right to make medical decisions for their children. Thus far, every single federal district court to hear a...
TUCSON, AZ – Today, a federal district court in Tucson granted the plaintiffs’ request to certify a class action in a case challenging Arizona’s outdated requirement that transgender people must have surgery to change the gender marker on their birth certificates. This ruling means that this case will now benefit all transgender people born in Arizona, not just the individual plaintiffs who originally brought the case. The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), along with co-counsel...
TUCSON, AZ — Today, a federal judge in Arizona issued an order blocking enforcement of an Arizona law that bars all transgender girls from playing on girls’ sports teams. The court held that the new law likely violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and Title IX by singling out transgender girls and barring them from competing on girls’ teams regardless of their individual circumstances. The suit is brought by two Arizona girls who love sports and wish to play on their...
LOUISVILLE, KY – The ACLU of Kentucky National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP yesterday filed a motion for emergency relief in our transgender healthcare case. The motion asks the Court to lift the recently implemented stay, citing irreparable harm to our clients and other transgender minors in the commonwealth. Lifting the stay would stop the law from being implemented and allow transgender youth in Kentucky to continue to receive medically necessary...
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A Federal Judge for the Western District of Kentucky today ruled to stay the preliminary injunction in Doe v Thornbury, the case regarding medically necessary care for transgender youth in Kentucky. The judge’s ruling came at the request of Kentucky’s Attorney General and means the portion of the law that was originally set to take effect June 29, is now in effect. “While we strongly disagree with this opinion, it is only in effect while our appeal is pending in front...
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.
