Nearly fifty years of NCLR’s history has taught us over and over: the law does not change on its own. It changes because someone files the brief, makes the argument, and refuses to back down. That is what our team did all summer, in courtrooms across the country, and here is who it was for:

• A transgender service member keeps her post.
• A young person gets the care his doctor prescribed.
• An asylum seeker sleeps through the night for the first time in years.

We won those outcomes case by case, and we won them with your support.

This summer, I was honored to serve as Grand Marshal of San Francisco’s Pride parade and to receive the Exemplary Service Luminary Award from the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association. Riding down Market Street, waving to the crowd with one hand, and holding my wife’s hand with the other, I kept thinking about the handful of lesbian lawyers who started NCLR in 1977, when a mother could lose custody of her children simply because she loved a woman. They could not have pictured our work being recognized so significantly, but they built NCLR with the same hope and pride I felt that day.

After years of policy, advocacy, and litigation, marriage equality is the law of the land, and our Director of Philanthropy Elizabeth Lanyon spends Pride weekend as a marriage commissioner, officiating weddings for LGBTQ couples who once could only imagine being legally married.

NCLR set the precedents in parentage and custody cases that keep LGBTQ families together, and now we co-lead the Family Law Institute at Lavender Law, the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association’s annual conference, training family law attorneys in every state to protect families.

And since we founded our Hogar {Home} program in 1994, we’ve helped thousands of LGBTQ immigrants and asylum seekers find a safe home within our borders. Antonia*, a transgender woman from Mexico, spent 10 years not knowing whether she would be sent back. Recently, after working with NCLR, she found out that she can stay in the US where she has made her home.

This is what we are fighting for. This is what is under attack. This administration is driven by plain hostility toward LGBTQ people, immigrants and transgender people most of all, and using the full weight of the federal government to dismantle protections we spent decades securing.

I have been doing this work long enough to know the difference between a setback and a siege. This is a siege.

And we are not going to wait it out. Right now, NCLR is litigating 6 cases directly against the federal government and working with plaintiffs and movement partners in the states to ensure that no anti-LGBTQ action taken by Trump this administration goes unchallenged.

Every one of our cases has a name and a face. The service member who has spent years in uniform and wants to finish her career. The teenager whose doctor and parents agree on the care he needs, and whose government says no. The woman who is lying awake wondering whether tonight is the night she is transferred to a men’s prison. Our lawyers are standing between people and the harm heading toward them, and so far, we are holding the line.

I could not be more proud of this team. They are up against an abusive administration with unlimited resources, and they keep finding new ways to win. But I want to be direct with you: the briefs, the expert witnesses, the emergency motions filed at 2AM—none of it is free, and none of it happens without you. When you give to NCLR, you are not making a donation; you are putting a lawyer in the room. Thank you for trusting us with that.
– Imani Rupert-Gordon, NCLR President

Hogar {Home}, NCLR’s immigration program, began in 1994, the same year the United States recognized that people persecuted for their sexual orientation could seek asylum here. In the three decades since, Hogar has changed immigration law and helped thousands of LGBTQ people who faced abuse, violence, and even death in their home countries for being who they are. Here are three of them:

Flor* is a lesbian who faced harassment and threats of violence from a young age in El Salvador. Throughout her life Flor suffered violent physical and sexual attacks from people in her community who wanted to “teach her to like men” while authorities looked the other way. Unable to escape the escalating abuse, Flor fled to the United States. Nearly 10 years later, she is still waiting for a decision.

Mateo* is a gay man from Mexico who was targeted for being gay and effeminate. He was violently sexually assaulted by a gang member and repeatedly harassed by other members of that gang. Unable to get help or protection from the police, and fearing further persecution from law enforcement itself, Mateo fled to the U.S. to escape further harm. Here, he has rebuilt his life and pursued his lifelong love of dance, becoming a teacher and leader in that community. NCLR helped Mateo file his asylum application and represented him throughout the process. He was granted asylum in August 2025.

Joaquin* and Carolina* also fled El Salvador. Both are transgender and both lived under constant threat of detention or physical violence any time police or soldiers stopped them and demanded identification. Once, a soldier threatened to arrest Joaquin for being part of an ‘illicit group’ – being transgender. He was terrified of being jailed indefinitely and subjected to extreme violence while detained. Fearing for his life and for his family, Joaquin and Carolina made the wrenching decision to flee in 2022 with their young baby—and to leave Joaquin’s daughter Belen* behind with her grandmother until he could find a way to bring her safely to the United States. After a long and arduous journey, the young family arrived in the United States and with the help of NCLR were granted asylum. We are now preparing permanent residency applications for all three family members in the U.S., and we have filed a petition to bring Belen home to her parents.

This work saves lives. It is also getting harder by the month. The Trump administration’s anti-immigrant and anti-LGBTQ policies have turned an already grueling asylum process into a minefield. The asylum office can now send a case straight to Immigration Court without granting an interview, which means many of our clients will have to recount the worst moments of their lives to a judge, in an adversarial hearing, with a government attorney arguing they should be sent back. More and more, the people walking into our office are already in court proceedings, and they need a lawyer who can advocate for them. This is why NCLR is hiring a full-time staff attorney to lead Hogar {Home} and represent clients in both affirmative and defensive asylum cases. If our clients’ stories moved you and you are an attorney, please apply. If you know an attorney who should, send them this posting. And if you want to make sure there are more LGBTQ stories that end like Mateo’s, Joaquin’s, and Carolina’s–and that Flor’s ends the same way—your gift to NCLR does exactly that.

Legal Director Shannon Minter joins Law and Disorder, a weekly podcast available on Apple Podcasts, to discuss how a series of regressive Supreme Court decisions are seriously impairing trans rights, NCLR’s work to fight back, and what gives Shannon hope.

Tom and Imani discuss leadership, personal growth, and the impact of her work in the LGBTQ community on the Opening Pathways Podcast. Imani shares her core values, the importance of kindness, and how she navigates the challenges of balancing work and personal life.

Milan Pham, Partner at NicholsonPham, PLLC, is an LGBT Adoption and family lawyer who has served on NCLR’s National Family Law Advisory Council for many years. She is an Adoption and Assisted Reproductive Technology Fellow with the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction and has been selected to the Best Lawyers in America Family Law Section since 2024. Milan is the immediate past chair of Equality NC and currently serves as chair of Equality NC Foundation, North Carolina’s only statewide LGBTQ+ advocacy organization. In 2026, Milan was named one of North Carolina’s 50 Most Influential Women by NC Lawyers Weekly. Milan received her JD from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law and is admitted to the Maryland and North Carolina State Bars. Milan speaks English, Vietnamese, and Spanish.

LEARN MORE ABOUT MILAN

Every case in this edition of The Brief was paid for by donors like you. With the end of the year approaching, now is the time to make your support go further: become a monthly sustainer, ask your employer to match your gift, or make a gift of stock. Our team is here to help. Learn more online or email our team with questions at development@nclrights.org

Are you an attorney interested in donating your time? Pro bono legal assistance amplifies NCLR’s capacity to support individuals navigating hostile legal systems and respond swiftly and forcefully to escalating threats to LGBTQ civil rights. Contact us about pro bono legal support today.

NCLR Out Loud: THE CONVERSATIONS WE’RE STARTING, THE STORIES MAKING NOISE, AND THE POSTS YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS

San Francisco Bay Times, “NCLR’s Imani Rupert-Gordon on Making a Difference and Keeping Optimism Alive,” by Tom LeNoble, August 31, 2026.

CNN, “Trump asks Supreme Court to uphold military’s ban on transgender service members,” by John Fritze, August 28, 2026.

The Washington Post, “Trump asks Supreme Court to allow military to discharge transgender troops. The high court could decide to hear the case in the term that begins in October,” by Julian Mark, August 28, 2026.

USA Today, “Trump administration asks Supreme Court to uphold ban on trans troops. A lower court ruled the ban likely violated troops’ constitutional rights and can’t be universally enforced while litigation continues,” by Maureen Groppe, August 28, 2026.

Stars and Stripes, “Justice Department petitions Supreme Court for immediate ban on transgender troops in military,” by Linda F. Hersey, August 28, 2026.

The Hill, “Pentagon seeks Supreme Court review of ban on transgender troops,” by Sophie Brams and Filip Timotija, August 28, 2026.

MS Now, “Trump administration wants Supreme Court permission to ban transgender military members. ‘The authority of the U.S. military to determine who may serve in the Nation’s armed forces is a matter of exceptional importance,’ the administration told the justices,” by Jordan Rubin, August 31, 2026.

Military.com, “Trump Administration Wants Supreme Court to Expedite Transgender Service Member Removals. The latest efforts follow a long legal battle between the Pentagon and transgender personnel who are at risk of losing their uniforms,” by Nick Mordowanec, August 28, 2026.

The Advocate, “Trump asks Supreme Court to intervene ahead of trial so the Pentagon can fire transgender troops. The administration wants the justices to overturn protections for decorated transgender service members before their case reaches trial,” by Christopher Wiggins, August 28, 2026.