In February 2021, NCLR and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) filed amicus briefs in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals urging the court to affirm rulings in favor of same-sex surviving spouses who had been denied Social Security survivor benefits. The cases are Ely v. Saul, Driggs v. Saul, and Schmoll v. Saul.

On July 25, 2018, Mary Walsh, age 72, and Bev Nance, age 68, a married lesbian couple, filed a federal lawsuit in the Eastern District of Missouri against St. Louis senior housing community Friendship Village Sunset Hills. The complaint alleges that Friendship Village violated the federal Fair Housing Act by discriminating against Walsh and Nance on the basis of sex, denying them a unit because they are a same-sex married couple.

At the age of 74, Denee Mallon never set out to make history, only for the chance to live authentically, as who she truly is. But thanks to her determination, she successfully challenged Medicare’s ban on providing sex affirming surgeries in a groundbreaking case brought by NCLR and legal partners.

Annie and Lyndy had been together for nearly thirteen years when Annie suffered a debilitating stroke. About ten years later, Annie entered hospice care while Lyndy continued to care for her. Despite legal documents designating Lyndy as the person responsible to make medical decisions for her, a state entity removed Annie from her shared home with Lyndy and petitioned for a public guardian.

Greene and Scull lived together for 20 years and had executed both mutual powers of attorney for medical and financial decisions and wills naming each other as beneficiaries. In April 2008, County employees separated the couple after Scull fell outside their shared home. In the next three months, County officials ignored the couple’s legal documentation, unlawfully auctioned their possessions, terminated their lease, and forced Greene into an assisted living facility against his will.

NCLR clients Sheila Ortiz-Taylor and Joy Lewis reached a confidential settlement with Presbyterian Retirement Communities, Inc., a national chain of retirement communities. Joy and Sheila filed a lawsuit alleging that Westminster Oaks, the Presbyterian retirement community, discriminated against them based on their sexual orientation.