Statement on 2026 Midterm Election Results from Shannon Minter, National Center for LGBTQ Rights Legal Director For the past year, anyone paying attention to conversations about the midterm election heard the same prediction: candidates who refused to distance themselves from transgender people would pay for it in November. President Trump and his allies spent nearly $400 million on ads containing anti-transgender attacks, more than they spent on similar ads in 2024 and more than they spent...
Nothing about living in a decaying capitalistic society is easy. We each experience the agony of this age in different ways. A select few will live extravagantly, their fortunes financed by the labor of the working class. Most will experience some degree of hardship. Those of us with intersecting marginalized identities will feel this pain most acutely. As queer and trans folks are targeted, as immigrants are targeted, as Black and brown people are targeted, it becomes more and more difficult...
In 1994, the United States granted asylum to an individual on the basis of sexual orientation for the first time. This opened the door for LGBTQ immigrants facing persecution in their countries of origin to seek protection as refugees and asylees. Thirty years later, immigration continues to be central to our political discourse and remains a focus in the presidential election. In response to the US allowing asylum claims from LGBTQ immigrants, the National Center for LGBTQ Rights (NCLR)...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 9, 2018 Contacts: Lauren Gray, NCLR lgray@nclrights.org / (215) 983-3099 Trump’s Plan to Cut Off Access to Asylum is Illegal and Will Endanger LGBTQ Lives Washington, D.C.—Yesterday, the Trump administration announced its intention to adopt a new federal rule preventing certain individuals who enter the U.S. from Mexico from seeking asylum. For more than 20 years,...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Lauren Gray, Communications Director, NCLR lgray@nclrights.org / (215) 983-3099 After NCLR victory for LGBTQ youth in Utah State Board of Education case, Salt Lake City Mayor gives NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell a Key to the City at Coming Out Day Celebration Last year, NCLR sued the Utah State Board of Education for censoring content about LGBTQ people. Today, Salt Lake City Mayor...
LGBTQ individuals disproportionately interact with the criminal justice system and are often the victims of this cash bail system. LGBTQ people are more likely to be assessed a higher bail than others because they are seen as greater flight risks and more likely to be a danger to the community based on stereotypes and perceptions that LGBTQ people are not connected to families or communities. Read more
(Washington, DC, June 22, 2017)—Today, Senate Republicans released a “discussion draft” of their healthcare repeal plan. National Center for Lesbian Rights Executive Director Kate Kendell issued the following statement in response: “After unprecedented secrecy during drafting, a small number of senators put forward a plan today to take away healthcare from millions of Americans, including millions of LGBTQ Americans,” said Kate Kendell, executive director at the National Center for Lesbian...
On June 13, 2017, the Human Rights Campaign and National Center for LGBTQ Rights delivered a letter to the U.S. Senate urging them not to gut access to healthcare. More than 60 LGBTQ organizations, representing millions of LGBTQ people across the country, signed onto this letter sharing deep concerns for the health of our community. The letter notes that the Congressional Budget Office has projected that repeal of the Affordable Care Act would result in 14 million Americans losing health...
On May 23rd, President Trump released his first full federal budget proposal. While many knew it would be bad, nothing could have prepared us for this. If enacted, this budget would be devastating. It slashes funding for vital programs and services that help struggling individuals and families afford the basics- food, housing, heating, education, and healthcare. At the same time, the budget seeks an additional $54 billion for the defense department and gives corporations and the wealthy...
NCLR’s Born Perfect Campaign adds new win to state-by-state advocacy efforts (San Francisco, CA, May 17, 2017)—Today, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval signed SB201 into law, putting an end to the fraudulent, harmful and unscientific practice of so-called “conversion therapy” in the state of Nevada for LGBTQ youth. Today’s bill signing was the result of targeted grassroots advocacy efforts by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), Gender Justice Nevada, Kaempfer Crowell, and the Human...