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 […]

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court denied review of the Ninth Circuit’s 2021 ruling that allowed for the public release of the video recording of the federal trial challenging Proposition 8 – the 2009 ballot initiative that reversed the California Supreme Court’s marriage equality decision by amending the California Constitution to permit discrimination against […]

WASHINGTON, DC – The nation’s top civil rights leaders, reproductive rights and justice organizations met with Vice President Kamala Harris on September 12, 2022 to discuss the harmful impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and the ongoing threat to our democracy.  This meeting stems from a letter the organizations sent […]

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 […]

Decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Reveals High Court Has Abandoned Individual Rights WASHINGTON, DC – Today, in a 6-3 ruling, the United States Supreme Court held that the Constitution does not protect the fundamental right to abortion, overruling the landmark decisions Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. “It is impossible […]

National Center for Lesbian Rights Spearheads Joint Call for Action WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the National Center for Lesbian Rights released an open letter signed by 91 organizations representing the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) community voicing their strong support for the right to abortion. Channeling the outrage and alarm being felt […]

We will not sugarcoat this: the leak this week of a Supreme Court majority opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, a ruling that would eliminate the constitutional right to abortion, is extremely alarming.  It is also a wake-up call.  While we do not know if the leaked opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization will […]

Gay Parent Magazine profiled NCLR’s Deputy Director and Family Law Director Cathy Sakimura for their July-August 2021 Issue, discussing how to make the world a better place for LGBTQ parents everywhere.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia that the City of Philadelphia violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment by failing to give Catholic Social Services (CSS) an exemption from the nondiscrimination provision in city contracts, even though the contract authorized exemptions and the City had granted […]

DETROIT, MI – Yesterday, the Michigan Court of Appeals recognized two unmarried women as parents where one parent is a genetic parent and the other parent gave birth. LaNesha Matthews and Kyresha LeFever were a same-sex couple who had twins together using assisted reproduction. The children were conceived through in vitro fertilization using Kyresha’s eggs, […]

In Henderson v. Box, the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed that marriage equality is the law of the land and that states must provide the same rights to same-sex and different-sex spouses.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the United States Supreme Court denied a Petition for Certiorari in Box v. Henderson, a case out of Indiana about the state’s obligation to recognize same-sex spouses and different-sex spouses equally on their children’s birth certificates.  “We are so happy for our clients, and other same-sex parents and their children in […]

In North Carolina this week, anti-LGBTQ extremists tried to do the unthinkable. They introduced House Bill 780, also known as the “Uphold Historical Marriage Act” in an attempt to turn back the clock and, once again, whip up anti-LGBTQ sentiment. The bill directly challenges the Supreme Court’s 2015 marriage equality ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges by seeking to […]

“Perseverance in almost any plan is better than fickleness and fluctuation”—Alexander Hamilton When we adopted our NCLR tag line—”The audacity to fight for justice, the perseverance to win”—it was before President Obama’s book “The Audacity of Hope” and years before the cultural phenomenon that is “Hamilton” ushered in a refreshed examination of Alexander Hamilton’s writings. […]

Now that Trump has won the presidential election, we are hearing concerns and fears from many same-sex couples who are concerned that their marriages may be challenged or invalidated.  We are also hearing from couples who are not yet married, but worried that they may lose the right to marry under a Trump administration. While […]

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, dismantling oppressive systems—are in jeopardy, but we will not be […]

It’s already being called “this summer’s hot documentary”—and soon, you can see The Freedom to Marry documentary for yourself at a theater near you! The Freedom to Marry is a new, “War Room” style film by award-winning filmmaker Eddie Rosenstein that provides an emotional, behind-the-scenes view of how love won – with a front-row seat […]

“…Later that night I held an atlas in my lap ran my fingers across the whole world and whispered where does it hurt? it answered everywhere everywhere everywhere” —Warsan Shire   Two days after a sniper killed five Dallas police officers, this poem, by expat Somali poet Warsan Shire, who came to world’s attention when […]

U.S. Supreme Court Made History June 26, 2015 with Landmark Decision in Favor of Marriage Equality A year ago on June 26th, several of us from NCLR sat in white-knuckled silence at the U.S. Supreme Court, waiting for the Court’s most important decision ever for LGBTQ Americans and their children. Anticipation gave way to jubilation […]

Monday, in a ruling that will protect LGBTQ parents across the country, the U.S. Supreme Court sharply rebuked the Alabama Supreme Court for refusing to recognize a Georgia adoption by a lesbian mother, our client. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in our case was unusual in three ways. First, it reversed the Alabama Supreme Court’s […]