This Pride Month marks ten years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges brought the freedom to marry to same-sex couples nationwide. The front pages that summer were filled with jubilant scenes of couples taking their vows and banners waving in celebration on courthouse steps. On June 26, 2015—decision day—the White […]

In nine states, lawmakers have proposed resolutions or bills to roll back marriage equality protections in a direct challenge to Obergefell v. Hodges. While states like Michigan, Montana, Idaho, North Dakota, and South Dakota urge the Supreme Court to revisit its historic 2015 decision, others such as Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Tennessee have introduced bills […]

Back in 2016, after Donald Trump was elected President, we wrote an update for the community responding to people’s fears that their marriages were under threat. Today, we’re seeing the same concerns again. So here’s a short update on our original post. The short answer is that there is still no realistic reason to fear […]

51 years ago, on January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade recognized the individual right to decide whether or not to have an abortion. Since this right was overturned in the Dobbs decision in June 2022, we’ve seen cruel abortion bans passed and even attempts to outlaw medication abortion. We […]

With LGBTQ families facing ongoing and increasing discrimination across the country, updates to state laws are urgently needed to ensure all children can have a secure legal tie to their parents   Five leading national organizations that advocate for LGBTQ families joined forces on a new report, Relationships at Risk: Why We Need to Update State […]

High Court Intervenes to Correct Grave Errors of Lower Federal Courts WASHINGTON, DC – Today the U.S. Supreme Court took appropriate action and stayed the outrageous opinion issued two weeks ago by U.S. District Judge Mathew Kacsmaryk that purported to invalidate the FDA’s approval of Mifepristone, one of two drugs used as part of the most common […]

WASHINGTON, DC – Today a federal judge in Texas, in the case Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA, stayed the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, one of two medications used most commonly for medication abortion in the U.S. While stopping short of a full injunction, the court’s action threatens access to an important form of abortion […]

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Biden signed the bipartisan Respect for Marriage Act, which codifies same-sex and interracial marriage and family equality into Federal law for the first time in history at a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House.  NCLR has issued the following statement:  This afternoon, President Biden not only ended the […]

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 […]