Home : Lesbian & Gay Rights

ACLU Statement on Latest Obama Administration Legal Brief on Defense of Marriage Act (08/17/2009)
The brief filed by the Justice Department in Smelt v. United States, today shows that the federal government heard and understood some of the concerns raised by the LGBT community in response to the brief it filed in June. (Smelt is a lawsuit brought in federal court in California by a married same-sex couple asking the federal government to give them equal treatment in federal programs).

Tennessee Schools And Students Reach Settlement In Internet Censorship Case (08/13/2009)
NASHVILLE, TN – As a result of a settlement reached in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, two Tennessee school districts agreed to stop blocking access to online information about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. A federal court dismissed the lawsuit against the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools and Knox County Schools after the settlement was reached.

Bill Introduced In Senate Today To Ban Workplace Discrimination Based On Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation (08/05/2009)
WASHINGTON – A bill was introduced in the Senate today that would make workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity illegal. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), introduced by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), would become the first-ever federal ban on employment discrimination of LBGT people in most workplaces.

Tides Foundation Awards $150,000 to ACLU of Florida to End State's Gay Adoption Ban (07/23/2009)
MIAMI - The Tides Foundation's State Equality Fund has awarded a $150,000 grant to the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Florida and its Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Advocacy Project to defend its recent trial court victory ending Florida's ban on adoption by gays and lesbians, and to educate Floridians about the case. The grant funds will pay some of the significant costs of defending the judgment on appeal and of conducting a grass-roots public awareness campaign.

Senate Passes Hate Crimes Amendment Lacking Free Speech And Association Protections (07/17/2009)
WASHINGTON – The Senate late Thursday passed an amendment as part of the Department of Defense Authorization bill that would give the federal government new authority to prosecute certain violent acts based on race, color, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability. However, the Senate version of the hate crimes bill lacks the strong protections for speech and association included in legislation passed by the House of Representatives in April. The American Civil Liberties Union believes that without the speech and association protections included in the House bill, the Senate hate crimes legislation could have a chilling effect on constitutionally protected speech and membership.

Legal Documents In ACLU Challenge To Gay Adoption Ban Made Public (07/16/2009)
MIAMI - The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and the ACLU national LGBT Project today announced that all of the briefs filed in the ACLU's lawsuit to overturn Florida's ban on gay adoption have been made public. The court approved the release documents, which were sealed in accordance with normal procedure in adoption cases, in response to a motion by Miami attorney Timothy H. Crutchfield on behalf of Wire Magazine seeking public access to the briefs because it is a case of public importance.

ACLU of Texas Demands Inquiry on Reported Anti-Gay Discrimination in El Paso Restaurant (07/10/2009)
AUSTIN – The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas Thursday called for an official investigation of the El Paso Police Department response to a June 29 incident when a group of men were reportedly ejected from Chico’s Tacos, an El Paso restaurant, apparently because two of the men kissed each other.

LGBT Community Groups Seek to Intervene in Federal Challenge to Proposition 8 (07/09/2009)
SAN FRANCISCO - Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) today asked the U.S. District Court in San Francisco to allow Our Family Coalition, Lavender Seniors of the East Bay, and Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays to intervene in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, a federal lawsuit challenging California's Proposition 8. In an order issued June 30 and confirmed at a hearing on July 1, Judge Vaughn R. Walker granted a motion to intervene by supporters of Proposition 8, and declined to rule on a request by plaintiffs for an immediate injunction staying the marriage ban. He called instead for a trial to resolve a number of critically important factual questions about LGBT people and constitutional rights, including questions about same-sex couples as parents, whether Proposition 8 was passed with discriminatory intent and whether allowing same-sex couples to marry undermines the stability of heterosexual marriages.

ACLU Urges Federal Appeals Court To Require Louisiana To Issue Birth Certificate To Adopted Child Of Gay Couple (07/07/2009)
NEW ORLEANS - The American Civil Liberties Union filed a friend-of-the-court brief today urging a federal appeals court to uphold an earlier decision requiring Louisiana to issue a birth certificate with the names of both parents to a boy who was adopted by a gay couple in New York.

DOJ Will Not Appeal Veteran’s Victory In Transgender Discrimination Case (07/01/2009)
WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Department of Justice decided not to appeal a federal court ruling awarding transgender veteran Diane Schroer the maximum compensation for the discrimination she suffered after being refused a job with the Library of Congress. The deadline for seeking an appeal was June 30. The American Civil Liberties Union has represented Schroer in her case.