Today, in a 5-3 decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down two provisions of a Texas anti-abortion law that, if allowed to go into effect, would have forced 75 percent of Texas abortion clinics to close. Lambda Legal applauded today’s decision.
Any day now the U.S. Supreme Court will issue a decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, which may be the most important abortion case in decades. The case involves a challenge to two provisions of Texas's House Bill 2, an anti-abortion law enacted in July 2013 that, if allowed to go into effect, would force the vast majority of Texas abortion clinics to close.
Lambda Legal today announced it has filed papers with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida asking the court for a swift end to the harm and indignity that Florida same-sex spouses, like gay widowers Hal Birchfield and Paul Mocko, face when denied accurate death certificates that acknowledge they were married and recognize them as surviving spouses.
The Orlando tragedy, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, highlights how vulnerable LGBTQ communities are to hate-fueled violence, especially LGBTQ communities of color.
"The facts are indisputable: Deepika Avanti refused to rent to Tonya and Rachel Smith because they are a same-sex couple and Rachel is transgender. Discrimination based on what the neighbors might say is not just wrong, it is unlawful."
This national tragedy happened against the backdrop of anti-LGBTQ legislation sweeping this country and we must not forget that in this time of grief. Unity and organized response in the face of hatred is what we owe the fallen and the grieving.
Lambda Legal filed a brief today in the Georgia Court of Appeals on behalf of Rowan Feldhaus, a transgender man whose petition to legally change his name to reflect his gender identity was denied by a trial court.
Today, Christopher Clark, Counsel and Young Adults, Teens and Children Program Strategist for Lambda Legal testified before the Chicago City Council’s Commission on Human Relations in support of an amendment striking a provision of the city’s Human Rights Ordinance that requires people to use public facilities in Chicago that match the sex marker on their government-issued identification.