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As May 15 Deadline Looms, Lambda Legal Urges Texas Governor to Comply With Prison Rape Elimination Act

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May 1, 2015

With exactly two weeks remaining until the U.S. Justice Department’s May 15 deadline for the governors of all 50 states to confirm that their state is in compliance with the national standards set by the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), Lambda Legal urges Texas Governor Greg Abbott to adopt the PREA standards unconditionally and acknowledge that rape and sexual assault can no longer be accepted as part of the sentence served for any crime.

See Also: Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice and Police Misconduct, Stop Prison Rape in Texas
Lambda Legal Condemns Discriminatory “Conscience Clause” Foster Care Bills; Urges Senate to Continue Push to Protect Runaway and Homeless Youth

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April 23, 2015

Two statements from Currey Cook,Lambda Legal Senior Attorney and Youth in Out-of-Home Care Project National Director

See Also: Adoption and Parenting, Anti-LGBT Rulings, Laws and Amendments, Law and Policy Project, Religious Exemptions, Youth in Out-of-Home Care
Victory! Texas Prison Officials Agree to Place Passion Star in Safekeeping

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March 30, 2015

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (“TDCJ”) announced that today it will place Lambda Legal client Passion Star in Safekeeping as had been requested in an emergency motion filed earlier this month to protect her from further sexual assault and threats to her life. Passion Star is a transgender woman currently incarcerated in a TDCJ male facility.

See Also: Government Misconduct and Support for Discrimination, Stop Prison Rape in Texas, Transgender Rights
Anti-Trans Bathroom Bills Proposed in Texas

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March 5, 2015

Laws like these pose a real danger to transgender people and address none of the issues they supposedly remedy.
Lambda Legal Files Emergency Papers Seeking Safekeeping for Transgender Woman in Texas Prison

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March 4, 2015

Late last night Lambda Legal filed an emergency motion in federal court asking that the court compel the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) to place Passion Star, a transgender woman currently incarcerated in TDCJ’s male facilities, in safekeeping to protect her from further sexual assault and threats to her life.

See Also: Criminal Justice, Government Misconduct and Support for Discrimination, Transgender Rights
The Tyron Garner Memorial Fellowship for African-American LGBT Civil Rights

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February 14, 2015

Tyron Garner and John Geddes Lawrence were arrested the night of September 17, 1998, after police responded to a call claiming that a black man was “going crazy with a gun” in Lawrence’s apartment just outside Houston. No gun was ever found at the scene. The men were arrested, the police said, for having sex. They pled no contest to violating a Texas sodomy law, a Class C misdemeanor.
15 Inspiring Moments for LGBT & HIV+ People in 2014

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December 26, 2014

2014 was an amazing year for the LGBT and HIV rights movements.
Stop Prison Rape in Texas

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December 17, 2014

Lambda Legal launched a petition drive calling on the state of Texas and Texas Gov.-elect Greg Abbott to implement and abide by the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), the federal law signed by former President George W. Bush to address the problem of prison rape across the country. Texas is one of only seven states that has refused to comply with PREA.

See Also: Government Misconduct and Support for Discrimination, Stop Prison Rape in Texas, Transgender Rights
Senate Confirms First Openly Gay Judge to Federal Bench in Texas

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December 17, 2014

The U.S. Senate confirmed Robert Pitman last night to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Pitman assumes a seat that had been vacant for more than six years.
Why Lambda Legal is Suing the Social Security Administration

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November 7, 2014

In the past few weeks, Lambda Legal has filed two lawsuits against the Social Security Administration (SSA), one in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and the other in the U.S.