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.
Lambda Legal celebrates the first anniversary of marriage equality nationwide with the publication of "Love Unites Us: Winning the Freedom to Marry in America," edited by former Executive Director Kevin Cathcart and Education and Public Affairs Director Leslie Gabel-Brett.
Just hours after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed for the second time that Puerto Rico’s ban on marriage for LGBT people is unconstitutional and ordered the case be reassigned to a new judge, District Court Judge Gustavo A. Gelpí issued a judgment striking down that ban.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit today once again affirmed that Puerto Rico’s marriage ban is unconstitutional and ordered the District Court of Puerto Rico to enter judgment in favor of Lambda Legal’s plaintiffs and, in light of the egregious disregard of its prior order, ordered that the case be reassigned to a different district court judge.
Lambda Legal filed a petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit asking the court to make clear that last summer’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which granted same-sex couples the right to marry, applies to Puerto Rico and to order the district court to enter judgment in favor of the plaintiffs.
Today, Governor Alejandro García Padilla announced that the decision issued yesterday by the District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, holding that the historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges striking down discriminatory marriage bans nationwide did not apply to Puerto Rico because it is not a state, would not affect the ability of LGBT people in Puerto Rico to marry. Lambda Legal applauds the Governor’s announcement.
Today, the U.S. District Court of the District of Puerto Rico ruled that the historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges striking down discriminatory marriage bans nationwide did not apply to Puerto Rico because it is not a state, and denied a joint motion brought by Lambda Legal and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to declare Puerto Rico’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples unconstitutional. Lambda Legal will appeal the ruling.
Today Lambda Legal announced the resolution of its lawsuit against the Social Security Administration (SSA) brought on behalf of Kathy Murphy, a Texas widow denied spousal benefits after the death of her wife, and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (the National Committee).
Today, Lambda Legal and the American Military Partner Association (AMPA) announced that they are concluding litigation against the US Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) following the VA’s changes to its policies on benefits ending discrimination against veterans and their same-sex spouses.
2015 was a historic year in the fight for equality for LGBT people and those living with HIV, and Lambda Legal led the fight in courts and communities across the country. Here are some of the highlights of Lambda Legal’s work this year: