In the News

When a doctor says that a treatment is medically necessary, should legislators and voters be permitted to forbid that treatment to prisoners? That's the question Lambda Legal Staff Attorney Cole Thaler tackles on MSNBC's "The Situation with Tucker Carlson."

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

From the Chicago Sun-Times: "The path to civil unions in Illinois faces some rough spots. It's not something conservatives want to budge on. But with an Illinois House committee's approval last week of legislation that would allow such unions in this state, same-sex couples are a step closer to joining those in four other states who enjoy the same legal benefits as married couples...

"Two cases brought by Lambda Legal illustrate that discrimination continues to frustrate and humiliate gay men and women seeking equal treatment in fertility services. Guadalupe Benitez was denied infertility treatment by a clinic in California because she is a lesbian; the California Supreme Court ruled that the doctors’ actions were illegal under the state’s antidiscrimination law. In Florida, Dennis Barros and his partner planned to have a child through a surrogate mother, but the clinic they enlisted refused to provide services. It used the discriminatory F.D.A.

"The way they treated me, it was like I was a piece of trash." These were the words Matthew Cusick had for his former employer, Cirque du Soleil. In a 2004 story in The Washington Post, the 33-year-old recounted his experience with the world-renowned acrobatic-theater company.

"Like it or not, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students who attend the Meridian School District can't form an official club -- for now.

"Officials say it's not that they won't allow a gay and lesbian club to meet, it just shouldn't be school sponsored, and students would have to have parental permission to join.

"...Peter Renn, staff attorney for Lamba Legal group out of Los Angeles, told 12KTRV that the district's policies raised some major questions for his group who focus on LGBT legal cases.

"Same-sex couples and other domestic partners are gaining more control over what happens to their mates in the hospital, under federal guidelines issued this week.

"Hospitals should not bar domestic partners from visiting their mates unless there's a medical reason, and partners should not be required to produce documents to prove their relationship, the guidelines say.

"Jacqueline 'Jackie' Gill filed suit Wednesday, Sept. 7, against a professor and a dean at Northeast Campus of Tarrant County College in Hurst, claiming that she was denied the opportunity to apply for a permanent, full- time teaching position there because of the English Department chair’s bias against what he perceived her sexual orientation to be.

"Gill is represented in the lawsuit by Lambda Legal South Central Region staff attorney Ken Upton, joined by pro bono counsel Benjamin D. Williams from the law firm of Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher.

"A college in Texas is being sued for reportedly turning away a qualified teaching candidate because college administrators perceived her to be a lesbian.

"Jacqueline Gill, a Ph.D. student and former high school English teacher, was hired as a temporary instructor at Tarrant County College in August 2009. Upon hiring for her temporary position, she was told that temporary instructors typically transition to work full-time at the college upon successful completion of a one-year contract.

"Arizona cannot cancel the insurance benefits for the domestic partners of state and university workers who are gay, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.

"In a unanimous opinion, the three-judge panel agreed with the state that it is not obligated to provide health insurance for its workers or their families.

"...Tara Borelli, an attorney for the Lambda Legal, said the appellate judges recognized the unfairness to gays of what the Legislature did.

"'The law's been set up now in this terrible 'gotcha' for same sex couples,' she said."

"Proponents of Proposition 8 argued Tuesday that Yes on 8 must be granted standing to defend the California same-sex marriage ban in federal court to protect the power of the people to amend their constitution; opponents argued Yes on 8 must be denied standing in order to protect the power of the people to elected state officers, in accordance with the state constitution.