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Press Releases

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In Dramatic First, Vermont High Court Orders State to Treat Gay & Non-gay Couples Equally

(NEW YORK, December 20, 1999) — The Vermont Supreme Court, in a unanimous first of its kind ruling Monday, ordered the state legislature to extend to lesbian and gay couples the same rights, protections, benefits and obligations available to non-gay couples through marriage, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said.

Lambda Marriage Project Director Evan Wolfson said, "This is a glorious day. Vermont's highest court has ordered an end to unequal treatment of lesbian and gay families."

Illinois Appeals Court Denies Lesbian Mother Right to Seek Visitation

(CHICAGO, December 16, 1999) — A lesbian mother faces the devastating prospect of never seeing her young daughter again because an Illinois appeals court, citing the state marriage code's silence on same-sex families, held that it could not consider her plea for visitation, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said Thursday.

Drive for Freedom to Marry Not Ended By Disappointing Hawaii Ruling

(NEW YORK, December 10, 1999) -- Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund expressed disappointment Friday that the Hawaii Supreme Court did not strike a final blow at discrimination in civil marriage because of a state constitutional amendment. At the same time, Lambda emphasized that the clock cannot be turned back on the gay civil rights struggle.

California Judge Rules Proposed Initiative is Limit on Marriages

(SACRAMENTO, December 8, 1999) --The League of Women Voters of California Wednesday praised a decision by a California judge affirming the accuracy of the name given by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer to a controversial ballot measure that would allow the state to discriminate against legal marriages of lesbians and gay men from other states.

School Board Votes Against Students' Gay-Straight Club at El Modena High

Orange, CA, December 8, 1999) -- After months of delaying students’ request to allow a Gay-Straight Alliance Club to meet at El Modena High School, the Orange Unified School Board voted 7-0 late Tuesday to deny the students their constitutional and legal rights.


The students formed the club as a way to promote understanding and respect. The school board's action has left the students with no choice but to pursue the lawsuit they filed in federal court on November 24, said Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and People For the American Way Foundation.

League of Women Voters Supports 'Limit on Marriages' As Name for Knight Initiative

(SACRAMENTO, December 7, 1999) -- The League of Women Voters of California said Tuesday that it fully supports the name given by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer to a controversial ballot measure that would allow the state to discriminate against legal marriages of lesbians and gay men from other states.

During a hearing on Wednesday, December 8, the League plans to submit a petition to intervene in Stutzman v. Jones and join Bill Lockyer in defending his decision to give Proposition 22 the title “Limit on Marriages” for the March 2000 election.

Mexican Gay Man Seeking Asylum Appeals to the Ninth Circuit

(LOS ANGELES, December 7, 1999) — A Mexican citizen beaten and sexually assaulted by law enforcement officials because he is an effeminate gay man should be granted asylum in the United States, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said Tuesday, on the eve of a hearing in his case.

Gay Positive Views Will Not be Censored, Salt Lake School Officials Guarantee

(NEW YORK, December 2, 1999) – A federal judge has dismissed a student lawsuit against the Salt Lake City school board because school officials have produced a definitive policy guaranteeing the right to express pro-gay opinions, attorneys for the students said Thursday.

Lead counsel Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, representing the students, were pleased by the judgment by United States Senior District Judge Bruce S. Jenkins.

Lambda Issues 1999 World AIDS Day Report Card

(NEW YORK) — Texas Gov. George W. Bush flunked and Vice President Al Gore did just slightly better on the annual World AIDS Day Report Card released by Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund in advance of the December 1 worldwide observance.

"World AIDS Day is an opportunity to assess efforts against AIDS," said Lambda Executive Director Kevin M. Cathcart, referring to the commemoration set for Wednesday. "This year, we find hope in a national resurgence of activism. But people's lives continue to be endangered by callous and compromising public officials," he said.

Gay/Straight Alliance Students Sue Orange County High School

(Orange, CA, November 24, 1999) -- Students who have formed a Gay-Straight Alliance Club at El Modena High School in Orange County and are being denied the right to meet are filing a lawsuit Wednesday against Orange Unified School District officials. The students, who see the club as a way to promote understanding and respect, say the school district's months-long delay in approving the club has effectively denied them the right to meet this semester.

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