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Press Releases

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Complaint by Gay Student Triggers Historic Civil Rights Agreement

(NEW YORK, June 22, 1998) -- In an important step in combating harassment of lesbian and gay students nationwide, the federal government reached agreement with the Fayetteville Public Schools in Arkansas on broad civil rights protections in the schools, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said Tuesday. The "Commitment to Resolve," entered into by the federal government and the school system, remedies an administrative complaint brought by a Fayetteville student, William Wagner.

Disappointment for Russian Lesbian Seeking Asylum

(NEW YORK June 6, 1997) -- Immigration officials Thursday refused to resolve a Russian lesbian's asylum case and instead ruled that Alla Pitcherskaia must prove to an immigration judge that she is likely to be persecuted if returned to her native country, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said.

Pitcherskaia, 36, now a San Francisco resident, seeks asylum in the United States after being beaten, harassed, and forcibly detained by both the Russian police and organized crime members for being a lesbian and advocate for lesbians' and gay men's civil rights.

Lambda Fights Insurer's Refusal to Pay Disability Benefits to Man with AIDS

(LOS ANGELES, May 27, 1998) -- Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund is urging a California appeals court to rule against an insurance industry practice aimed at denying disability benefits to people with AIDS and other illnesses.

On Wednesday, May 27, at the California Court of Appeal in Los Angeles, Lambda will argue on behalf of Mark Galanty, who is appealing a trial court decision that upheld the Paul Revere Life Insurance Company's refusal to pay his AIDS-related disability claim.

Little Rock Court to Hear Arkansas Residents' Challenge to State Sodomy Ban

(NEW YORK, May 22, 1998) -- On behalf of seven lesbian and gay Arkansas residents, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund next week will urge the Little Rock Chancery Court to reject government attorneys' efforts to have the plaintiffs' challenge to Arkansas' sodomy ban thrown out of court.

The plaintiffs contend that Arkansas' same-sex only ban is unconstitutional and severely harms lesbians and gay men in the state.

Gay Man's Employment Case Tests California's Discrimination Protection

(LOS ANGELES, May 11, 1998) -- In a test of California's ban on employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, the state Court of Appeals in San Diego this week hears argument on behalf of a former insurance agent who suffered severe anti-gay harassment on the job, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said Monday.

To be heard Friday, May 15, by the state Court of Appeal in San Diego, this is one of the first appellate cases to test California employment discrimination protections based on sexual orientation.

Lambda Criticizes Ohio Supreme Court Ruling in Jimmy Bird Case

(CHICAGO, May 6,1998) Refusing to address the medically unsupported claim that spit can transmit HIV, the Ohio Supreme Court Wednesday upheld a man's conviction on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon for spitting at a police officer, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said.

Only one judge addressed the HIV issues raised in the case of Jimmy Bird, and he firmly rejected the notion that the spit of a person with HIV poses any danger to others. Bird is infected with the human immunodeficiency virus.

IRS Again Backs Down on Anti-Gay Discrimination

(NEW YORK, May 5, 1998) Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said Tuesday that its victory on behalf of a lesbian organization seeking tax-exempt status marked the second time in recent months the IRS has had to back down on its efforts to interfere with the mission of a gay community group.

Lambda to U.S. Supreme Court: Bury Cincinnati's Anti-Gay Initiative

(CHICAGO, May 4, 1998) -- Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund petitioned the United States Supreme Court today to strike down Cincinnati's city charter amendment banning discrimination protections for lesbians and gay men.

Known as Issue 3, the law was approved by voters in 1993 to stop Cincinnati from giving any discrimination protection, under any circumstances, to lesbians, gay men and bisexuals. Issue 3 has never been put in force because of the five-year legal challenge by Lambda and its co-counsel on behalf of lesbian and gay Cincinnatians.

IRS Under Fire for Treatment of Group for Lesbians with Cancer

(NEW YORK, April 14, 1998) -- The Internal Revenue Service acted improperly when it tried to re-write a lesbian support group's mission statement as a prerequisite for tax-exempt status, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said in a demand letter to the IRS today.

Lambda Helps Secure Benefits for HIV-Positive Policy Holders

(NEW YORK, Monday, April 13, 1998) -- Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund lauded a New York State appeals court decision last Friday upholding the dismissal of a case brought by New England Mutual Life Insurance Company. The company sought to avoid payment of AIDS-related disability benefits to a long-time policy holder in Rockland County on the basis of his HIV-status at the time he purchased the policy.

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