Press Release

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled today that being gay doesn't disqualify a judge from ruling impartially on a case involving rights that impact lesbian, gay and bisexual people.

(Washington D.C., June 14, 2011) - After the U.S. Department of Education released a guidance letter to school districts across the country making clear that gay straight alliances must be allowed to form on an equal basis with other student groups Lambda Legal issued the following statement from Deputy Legal Director Hayley Gorenberg.

This morning the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California heard oral arguments on a motion filed by Prop 8 proponents seeking to overturn Judge Walker's ruling striking down Prop 8 as unconstitutional because he has been in a relationship with another man for 10 years.

(Baltimore, May 26, 2011) -- Today, ahead of a married lesbian couple’s adoption hearing in Baltimore City, Lambda Legal released a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) guide urging married same-sex couples who are expecting children to make plans to complete second parent adoptions even though, if they are two married women, they will already both be listed as parents on their children’s birth certificates.

A coalition of groups that advocate for the civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people today filed a brief urging the U.S. District Court not to vacate last year's historic ruling invalidating Proposition 8. Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the ACLU of Northern California and Equality California filed the friend-of-the-court brief in Perry v. Brown in response to a motion filed last month by supporters of Proposition 8 that asked the court to undo last year's decision in that case. The Prop 8 supporters contend that now-retired Chief Judge Vaughn Walker should have declined to hear the case because he was in a long-term relationship with another man, and that the judge's 135-page decision, which followed a three-week trial, should be invalidated for that reason.

(San Francisco, CA, May 4, 2011) - Yesterday, Equality California, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Lambda Legal filed a friend-of-the court brief with the California Supreme Court arguing that the proponents of Proposition 8 have no power to override the decision of elected state officials about whether to appeal a federal court decision that Prop 8 is unconstitutional. The brief explains that initiative proponents are unelected and have no right to act as representatives of the state. It also explains that regardless of how the California Supreme Court rules, the supporters of Proposition 8 have no "standing" to pursue an appeal in federal court because they are not harmed by allowing same-sex couples to marry and because their interests were limited to having the measure put to a vote.

Today, Lambda Legal announced that Iván Espinoza-Madrigal has been hired as staff attorney in its national headquarters in New York. Espinoza-Madrigal is developing an initiative on behalf of LGBT people of color, LGBT immigrants, and low-income LGBT communities. In this capacity, he will be expanding Lambda Legal's work addressing the legal needs of LGBT and HIV-affected people who identify across intersecting lines of race, ethnicity and socio-economic class through litigation, public education, and policy advocacy.

In reaction to today's filing of a motion to vacate last year's historic decision by U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker declaring California's Proposition 8 unconstitutional, Jon Davidson, Legal Director for Lambda Legal, issued the following statement: Proponents of Proposition 8 certainly are getting desperate. This reeks of a hail-Mary attempt to assail Judge Walker's character because they are unable to rebut the extremely well-reasoned ruling he issued last year. It's becoming a sadly typical move of the right: don't like the ruling; attack the referee.

In reaction to the news that the law firm King & Spalding has withdrawn from representing House leadership in cases challenging the Defense of Marriage Act Lambda Legal issued the following statement from Legal Director Jon Davidson.