Press Release

(Honolulu, February 1, 2010) — Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai'i Foundation (ACLU) today announced they are planning legal action against the state of Hawai'i following last Friday's failure by the Hawai'i Legislature to enact a law providing broad legal rights and duties to the state's lesbian and gay couples.

(Madison, Wisconsin November 4, 2009) — Today, Lambda Legal and Fair Wisconsin applaud the Wisconsin Supreme Court's decision to reject a lawsuit brought by Wisconsin Family Action, an antigay group attempting to strip away newly enacted domestic partnership protections for same-sex couples and their families.

(Huntington, Oregon, July 16, 2009) — Lambda Legal has delivered a warning to Lions Club International charging that the treatment a lesbian couple received at a club-sponsored Oregon catfish derby violates state antidiscrimination laws.

(Birmingham, AL, September 2, 2009) — Yesterday afternoon, a settlement agreement was reached in Lambda Legal's federal lawsuit on behalf of Central Alabama Pride (CAP) against the City of Birmingham and its Mayor, Larry Langford, who interfered with their right to free speech last summer.

(New York, October 28, 2009) — After President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law this afternoon 31 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV advocacy organizations issued the following statement to mark the historic event:

"It took much too long, more than a decade. And it came at too great a price: the brutal killings of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. are just two among the thousands of crimes motivated by hate and bigotry.

(New York, October 30, 2009) — Today President Obama announced that the administration will publish a new rule on Monday that will lift the HIV travel and immigration ban by removing HIV from the list of communicable diseases of public health significance for immigrants to the United States. Lambda Legal has provided legal analysis and formal comments on numerous occasions urging the government to end the discriminatory ban that has been in place for over 20 years.

(New York, December 2, 2009)—Today, the New York Senate took a long overdue vote on the marriage equality bill presented by Governor Paterson but failed to pass the measure, thereby denying equality to New York’s same-sex couples.

Statement from Susan Sommer, Director of Constitutional Litigation at Lambda Legal:

(New York, November 19, 2009) — In a decision today, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that the State Department of Civil Service and Westchester County could extend government benefits to same–sex couples in out–of–state marriages. The ruling comes in cases in which Lambda Legal intervened on behalf of two married same–sex couples after the Alliance Defense Fund, an antigay legal group, tried to do away with longstanding New York law recognizing out–of–state marriages.

(Albany, New York, October 13, 2009) –Today, Lambda Legal argued before the New York State Court of Appeals on behalf of two married same-sex couples after the Alliance Defense Fund, an antigay legal group, objected to county and state officials acting in compliance with long-standing New York law by recognizing out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples.

Isabella was born in 2002, after Janet and Lisa, then a couple, decided to have a child together. Lisa was artificially inseminated to conceive the child. The current custody and visitation case began in 2003, when Lisa filed papers in Vermont asking the court to dissolve her and Janet's civil union and decide the custody of their child. The court granted temporary custody to Lisa and visitation to Janet. The court later determined that Janet is Isabella's legal parent.