Press Release

(New York, September 18, 2007) — Today, Kevin Cathcart, Executive Director of Lambda Legal, issued the following statement in response to the Maryland Court of Appeals' decision in Conaway v. Deane & Polyak, the lawsuit seeking marriage for same-sex couples in Maryland.

(New York, September 12, 2007) -- A trial court judge in New York state has upheld as consistent with New York law the state Comptroller's policy to recognize for purposes of the New York State Retirement System the marriages of same-sex couples entered in Canada.

"This is one more court saying that respect for out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples is the law in New York," said Susan Sommer, Senior Counsel at Lambda Legal "We thank Comptroller DiNapoli for standing up for the rights of lesbian and gay New Yorkers."

(Montgomery County, MD, September 4, 2007) — In court papers filed recently in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland Lambda Legal represents Metro DC Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) in a lawsuit over a decision by the Montgomery County School Board to include information about sexual orientation as part of the health education curriculum for 8th and 10th graders.

(Des Moines, August 31, 2007)—Lambda Legal says the line up of couples outside the Polk County Recorder's office shows how important marriage equality is to same-sex couples in Iowa.

(Des Moines, IA, August 30, 2007)—A 63 page decision issued today by the Iowa District Court for Polk County said that same-sex couples must be allowed to marry based on the Iowa Constitution's guarantee of equal treatment under the law. The case was filed by Lambda Legal on behalf of six same-sex couples and their families in Iowa.

(Oxford, OH, August 28, 2007) --- The Court of Appeals of Ohio has affirmed a lower court ruling which dismissed a lawsuit brought by a legislator seeking to take away the domestic partner benefits of employees of Miami University.

(Bellevue, WA, August 27, 2007) --- Lambda Legal has filed a motion in King County Superior Court to dismiss its lawsuit against the City of Bellevue on behalf of three city employees seeking the same benefits for their same-sex partners their heterosexual coworkers already receive for their spouses. The city council approved a benefits plan in June.

(San Fransisco, August 17, 2007) — In briefs filed today with the California Supreme Court, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argue that California violates its own constitution by denying same-sex couples the freedom to marry.

(New York, August 17, 2007) — Lambda Legal is applauding the Oklahoma Health Department's announcement that it will not appeal a federal appeals court ruling earlier this month that struck down a state law refusing Oklahoma birth certificates to children adopted by out-of-state same-sex couples.